Retail Fashion Visual Merchandising Tips And Tricks 

Did you know that visual merchandising is the single most impactful aspect of your marketing and merchandising? I was skeptical at first, but after years of working in retail and merchandising, I’ve seen how a clever visual merchandiser can invigorate a brand’s sales. 

These are the 7 best tips for visual merchandising in fashion that I’ve picked up over the years. Let’s supercharge how you approach your best marketing opportunity. 

Your Introduction to Visual Merchandising 

Visual merchandising is more than just putting your products on display. It’s about creating compelling displays that showcase your products, your brand, and welcome your customers into your world. You should be setting up a scene that people just can’t resist jumping into. 

Before I get into the best tips for visual merchandising in fashion, I want to go over why visual merchandising matters. 

How Visual Merchandising in Fashion Pays

Your visual merchandiser has a massive impact on your sales performance. In fact, research has demonstrated that visual merchandising has the largest impact on a customer’s purchase intention. 

Visual merchandising in fashion, just like any other industry, is all about attracting new sales. This is the single most important marketing decision you can make.  

Become a Pro Visual Merchandiser With These Tips

I’ve been working in visual merchandising for years and these are the seven most important things I’ve learned in my career. 

1. Brand Awareness and Management 

This is the most important, and most underlooked, aspect of visual merchandising. You wouldn’t advertise a rugged outdoor clothing brand the same way you would advertise a high street fashion chain. So, why do these companies often display their visual merchandising in the same way?

Your visual merchandising is doing more than just putting clothes and accessories on a mannequin. It’s letting your future customers imagine themselves in the great outdoors or the hottest clubs while sporting your gear.

Let your branding lead when it comes to designing your fashion visual merchandising. 

2. Create Stunning Retail Fashion Visual Merchandising Window Displays

Creativity counts when it comes to designing window displays. This is about so much more than just showing the general public the products that you have on offer. You want to give people something that borders on an art installation and gets them talking.

An eye-catching window display will quickly become the social media sensation which not only drives sales, but gives you or the organic advertising that every company is chasing. 

3. Create Holistic Environments 

Your fashion visual merchandising goes beyond just what people can see. Hearing, touch, and even scent are incredibly important when it comes to visual merchandising.

You should incorporate music or soundscapes that resonate both with your brand and with the visual merchandising displays that you’re creating. This will help to entice customers and get them in the right mindset for your brand.

Touch is also incredibly important. Products should be reachable so that customers can inspect their quality for themselves. Be careful not to create displays that are so perfect customers feel afraid to approach them.

Everyone always forgets scent when it comes to visual merchandising. Aromas trigger deep memory responses and can be a great way to tie together all of your branding efforts. 

4. Master the Tabletop Display

There are countless different kinds of tables including tiered tables, nesting tables, and even glass tables. Your visual merchandising decisions will depend on the tables that you have in your shop as well as how you want your customers to see and experience your products.

Here’s one of the best-kept secrets I’ve ever heard about mastering the table-top display. Extra space at your registers also counts as a potential table-top display. Even if you’re just displaying an impulse buy and a simple advertisement, this display should tie in with your branding and your visual merchandising. 

5. Use Signage Wisely 

Signage is critical, but you need to use your signage wisely to get the results you need. University of Cincinnati researchers theorized that “businesses that pay attention to their signage and invest in the design and placement of signs  HYPERLINK “https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/legacy/enews/2011/10/uc-research-examines-the-economic-value-of-on-premise-signs.html” get better results from their investment.” 

You don’t want to overload your customers with so much signage that they become overwhelmed and disoriented. Your signage should be clean and direct while tying in with your branding. Remember that the purpose of signage is less about exposition and more about direction. 

6. Change with the Seasons

Changing with the seasons is an important part of visual merchandising. Your products will be changing with the seasons and so should your displays.

Your visual merchandisers can take advantage of changing seasons to put up attractive displays. You can use these to engage with how your demographics approached the seasons.

Let’s take summer for example. If you have a family-oriented brand, your visual merchandising can be about summer family fun and vacations. If your brand is more about partying and clubs, your summer merchandising can engage with outdoor parties and long summer nights. 

7. Lighting, Lighting, Lighting 

Here’s the last tip I’m going to leave you with. Nothing matters quite as much as having good lighting. The best visual merchandising in the world isn’t going to mean anything if it’s too dark for people to see or it’s accidentally lit like a horror movie.

Go for simple, even lighting at first and then explore with more daring options as you get more confident with your visual merchandising. 

The Number One Tip for Retail Visual Merchandising 

 HYPERLINK “https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/shop-grocery-store-interior-visualization-3d-1239165406” https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/shop-grocery-store-interior-visualization-3d-1239165406

An old marketing colleague once told me the most impactful lesson I have ever learned when it comes to marketing. She told me “We’re not selling empty wall space—we’re selling merchandise.” 

If you’ve got bare walls, empty windows, or open shelf space, you’ve got an opportunity to implement these tips and tricks for retail fashion visual merchandising.  

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