Monday 09 November, 2020

Top Merchandising Display Mistakes, Part 3


If you are setting up retail display fixtures in your store, you know what a challenge it can be to make the most of those displays. Displaying products isn’t just about keeping them organized on your sales floor, it is about creating a visual sales funnel. Getting more out of your retail display cases and […]


If you are setting up retail display fixtures in your store, you know what a challenge it can be to make the most of those displays. Displaying products isn’t just about keeping them organized on your sales floor, it is about creating a visual sales funnel. Getting more out of your retail display cases and racks is possible, but only if you learn how to avoid merchandising display rack mistakes. Below you can find some of the most common mistakes merchandisers make. Check out parts 1 and 2 of our series for even more!

1. Using vendor-provided displays without thinking.

Depending on your niche, vendors of products you sell may send you displays. In theory, they want you to use these displays to sell their products. The displays are typically free, so it can be tempting to use them. But that does not make it a good idea in every case. Sometimes these displays don’t fit with the look of your store. Other times they are just not optimized, or they heavily promote a brand name customers have never heard of. Still other times they are flashy and garish, which may cause customers to perceive a low value. Buy retail store displays which will optimally showcase your products instead of relying on inferior free displays.

2. Setting up your store layout by vendor.

Another mistake in retail display layouts which involves vendors is sorting your store by vendor. In other words, putting everything manufactured by one company in one display, everything manufactured by another in another display, and so on. If you have a super famous vendor, like a designer company, it may make sense to give them a special display area. Otherwise, it usually makes a lot more sense to organize your shop according to types of items, styles, colors, and other categories which shoppers are more likely to find genuinely useful. Most people walk into a store looking for an item, not a brand.

3. Leaving out items which aren’t selling.

Do you have items in your display cases that haven’t sold in a year or more? If so, they probably aren’t about to start flying off the shelves. Maybe you are displaying them poorly, maybe it is the wrong time, or maybe they just do not appeal to your customer base. Remove them and put them in back stock for a while. Maybe you will figure out a better technique for selling them later. For now, get back to stocking items that do sell.

4. Not featuring items.

One of the best techniques which is often underutilized by merchandisers is picking an item in each display to feature. Highlight this item with signage, and build the display around it. You want it to be a higher-priced item than the rest in the display. Sometimes highlighting this special product will sell the product itself, other times buyers will see it, want it, not be able to afford it, and then happily take a less expensive item from the same case which is similar. Oftentimes these items can also be more expensive than average. Buyers will be so fixated on saving money versus the “key item” that they won’t even notice.

Now you know a lot of common merchandising mistakes to avoid! Just by correcting the mistakes you are making with your own merchandiser displays, you can start boosting sales and generating more revenue!

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