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There is no doubt that the outbreak of COVID-19 inflicted a very heavy blow to the brick and mortar retail stores all around the world. Now, when the pandemic enters its third year and it looks like the traditional stores are finally preparing a comeback, retailers find themselves in a completely different world painted with new sensibilities, purchase habits, and design trends.

How do all these things affect indoor displays that have always been some of the strongest brick and mortar marketing tools practically carrying walk-in revenue on their shoulders? Even more important, how you can use these trends to stand out in what looks like a very competitive post-Covid market?

Essentially, the role of a display is to invite people to come closer and check out what you want to sell. Here, you can take a note or two from digital marketing that has, as of late, been putting a heavy focus on creating immersive and augmented experiences. So, do something inventive and try to tell some sort of story to your customer. Use a unifying theme for each sector of the store, augment with comic book bubbles and let them speak with your customers, and use props to enhance the effect. All these things will invite the people to explore every corner of the store and discover all the Easter eggs and in-jokes.

Plants can elevate any space regardless of the backdrop you have created. They are also highly in tune with the rise of environmental consciousness we are experiencing on a global level. Therefore, you can’t go wrong by turning your store into a small but lush oasis. What’s important to remember is that plants like lavender and aloe vera are known for their stress-reducing effects which is something you should, by all means, try to achieve throughout your premises. Shopping can be a very stressful and even downright frustrating chore. Allow your customers to get more enjoyment out of it and they will keep coming back.

In other words, don’t always insist on splitting the products by their category. Some items are naturally used together so displaying them together will increase the chance of people buying more of them. For instance, quality massage devices are not in the same category as running shoes, but if you put them next to each other the future runners checking through the shelves will think about the sore muscles in the future and consider buying this item as well. Just be sure to keep such marketing spots limited or you are going to create a layout people will have a hard time finding their products through.

First-hand experience is one of the strongest purchase motivators in existence and at the same time, one of the last great advantages the brick and mortar stores have over their brick and mortar counterparts. So double down on this unique perk you have at disposal and allow your clients to freely interact with the products you sell. If you want to go one step further, you can even create a realistic setting in which they are most likely to use them. A vacuum cleaner has little value if it doesn’t have a huge rug to vacuum. Playing the latest shooter will speak about some PC countless times more than the list of its specs.

Present-day marketing envelops at a relentless pace. With that in mind, keeping your displays for weeks without any change or regard to these shifting sensibilities will make your store stale and won’t give people enough of an incentive to come back. So, your goal should be to play with the layout and create new displays as frequently as possible. This job will be made considerably easier if you supply your store with portable displays that can be instantly moved around. This portability will also allow your workers to cut the time necessary for maintenance and arrangements and focus on what they do the best.

This is yet another area where brick and mortar stores can take a couple of cues from online marketing that scored extremely good results by offering the website visitors free instructions, how-to’s, and other forms of free content. These things are not only effective hooks, but they also give the potential clients an idea about the new use-case scenarios they haven’t even thought of in the first place. To push this idea to the fullest extent you can display some sample content next to the item display (e.g., how to use key special features) and offer customers access to free online content after the checkout.

We hope these few suggestions gave you a general idea about the ways you can make your displays more effective and in-tune with the latest trends and increase your revenue as a result. Now when the end of COVID-19 finally seems close, brick and mortar retail stores are expected to experience a resurgence. Use this opportunity to get at the head of the pack while this emerging market still finds its way into the future.

When the powerhouse online retailer Amazon made its debut, it didn’t take long for other stores to follow suit. Walmart, Target and other large retail chains have items for sale online. There were doom and gloom predictions for brick-and-mortar stores whose days were numbered. One such prediction was that 2017 would be the year of the “retail apocalypse.”

In 2019, not only are retail stores still in business, but they’re experiencing a comeback. In fact, even online giant Amazon is now turning to the physical shopping experience with actual brick-and-mortar stores.

It seems impossible that there was a time when people were unfamiliar with Amazon, but near the end of 1994, an article ran inMoneymagazine examining the trend in consumers shopping from home, which included ordering through TV shopping channels and catalogs. That year, online shopping service started appearing on the radar, even though it wasn’t fully accepted yet. Of the $60 billion worth of purchases from home, almost all was attributed to catalogs or shopping networks, according to an article fromMoneymagazine.

It wasn’t until 2000 that the Census Bureau began tracking online sales. The result? In the fourth quarter of 1999, online sales alone hit a whopping $5.3 billion.

Fast forward to today, where almost two-thirds of Americans buy something on Amazon—and 40 percent of those say they buy from Amazon at least once a month, according to an NPR article.

Retailers understand that the future is a combination of both online and in-person experiences. The most profitable stores marry the best of both worlds, according to information fromForbesmagazine.

Consumers are all about a shopping experience, and desire the more personalized attention a brick-and-mortar store offers. A part of this experience is being able to touch or try on the merchandise.

Some online retailers offer free or dramatically reduced shipping, which takes a toll on profits. Brick-and-mortar stores can dramatically reduce the expenses by eliminating the need for delivery.

With brick-and-mortar stores making a comeback, you have a great opportunity to capture revenue and develop loyal customers. This often starts with a clear, custom retail display that showcases your brand, your product and your company philosophy.

Want to learn more about the benefits of a great POP display? Check out our previous articles and then give us a call so we can make your vision a reality.

Since 1977, McIntyre Manufacturing Group has created custom-designed displays with an uncompromised dedication to customer service. We utilize the latest technology and attention to detail to create the finest products with excellent craftsmanship. If you can dream it, we can create it. Contact us to see how we can bring your vision to life.

Ecommerce may be on the rise, but that’s no excuse for brick-and-mortar retailers to ignore the power of visual merchandising. By investing in your window displays and in-store layout, it’s possible to drive foot traffic to complement your existing out-of-store advertising efforts. Whatever your budget and brand aesthetic, business owners of any size can bring the shopping experience to the next level with creative merchandising.

