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Your retail display windows are how you draw pedestrian traffic off the sidewalk and into your store. Of course, that is only true if your retail display window ideas are actually working. If you are not getting the influx of customers you expect, it could be that you are making one of these common retail display window design mistakes.

• Creating too much clutter. You may think the more items you can stuff into your window display, the more customers you will attract. This is an understandable thought: you want to showcase as much of your merchandise as you can so that buyers will know what you have. But when you do this, you make a cluttered display. Buyers will not know what to look at in your window; no specific item will catch their eye. Plus, it may make them think the interior of your shop is cluttered too. And who wants to shop in a cluttered store? A nice clean shop window tells buyers that they can expect a neat, orderly environment for shopping.

• Copying what other stores nearby are doing. It is tempting to think that if you just copy retail window display ideas from neighboring stores that are doing better than yours, you will get more foot traffic. All this will do however is cause your store to blend in. You want to make it stand out. So don’t be afraid to do something different with your retail fixtures. Experiment, go wild—do something completely unexpected.

• Thinking you can just leave the same window display up forever. When you finally get a window display that works, you may feel like you can just leave it there forever as a kind of trademark display for your shop. While it may get great results for a while, doing this will not work indefinitely. Eventually, the window’s performance will decline. Buyers want to see something new in your window, some evidence that your store is constantly bringing in new merchandise. Plus, if they know the window is artfully designed and regularly changes, they will want to check out your new window—and your new products—on a regular basis!

• Missing out on seasonal opportunities. Customers love to get into the spirit of the season, so the last thing you want to do is miss out on the chance to make seasonal sales. Buyers in the holiday spirit want to make purchases. So cater to the mood. “ ’Tis the season to make sales!” Plus, look at it this way. It is tough to come up with retail display window ideas month after month. When you stick with holidays and seasons, you have really easy display ideas. These are ready-made themes which are a great starting point for generating your own creative displays.

Hopefully these tips will help you to avoid making common mistakes with your retail display windows. Be sure to also check out Common Window Display Mistakes, Part 2 for even more great tips!