3 Easy Merchandising Tips to Drive Retail Sales  

Retail merchandising isn’t easy, but it’s also not applied physics. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. When walking into your retail area, what are the first things that catch your eye? Have you used wall space in the back at the right height to draw customers in? Is anything blocking your view? These are your sightlines, and being able to effectively direct attention can help you optimize the way you merchandise your store.

Here are some ideas that’ll help you make the most of your retail space while encouraging sales:

Keeping shelves, fixtures, mirrors, and tables clean, stocked, and straightened on a daily basis makes your displays approachable and can even aid in the reduction of theft. Spacing products far enough apart give your displays a modern look and allows the customer the ease of picking up product. Remember, it’s easier to sell an item if the customer has it in their hands.

For skin care and other applicable products, keep products and their pumps facing the same direction. Turn pumps out for testers and sideways for non-testers. Displaying a collection together also makes it easier for the customer and encourages them to buy the entire product regimen.

Properly merchandised shelves will remove barriers often created in a shopping experience, like the fear of knocking products over or having to ask the price of an item. Don’t overlook the flow through your space. Make sure it’s easy to maneuver through and that there aren’t any dead ends. And make sure you’ve got the right light on the subject. Lighting is an often overlooked aspect of any retail area. It can make a difference between selling a product and allowing it to continually sit in the dark.

Make sure your products are accessible to the customer. Your chance of selling items locked in a cabinet or on shelves behind your register is very low. Accessible products, like testers, allow the more tactile customer the satisfaction of touching, smelling, and handling the product, which makes the connection between sampling and making a purchase clearer. Because consumers are looking for experiential moments, it differentiates your shopping experience from an online purchase.

Pricing all products, including testers, avoids the awkwardness of the customer having to ask. Place price stickers on the back or bottom of the items to keep the front visually clean. Placing product signage to the outside or end of the shelf makes the shelves look consistent and approachable. Attach stylish readers to your displays when the print is tiny so that customers can reach for them to read labels. Also, consider that the average height of a female is 5'5", so don’t make your top shelves much higher than this so they’re easy to see and reach. Your older clients still remain one of the targeted consumer segments, so avoid having customers bend or stretch to reach for products. This will also help customers that may have a disability.

It’s crucial not to forget the importance of the sales associate, receptionist, or esthetician. They can help turn a browsing customer into a purchasing one if they're properly trained to answer questions and motivated to make the sale.

Group products together in unexpected ways to promote a season / holiday or convey a theme, such as “Spa Night at Home.” Displaying signage of magazine mentions and promotions is a great way to excite a customer about a product. Place the actual product mentioned in front of the signage to again make clear the connection from the mention or promotion to purchasing the product.

Create a highlight area that changes regularly. This could be a small table at the front of the store that’s the first thing your customers see when they enter the space. Changing the displays throughout your boutique every two months allows for featuring specific products and an increase in various product sales. And regular customers will discover “new” items that might’ve been previously located elsewhere. Rotating out of season or discontinued items to the bottom shelves or “special value” area keeps shelves looking updated and fresh.

Keep these factors in mind when arranging your store and always look at your retail area from a customer's perspective. What makes perfect sense to you might be lost on them. Keep it simple, visually appealing, and don’t forget to be creative to keep your retail merchandising fresh.