The Ultimate Guide to Retail Merchandising (2024)

Jul. 04, 2024

The Ultimate Guide to Retail Merchandising

Visual Merchandising Displays

Nothing moves a product like a compelling, unique visual merchandising display, whether it comes from splashes of color, haute designs for luxurious tastes or ingenious attention-getters.

In this section of the guide, we’ll explore visual merchandising displays and strategy and their place in the arc of product sales, including a special focus on:

Product placement marketing;

Next-Gen planograms;

Designing and managing retail product displays;

Exciting new retail display ideas;

The tools and processes that work;

Optimal shelving strategies; and

Boosting sales with retail signage.

These topics are designed to benefit the entire range of players that operate with one goal:

Fill that shopping cart!

So if you’re designing your latest product, planning out your store’s latest new retail execution strategy or plotting your next grand scheme to ignite the world with legendary (yet efficient) merchandising – we’ve got something to offer you, right here, right now.

We’ll also sprinkle in a dash of psychological strategy, add a dollop of layout and store design, and create a sturdy base of practical tips, tools and insights along the way.

Get Started with a Quick Read: The Good, Bad and Ugly in Retail Product Displays

Product Placement Marketing

Brands, merchandisers and retailers put massive time, thought, energy and negotiation to ensure everyone benefits from their symbiotic – sometimes contentious – relationship with one another.

Meanwhile, customers are bombarded with options that can pull their attention from the delightful experience of seeing, feeling, touching the product in real life – a proven (and enjoyable) process that leads to a better bottom line for all involved.

Don’t let the competition distract your market. Keep customers interacting with products, entering stores and filling baskets by getting your product placement fundamentals right.

Necessities: Whether a store focuses on specific categories of products or they run a one-stop shop for every need, carefully placed necessity items will draw shoppers to the areas where your highest-profit impulse items will jump into their baskets.

For instance, game stores can attract shoppers with essentials like controller batteries, cables and cleaning kits that emphasize an uninterrupted entertaining experience. Home improvement stores can keep a stock of high-replacement items like disposable gloves and masks. Home décor stores can stock well-placed consumables like air-freshener replacements, clean-up gear and Swiffer pads – people still love that handy little broom… Or is it a mop? Is it a duster? We don’t know what a Swiffer is – but it’s awesome.

Whatever you choose, the science behind layout mandates that you make these magnets visible from flow points and doorways, so that customers commit to a journey through your money-making impulse items as they meet their everyday needs.

Tip: Window signage product marketing that advertises discounts for these oft-replaced items will help get them in the door.

Impulse Buys: Visual product placement marketing allows some flexibility for impulse items, but it usually boils down to what kind of placement is possible – more than one company will be vying for certain spaces.

Since you’re forced to rank your options, the counter and checkout zones are top priority, always. End caps along necessity zones or a spot along the main thoroughfare make a great second.

Sale Items: You can’t go wrong with sale items that deliver high-volume profit. But which product placement will market them the most successfully? Forced pathway layouts will give an advantage if you take care to position displays that “bump” customers along their journey. Eye-catching visuals for your products will be more important than physically impeding their progress.

Execution Is Key: All of this planning won’t mean much if your product placement marketing strategy never comes to life. Digital product marketing tools can help bring order to the chaos of product merchandising execution. How? Through visual confirmation on execution, easily managed merchandiser scheduling, and more. Read more about bringing order to the chaos of product marketing in our free guide.

Entryway Tip: One might think that the entrance area is a great spot for a fun grab, but experience tells us that the first 30 seconds or 10 steps through the door, upon entering, are more of an orientation and acclimatization zone: a great tip here is to ensure this area is inviting and has signage that encourages exploration or directs to a necessity.

The Advantages of Next-Gen Planograms

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to build an engine from a schematic?

Better question: how do you think you’d fare building that beautiful back yard shed with only a blueprint to guide you?

In both of these scenarios, you’re left holding the bag – literally – and have no guideposts to help you. With outdated strategies to instruct your merchandisers, these examples might just trigger annoying memories for field reps who used old-school planograms.

Worse still, these clunky old planograms jeopardize planogram compliance, turning execution into an all-or-nothing situation in the field.

Here’s a few ways next-gen product merchandising planograms turn that antiquated process on its head. How?

Next-gen planograms isolate steps in execution and make them easy-to-follow, helping improve compliance, speed execution and break down the process into digestible chunks for hard-working field reps.