Looking to get started? Follow these five tips to ensure that your customers have as much fun visiting your brick-and-mortar location as they do perusing your online store.

Of course you want your store to look stunning, but don’t forget that there are other ways to appeal to customers. By paying attention to all five senses, you can create a shopping experience that makes visitors want to spend more time in your store — and with your inventory — rather than keeping the experience strictly transactional.

Depending on your brand identity, consider what sort of music would get your customers into the right state of mind to make a purchase. Try lighting candles to set the mood, and encourage customers to handle goods or try on clothes to activate their sense of touch. Whether or not you sell baked goods, consider offering tasty treats to round out the overall shopping experience.

Whether your customers are old or new, it’s always the right time to boost your brand profile and feature your custom logo throughout your store. From boxes and bags to labels on different products, make sure your customized branding is on display throughout the store.

If your store is short on surface space, consider building your displays up rather than out. Building a display doesn’t require a carpenter and multiple trips to the hardware store: you can create a no-fuss hierarchy of products by stacking cap top gift boxes on top of one another with your products at the pinnacle. During the holidays, you can even wrap the boxes in seasonal wrapping paper to get your customers in the holiday spirit.

By curating your packaging and upping the ante with your displays, you’ll encourage visitors to feature your store on their Instagram or Snapchat stories. For example, these clear soft vinyl bags are a great way to showcase your products to a younger set and make for fun take-home items. Add some ribbon and a custom label, and your products will be ready for their Instagram debut.

If you’re spending a lot of time and effort creating eye-catching visual displays, it may be tempting to leave them up year-round. However, changing things up every now and then will keep customers on their toes and inspire repeat visits.

Take advantage of seasonal opportunities to change up your décor. Whether you deck out your store for Easter or reorganize your layout to emphasize back-to-school products, creating visual displays that speak to seasonal trends will keep customers coming back for more.

In-store retail displays play a crucial role indriving conversions. Window displays alone influence 24% of purchases,according to NPD Group. And that’sbeforeshoppers walk into your store: Imagine the impact of displays once they’re inside?

Despite the opportunity that retail displays provide, many stores are still overlooking this important selling tool. Below, we’ll dive into nine reasons why your in-store retail displays aren’t working and what to do instead.

One common mistake that retailers make is creating a one-dimensional display that lacks depth and height, a couple of the most important characteristics for appealing visuals. Whether it’s monochromatic or features products of the same height, this in-store display mistake could make your products and your store appear dull and boring.

Vary the visual elements; add height, color or depth where possible. If your products are the same size, put some on pedestals, or hang them from the ceiling as in the example above.

It was a great concept, but the main challenge was that the products on display were pennants. These items were flat, and posed unique challenges, especially when it comes to physical displays. Dan Taylor, omni-channel merchandiser at United By Blue, was up for the challenge.

“I really focused on giving the setup 360-degree shopability and building in enough visual drama to keep customers engaged,” Taylor says. They nested a 4-foot table into a 7.5-foot live-edge walnut slab table to hold the display, along with a “vintage industrial platform.”

“Along with the table cluster, I added a matte black metal hang rack that allowed me to add more height but also show some of the same product in a different way, and be shopped from the back,” Taylor describes. “Above that rack, I hung product from the ceiling, effectively giving the cluster five different levels.”

“All of this culminated in one of the most unique setups and successful retail activations in our flagship store.” – Dan Taylor, omni-channel merchandiser at United By Blue

With 250 pop-up attendees, the in-store display saw more engagement than most of the store’s previous pop-ups and regular store displays. The display contributed to a 155% month-over-month increase in sales.

Sometimes, less is more. But it’s easy to overdo it with your in-store displays. “Simple is best,” says Greg Corey, founder and principal at retail design agencyPorchlight. “Oftentimes there is so much information that the space becomes cluttered and overwhelming.”

Whether it’s because of various team members’ conflicting input, lack of clear vision, or something else altogether, adding too much to a display can distract from its ultimate purpose: to drive sales.

“In some cases, the retailer immediately turns the shopper away before they have even sparked interest in the item by making the display unapproachable,” Corey says.

Establish a focal point for your display: If there’s one thing in your display that you want every passerby to see, what is it? Then design your display around that. “It’s best to narrow your focus and pull out key attributes that consumers can pick up on from at least six feet away and be drawn to learn more,” says Corey.

Check out this display at Elevator, an accessories and jewelry store in Toronto. Notice how they put the focal point principle to good use by choosing to highlight just one item (their scarves) and laying out the rest beneath it.

It’s important to remember that shopping trends shift based on the time of year, current events, or even the general sentiment of consumers. Your retail displays must mirror these trends in order to feel relevant to your shoppers.

For instance, if your customers are starting feel festive because of the upcoming holiday season, but your windows are looking too bland, then you’re not going to compel people to walk through your doors.

Keep your eyes and ears open and stay in touch with upcoming trends. Are there any shopping events or holidays that your customers really care about? What seasonal elements can you incorporate in your current displays?

You can answer these questions by interfacing with your customers and observing them. It also helps to tap into retail data. Use a tool like Google Shopping Trends to identify what people are searching for, and then use those insights to craft your displays.

Linda Cahan,retail visual merchandising and design consultantsays one major miss for retailers is not respecting price point designing your displays. “Space equals cost,” she says. “If you have expensive merchandise, people will understand that if there’s actually some space between the items.”

“People don’t want to feel like they’re bargain basement shopping and then see a price tag for $400.” – Linda Cahan, retail visual merchandising and design consultant

Cahan recalls a shoe store that disregarded price point in relation to visual merchandising. They had the shoes spaced apart, one at a time, similar to an art gallery. “The shoes were spread out and very elegant,” says Cahan. It was great, until you got to the price point: a surprisingly and relatively inexpensive $90.

