ConnectorCommunicatorVisual Merchandising.docx

ConnectorCommunicatorVisual Merchandising.docx

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ConnectorCommunicatorVisualMerchandising

Connector&Communicator:

HowimportantisVisualMerchandising（VM）forBritain’sApparelRetailingIndustry?

J.D.PowerandAssociates2008WirelessRetailSalesSatisfactionStudy（Wearables,Jan.2009:

18）reported:

‘17%revealthatstoredisplayfactoredintotheircustomers’shoppingexperience;itsimportanceisrightuptherewiththestoreitself（16%）andtheproducts’priceand/orpromotion（16%）.’

Incomparisonwithothercountries，thereisanultimateconcentrationintheUK’sapparelretailingsector.Theretailingbusinesses,therefore,strivetoreinforcetheirprofitability.（Birtwistle,G.,2001）VisualMerchandising（VM）isa‘powerfultool’（Retailnu,2008,Accessed:

2010,July25）forthemtoachievemarketingtargets（e.g.salestarget）andinfluencetheircustomers’purchasedecisionprocess.

VisualMerchandising（VM）isacampaignforthebusinesses’purposesinup-to-dateretailingsettingsviathepresentationofcommodities.（Retailnu,2008）Also,thereare3majortechniquesofVMavailable,storedesign,productpresentationandwindowdisplay.（Burtrug,F.,2010）TheawarenessofVMcanbederivedfromnearly20yearsago,andUSAisastarterandexpertinthefield.VMthenenjoyedpopularityinAsia,Europe,andUKmarkets.（Mckeever,K.,2007b）

AccordingtoflowchartA,VMcampaignisaprocess,connectingtheorganizationstotheircustomersandcommunicatingwiththeconsumersthroughvisualmerchandisers’artworks,inordertoboostsalesandcustomers’loyalty.Thus,thisessaywillsetouttheimportanceofVMfortheapparelretailingsectorfrommarketingandcustomerperspectives,basedontheflowchart.Inaddition,theviewsonVMfrommarketers,consultantsandvisualmerchandisersareavailableintheessay.

FractioningasaConnectorthroughBrandDelivery

VMisaconnectorbetweentheapparelretailersandtheircustomersvia‘BrandDelivery’.AsKarlMckeever（Mckeever,K.,2007b,Accessed:

2010,July25）defined,abranddirectorofbranddeliveryconsultancyVisualThinking,oneoftheUKandEurope’sleadingVMconsultants,‘BrandDeliveryisawell-understoodpractice,transformingaconceptualideaintoatangiblerealityorexperience.’Thatistosay,VMandbranddelivery,basedonbetterperceptionofandmeetingcustomers’needs,transmitthebrandvalues（essenceofabrand,e.g.excellence）andvalueproposition（e.g.valueformoney）tothecustomers,renderingtheenhancementofagoodshoppingexperience.（Mckeever,K.,2007a）Inthewriter’sopinion,theKarlMckeever’sdefinitionpresentsthebottomlineofVMandbranddelivery,namelyvisuallyestablishingbondswithcustomersasawayofhelpingthemtoperceivetheunderlyingmeaningsandbenefitsoftheproducts,proposedintheorganisation’smarketingplan,inordertodifferentiatetheorganizationfromtheircompetitors.

CaseA:

WindowDisplay

‘HouseofFraser’,Birmingham,England

Theme:

‘ChristmasGlamour’,recallingthestyleoftheRoaringTwentiesandthejazzeraoftheForties

‘Thewindowscreatealifestylefortheshopperandencouragetheproducttosellitself,’HelenCurtis-Toozestated,HouseofFrasier’screativedesigncontroller.

（Dinardo,A.,2007）

Windowdisplay,forexample,isafundamentalcontributorfortheretailerstotransformtheirbrandvaluestothepotentialcustomers.Itisawindowinashop,demonstratinggoodsandtheimageoftheshop.Mostimportantly,thedisplayiscapableofshowingthecurrentfashiontrendstheretailers’articlesmatchandseasonalarrivalsbyaneye-catchingapproach,forinstancetellingapaststorytoinspirecustomers’nostalgicemotion（e.g.CaseA）.Thepotentials,consequently,aretemptedbythebrandimage（Moore,C.M.,andLochhead,M.,1998）,beforetheyassesstheproductonofferforshoppingchoice,dependingonwhetherthewarearecompatiblewiththeirpreference,lifestyleandself-image（Hite,R.E.,andBellizzi,J.A.,1985）.Inotherwords,theshopwindowtransmitstheappropriateandattractiveinformationtocustomers,urgingtheirinterestsontheshop.Forthisreason,thereisabandwagonintheUKretailingsector,deliveringthestateoftheartfashiontrendtothefashionshoppersswiftlyfortheimprovementofthecompetitiveedge.（Jackson,T.andShawD.,2001）Thefactsindicatethatthedisplaysshouldbedesignedinvitingandchangedseasonally,associatedtothefashiontrends.Inturnthecustomerswillbearrestedtoinvestonprevailingfashiontrends,asthedisplaysarevisual,emotionalandpsychologicalstimulantsforcustomers.

Asawhole,itissuggestedthatalthoughcustomershavelotsofchoicesforshoppingduetoover-loadedinformationnowadays,theretailerswouldstandoutlargelythankstoshowingvisible,memorableandevaluableimagesrelatedtotheirbrandvalues;invirtueofwhich,theapparelretailerswouldfindtheirwaytoinfluencecustomerpurchasedecisionprocessformaximumprofits.

