The fall shopping season is just about here. With that, you'll be clearing out the old to make way for the new. Of course you're focusing on clearing out old inventory to make way for new arrivals, but what about your store fixtures? Have you thought about improving or updating them?
If not, you should. When you do, your merchandize is displayed as enticingly as possible, thus boosting sales. Here's why it's so important:
You store fixtures can excite, or they can bore
For best effect, your merchandise should be attractively displayed – even excitingly so. If you run a chic clothing boutique, for example, glass shelves with focal lighting will certainly display your merchandise much more effectively and enticingly than bland beige (and opaque) metal shelving will.
Selling merchandise is about presentation
Selling merchandise is about presentation, and your store fixtures have to do their part to make that happen. Today, choices in store fixtures abound, in interesting and eye-catching materials, such as wrought iron shelving and display racks, chrome, and glass shelving.
Old store fixtures can make you look dated
Not long ago, the strategy of smart retail was to "pile it high and sell it cheap." That's changed, thanks to the increasingly sophisticated consumer. You as the retailer must capture your shoppers' attention with fixtures that are attractive and fit with the times. New store fixtures update your store's look automatically; they make your retail interior, not just your merchandize, more attractive to customers. When you are clearly modern and with the times, your customers will appreciate that and will feel comfortable staying around longer – which may also encourage sales.
When you buy new store fixtures, make sure you keep the following in mind:
Consider your target market first
Consider your customers before you buy new fixtures. If your customers are mostly petite women, for example, don't buy fixtures that are geared for taller customers. Sit down and make a list of the characteristics the fixtures will need to have so as to serve your customers best, then use that to create your own unique vision. Your first concern is to make your customers comfortable and to give them a pleasant shopping experience. The fixtures you choose can help you do that.
Customers are visual people – and your store's fixtures can play into that
Think about all the ways you entice customers to come into your store and buy. Perhaps you run promotional sale campaigns. Perhaps you opt for soft lighting, bright colors, and pleasing music piped throughout the store.
Have you ever thought about your store's fixtures, though? These entice customers to come in and buy, too – and stay around to see what you actually have to offer. The right fixture can mean the difference between a sale or "near-miss" for a particular piece of merchandise, all because of the way it's displayed. Make sure the fixtures you choose showcase the merchandise you have in as aesthetically pleasing a way as possible.
Your store fixtures and retail display systems should make it easy for your customers to stay and shop
In general, the longer you can keep customers in your store happily browsing, the better. In other words, make it easy for your customers to shop. Create clear pathways throughout your store so that customers can walk through and literally see everything you have to offer. Don't block customers' paths by making merchandise difficult to reach. Your displays and store fixtures should be arranged for customers' convenience as well as aesthetic appearance, so that customers are enticed to come in, stay -- and buy.