More Advantages for Retail Merchandising and Product Companies

The process starts with step-by-step, checkpoint-enabled instructions.

Employees or merchandisers then snap a photo to verify their work.

Photos are auto-tagged with time, date, location and more metadata to prevent gaming and falsification

Real-time verification and display status data is quickly searchable to keep a health check on all progress, deadlines, and inventory status.

The Natural Insight platform integrates this performance data with other data like attendance, check-in/check-out times, task completion, employee strength data and tagging, and more.

It’s awesome. This is literally the science-fiction reality of product and retail merchandising.

Tip: Check out our blog postfor more ideas on how to beat out competing retail displays.

Designing and Managing a Retail Product Display

What’s the best way to design and manage a retail product display? Planning ahead and ensuring execution is flawless. Here we’ll be exploring some principles of retail store display designs and the strategies that make them competitive and effective.

The Purpose of Eye-Opening Retail Product Displays

Retailers and the product companies all win when great displays work. When they don’t work, however, the pain is felt on all sides. The first step to avoiding this fate and delivering a cash-box-brimming success is ensuring any display, be it storefront, free-standing or wall-mounted, is built with these three principles.

Entice: Turn heads and move feet (toward the store or the product).

Sell: Sell the product and/or increase sales on a steadily purchased product.

Leverage Space: Make the greatest use of space possible.

Design to Entice

Visual Research Advantage: Research by the University of Sydney noted that unexpected motion, changes in direction, visual jitter and changes in brightness all have a reliable effect on capturing attention. Here’s a quick list of display features that make use of neurological attention:

Use reflective surfaces to create motion around the product.

Organize color and brightness in gradient fashion to trigger luminance awareness.

Try hologrammatic surfaces to trigger visual jitter cues.

For subtle color schemes, try layers with holes using a background with high brightness or intense darkness behind it. Also, a continuous pattern behind hole-punched surfaces will provide multiple visual effects that create motion and changes in direction.

Displays that Sell

Emotion and necessity are two of the driving factors behind sales in any display. We’ve covered a great deal on the aspects that turn heads from these angles, but what about a competition-based approach?

There’s a way to make that happen. Start by gathering competitor information on displays and upkeep schedules to keep your own setups moving and get a solid idea of the replenishment regimes that work for each local area or store. Natural Insight empowers your field staff to do just that. Field reps can easily collect, report and monitor information that can help you make your own competition-informed strategic display choices. The platform helps you monitor:

Competitor pricing, pricing placements

Competitor hot sellers and items which never move

Display arrangements, designs and locations

Display takedowns and new build timing

Managing Displays and Maximizing Display Space

Retail display designs operate on some very straightforward principles. Generally, you’ll want to always ensure customers can approach displays from every angle. That means that special attention needs to be paid to the proximity of nearby displays, walls and architecture – customers can’t buy what they can’t reach (let alone see).

Also, make sure that displays don’t obstruct walkways to and from the main thoroughfares. It can be tempting to use a huge display along these routes, but customers are focused on their needs, not a single product. If you cut off the route to something they need along the flow pathways, they will not only be unable to touch, hold and inspect the product (critical to sales in many cases), they won’t even come close enough to see the display, no matter how awesome it might be.

You can ensure that this doesn’t happen with any size display by having field reps take photos or submit reports on the general floor layout. Also, with the right tool, they can easily ensure displays are up to date, well stocked and looking perfect with the right field quality control tools.

Retail Display Ideas

Retail displays constantly need fresh ideas and new twists. Below, you’ll find some research-based insights for displays that pop.

Entryways and Storefronts – The Moody Debate

Optimizing Retail Shelving

Ideal retail shelving optimization means high product velocity off the shelf. There’s a little more to it than a tidy arrangement, however. Here you’ll learn a few strategies that have made waves stores around the world.

Advanced: The Billboard Effect

Use shelf positioning to create the billboard effect.

What is the billboard effect? Simply put, it’s using the packaging across several individual units to create a larger, on-brand visual message – a billboard. But why try this approach?

For brand-loyal shoppers, it will help find the products they came to the store to buy. The billboard effect helps to identify product category and brand simultaneously, attracting customers directly to that aisle, shelf or display.

Think of the billboard effect as great marketing. You wouldn’t use off-brand colors to promote your storefront – and on the shelf in retail spaces, your only storefront is the shelf.