“The visual merchandising attracted people who were looking for shoes that were in the $400 range, and then they saw these $90 shoes and they were a little betrayed by the display,” she says.

Mind the space for your merchandise; the amount of space a product occupies should be proportionate to the price point. This sets expectations. “Itimproves the shopping experience,” Cahan says.

“Customers instinctively understand that retailers are paying per square foot. The more stuff retailers cram into it, the more affordable the merchandise will be,” Cahan explains. “When there’s space, then the feeling is, ‘Wow, this stuff is more expensive.’ Customers just get it. And you can’t trick customers. You can’t make something be perceived to be less or more.”

If your in-store retail displays look beautiful but serve no purpose, you’re missing out on sales opportunities. Many times, retailers will use products that aren’t for sale, hide pricing information, or make it difficult to find the displayed merchandise elsewhere in the store. Your display could also be blocking pathways or the overall flow of your store.

Cater to your customer. Think about if you were shopping the display: Which information would you like to see? Perhaps there’s a sign that lists product details and prices, or a map of the store that shows you where to browse more size and color options. Better yet, bring a rack over or have a small section of the display dedicated to shoppable products.

Customers also want to see your product in action. It’s one of the main advantages a physical retailer has over ecommerce sellers. Creating displays that show your products in use or allow shoppers to try them out will help with engagement and conversions.

Brandless executed this really well in theirPop-Up with a Purpose in Los Angeles. Their displays effectively the different products they carried along with their uses. For example, they had a display that showcased the different pizza ingredients they were selling. To make it more effective, they merchandised it with pizza utensils and even had an iPad with video showing how people could use the various ingredients.

“The whole purpose of visual merchandising, other than selling merchandise, is to teach the customer what they should buy and how to put it together,” says Cahan. “That’s why you accessorize a mannequin. Essentially, an unaccessorized mannequin is an untapped opportunity to upsell.”

Cahan recalls someone she knew who would look at an entire designed room in the Bloomingdale’s home section and simply say, “I want that.” The associates could then assemble all of the displayed products for her, and she’d take everything home knowing that it will look good, since she’s already seen it in action.

Immersive retailis creating more opportunities for retailers to stand out than ever before. But when it comes to in-store displays, it’s easy to forget to incorporate that interactivity. After all, displays are meant to be visual, right?

In today’s retail world, you’d be remiss to exclude interactivity with your in-store displays. Consumers want to experience your product, not just look at it.

Your in-store retail displays are no longer for simply showcasing products; they should be interactive elements of your store that allows customers to have deeper engagements with your merchandiseandyour brand.

London’sSipsmithis a gin distillery and shop. Theycreated a retail displaythat allowed customers to experience their product on the spot with a sipping station.

Another example comes from Brandless, which gave guests that ability to test their products at their pop-up. Here’s a tasting station where people could test different olive oils and sauces.

Taste-testing is a surefire way to create an immersive experience in the food and beverage industry, but there are other ways you can get creative.Anthropologieis one major retailer that creates an immersive experience through in-store displays of their home goods, clothing and accessory products. “When you go into Anthropologie, you’re entering their world and you know it,” Cahan says. “Each area is designed and displayed and decorated uniquely.”

“Anthropologie does a lot of visual layering; it’s not just one prop on a wall. They create texture and movement through their displays,” Cahan says. “They know their customer, and they gear everything towards that customer.”

Many times, retailers lack basic standards or guidelines. That makes it easier for smaller details to go unnoticed during the design process. “Standards matter,” Cahan says. “Messy means cheap, that everything’s on sale.”

Consider documenting brand guidelines for in-store displays. This becomes increasingly important for retailers with multiple locations, as it will help ensure both stores create a synonymous customer experience.

“It also sets a tone,” Cahan says. “One of the best ways a manual works is if you explain why you have this rule. When people understand why, then they’re more inclined to go along with it.”

“One of the things retailers do that is a mistake is that they basically just stay in their stores,” Cahan says. “They don’t shop competitors.” It’s easy to be “heads down” in your business and fall into a routine, doing the same displays you’ve always done.

First thing’s first: Take a walk. Look at the other shops near your store, home or favorite store to shop as a consumer. Which in-store displays catch your eye? What do you like about them? Take pictures so you can recall and recreate later.

“Getting inspired by other types of retail can be a wonderful way to freshen and invigorate their own displays.” – Linda Cahan, retail visual merchandising and design consultant

“For instance, if you have a clothing store and you look at the displays of a gift shop or an antique store or an arts and crafts store, you can creatively borrow ideas,” Cahan says. “It’s a wonderful way to get a lot of fresh ideas. There are no rules about what you can or cannot do.”

Here’s an inspiring window display to get you started: One clothing retailer on New York City’s Madison Avenue used inexpensive paint brushes to create an artistic and eye catching display. “It was unexpected and pretty and not expensive, but it was very creative,” says Cahan. “When you see creativity in a window, then you feel that you’re creative by buying from this store.”

Luxury brands may turn to Saks Fifth Avenue as a source of inspiration. Consider thesewindow displays for Dior: The innovative, industrial approach appealed to the quality of the product and style of their target market.

Portland-based Tilde, an accessories and home goods shop, is conveniently located across the street from a popular restaurant. The retailer lures customers in with their creative window displays, which are complemented by the textures and playfulness of the in-store merchandising. “She’s never spent more than $40 per window,” Cahan says.

One common mistake among retailers is failing to update the in-store displays frequently enough.One survey from PricewaterhouseCoopersfound that 40% of consumers make weekly purchases at brick-and-mortar retail stores. Whether they visit your store weekly or not, you’ll want to make sure each visit reveals new products to discover.

“Every couple of weeks, move displays around to keep them from getting stale – and certainly move them when new merchandise comes in. Since the fairly new products will still be selling, switch your displays two weeks after their arrival. Move one display from the front to the middle of the store and another display from the middle to the back.”

