Learn why smart commercial fixture installation is your secret competitive advantage
Have you ever walked into a store and had a sudden urge to buy something? How many times have you walked into a store with your “list” and left with extra items that weren’t on your original list? What about seeing a product display and suddenly feeling like you just need to have that product?
It happens to all of us.
This is the power of product merchandising. And the secret sauce behind product merchandising is savvy commercial fixture installation.
Shelving, mannequins, window displays, seating, display tables, and wall displays bring your store to life, giving your products the power to entice, convince, and sell themselves.
Without these, all you have is a store full of stuff.
What is Product Merchandising?
Product merchandising is the strategic planning and presentation of products within a store to encourage sales and create a positive shopping experience.
A significant aspect of product merchandising is visual merchandising, which involves the use of color, space, lighting, sound, store layout, commercial fixtures, window displays, and graphic displays.
Together these key retail design and installation components create an environment that is welcoming, engaging, supportive, and creates a feeling of ease and comfort. Ultimately, encouraging your customers to slow down, interact with your products, browse, and discover how your products can help them or solve their challenges (even ones they didn’t realize they have).
The Motivation Behind Buying
You need people to buy your products. Footfall is important but what really matters is selling your products.
People need to walk into your store and be convinced to spend time browsing, touching, feeling, and imagining how they can use your products.
And this all comes down to understanding what motivates people to buy:
- Impulse: spur of the moment spontaneous buying, driven by emotion and environment. For example, you walk into a LEGO store just to browse and end up buying the latest Harry Potter set that was on full display in the center of the store.
- Planned: carefully researched and thought-out buying, this can be need- and/or desire-driven. For example, you bought a new house and want to buy the latest smart blinds so you research your options, visit numerous showrooms, and then make a purchase.
- Repeat: buying the same product or brand based on satisfaction and familiarity. For example, buying the same brand of yogurt, regardless of price, during your weekly grocery shopping trip.
- Loyalty: consistently buying products from the same brand, driven by comfort, trust, and connection. For example, your teenaged son only wants to wear Air Jordans, regardless of new styles and colors from other brands.
- Social: listening to and trusting friends, family, or social media influencers on what to buy. For example, buying a specific brand of clothing because your favorite celebrity is posting about it on TikTok.
- Convenience: purchases that are easy to do, this can be motivated by product placement. For example, choosing your local farmer’s market because it is a five minute walk from your house rather than getting in the car and driving to a nearby grocery store with better selection.
- Emotional: buying to distract from feelings of sadness, stress, boredom or other negative emotions. For example, you are a new empty-nester and feeling a bit lost, so you decide to redecorate your house, buying all new furniture and kitchen appliances.
Or the ultimate – must-have-it-now-cannot-wait-can-I-preorder it-so-I-have-it-as-soon-as-it is-available purchase.
It can be hard for people to explain their motives behind this type of purchase – we often just feel an intense desire for the product and can’t wait for it to arrive.
And this is where product merchandising comes in – once you understand how and why people buy, you can build a retail environment that caters to these behaviors and underlying emotions.
How To Use Product Merchandising To Drive Sales
Your goal is to get people to buy your products. This is the essence of product merchandising. Every brand and retail store should have its own unique product merchandising strategy.
Yes, you can borrow from other retailers – but do not simply copy – you need to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Them but better, smarter, and more creative.
Five product merchandising strategies that drive sales:
- Know your customer: who are your customers and why are they buying from you? Your retail store needs to be designed around and cater to your customers.
The layout, colors, commercial fixture installations, graphics, product placement, window displays, and every single aspect of your store must be based on who your customer is and why they buy from you. - Know your brand and products: you need to understand why people are choosing your brand and products over your competitors.
What is it that differentiates your retail store from the others? What is your competitive advantage? What is your unique selling point? How can you communicate this to your customers? - Know why you exist: this is your brand identity and how you build customer trust, confidence, and loyalty. You need to have a reason for being – solving problems, making life easier, entertaining people, providing comfort and support, fulfilling basic needs, etc.
Your window displays, graphics, store layout, product placement, and fixture choices should be connected to your brand identity and reason for being. - Understand visual merchandising: strategic use of store layout, color, retail fixtures, graphic displays, lighting, sound, space, and technology converts browsers into buyers.
Think about how you can create an environment that appeals to your customers – remember who they are and why they are choosing you. Consider your brand identity and unique selling points. And then give your customers a retail experience that communicates this and supports their buying motivation. - Understand brand loyalty: customers who are loyal to your brand inherently trust you and choose you over other brands and products which may actually be better.
Because brand loyalty is driven by feelings of trust, confidence, comfort, and personal connection, you need to give customers an in-store experience that delivers this.
Commercial fixture installations, including interactive kiosks, VR fitting rooms, smart mirrors, customizable product design stations, and in-store events like workshops, can enhance brand loyalty.
2024 Product Merchandising Trends
While we don’t have a crystal ball for the future, we do know that retail is constantly evolving. Now more than ever, retail success is driven by your ability to adapt, respond, engage, entertain, and be available.
In essence – you need to be whatever your customer wants.
This means you need to be thinking about 2024 now:
- Audit your retail footprint. What is the first impression your retail store gives customers? Is it time for a new retail design?
- Learn about your customers. Who is buying from you? Who isn’t buying from you? How can you turn these non-buyers into buyers?
- Product and brand strategy. Are you rolling out new products and brands in 2024? How will you market and sell these? What is the motivation behind these products and brands?
- Sales and marketing goals. What are your sales projections? How will you use visual and product merchandising to meet these goals? Is your retail store design and installation capable of supporting these goals?
Product merchandising trends such as in-store experiences and events, digital displays, immersive retail, personalized shopping experiences, VR and AR installations, and pop-ups are all must-haves for 2024.
Every brand and retailer will be using these. Your differentiator and competitive advantage is how you use them to appeal to the emotions behind buying.
And this is why you need Dynamic.
At Dynamic, our unique combination of IN-HOUSE offerings makes us your single source provider for commercial fixture installations, branding installations, and graphics and window displays. No one understands commercial fixture installations and retail installation better than we do.
Contact us to learn how we can handle any aspect of your business – from an individual installation to a global roll-out.