Coca-Cola, for instance, has no shortage of product innovation and new flavor launches. However, they found that their shelf space was lacking in brand recognition – co*ke Lime with its green packaging, co*ke Zero, all black – but the signature circular red logo commanded little of the visual real estate when stacked in a group.

How to Billboard:

Don’t stress about your packaging design – this can be achieved with great retail shelving execution. You could start by framing new products with on-brand, on-color product. Also, one of our researchers has seen soda and snack displays where new products were used within stacked items to spell the brand name. Try a twist on that by creating a display pattern that recreates the logo.

Controversial: The Starter Gap

Starter gaps are exactly what they sound like – a gap in the merchandise that gets people started in picking your display clean.

This is a bolder move, too, so grab the safety bar as we click, click, click! up the rollercoaster of ideas.

Is knocking a hole in your display maybe the ultimate sin in display execution? The perfectionist in us says yes. Our inner accountant, however, knows a starter gap can kickstart product sales velocity.

Why does it work?

Well, people come in many shapes and sizes. Some are “wait and see” shoppers, which means an untouched shelf could reflect a flawed or overpriced product. Other shoppers may see a flawless display, walk up to it, and reach for the messy shelf next to it, because… Who wants to make a mess?

Don’t mistake our meaning – displays must always be at their best. A little psychology, however, can kick off that fresh display’s path to a restock.

Reliable: Data Collection and Analytics

Experimentation, innovation, brand-adherence and aesthetics all play critical roles in your shelf optimization. However, none of these insights could exist without solid, data-based refinement based on research.

Try in-store shelving optimization through data capture that includes images, qualitative information and customized surveys that capture real-time data about your retail locations.

With this strategy, you can continue to play with your field execution tactics to discover which arrangement, height, displays, packaging, pricing and sales work for your merchandise.

Boosting Sales with Retail Signage

Shoppers are pressed for time, and most would consider themselves equally pressed for cash.

If you fail to give them a compelling reason to come inside, they’re going to follow their plan and emotional motivations past your doorway and on to their next stop.

That’s why, when it comes to your exterior retail signage, it pays to know your market and connect with shoppers on an emotional level.

We’ve already pointed out (above) that one of the top pulls into any store is a financial motivation and necessity – that’s right: give them a sale. Why is that, though? Well, for most, they are thinking in terms of their financial motivations while shopping.

There are always more motivations to tap into, however. Here’s a quick list of strong motivations to get your retail signage attracting more customers than ever:

Rest and Relief: Shoppers get tired and sick of chores, so offer them something that promises free time in the future. For instance, a huge pack of batteries on sale means less trips to market at inconvenient times.

Act on Caring: Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries – these events fill people with an urge to express their caring for others. Offer them a way to make that tangible! Or play with the dark side and remind them that it’s been a while since they spoiled the ones they love. In any case, signs which remind shoppers of the role of seasonal and annual gifts in any relationship will work to draw them in and around your store.

Make an Impression: Today’s shoppers love being seen as much as they love shopping. Entice them with retail signs that show the impression they’ll make with your latest product. Images should use wish fulfillment with items featured prominently – try vacations, social events or life milestones to make a big impact and get them moving.

Accessorize the Trip: Signs suggesting a useful cross sell or offering a sale on an accessory to a more profitable item work. Think about your biggest draws and how you can enhance their purchase.

Regardless of whether you’re enticing customers through the door or magnetizing your high-profit merchandise, flawless retail execution mean getting it done right – and on time. The Natural Insight platform gives you immediate visibility and accountability in your retail execution. Try out one of our most popular check-up forms, today.

These 17 effective types of visual merchandising displays will boost your store traffic

These goals are made possible by enhancing the store's overall aesthetic using retail display techniques.

In retail stores, particularly, merchandising has an impact on customer evaluation and interest. The two primary goals once the customer sets foot in-store are: catch their attention; and have them buy the products.

Visual merchandising involves the use of eye-catching retail displays to represent your brand and your products. Both online and offline retailers can use this strategy by tailoring their marketing spaces to make the items more accessible and irresistible to buyers.

The first thing you need to do is determine what works best for your customers. We’ve laid out 17 effective types of retail displays that you can tap into. Once you've decided on your retail display strategy, a tool is necessary for tracking it.

And making the effort to create a positive first impression definitely pays off.

For many, effective visual merchandising displays are key to creating an environment that consumers want to shop in.