You can also use holidays, events and seasonal changes to inspire changes in your in-store retail displays. That’s what one San Francisco-basedCore Hardwarestore did for Halloween.

Hanging brooms in the windows, along with a “Witch broom?” tagline, drew attention and foot traffic, thanks to an unlikely but creative parallel between Halloween and hardware. “A little cleverness goes a long way. Window displays are on-street entertainment and on-street advertising,” Cahan says of the example. “It’s one of the less expensive ways to advertise and it lasts a long time, especially if you’re in an area where there’s walk-by traffic.”

While we may have grand, creative ideas, they’re not always realistic. There are logistics that every retailer must account for, including but not limited to budget, staffing, and timelines. “Displays are on and off the floor in a matter of weeks to make room for new products,” says Corey.

“Another challenge is electrical. Electrical doesn’t always run to the middle of the store,” Corey points out. “So when you have displays that are in the dead-zone, there’s no way to incorporate video displays or backlit displays.”

It’s best to anticipate logistical challenges and design your displays around those circumstances. “As designers, we have to build the displays with low cost, non-permanent features because they will likely be shuffled around or damaged during relocation,” Corey advises.

You can also get creative around those challenges. In small storefronts especially, space is extremely valuable. And retail displays take up that valuable space. Denver’sBouzy Wine & Spiritsdesigned its displays to allow for better functionality and use of space. Theircustom-made floor fixtures have wheels and a curved designthat makes it easy for the retailer to reposition them to make more room on the floor.

Chocolate brandjcocoalsomade their retail displays multi-functional. They hosted a pop-up shop in Washington’s The Bellevue Square shopping center and needed to find a way to maximize the space but also keep the pop-up fresh (as is the nature forpop-ups). Everything was easy to disassemble and reassemble, plus it offered additional storage for merchandise.

You don’t need to be an overly creative or experienced designer to create effective in-store retail displays. The most successful displays are created with a specific goal and the customer in mind.

According to researchersDr. L.D. Rosenblum, Dr. Harold Stolovitch and Dr. Erica Keeps, here is the breakdown of how our five sense processes information:

Clearly, human beings are highly visual in nature, and this is a fact that is particularly important when you’re running a physical store. One of the main reasons why people decide to shop offline is to see merchandise in person, and this is all the more reason to design winning retail displays.

The best way to make a lasting impression is to immerse your customers in a particular environment or setting. Check out the example below. The displays themselves are simple, and the retailer only makes use of a few simple racks and fixtures.

But because all the other elements of the store (i.e., the color of the walls, the cold-weather items, and the text “it’s cold outside”)  follow a unifying theme, the overall effect is quite powerful. It engulfs customers into the “cool” theme of the store, creating an immersive experience.

Keep this example in mind for your next display. Recognize that you don’t necessarily have to build something fancy. If you have a strong theme and ensure that all the components of your shop are in line with the story you want to tell, you can create a compelling and immersive experience using just a few simple products and fixtures.

In a survey by Ripen eCommerce, they found that the top reason people shop in brick and mortar stores instead of ecommerce is that physical retail enables shoppers to touch and feel items in person.

The key takeaway here? Create displays that encourage people to touch and feel for you products. If your items are sitting on a shelf or a table while still inside their respective boxes, you could be missing the chance to connect with your customers.

So, take your products out of their packaging and get shoppers to really experience your merchandise. Ulta Beauty, for example, does this with their hairdryers. While other stores keep the products in their boxes, Ulta has their hairdryers out for people to touch and feel them.

Need an easy and affordable way to breathe life into your visual merchandising? Use plants. Doing so doesn’t just make your displays more attractive, they can also create healthier and more pleasant shopping experiences.

In an interview with Retail Focus, Joey-Michelle Hutchinson, associate vice president at CallisonRTKL, said that having more greeneries in retail environments “makes them feel more inviting, which in turn decreases customer stress levels and increases their dwell time.”

Having more “green” displays clearly has some benefits, so consider incorporating plants into your designs.For inspiration, look no further than homeware retailer Harper & Grey House. Plants are a staple in their displays and the greens do a tremendous job in accentuating their merchandise.

Cross-merchandising is a subtle but effective way toincrease basket sizes and average order values. The practice promotes product discovery and entices shoppers to look at items that complement what they’re already buying.

There are a number of ways to implement cross-merchanding. One is to merchandise items that go together. You could, for example, create a display with a blouse, jacket, and matching purse.

Another idea? Display gift cards next to relevant products. Have a look at what Target is doing. The retailer has some baby-centric gift cards next to some toys in the store’s baby section to remind shoppers about their gift cards.

Speaking of little ones, have you considered creating kid-friendly displays? The practice can be quite effective particularly if you cater to Gen X and Millennial consumers.

Even the most creative displays will fall flat when they’re not well-lit. So invest, in the equipment to make sure that your products are displays in the best possible light.

Is your store on the small side? Consider using portable displays so you can make better use of your space. Such displays are easier to move so you can quickly re-merchandise your shop or make room for other things if necessary.

Portable displays can also help in keeping your visual merchandising focused and on-point. Since you have limited space, you’re forced to only display the most important and most high-impact products.

The following cookware display at Crate & Barrel does exactly that. The top part of the display has images of the items for sale along with a quick description of what each product is and what it does.

Colors can make or break your retail displays, which is why it’s essential to select the right color scheme. A big part of this will be driven by the colors of your products. If most of your items are come in pastel shades for instance, then those colors will be quite common in your displays.

That being said, how those products are displayed together matters a great deal. There are various ways to mix and match colors, so have a think about how you’ll do it in your displays.

The folks at Live By The Sword salon did an amazing job merchandising their shelf of Amika products, which come in a variety of colors.By really leaning into the colorful nature of Amika’s items, they were able to set up a vibrant display that pops.

