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5 basic rules of Fashion Visual Merchandising

visual merchandising tips and basics

Visual merchandiser can easily increase sales of any clothing shop. He/she just decorates a shop and creates focus points using special merchandising techniques.
If you want to try yourself as a visual merchandiser or you have a clothing store, you should know 5 basic rules for designing any clothing store.

1 Rule: Create original idea for a window display

Remember the first rule of merchandising: the more creatively and unusually the window display of clothing store is decorated, the more buyers there are.

Why do you need creativity if you sell just dresses?

Some think that if they sell just dresses, the window should look ordinary. Because customers will not understand too original ideas.

But it's a wrong approach!

Unusually decorated mannequins, which are formed in the composition, create an interesting story and catch attention of people in the street.
A shop window needs to be arranged with use of various props, thus you'll create a kind of installation.
You should have not just 2 mannequins with dresses, but, for example, a composition of two girls walking on the streets of a European city. This advice is not so new, but nevertheless very effective.
It works, because after seeing such a shop window, a potential client will want to learn more about what is presented in the boutique and enter inside.

Use the “rule of three” - mannequins or props are arranged in three together, it creates balance and attractive symmetry.

2 Rule: Apply to all senses

Although the visual merchandiser focuses specifically on visual images, to achieve maximum effect it is better to appeal to all other senses.
How do buyers feel when they enter the store? What causes these feelings?

  • Hearing – music affects the behaviour of customers in the store. Try using something slow, with a soft bit. According to statistics, this kind of music makes people buy more clothes.
  • Sight – use visual cues (lighting, color contrasts, mannequins in the hall with unusual things) to direct the attention of customers to certain products and displays.
  • Touch – when customers come to the boutique, it is important for them to touch what they see, to feel a variety of textures.
    All things presented on mannequins, must be in the zone of buyers' visibility. All shirts and knitwear must be unpacked.
    Do not make too perfect stacks with knitwear or trousers, as the client may be afraid to touch them in order not to break the order.
  • Smell – this feeling greatly affects the emotions of the buyer. Using the smell of pine in December, you can increase up to 30% of sales (making an association with the New Year).

3 Rule: Create pyramids in the store

Contrasting combinations of different heights (“pyramids”) always attract attention and make the store more fashionable. Therefore, they should also be used to design a clothing store.

How to create pyramids:

  • Use different length for lamps that will hang from the ceiling in random order.
  • Place mannequins or pots with flowers in the form of a pyramid — part on the floor, part on high stands.
  • Arrange the racks in a cascade principle so that this line is visually visible.
  • When you put the bags side by side, place them in the form of a pyramid - a large bag, and on the sides - two small ones.

4 Rule: Use Instagram to promote the store

Today one of the new tools in visual merchandising is the use of Instagram for advertising and attracting customers. And if you still haven’t got an Instagram page for your clothing store, it’s time to create it (even if you don’t sell clothes online).

Put the name of the account of your store on the mirror in the fitting room (when the buyer takes selfies and places the photos on Instagram, then the name of the account of your store will automatically be there).

  • Make special displays with your own hashtags, where the buyer can take pictures and post their photos on Instagram
  • Post your ad at the cash box - "Post your photo from our store, put the store hashtag and get a 5% discount at the cash box

Buyers will be happy to advertise your store.

5 Rule: Constantly update merchandising

There is nothing worse than seeing the same displays in a clothing store all the year. You automatically reduce the second sales.
If buyers see new windows and a change in merchandising, it seems that you have something new. They will enter the store again and buy new items.

It is not necessary to use something radically new, you can simply change mannequins, displays, the window dressing, change the placement of things from one corner to another.

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