When walking into a store, what are the first things you notice that suggest a pleasant shopping experience?

A retail display refers to any of your store fixtures that showcase your products and offers to the public. They revitalize your shop's weak spots to increase foot traffic, engage customers, and improve the overall in-store experience.

The best types of visual merchandising displays to invest in

The layout and types of retail displays will differ from one retail industry to the next, so we'll cover the most common retail display types that can be adapted to suit your business needs.

We’ve divided them into:

Standalone and POP displays

Shelving displays

Clothing and furniture displays

Get inspired by these real-life visual merchandising examples, which will put you in the mood to experiment.

Standalone and POP displays

Standalone or point-of-purchase (POP) displays are off-shelf displays designed to attract customers to a particular set of products in your store. They either hold or are closely placed near the items that require more attention.

Here are the types of display in visual merchandising for standalone and POP store fixtures you can choose from.

Freestanding displays

Freestanding displays are portable racks designed to draw attention to specific brands that would otherwise go unnoticed. The size of these displays is typically at eye level with shoppers.

Freestanding visual merchandising displays are perfect for those who sell a variety of products like specialty stores.

To maximize this retail display, place them in high-traffic spots that don’t impede the customer flow. Green Spoon Sales, an organic retail store, uses this type of retail display to increase visibility and sales for this specific brand.

Dump bins

Dump bins hold smaller, non-breakable items, such as stuffed animals, snack items, and more. These containers are also less organized and easier to maintain.

You’ll often see this type of retail display housing, and sale items on big-box stores like Walmart.

Use dump bins to get rid of your slow-moving items or to encourage extra purchases of new products. Position them anywhere near the counter or next to the aisles to ensure that all customers can run into them.

You can also add themes and display them as a focal point. Schnucks, a grocery retailer, does exactly that to encourage sales during Halloween. See their pumpkin display below:

Entryway displays

The storefront is your retail display’s hotspot because that's the customers' first point of contact with your shop. It’s also your key to attracting more visits, especially if you have competitors nearby.

Use your best-sellers, time-limited promos, or seasonal items as the subject of your entryway displays and put them on a tiny table near the doorway. Add outdoor designs like benches and mirrors if feasible.

Check out these outdoor display techniques from The White Stitch, a women's clothing boutique, to woo passersby with their discounted items.

Window displays

Window displays are an assortment of products, fixtures, and decors placed right next to the store window. These display techniques are a silent marketer, especially for those who are new to your brand.

Follow a theme, add lighting, create a focal point, and ensure balance (a.k.a. avoid too much clutter!) on your window displays. The overall design also has to match your target buyers' preferences.

Here, Chalk Hills Bakery's window displays reflect their indoor visual merchandising displays. It's a clever way to extend their brand message to whoever wanders around their bakeshop’s corner.

Digital pop displays

If a traditional POP display can already influence the buyers' purchasing decisions, then a digital one can surely offer more. These visual merchandising displays use digital media to advertise products, typically among electronic stores.

With this retail display, you can let the looping digital signage or product video do the selling for you. All you have to do is place the LCD media players near or on the shelves (if they aren’t built-in) where the customers usually go.

Meanwhile, the Amazon Salon in UK redefined the beauty salon retail with this augmented-reality app that lets customers try different hair styles and colors.

Banner displays

Banner displays can be standees, ceiling, or pole banners used to announce promotions or new product releases. It's a retail display that’s flexible for both inside and outside the store, so almost every shopping mall retail outlet has them.

In outsourcing your banners, look for a durable, weather-resistant material to maximize them for long-term use. Use the appropriate colors to attract and spark your buyers’ interest.

For your reference, here’s a sales promo banner from a Barnes & Noble bookstore outlet.

Display tables

Preparing a display table is one of the most versatile types of retail displays. It only requires a retail table, a set of products you want to highlight, and a knack for display techniques. They’re most common in specialty stores, especially for accessory and apparel brands.

Your retail tables must meet the buyer's eye level, so ideally, they should be at least 4ft. to 5ft. Experiment with your visual merchandising displays, but don't forget to rework them from time to time.

You won’t run out of design ideas for this because you can always follow seasonal themes. Same here with The Alphabet Gift Shop who cross-sells their items based on the occasion. In this case, a Father’s day table display.