Take this example from The LifeStyled Company. The team created a display featuring Babe Australia’s products, most of which come with predominantly white boxes and labels.

Timely displays are sure to grab the attention of your customers. Keep a close eye on your retail calendar and make sure that your visual merchandising coincides with relevant shopping events and seasons.

For instance, during last year’s back-to-school season, Target dedicated an entire corner to school supplies and relevant merchandise. The area of the store was filled with large, back-to-school displays that were impossible to miss.

If you’re running multiple stores, make sure your displays reflect the tastes and preferences of each location. Pay attention to local trends and popular products in the area and ensure they’re front and center in your displays.

You can shed light on these insights using your POS reporting and retail analytics. Identify the top categories or items in different cities and use the data to inform your merchandising decisions.

It also helps to call out the name of each town or city. For instance, the homeware retail chain Home Goods has a sign that reads, “Happy to Be in Cerritos” in its Cerritos branch.

Got a bunch of quotable quotes up your sleeve? See if you can incorporate them into your retail displays. When done right, a bit of text can complement your products and encourage shoppers to take a closer look.

And as a bonus, walls or displays with quotable quotes are a magnet for Instagram users. With the right display, you’re bound to gain a bunch of social shares and tags along the way.

If you’re looking for ways to showcase your full product lines without cramming your shelves and racks with too much merchandise, then see if you can use technology to “extend” your displays.

Case in point: when the online retailerShowpolaunched their pop-up store in Los Angeles, they chose to display a small selection of products in the shop.

Showpo even took things a step further and used another table to capture customers’ details in-store. To encourage people to provide their email, they threw a 15% discount that can be redeemed online.

In retail, space conveys value. The more space there is in a store or display, the higher the perceived value of the merchandise. This why many luxury retailers display items in standalone cases while discount stores overstuff their shelves with merchandise.

The right amount of space to use in your store depends on how you want to be perceived. But one thing is clear: if don’t want people to think that your products are cheap, then you’ll want to use fewer items in your display.

Take a look at this window fromSaks Fifth Avenue. The display features a single mannequin and table on which there’s just one pair of shoes. Aside from the paintings on the right, there aren’t a lot of details to distract people from the products.

Upcycling — the practice of using old or discarded materials to create something new — can help you build out-of-the-box retail displays. In the example below, we can see that the retailer used old chairs to create racks on which to hang their merchandise.

Now, don’t get us wrong: traditional racks and fixtures are still essential. But hopefully, this example encourages you to reimagine the use of old items. You never know — that old chair, box, or frame could be just the thing that would get your display to stand out.

If you’re celebrating a special holiday or occasion in your store, use your shop displays to show your festive side. Materials like balloons, tassels, garlands and other party supplies could help your displays pop.

With retail being more competitive than ever, there’s just no room for uninspired and mediocre retail displays. Now, more than ever, you need to constantly cook up in-store visuals can stop people in their tracks and encourage them to buy, share, and come back.

And remember that no matter what kind of display you have, it won’t be effective if it doesn’t showcase merchandise that your customers want to buy. That’s why it’s important to make data-backed decisions when it comes to merchandising. Use your POS or inventory management system to generate sales and product reports that will inform your decisions around what items to show off in your store.

Francesca Nicasio is Vend"s Retail Expert and Content Strategist. She writes about trends, tips, and other cool things that enable retailers to increase sales, serve customers better, and be more awesome overall. She"s also the author of Retail Survival of the Fittest, a free eBook to help retailers future-proof their stores. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Google+.

This article taps into discussing problems met by retailers and ways in which they can be solved using robotic automation. Firstly, the industry’s problems will be outlined, follow by exploring the existing solutions.

Brick-and-mortar shopping is regaining traction after the digitalization of everything during the pandemic, and, with it, retailers’ preoccupation with operational efficiency and increase in customer satisfaction. Online retail might seem to have the upper hand but what often fails to be mentioned is the value that consumers put on in-store purchases with54%of consumers declaring that they’d rather check the product online and buy it in-store.

Convenience and the ability to browse, feel, and touch the products define a satisfactory shopping experience formore than halfof the shoppers. What happens when the retailer doesn’t have what they want? Due to inconvenience caused by price and product quality (including in-store presence and display), as many as97%of consumers abandon their purchase journey.

A store’s success depends on how retail operations work towards customer satisfaction, and convenience while alleviating staff’s frustration with repetitive, monotonous tasks.

Although composed of aplethora of activities, from a customer’s point of view, retail store operations are equivalent to what they see: prices, promotions, products on shelves, queues, and checkout waiting time. The mechanism of retail operations concludes in-store, in front of the shoppers, and what they see is what defines their shopping experience perception.

Retailers see in-store inventory and price management in need of optimization and improvement to deliver the convenience customers are asking for. Both factors bring their own issues to the table, and solutions for them are not shy to appear, but do they provide substantial enough results to justify the investment?

To enhance the drive of additional business, retailers practice competitive pricing, sales, and promotions. The functionality of these methods relies on the accuracy of the information that gets to the customers, in this case, the shoppers that read the shelf displayed labels.

Taking into consideration that for consumer-packaged goods (and especially retail)prices tend to changefrequently, labels displayed in-store need to adapt as fast as the modifications happen. Failure to present accurate pricing and promotions inconveniences customers’ buying journey. In correlation, shopping experiences poisoned by the inconvenience of inaccurate labeling lead to loss of business, which is never desired.

Retailers have the responsibility to monitor if products are precisely named, marked with the correct price or if the right promotions are applied. Each label must be verified against the store’s price and promotions database.Such processes are defined by repetition and monotony, heavily relying on staff, an excessive amount of time to be finalized and continuous implementation.

Buildinga favorableenvironment for customers to navigate the store drives sales growth by delivering a comfortable, convenient shopping experience. By manipulating a store’s space through display planning, technology, lights, and color, retailers attract buyers’ attention while facilitating their journey.

