A DVANCED FASHION : S TANDARD 9

V ISUAL M ERCHANDISING
 V ISUAL M ERCHANDISING

 Visual Merchandising: The physical

display of goods in the most attractive
and appealing ways.
 Store Layout: the interior arrangement of
retail facilities.
 Selling areas: where merchandise is
displayed and customers interact with sales
personnel. (75-80% of the total space)
 Sales support areas: devoted to customer
services, merchandise receiving and
distribution, management offices and staff
activities.
 V ISUAL M ERCHANDISING

 Floor Plan: A drawing showing arrangement

of physical space, such as showing the
positioning of merchandise groups and
customer services for a retail store.
 Grid Layout: A retail floor plan that has one
of ore primary (main) aisles running through
the store, with secondary (smaller) aisles
intersecting with them at right angles.
 Maze Layout: A free-flowing retail floor plan
arrangement with informal balance.
 Fixtures: Shelves, tables, rods, counters,
stands, easels, forms, and platforms on
which merchandise is stocked and displayed
for sale.
M ERCHANDISE P RESENTATION

 Merchandise presentation includes the ways that

goods are hung, placed on shelves, or otherwise
made available for sale in retail stores.
 Shoulder-out presentation: The way most
garments are hung in home closets with only one
side showing from shoulder to bottom.

 Face-forward presentation (face-out

presentation): Hanging of clothing with the front
fully facing the viewer. This should always be
done at entrances and aisles.
 R ETAIL F IXTURES

 Carousels: Circular racks that turn.

 R ETAIL F IXTURES

 Dump tables/bins: A rimmed table or bin used to

hold sale or special merchandise on the sales
floor, especially in discount operations; it has no
formal arrangement.
 R ETAIL F IXTURES

 Four-way rack: A fixture with four extended

arms, that permits accessibility to hanging
merchandise all the way around
 R ETAIL F IXTURES

 Rounders: Circular racks on which garments are

hung around the entire circumference
 R ETAIL F IXTURES

 T-stand: Freestanding, two-way stand in the

shape of a T, that holds clothes on hangers,
sometimes with one straight arm and one
waterfall.
 R ETAIL F IXTURES

 Waterfall: A fixtures with an arm that slants

downward, that contains knobs to hole face-
forward hangers with clothing at various levels.
 D ISPLAYS
 Displays: individual and notable physical presentation
of merchandise.
 Displays are intended to:
 Stimulate product interest
 Provide information
 Suggest merchandise coordination
 Generate traffic flow
 Remind customers of planned purchases
 Create additional sales of impulse items
 Enhance the store’s visual image
 I NTERIOR D ISPLAYS

 Locations for interior displays:

 Just in the entrance

 Entrance to department

 Near cash/wrap

 Next to related items

 Across from elevators and escalators

 Ends of aisles
 C OMPONENTS OF D ISPLAYS

 Merchandise

 Lighting

 Props

 Signage
 M ERCHANDISE

 More interesting if in odd numbers

 Groups:
 One-category, or line-of-goods
 Related groupings: go together or reinforce each
other
 Theme groupings: event, holiday, etc.
 Variety or assortment groupings: collection of
unrelated items all sold at the same store.
 L IGHTING

 Used to direct customer’s attention to the

display
 Use more light for dark colors, less light for light
colors
 Beamspread; the diameter of the circle of light
 Beamspread techniques:
 Floodlighting: recessed ceiling lights to direct light
over an entire wide display area
 Spotlighting: focuses attention on specific areas or
targeted items of merchandise
 Pinpointing: focuses a narrow beam of light on a
specific item
 P ROPS

 Objects added that support the theme of the

display.
 Functional Props: used to physically support the
merchandise. (mannequins, stands, panels,
screens, etc)
 Decorative Props: used to establish a mood or an
attractive setting for the merchandise being
featured (ex: mirrors, flowers, seashells,
surfboards, etc)
 Structural Props: used to support functional and
decorative props and change the physical makeup
of displays. (boxes, rods, stands, stairways, etc)
 S IGNAGE

 Includes individual letters and complete

signs. Often on some kind of holder.
 Can tell a story about the goods.
 Should try to answer customers
questions.
 Should be informative and concise.
 Can include prices, sizes, department
location.
 W INDOW D ISPLAYS
 Seen from outside of the store.

 First contact with the customer.

 Can have a series of windows.

 Advantages of Window Displays:

 Establish and maintain an image

 Arouse curiosity

 Disadvantages of Window Displays:

 Expensive to design and maintain

 Requires space

 Merchandise can get ruined (sun ,etc)

 Glare
 T YPES OF W INDOW D ISPLAYS

 Enclosed windows: have a full

background and sides that completely
separate the interior of the store from
the display window.
 Ramped windows: floor is higher in back
than in front
 Elevated windows: from 1 to 3 feet higher
than sidewalk
 Shadowbox windows: small, boxlike display
windows
 T YPES OF W INDOW D ISPLAYS

 Semi-closed windows: have a partial

background that shuts out some of the
store interior from those viewing the
window
 Open Windows: have no background
panel and the entire store is visible to
people walking by
 Island windows: four-sided display
windows that stand alone, often in
lobbies.