Published: 1st Dec 2021
From Eve-olution to showrooming, The Metamorphosis Group’s visual retail specialist Eve Reid, gives us her top expert tips for building winning seasonal displays just in time for Christmas.
Why not try adding a few of these principles in your displays this season and you could be in it to win it with a voucher worth £250 for the best seasonal display in our December competition - see details at the bottom of the page.
Customers love to see change. An effective in-store seasonal display can quickly and inexpensively make your store appear fresh and relevant, whatever the season.
We’re all getting pretty used to adapting and changing in today’s crazy, fast-paced ‘Covid’ retail environment. But with Christmas fast approaching, now you have a chance to spread some joy in the midst of it, while always remaining commercially savvy.
There are some important promotional ‘must-dos’ that I teach retailers that can really help you develop successful sales promotions every time. They are general principles of visual merchandising and can be applied across a range of sales and marketing opportunities.
Have A Clear Purpose
Taurus Wines is an independent, award-winning wine merchant and importer near Bramley in the Surrey Hills.
As with any promotion, first things first – you MUST know your reason for doing it.
What’s your purpose? What are you trying to achieve? What are your goals? Who are you trying to reach?
Your objectives could be to generate extra cash, make room for new products, spring clean slow-moving lines, help launch a new line or maybe just inject a bit of life and excitement into your space after what’s been a difficult few months.
All are fab motivations, but without a purpose your plans and budget can go right out the window before you’ve even begun.
For your promotion to be a success, it must be based on a clear understanding of who you’re trying to target. So in all things, know who your customer is.
Choose A Theme
Stories sell. So when choosing a product, think about how you can create a story to actively ‘push products’.
Think seasonally, be strategic and stay firmly in tune with your customer’s needs and desires. You want to ensure that you’re always choosing RELEVANT products for them.
Screenshot from this years 2020 Tesco TV advert
The long-awaited Christmas ads each year are a perfect example of choosing great themes for your promotion. Tesco’s recent Christmas campaign has captured the nation’s heart with its theme and message. Inspired by the difficulties that have arisen during the pandemic; people forced to spend time apart, facing job redundancies and money difficulties, all the while adapting to ever-changing restrictions on their lives.
Tesco have used their campaign across TV, in-store visuals and displays to suggest we’ve suffered quite enough, and instead encourage the nation to forget all about the ‘naughty’ things they’ve done this year and focus on treating themselves this Christmas.
Perhaps you could do something similar and offer a ‘Go on, you deserve it” collection or “Guilty pleasure” seasonal display.
Just REMEMBER! Think carefully about your tone of voice. Whether it’s ‘’We love this…” or “Last chance for this….’’ what it must do is always sound like you.
Choose Your Products Wisely
Stories sell. So when choosing a product, think about how you can create a story to actively ‘push products’.
Think seasonally, be strategic and stay firmly in tune with your customer’s needs and desires. You want to ensure that you’re always choosing RELEVANT products for them.
SPRING - STORAGE/CLEANING
SUMMER - EATING ALFRESCO
HIGH SUMMER - BBQS
AUTUMN/WINTER - LIGHTING I.E. CANDLES
CHRISTMAS - DINING/XMAS GIFTS
Choose The Right Position For Your Promotion
Position is everything and eyeline is buy line! You must choose the correct physical position that will maximise your promotion and push chosen products.
Windows are a huge opportunity and don’t forget about the people who are entering the store too.
By implementing a dedicated ‘seasonal area’ or ‘hot-spot’ upon entrance, you’ll ensure your store stays fresh and continues to inspire all customers, even the regulars.
There’s an art and skill to visual merchandising, but luckily it’s something that can be learned. Throughout the year the Metamorphosis group run masterclasses on ‘space planning’ and ‘how to visual merchandise’ to help retailers learn the basic principles, and ensure their retail space is working hard for them.
Contact us directly to see if there’s a class in your area or if you’d like to book in retail consultation - see details at the bottom.
Setting The Stage
Visual merchandising combines the art of display with commercial thinking to sell more products.
Choose your fixtures and fittings wisely, remembering that it’s your products that should always remain the focus.
Choosing the right fittings will help you to focus the customer’s attention on your products and maximise the use of your retail space.
In the picture below, we’ve used WBC’s BRIX range of modular display units that can be built big or small depending on your space.
They provide a versatility that allows you total flexibility for seasonal campaigns or permanent promotional displays.
Graphics, Signage and Communication
Stories help to build relationships between consumers and products and signage helps you communicate the ‘why’ you should buy.
Today’s shoppers don’t just want a drill, or a t-shirt, or a carton of eggs — they want to know why they should buy yours. Who made it, what’s it made of, what’s so special about it? When you can get something anywhere the consumer needs to know why they should get it from you.
So when doing your promotion, you have an amazing opportunity to use messaging graphics and imagery to explain all this. To sell the story and to give people the ‘why they should buy’. It’s a chance to connect, create interest and show your personality. Don’t leave that to chance.
Follow Eve @MetamorphosisGr
Metamorphosisgroup.co.uk