Visual merchandisingresponsibilities have products as central elements. In-store organization and shelf display strategy are reliant on trends (either a shift in or new discoveries), brands’ product placement preferences, and shopping patterns. To keep the store environment compliant with product placement strategies, retailers require good understanding of the store’s condition and updated information about the on-shelf availability of products.

Stock and inventory management goes beyond a retail store’s backroom and extends in front of the customers, on shelves. It is a multi-level process defined by a long communicationchainthat is prone to errors and delays. More than ordering and restocking, issues of the supply operations target trends and patterns, data collection, demand forecasting (dependent on store data), on shelf stock condition monitoring (misplacement, clutter, missing).

Having overviewed the price and inventory issues retailers confront with, let’s explore existing robotic automation solutions available to retailers for their correction.

Solutionsthat solve problems of the supply chain are starting to get to theheart of the retailer. Even though they approach shelf gap detection and in-store inventory data, monitoring on-shelf availability needs a more robust solution that tacklesthese issues holistically.

The retail automation market is extensive. Aside from manual audit (which will not be approached in this article since it becomes ineffective and limited in the context of retail automation’s growth), three solutions seem to be under retailers’ consideration more often than the others.Electronic Shelf Labels and Shelf Cameras

Technologies such as Electronic Shelf Labels, to maintain price accuracy,andretail shelf-mounted cameras, to track product availability, are currently being deployed to physicalstoresto boost operational efficiency. Although popular, theyrepresentan incomplete solution for theformerly mentionedchallenges.

Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) are small units usinge-Inkpaper to display product data from price and name to stock availability or applied promotions. Being updated wirelessly and automatically from systems that centralize product information, ESLs serveretail operations concerning on-shelf price conformity.

To populate a supermarket-sized perimeter with smart labels, a retailer must invest in thousands of individual shelf-placed units. Abandoning old paper methods has increased the accuracy of the displayed prices, bringing some efficiency to time-consuming processes.

In-store prices are timely updated, and the perception is that they are more correct than ever. However, ESLs have replaced repetitive tasks with others of the same nature. Labels are not scannedby hand, but that doesn’t prevent malfunctions of the electronic price tags. The printing and individual placement of paper tags is changed with a tediousbatteryor device replacement process (sinceESLs battery lifespan is no longer than one year or two). Electronic labels’market growthis not indifferent to those hiccups since it is slowed down by difficult installation operation and expensive infrastructure costs. Additionally, as the store integration process of ESLs is highly dependent on the company they’ve been acquired from, so is the maintenance process.

To have smart labels under care requires not only supervising price display but monitoring the whole operation behind it. This translates to the staff being reliant on lengthy training sessions and the acquisition of technical knowledge necessary for the operation of ESLs. As seen by retailers, the only way in which the utilization of electronic shelf labels is justified (bottom-line the benefits delivered and ROI point of view) iswhen they bring to the table additional use cases. Hence, as a self-standing solution, it doesn’t seem to be fullyconvinced of its efficiency.

Even though providing a more accurate display of information, malfunctions at the level of individual tags still need to be noticed in time and solved individually, taking a step back towards manual audit. Still reliant on a long interdepartmental communication and on the store staff’s reaction to resolve detected issues, it stimulates misinformation risks and associated delays in action.

On-self availability refers to the products available to be purchased from a store, by customers at a given time. It is more complex than is believed as its status is affected by multiple factors along the supply chain, including out-of-stock situations,phantom inventory(product is out of stock but appears as existent in inventory systems), and product voids (items are approved but have nonexistent shelf tags and inventory). To monitor levels across the supply chain, retailers have slowly moved from manual audits to solutions based onartificial intelligence and computer vision. One of those solutions is retail cameras for on-shelf availability.

Cameras are mounted on either side of each retail store aisle, capturing the entire ensemble of shelves and products in front of them. With a low operational cost, retailers can attain real-time monitoring of theirstores. Although promising the delivery of hourly data for the whole stock-keeping unit, retail camera manufacturers are solving only half of the problem.Passive monitoringof OSA does not refill shelves, solve labels’ accuracy issues or their replacement.

From an operational point of view, shelf cameras do an excellent job when it comes to product and stock detection, compliance with product placement strategies, and data collection (inventory updates, shopping patterns). However, with shelf gaps being only one side of the problem, the retail shelf cameras build to high expenses and reliance on long communicationchainsprone to human error.

To define their utility, the advantages and disadvantages of their functionality are underlined. On the one hand, shelf cameras avoid image blurriness by being stationary; on the other they are easily impaired by external elements that can block their view (abandoned shopping carts, boxes, and pallets, clutter). 400 cameras dispersed around a 30k sqm surface offers permanent access to shelf view across retail stores. However, maintenance processes and costs for hundreds of devices do not justify the need fortotal, constant surveillanceof products. The surge in product demand remains unpredictable and concentrated under thepeaktraffic periods of the shopping day or promotional campaigns.

Retail OSA cameras require not only installation procedures that are lengthy and costly, but also dependency on the manufacturer across maintenance processes. From cables and mounting supports to network administration, and overall system setup and integration with the retail store, shelf cameras introduce supplementary tasks for which the staff needs to be rigorously trained. Video analysis needs to be performed both by cameras and designated staff for the relevant data to be filtered (i.e., distinguish people from other objects, clutter on shelves).

Having its focus only on-shelf availability and out-of-stock situations, shelf cameras are a solution that, although popular, still struggles to have its cost versus benefits validated by retailers. Complex integration processes and longadjustmenttimeframes for retailers and staff to operate the new system contribute to theimpeded adoptiongrowth of OSA cameras. Additionally, retailers must be ready for a considerable commitment upfront and ongoing, as they are indirectly forced into vendor lock (training, store integration, updates, and maintenance are dependent on the manufacturer of the solution). They need to be prepared for changes brought to the store’s infrastructure, already implemented software and solutions, and a different way of operation and specialized workforce demand.