Performingasacommunicatorby‘VisualVoice’and‘SilenceService’

Asacommunicator,VMisbeneficialfortheapparelretailers,creatinganeffectiveinteractionwiththeshoppersvia‘VisualVoice’and‘SilenceService’.

（Ryan,J.,2010）

FaithBartrug,avisualmerchandiseratFaithBartrugDesign,revealedthatVMisa‘visualvoice’—Speakingtocustomersbyvisuallanguagesuchasgraphic,colourandlightetc.toformaenjoyableatmosphere（e.g.CaseB-1）—‘Theenvironmentinvitesyouinside.Thepsychologyofgooddesignkeepsyouthere.’（Bartrug,F.,2010a,https:

//aithbartrugdesign.com/about-publishedAccessed:

2010,July25）Thedesigner’sviewpresentsVMasaself-promotionalapproachfortheapparelshopsviathevisuallywell-designedimage,whichhasahugeimpactontheshoppers’storechoices.Giventhatthereisamultitudeofassortmentsavailableinashop,VMisaneffectivemethodtocustomizethecommoditiesvisibly,palpablyandunderstandablybytheusageofuniquedisplays.Clothingstores,forinstance,tendtoadoptanopenplaceinstoredesignfordisplayingproductsasmuchaspossible,asawayofenhancingcustomers’interestsontheshop.（e.g.CaseB-2）Accordingly,SusanRichie,（Wearables,Jan.2009:

18）,vicepresidentandco-founderoftheNationalNetworkofEmbroideryProfessional,concluded:

‘Themoreyougiveyourcustomeravisualofwhereshemightwanttogo,theeasiershewillgothere;ifyouhavesamplesavailable,theywillsell.’ThissuggeststhatVMisvitalfortheapparelshopstoattractpotential,regularcustomersandenhancesalesvolume.

CaseB-2StoreDesign&ProductPresentation,

‘Anthropologie’,London,England

Themajorityoffemaleclothingandaccessoriesarepresentedonthetables,andsetanessentialareawithafemaletailor’sformwearingacardiganandsportingaskirtconstitutedofbrokenwillow-patternporcelainpieceswiredtogether.Also,therearewhiteporcelainteaandcoffeepotscoveringwithlooselycrochetedwhitecovers.

‘Theintroductorymessage:

Thisstoreisallaboutvisualdetail.’

（Ryan,J.,2010）

Nevertheless,theaimofVMisnotonlyproduct-oriented,butcustomer-oriented,namelycreatingvaluesforcustomersviaaservice.AccordingtoMr.Makeever,VMissucha‘silentservice’,benefitingcustomersforseekingarticles,offeringinspiration,solutionsandsuggestingmerchandisingmessages.（Mckeever,K.,2007a）MareEBabejandTomPollak（Medcalf,G.,May2008:

38）,partnersofMarketingStrategyConsultingFirm,ReasonInc.,maintained:

‘Itisindisputablyintuitivethatamessagedeliveredatpoint-of-purchase（e.g.CaseB-2）hasthebestchancetoinfluencethedesiredbehaviour,gettingtheconsumertotaketheproductofftheshelf.’Theconsultants’ideasrefertoafactthatthecommunicationintheshopshouldberegardedasavaluablecustomerservice,whichworksbothways,notonlytohelpcustomerstoevaluatetheproductstheshopsells,butalsoinfluencetheirpurchasedecisionprocess.

InBritain,therewereabout33%ofconsumerswhomakenodecisiononwhatbrandtheyweregoingtobuyuntiltheywerein-store,whilethestatisticsworldwidewas30%.Next,16%ofBritishshoppers,beyondthepercentageofglobalshoppersby6%,alteredtheirplantobuyotherbrands,dissimilartothebrandtheyplannedtobuy.Mostsignificantly,onein4customers,whohadnoplanforshoppingpreviously,boughtanitemduetothein-storedisplay.（Marketing,3Dec.2008）ThesurveyrevealsthattheBritsactuallyhavelessideasforwhichabrandorproducttheyintendtobuyinashop,butVMhelpsthemtomaketheirdecisionorhasinformativeinfluencestochangetheirformerplan.

FlowchartBshowsthelinksbetweenVMcampaignandcustomers’purchasedecisionprocess.Ascanbeseen,itisobviousthatpurchasedecisionprocessisalsoaninformationreceivingprocessintermsofcustomers（Birtwistle,G.,2001）,whichisdividedinto5stages,whiletherearetwokeypartsinVMcampaign,externalandinternal,whichhasadirecteffectoneachstageofthepurchasedecisionprocess.Initially,windowdisplayattemptscustomersbydemonstratingtheshop’simageandconveyingthefashionableinformationtothem.（WaIters,D.,andLaffy,D.,1996）Thatleadstostimuli,whichdrawpotentialcustomers’‘Attention’ontheshopandresponsetotheinformation（Howard,J.A.,andSheth,J.N.,1969）—thecustomerswillhaveanattempttoentertheshopforfurtherinformation.Thatmeanswindowdisplayconnectstheapparelshopandthepotentialssuccessfully.Andthen,theinternalpart,storedesignandproductpresentation,startstoinfluencethepurchasedecisionprocess.Theluredcustomersbegin‘BrandComprehension’fo