Merchandising techniques to attract customers to the store and offer them unique and enthusiastic shopping experience.
Food stores are in special need of visual merchandising because
they rely heavily on self-service and generally offer merchandise that can be easily bought in competing stores
Visual merchandising as the art and science of displaying and presenting product on the sales floor and in the windows with the purpose to increase store traffic and sales volume.
INTERIOR
Interior presentation is crucial in the first thirty seconds of the customer’s visit to the store since it decides whether the customer will stay to browse and possible buy or will he leave the store.
The position
Top shelves are reserved for
luxury and pricey products as to minimise the possibility of damage.
Middle shelves in the eye level are reserved for top
selling and top brand products
Novelty in the merchandise positioning are so called kid’s shelves that hold toys and candies and are placed in the lower half in the
kid’s eye level
Sensory stimuli to create
an appealing feel of a store
It is why bakery products, flowers and fresh fruit and vegetables are often placed at the very entrance of the store
Fast moving consume
the store in order to make consumers walk through
the entire store and possibly buy more merchandise than planned.
The direction of movement
of customers through the store
Given that majority of customer tend to move clockwise
EXTERIOR
Exterior
should be designed in a way that reflects interior and ambiance of the store, luring potential customer to enter the store.
Parking and garage,
Parking lots should be wide enough and placed near entry as possible. Socially responsible retailers will provide special parking spaces for handicapped and families with small children
Landscaping
Landscaping especially comes to fore when considering high-end stores and
shopping malls
Entry
Entry should be designed in a way it provides sufficient space for hassle free movement.
Window display
Window display should be simple but informative and in accordance with the store offering.
Outdoor
CONSUMER IMPORTANCE
Quality of shopping experience, low prices and trust and loyalty to the retailer
The goal and challenge of visual merchandising in food retailing is not only to attract customers into the store,
Visit as many departments of the store as possible, stay as long as possible, buy as many as possible, leave satisfied and come again.