3 Ways to Help Gift Stores Strengthen Their Merchandising

When it comes to brick and mortar stores, nothing is more powerful than the visual appeal your store can offer. From the curb appeal of your storefront to what customers see when they first walk into your retail space, there are countless ways to entice consumers through displays and merchandising. To help? Consider the three tips below when it comes to merchandising your gift store.

1. Incorporate the Power of Sentiment Through Your Display

Shopping is an experience and as a result, should be treated as one. To help strengthen the experience your store offers, consider how incorporating emotions into your displays can help strengthen your store sales. For example, if you have inventory ideal to be purchased as gifts for new babies or growing families, use signage in your display to remind customers this may make the perfect gift. A simple framed caption of “Make This a Gift They’ll Cherish Forever” strategically positioned near this inventory can help remind customers they need to purchase something – even if this particular something wasn’t on their immediate shopping list. Another idea would be to use window displays to not only highlight store inventory, but also to trigger memories. Nostalgia is a great way to capture customer attention, so consider how using this theme in your displays can also help you capture customer sales.

2. Highlight Staple & Statement Items Through Merchandising

For every retailer there are essentially two categories of inventory – staples and statements. Staples consist of must-have items that merchants depend on to help keep their sales steady and their customers happy, such as milk is to a grocery store. Statements, on the other hand, are items that are more seasonal, trendy or meant to be a one-time buy with the intent to sell fast. Keeping this in mind, consider how merchandising your statements and staples together can help you capture customer attention. Staples should gain some responsiveness, but it’s statements that ultimately keep customers engaged and curious. Using both in your own merchandising strategy, overlap staples and statements in the same displays so that customers will not only be captivated by what they may need but also by items they will want to impulsively buy. Favorite vendors to consider merchandising in your own store include souvenir and novelty items from Squire Boone, plush toys from Petting Zoo and apparel items from Exist – all of whom will be exhibiting at the upcoming IGES Show in Tennessee from October 31 – November 4, 2017.

3. Educate & Share Product & Vendor News Through Displays

Among the many advantages a brick and mortar store has compared to an online business is that it can offer hands-on opportunities for consumers to engage with inventory. Through merchandising, stores can share product news via signage, encourage customers to interact with inventory and strengthen the overall engagement between consumers and brands thanks to the physical connection storefronts can bring them. To help do this, use signage to encourage customers to try-on, pick-up or simply touch your inventory – particularly inventory that lends itself to hands-on engagement such as fidget spinners do. Additionally, ask your vendors what they may have to help support you in these efforts and incorporate their display pieces, vendor signage or other tactics into your merchandising strategy. Another tip? Rotate new items into more featured display areas and identify them as “new” or “just arrived” so that your customers won’t miss them.

Finally, remember that when merchandising your gift store, also consider how your customers interact in your store space. Are they frequent customers or does your store cater to out-of-town guests more often? Is your store located in a destination area or are you located in a high traffic part of town with many walk-in customers?

When you look at all the factors that influence your customer base, this will also help you in your merchandising strategies – particularly when identifying if your customers are frequent visitors to your store or not. Consider how signage hung from the ceiling to better direct your customers to what they may be looking for, for example, can offer value to your merchandising strategy, as well as make sure to use good old fashioned customer service to support your display efforts. Collectively, these efforts and those mentioned above will help you get on track to strengthening not only your store merchandising goals but also your store sales.