Gondola displays

Another versatile retail display is the use of portable gondola displays for items of mixed sizes. It can be single-sided, two-sided, or even round-sided. It can maximize a small space making it fitting for hardware and pet stores.

Add hanging pegs and hooks to make the most of your gondola. For shelving up diverse products, try to follow these neat display techniques made by a local pet shop, Puppies & Kittens.

Immersive retail displays

Immersive displays aim to connect personally with your customers. And it’s becoming more feasible today now that the retail industry is closely approaching the full-world alternate reality a.k.a. the metaverse. Nike, for instance, created an immersive 3D world called Nikeland that comes to life at Nike’s House of Innovation in NYC.

The immersive displays can be techy or just simple ornaments depending on the industry. A clothing store can invest in virtual fitting rooms, while a restaurant can simply enhance its store ambiance.

Simply relate your brand story to how customers are using the products in their daily lives. For your inspiration, here's a chocolate retail shop called Tallipihan Suklaapuoti.

Look at how the store decors turn their traditional sweet shop into a hidden winter wonderland. That's immersive visual merchandising displays doing the magic!

Apparently, the best visual merchandising displays don't end with the off-shelf standalone fixtures. So for these next types of retail displays, let’s proceed to the store shelves must-haves.

Shelving Displays

In contrast to standalone and POP, shelving displays stay right on or next to the store shelves. These types of retail display help customers with in-store navigation and product browsing.

Use any of the following visual merchandising displays to jazz up your store shelves.

Shelf talkers

Browsing in a specific aisle doesn't guarantee that the customers will find interest in a specific product. But you can let shelf talkers do the sales talk. These display techniques are famous among grocery stores to show off the best product options.

To make the tags visible across the aisle, ensure that they're placed perpendicular to the shelves. Don't forget to use bright colors as well to improve readability.

Here's a great example of sticking shelf talkers from Schnucks' grocery outlet.

Clip strips

Another sticking retail display you can add to your shelves is a clip strip. Clip strips are metal or plastic strips used in advertising several small items without occupying too much shelf space. Because of the limited area in convenience stores, you can usually see these visual merchandising displays lingering around the shop.

Cross-sell using your clip strips by placing them near their complementary products. For example, you can place a strip of shaving razors in the hygiene section. Otherwise, put them on a shelf near the counter to stimulate your shoppers’ impulse buying tendencies.

US Market, a convenience store installed in a petrol station, makes the most out of its shelf by clipping snacks in this example:

Header cards

Header cards are creative labels placed on shelves to highlight a particular set of products. The print on this retail display can include brand logos, how-to product guides, or exclusive redeemable perks. Most outlets with a diverse product mix employ these display techniques, such as hypermarkets.

Header cards have to attract attention, so they must be simple yet creative. Use this to showcase what sets your products apart from your competitors.

Here's how Whole Foods Market, an organic food retail store, uses header cards to emphasize their brand advocacy (i.e., selling local and organic products).

Glorifiers

Glorifiers are tiny platforms that give a specific product a striking visual appeal. You can set these visual merchandising displays on a store shelf, on a countertop rack, or on a separate table next to the shelf that contains similar items.

These types of retail displays are ideal for advertising shoes, eyeglasses, and bottled products. Note that not all items need a glorifier, so determine which only among your products has to be set apart.

In this example, Héritage Berbère Marrakech only spotlights this particular scent from their entire perfume collection.

End caps display

End caps retail display refers to the racks positioned at the two endpoints of every aisle in your store. They're high-traffic spots because customers always pass through them as they browse around. So might want to show off your promos and discounted items there to increase their purchases.

To get more favorable results, prioritize stocking up complementary products that are suitable for cross-selling. Be creative in shelving them up.

Erewhon, healthy food retail, has compiled all of those display techniques in this example—promotions, cross-selling, and creativity.

The displays above are often used by retail businesses in the food and beverage industry. But for these last three types of display in visual merchandising, we’ll be focusing on retail clothing and furniture outlets.

Clothing and furniture displays

The off-shelf and on-shelf displays above already apply to clothing products. For furniture, however, that’s a different story. Nevertheless, you can even level them up by using display techniques that are specifically designed for them.

So if your business falls into either of the two categories, check out these types of retail displays to help you boost your sales.

Mannequins displays

Mannequins allow customers to picture how various items would look on them. Talk about advertising without even talking to your prospective buyers—that's a visual strategy.

