Influence the customer with visual displays

Walk through any shopping centre and you will see many visual displays. Each one tempts customers into the shop by displaying the stock. Possibly with the help of a fancy background or a well-dressed mannequin. Most modern shops have them, whether it is in the form of simple mannequins and basic posters or a creative extravaganza. Display windows are big business. Seemingly everyone from department stores to tiny boutiques takes part. There seems to be an infinite display of windows that change with the seasons, and why? Because they help to link the stock in the shop to the customers outside, and more importantly they work.

Displays create an ambience within a store. Showing affluence; they are the first connection that the store has with the customer. For years, shop owners have been aware of this technique for driving consumers into the shop. Visual displays that include unusual features and eye-catching displays can increase customer response by nearly 50%.

Boost your sales

Window displays can catch the eye, and encourage customers to venture inside the store. They also promote the idea that your business is successful, fashionable, and popular; it conveys whatever ethos the retail outlet has embraced.

Competing with multi-million-pound shops like John Lewis and Selfridges can seem like an impossible task when on a small budget. John Lewis spent an eye-watering 7 million on their 2013 Christmas Display, but a just as successful campaign can be created by using modifiable items such as flexible mannequins. The main idea behind visual display is to get people noticing and talking, before intriguing them enough to wander inside.

Whilst it may seem like an impossible task, with a few well-placed and original ideas, the visual display for any shop can compete with the big boys. If the window can tell a relatable story at a ten-second glance, it can affect passers-by and get into their heads. Make the mistake of designing the shop window to be full of clutter, or too samey, and it runs the risk of blending in with the rest of the high street or being ignored entirely.

The use of the visual display to convince the customer that they ultimately need the product within the shop to improve their lives is becoming more and more popular. Research shows that customers often respond better to window displays they can relate to. It helps if they can picture themselves with the item featured in the window display. If consumers connect with the display on this personal level, they are much more likely to purchase the item.

Create a strong brand message

Any shop needs to create a relatable brand message to the customers it wants to attract. This can be done by creating a theme; focusing on the correct angle can create a relationship between customers and the window, and will be able to compete with those mega-expensive shop fronts.

Raising sales and persuading customers to venture into the business is the aim of any window display. If a shop can create a winner, they will be memorable and discussed by customers. Whilst utilising the best of the designs, items such as mannequins are wonderful at displaying clothes. Mannequins can also be made to put a human face on the shop for displays and show the customers just how to item works. It can help them picture themselves using the item, and before they know it they just have to purchase it.