ESLs and shelf cameras are solutions dependent on human intervention, relying on interventions subsequent to the reported data. Hence, development in retail automation has taken a giant leap toward solutions that aim to function without the need for human help.

Covering both price and inventory issues, autonomous robots have brought a new level of efficiency to in-store tasks as well as new problems and complexities that retailers have not been prepared for.

Some retailers have abandoned a gradual transition to the automation of retail operations and have jumped straight to autonomous aisle roaming robots. Autonomous robots scan stores for price tag inconsistencies, on-shelf inventory, and stock issues. In the last couple of years such robots have gained both in popularity, yet generated their own concerns. The solution has been put to question, its utilization causing trouble in retail stores and not delivering the expected results. Consumers have had trouble adapting to the self-roaming robot attacking, getting scarred by or being hurt by it

Although bringing efficiency to OSA and price tag detection-related tasks, in-store problems are still not solved in their integrity. Issues are detected and signaled but to actually replace a price label or replenish on-shelf stocks are actions still dependent on long, error-prone communication chains. ROI issues, and high acquisition and maintenance costs, together with registered malfunctions, make retailers question fully autonomous solutions.

Building bridges between solutions that are outdated, incomplete, and heavily reliant on staff intervention (ESLs and shelf cameras) and the farfetched, costly autonomous robots, semi-autonomous robots are collaborating with humans to deliver the best of both worlds.

With the aid of a human operator, a semi-autonomous retail robot completes activities linked to in-store inventory. Pushed through the store"s aisles to identify price label inaccuracies and gather data on the OSA status, it generates real-time scanning results.

The workforce required to execute tedious retail operation tasks is reduced to one staff member who oversees guiding the robot along the aisles and reviewing the output results of scanning sessions.  The same operator can take action to resolve or communicate in-store pricing mistakes or out-of-stock issues.

Most problems found during scanning can be resolved immediately, reducing the danger of misinformation or action delays by reducing the need for interdepartmental contact. Being semi-autonomous not only offers the advantage of being user-friendly (no specialized staff needed) but also more cost-effective than other solutions. The thing it needs most is to be brought from the charging station to the designated scanning start point.

ERIS completes the functionalities of shelf cameras through additional capabilities and use cases that treat OSA issues globally, not partially. By being able to detect and scan both paper labels and e-ink electronic tags, the semi-autonomous robot makes the task of monitoring labels, including ESLs malfunctions, easier. As the shelves are scanned, when price tag issues are detected, the operator can print the correct labels and replace them on the spot or send alerts about the electronic tags that need to be updated.

Encouraging the advantage of on-the-spot problem solving, ERIS gets rid of issues caused by long communication chains while being effective in resolving both price tag inconsistency and OSA issues. In perspective, the semi-autonomous robot eliminates risks and concerns brought by its fully autonomous competitors while being a more complete solution than electronic shelf labels and shelf cameras. Additionally,ERISnot only offers a better ROI, but it is also easy to integrate, maintain and get accustomed to solutions.

In-store pricing accuracy and on-shelf inventory issues are on top of retailers" minds when it comes to delivering convenience and satisfaction to customers. ESLs, shelf cameras and autonomous robots have been overviewed as some of the most popular solutions considered by retailers. However, they have their shortcomings when comparing the delivered results to the overall investment.

Solving both price inconsistencies and inventory issues, store robots have been created as a single unit roaming around in-store aisles. This eliminates the trouble of having to monitor hundreds of shelf places units, reduces maintenance time and minimizes the store changes brought through their integration.A smooth transition towards retail automation are semi-autonomous robots, that work with human staff to solve price and inventory issues as efficiently as possible while promoting on-the-spot problem-solving.

Editor"s Note: This article by Luke Wilwerding, director of retail solutions at Elo, an interactive touchscreen provider, originally ran on Digital Signage Today, a sister website of Kiosk Marketplace.

It"s no secret that many national retail chains are struggling to keep up with the growing threat from e-commerce sites. And with 77 percent of Americans now owning a smartphone, the shift towards mobile and online purchasing will only increase. So far in 2017, we"ve seen such retail giants as Sears, The Limited, JCPenney and American Apparel close stores, or in extreme cases, shutter their brick-and-mortar presence entirely.

With e-commerce options literally at their fingertips, shoppers are choosing with their dollars where they complete purchases – and if a retailer doesn"t create a satisfactory customer experience, including in-store e-commerce options, shoppers will take their wallets elsewhere.

New York & Company is one national retailer that is converging online and in-store selling by introducing self-service kiosks in select stores throughout the U.S. Serving as a complement to the store associates and traditional checkout area, the kiosks are positioned throughout the store or near the service desk. This gives shoppers the choice of self-service by providing multiple touchpoints throughout the store where they can shop both the store’s physical and online product offering, make a secure purchase and ship their order directly to any address. New York & Company captures all possible sales, expands their point of sale capabilities and gives customers tech options that they are beginning to expect and intuitively already know how to use.

Luxury and smaller boutique retailers are also finding ways to benefit from using interactive technologies in-store. Monica Rich Kosann, a luxury retail jeweler, is using touchscreens at its freestanding location in The Shops at Columbus Circle for their own take on the "white glove" shopping experience. To maximize the availability of their inventory beyond what is in their shop, the sales associates use the screens for personalized assisted selling, where they can comfortably show shoppers the full line of jewelry and demonstrate how different pieces, such as their signature keepsake lockets, can be customized.

As these two examples show, retailers of all sizes can benefit from using interactive technologies in-store. But it"s not a one-size-fits-all approach, and what type of technology a store should incorporate depends on the type of store, its product offerings and what its customers are looking for in a shopping experience.