Putting mannequins in your window displays can increase store traffic according to a study. So ensure that they’re the first thing your customers see when they enter the store by placing them on eye-level areas.

Style them with the right amount of clothes and accessories and don’t overdo it. Look at the balance of this women's fashion retail display from Tally-Ho.

Garment racks

The clothes and accessories you don't put in your mannequins, you can still place aesthetically on garment racks. These racks come in various shapes, colors, and sizes, so only use those that match your store design.

Pro-tip: Apply color display techniques and use uniform hangers in a single rack.

Here’s another example from Tally-Ho. Observe how they style the garment rack by symmetrically grouping and placing the clothes in order. Aesthetically pleasing, right?

Try displays (Touch, feel, test)

If food stores offer free tastes and clothing outlets have fitting rooms, then furniture shops have try displays. It's an opportunity for customers to touch, feel, and test the quality of the actual furniture.

The sense of touch is so important in fabric retail to bring customers a 100% cognitive experience of the product. Furniture is a long-term investment, after all, so they have the right to know that what they're purchasing is really worth it.

Retail Window Display Ideas that Drive Foot Traffic

The power of an attractive display cannot be underestimated.

In French, window shopping is called “lèche-vitrine,” which translates to “licking windows.” Showcased goods are so alluring that they become more than a feast for the eyes—they make people hungry for more.

Creative, engaging window displays have the power to increase foot traffic and bring people in.

In this post, we’re going to look at exactly how you can create irresistible window displays.

How to make your retail window displays pop

If your brick-and-mortar store has front-facing windows, it’s crucial you use that prime real estate to display merchandise. But how do you create an effective window display that grabs people’s attention and makes them want to come into your store?

Here are 16 tips to help you as you conceptualize and create your retail store’s next window display.

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1. Know your target audience

Every business has its own target audience (and should have defined buyer personas). Knowing how to appeal to your business’s target consumer is key to creating effective window displays.

By understanding what they want and what’s important to them, you can craft window displays that support those motivations.

For example, each summer H&M knows that its primary target audience is likely to attend popular music festivals like Coachella and will dress for the occasion.

What did H&M do with this info? They created a window display to match their target market’s interests and featured outfits that were ready to rock.

2. Have a clear theme

A theme will almost always work to your advantage. It ties your window displays together and draws user attention quickly.

If you plan to refresh your window displays regularly (more on that later), start by mapping out themes based on upcoming days of significance.

For instance, Holt Renfrew’s Valentine’s Day window display features hearts, Cupid’s arrow, roses and clothing that aligns with that theme.

No matter what theme you choose, it’s important to have a clear vision for your window display before you start building anything.

3. Create a focal point

When your retail store is located on a busy street, a focal point becomes a game changer. Learn how to create and leverage something that commands people’s attention as they walk by.

For example, Paul Smith is known for adding playful colors to classically inspired clothing. Their window displays use focal points that draw the eye and then transfer that attention to their clothes.

For instance, the colorful zebra is the window display’s focal point, while the classic blue suit is complementary.

Place focal points at eye level

For best results, place your display’s focal points at eye level. Whether your focal point is an accessory, an outfit (like the example from retailer Anthropologie below), signage or a unique structure, placing them at eye level increases the likelihood that the display captures attention and draws customers in.

Ask yourself, “what do I want people to see first?”

The answer becomes your window display’s centerpiece.

4. Consider your store location

If you’re a small retail store located on a street with a ton of foot traffic and near loads of other shops, the way you approach your window displays will be different than if you’re located in an area that’s less pedestrian friendly.

When you’ve got customers walking in front of your store regularly, you can use smaller products and signage with details that can be appreciated up close.

If your store sits next to a busy highway, a simpler window display with contrasting colors and larger products will make it easier for people to notice your shop as they drive by.

5. Keep it simple

Do less, but do it better.

A window display is a sneak peek. It’s a teaser, not a full product catalog.

This isn’t about showing everything you sell. An effective window display features attention-grabbing products that compel people to come into your shop and discover your unique offering.

Great window displays use simple but interesting visual elements to draw users in.

6. Tell a story

What do you want your window display to convey? What story is it telling its audience? How does that story relate to the things your store sells?

For example, Sézane, a French brand, aims to “offer women the finest quality pieces with a Parisian touch.” Their displays tell this story–they feature Parisian elements, like outdoor seating that recalls French cafes, plenty of plants and sidewalk signage.

