http://www.bin-store.com/blog

Regardless of the types of retail product display systems that you use in your store, one practice which can pay off in several big ways is to merchandise your store daily. Why put all that effort into constantly rearranging and replacing things on your sales floor? It may not seem like the most efficient use of your time, but there are several very good reasons to think about regularly changing up your product displays.

1. Perfect for keeping regular customers engaged and impressed.
There are a couple of reasons that customers expect to see regular changes on your sales floor. One reason is that it keeps things interesting. Customers who regularly stop by your store are looking for something new and different than they saw on their last visit. In order to provide them with new experiences, you need to move things around. Secondly, rearranging and changing out products makes you appear successful. If everything looks the same day to day, it looks like you are not selling anything. Give the impression of success to stimulate more sales.

2. Daily merchandising helps you keep up.
When you do not regularly merchandise your store, you can easily become overwhelmed as your responsibilities start to accumulate. If you are changing up things daily, you rarely will have to do a huge merchandising job, except perhaps when adding or removing seasonal displays throughout the year. Try using lightweight, simple displays like retail dump bins. These displays are not only great for customers, but they also are easy for you to manage.

3. Learn something new everyday.
One of the best ways to become an expert in something is to do it regularly. When you are changing your merchandise displays daily, you are staying involved with your work. This by itself can have an effect on your perception of your business and your attitude toward customers. You not only build a stronger connection to your business, but also to the customers you are interacting with.

Another benefit of doing daily merchandising is getting feedback on what works and what doesn’t. The more you experiment and observe, the more you will learn about showcasing your wares. You may discover that a gridwall display rack is better where you thought a slatwall display was ideal. Or you might discover you should replace your wood retail display cases with glass ones. You might find that a product that you thought customers were not interested in simply was not placed in the right area of the store to generate a natural interest.

Daily merchandising is a lot of work; there’s no denying that. But it’s worthwhile to get more involved in your retail sales floor operations. You will become better and better at what you do, build up a sense of professional pride, and also see increases in your sales figures as a result of your effort. Customers will appreciate the extra work you are putting into their experience, and will come back often to see what new products you have to offer.

Think Like a Customer about Retail Displays
One of the challenges of operating a retail store is viewing it with fresh eyes every day. Since your retail store is your workplace, you probably walk in each day and see just that—your workplace. You can easily become too close to it, and forget to see what your customers are experiencing. One great way to optimize your retail display systems is to walk into your store and think like a customer. Next time you walk into your store in the morning, pretend that you have never been there before, and that you are here to shop, not work. Then ask yourself some questions about the experience.

Utilizing Retail Floor Space
What is your first reaction when you step inside the store? Look around, and think about what draws your eye. Are you instantly pulled in many different directions at once? Do your eyes get lost looking over your displays? Is there a natural, clear path through your shop? Do you feel claustrophobic? Do displays hinder visibility in your store? If you believe a customer would struggle with any of these issues, it may be time to rearrange your displays. If there are visibility issues, you may want to replace some of your displays with gridwall display racks, glass retail display cases, and other types of displays that increase visibility. Retail slatwall panels can also help to free up floor space.

Also pay attention to light and how it highlights certain areas of your store or conceals others. You want to have enough light throughout your store to make the entire shop warm and inviting. You may also want to include lamps or special overhead lights to cast an extra glow on certain product displays. This is a great way to draw the eye to sales or seasonal products or other displays which you want customers to pay special attention to.

Distractions
Later in the day, when business picks up and your store is busy, take another stroll through your shop, and think about whether there are a lot of distractions in your store. Is it particularly noisy? Should you consider replacing hard vinyl floors with noise-dampening carpet? Are there areas where customer traffic gets clogged? Is the music in your store too loud? Is it neutral enough not to irritate anyone? What about your sales team? Are they loud, and are their conversations appropriate for the sales floor? Are there any annoying smells from products like candles or soaps that are wafting around the store? Can you relocate products like these to contain their odors?

Make a checklist of issues that you discover that you want to address. You may be inspired by your new perspective and may easily come up with solutions for many of the problems that you spot. For others, you can check with your sales and merchandising team members to see if anyone else can come up with some great ideas. The quality and setup of your retail displays can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of your store layout, as can eliminating noise and other distractions.