For the retailer looking to create an omnichannel shopping environment, self-service kiosks allow shoppers to choose an online option while they"re already in your store. This can help prevent a loss of sale if a location is out of stock of an item, while still giving the store credit for that particular sale. Offering ship to store, home or office options also continues to converge online and in-store channels while giving customers more choices on how they shop a brand.

But not all retailers necessarily need a kiosk installment. They can be a significant cost investment, and smaller retailers and boutiques can equally benefit from using digital signage with point of sale capabilities. These touchscreens can range from a tablet size up to 70+ inches depending on the needs of the retailer. By doubling as both signage – that broadcasts beautiful, interactive imagery or dynamic pricing/promotions – and a place to deploy a website, retailers get more bang for their buck while still giving their shoppers the in-store technology options they crave.

It can be overwhelming to choose from the wide range of digital signage and kiosk options available. Retailers researching how to incorporate in these technologies should drill down what they"re looking to get out of it, and make smart choices before making an investment. Some questions to consider:Do I have limited space to display my inventory, but a large product offering?

These questions are a good starting point to think strategically about how to stand out from the crowd and impress customers. Retailers should expect to see their competitors starting to incorporate tech solutions, so the time is now.

Online shopping has taken the world by storm, and the pandemic forced everything even further online. People do enjoy online shopping, but there is something about physically being inside of a store that will never go out of style. And we can prove it to you too. Here are five reasons why brick-and-mortar retail will never disappear.

The internet lies. We all know this. Because anyone can have access to it, it’s incredibly easy to make up a story and run with it. It’s even easier to create an entire fake company and steal money from hard-working people. You can’t trust everything you read online, especially when it comes to shopping.

You might think you’ve stumbled upon a trustworthy site, but you never know. People can even make up customer reviews so it looks like they’re talking about their products. Don’t be fooled, and don’t believe the hype. Anyone can make a fake site, but not everyone can own an actual retail store.

More goes into running a brick-and-mortar business. You need to prove to a long line of people that your business is trustworthy. When you enter a store, you know exactly what you’re getting. You know what you’ve signed up for, and it shows in your purchases.

In the store, you have a chance to try on the clothes and see if the size on the label is correct. You can try out the product to see if it performs the way you want it to before you commit to it. The personal touch of a store is something an online experience can never offer.

Speaking of personal touch, brick-and-mortar stores offer human connection. COVID-19 forced everyone to go into isolation, and humans are not built for that sort of lifestyle. We crave human contact and connection, even if some of us are homebodies.

Knowing that you have the option to connect with people at some point gives you peace of mind, whether you choose to partake in it or not. Staying indoors and shopping behind a computer screen forever is not a healthy way to live. Eventually, people will want to venture out and leave their homes.

The social interactions people get while shopping does not happen in the cyber world. You have a chance to meet up with friends or family and chat about new developments in your life when you’re out and about. Trying to imitate the experience virtually will prove disappointing.

People often make the common misconception that the internet produces fast results. This is false. How many times have you caught yourself staring out your window, wondering when your package will arrive? How often do you check back in on that site for a status update? Has the order been processed? Did they ship it out? What’s the expected delivery date?

These are questions you never have to ask with in-person shopping because you get it right when you need it. The results are much faster. After you find what you’re looking for, you can leave the store with it immediately. There are times when the item you want may not be in the store, but then you can always try another one down the road.

Owners and managers make it their business to ensure their most popular items are fully stocked. They even do the same thing with the less popular items. It’s about pleasing the consumer and making sure what they need is there. Imagine running out of milk while making a cake. No one wants to order the milk and wait for it to arrive. You need brick-and-mortar retail stores for those last-minute stops.

As previously stated, online shopping has nothing on human interaction. Those robotic customer service reps never fully satisfy customers. This is why people are always screaming on the phone, asking to speak with an agent. They need a live human to handle their problem. Some sites even have it set up where they don’t have a phone number, only an email address. How annoying is that?

Some online storefronts have instant chats set up, but the responses you’ll receive are automated and don’t always answer your question or fulfill your request. Companies set them up to answer some of their more common questions, but what if you have a unique situation? You don’t want to deal with never resolving your issue.

In-person customer service reps are unmatched. They see the concern on your face and fully hear the problem. And that customer service experience begins way before you have a problem. If you’re in the store browsing, they’ll let you know to look for them if you need help with anything.

And if you are browsing the store and can’t find an item, they’ll point it out for you immediately. That personal connection between employee and shopper is what keeps your business going.

There is an adrenaline rush you get when shopping in person. There is nothing like it, especially on the weekends. That’s when most people are out running their errands, and there is a particular thrill that goes through the air. For some reason, it feels better swiping your card than simply hitting the “process payment” button.

Looking at those prices up close and personal does not have the same effect as behind a computer screen. Products in the store are priced differently sometimes too. You don’t have to worry about upcharges, hidden fees, or delivery charges. The price you see placed inside that shelf price tag holder will only slightly increase due to tax.

You don’t need any additional surprises with your purchase besides that. Plus, doing some in-person shopping is a great way to get that cardio in. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Shopping is a physical activity involving a lot of walking. People shop everywhere, and some even take the time to do it while they’re out of town. It’s an activity that will never go out of style.

Here at The Global Display Solutions, we recognize the importance of brick-and-mortar retail and believe its popularity will never allow it to disappear. Take comfort in this fact, and use that information to find new ways to improve your store. In fact, let us help you! For more information, visit our website.

Sustainability and speed are the core of everything for this LA-based clothing company. They are on a mission to inspire consumers to be more eco-conscious, while also being at the forefront of fashion.

Change happens fast for Reformation, where a sketch becomes a dress within 30 days, and iPads and the “magic” wardrobe allows for simple and seamless shopping in-store experience. They needed their ecommerce platform to adapt to their ever-changing world of fashion