Sézane uses their window displays and visual merchandising to tell their brand story.

Unique, engaging storefront displays are memorable. And while some customers might be unable to pop in right away, they can return if they remember your store.

7. Find your lighting

Good lighting is everything. If people can’t see your products or your store’s interior, they’ll stay in the dark (literally and figuratively).

If your retail space isn’t blessed by excellent natural light, consider opting for softer lighting that helps people see inside without feeling blinded.

Cuyana, for instance, draws people in with its warm glow.

8. Stay balanced

Consider your window’s physical design to ensure that it looks balanced and aesthetically interesting. A balanced look keeps the customer’s focus where you want it.

This retail window display is bright, colorful and balanced. The paint buckets are evenly spaced. The bright colors are balanced and surrounding elements are pared back. This display both shows and tells the message that “classic meets colour.”

This kind of elevated window display can help your store attract more customers.

9. Show off your product range

Use your window displays to showcase your range.

For example: Kolkid, a retailer who specializes in kids’ fashion, decor and toys, features all sorts of different products in their windows. They’re united under a cohesive theme–in this case, summer’s arrival.

10. Add text

The right words can help enhance your window displays. If you’re having a sale, signage in your storefront can help draw attention, foot traffic and impulse purchases.

You can also add text to incorporate wit and humor to your displays.

Have a look at this window display from Tender Loving Empire, a store and record label in Portland, OR. A bright decal reads “There’s so much to celebrate” and the display features handmade items that showcase a wide range of different gifts for the holiday (and party!) season.

11. Keep it fresh

When you love your display window, it’s hard to let it go.

And yet it’s important to refresh your window displays regularly. It lets you keep people engaged. It’s also a way to feature seasonal products.

Anthropologie regularly updates the window displays in their retail stores that focus on the latest seasonal trends. This can bring in customers who see what’s on trend. It helps to bring in more foot traffic, which can lead to extra sales.

Relevant marketing can increase your chances of success. Keep your display fresh to stay relevant.

12. Be open to inspiration

Struggling to come up with a new design?

Instagram and Pinterest can be a good source for retail window display ideas. They’re full of vibrant examples that are often taken by people who noticed them and felt compelled to share.

Alternatively, you can take a stroll around local shopping areas to get ideas. Pay attention to your surroundings and to your community.

Local businesses tell you what’s happening nearby, while online platforms show what’s trendy in your industry.

The combination of online and in-person research will give you the best of both worlds.

13. Use analytics to inform your decisions

When you’re trying to determine which products to promote in your window display, analytics can give you extra insights.

You can use your retail POS sales reports to see which products sell the most, or which ones are often bought together. This can help you decide how to feature them.

14. Make sure your displays look good on camera

Planning to share your display on social media? Even if you don’t, someone else might. Make sure your displays are camera-ready.

Take a quick pic of your window displays to see how they look on a screen and adjust whatever needs tweaking.

15. Add some QR code magic

A QR code (the QR stands for “quick response”) isn’t just for tagging merchandise. On compatible devices–most smartphones–it can send viewers to a website, display images or videos, link to an online store or much more.

You could add a QR code decal to your storefront so that curious folks passing by can scan it and be directed to your website or to your social media pages. Some retailers use their QR codes to link to a promotion that welcomes new customers when they sign up for a mailing list or follow them on social media. This is a great way to start building customer loyalty early on.

Check online to see if a free QR code generator could work for you.

16. Engage the senses

Remember the French expression for window shopping, “lèche-vitrine”? It evokes a full physical response to an alluring object. Some window displays can move beyond the visual by engaging with other senses.

I used to work for an educational toy store. Each summer, we would install a robotic bear that blew bubbles outside the windows–it was charming. It was whimsical. And it attracted kids and grown-ups alike, spreading joy before people even made it across the front door.

If such a display lends itself to your product range, think about how you can involve more sensory elements to your storefront.

Saje Natural Wellness sells essential oils and other aromatherapy accessories. Their displays often include a diffuser, which gently releases scents that can entice customers as they walk by.

Create captivating window displays: final thoughts

Captivating window displays can be a wildly effective tool. They can increase foot traffic and lead to more sales. They allow you to create a branded, exciting customer experience before anyone even walks into the store.

Remember that it takes a village. As you’re working on your next display, ask for your team’s input. Creatives, those with marketing experience and sales staff all have something to contribute. They can have great insights about what your audience may want to see.

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