Interior Visual Merchandising and its Role in Increasing Visual Attraction in Commercial Spaces

Abstract

Visual merchandising is the practice in the retail industry of developing floor plans and three-dimensional displays in order to maximize sales. Both goods and services can be displayed to highlight their features and benefits.1 The purpose of such visual merchandising is to attract, engage, and motivate the customer towards making a purchase. Visual merchandising commonly occurs in retail spaces such as stores. 2 (Page 6) Creating and maintaining a store’s visual merchandising plan, however, is not a simple task. It is necessary to continually determine what the customer sees. This evaluation from the customer’s perspective should start on the exterior and work completely through the interior of the store. Eighty percent of our impressions are created by sight; that is why one picture is worth a thousand words. Each customer has a mental image of a store and its merchandise. A store should have an inviting appearance that makes the customer feel comfortable and yet eager to buy. Some businesses maintain a minimum staff to reduce costs, which means it is even more important for the merchandise to sell itself. Greater effort must be spent on merchandise displays that make it easier for the customer to find and purchase the items they want or need. The basic objective for visual merchandising is a desire to attract customers to a place of business in order to sell the merchandise. Visual merchandising is offered to the customer through exterior and interior presentation. Each should be coordinated with the other using the store’s overall theme; however, it is not a simple task yet it is necessary to continually determine what the customer sees.