Retail Merchandising for Success.
8 Effective tips to conquer your guests and to encourage purchases!
When have you been window shopping recently? Yes, just window shopping with the intention of window shopping. The more I do it, the more I learn. Especially from high end retail and department stores you can copy so much for your own Spa Boutique!
But why is this important you may wonder. Well, retail stores, especially larger brands, are well trained and experienced in what works. As the psychological aspect in retail is incredibly important. And I remember when I started running Spas, I had no clue. Over the years I dived into this topic and am happy to share my findings with you, to have your Spa or Wellness Boutique become more profitable.
What is actually Retail Merchandising? Retail Merchandising is the process of selling products in a Spa and Wellness operation or in any retail business, including the choice of product lines, arrangement, and display of your products. And what’s surprising or not, psychology is a crucial aspect of visual merchandising which also involves colors, store layout, and displays.
Today, I would like to highlight the arrangement and the display of products. Regarding the psychological aspect of Retail Merchandising and the way our guests - us too - react and are triggered after we walk into a store, here are some findings I am going by:
Memorable first impressions - this suggests having your front-of-store displays full of your best sellers or new merchandise.
Studies have shown that customers usually walk counterclockwise, browsing shelves. What this suggests is that you simply may plan your shelves accordingly.
Place high-priced items at eye level because the human eye naturally gravitates there. Items at eye level sell on average better than other items. The cheaper, basic ranges are on the underside shelf, out of eye level.
Use the ‘Triangular balance,’ which represents a technique to showcase products with the best profit margins within the middle of every shelf. Once a guest faces this constellation, they are looking directly at your premium product, be it a luxury serum or a bottle of expensive perfume, for example.
Going together with the Triangular balance is that of the ‘pyramid shape’: the tallest products within the middle lowest ones on the side. It looks more aesthetic and helps with the following point… allowing space!
Give the shelf space. Never have products touch walls but place them an inch (2.5 cm) away from each side. If you squeeze an excessive amount of merchandise into the shelves, the guest’s eye is overwhelmed, and the natural reaction will be that the guest abandons browsing around as it’s too much to digest.
The magic Rule of Three says that you shouldn’t line up 4 products or more behind each other as it becomes too overwhelming to the guest’s eye again. 3 isn’t too few and not an excessive amount.
Avoid decorating shelves with items you are not going to sell: no sand, no shells, no feathers, no stones, no brochures, … - Minimalistic is vital. I’ve always explained this to my team in the following way: 1. We don’t sell those items, so there’s no reason for them to air the shelves. 2. these non-revenue generating items distract the buyers’ eyes from the particular money-making items.
Additionally to any or all this, there are a big amount of more aspects of shopping behavior that you will influence less but which have an effect on the guest. Consider the time of day and the number of other shoppers present. Hence, it’s important to induce the above-mentioned ones to place chances on our side.
Looking at your boutique’s shelves, share with us in the comments below where you’ll try some new things out.
Got curious for more?
Find my FREE guide for you here, ready to print and easy use! You can make your Spa’s boutique profitable starting today!