touch screen monitors in brick and mortaar storess for sale

From drawing consumers through the doors to delivering visual excitement and helpful information, retailers are using a variety of digital signage technologies to provide positive customer experiences and drive their business goals.

Easily updated screens are a better way of offering basic retail messaging, but digital displays are now being used by retailers to do more. Here are five ways that digital signage can influence the shopper’s journey.

It’s a simple formula for any brick and mortar retailer: More foot traffic equals more sales. So making a strong first impression is critical, and it starts with what potential customers see outside: a shop’s windows.

Visual merchandising — what used to be called window dressing — is an art form among the world’s top retailers. Compelling design work in the windows of big department stores and luxury retailers make statements about the brand’s personality and ideally draw shoppers inside.

But for every big department store or flagship, there are countless mainstream retailers who also want and need to generate foot traffic. They may not have the resources for gallery-like window displays, but they can use digital display technology to make a difference.

The key is displays with the brightness and underlying engineering to cut through direct midday sunlight. The conventional screens used inside a store will be washed out and unviewable if set in windows.

If your routine takes you into quick-service restaurants (QSRs), you’ve likely noticed the menus behind the counter have almost all converted from print to digital.

Food service operators converted to digital menu displays for their timeliness and accuracy, and because adding moving, mouth-watering visuals to menus can boost sales.

But the restaurant business is not the only retail service that has lists of products and services that need to be conveyed to customers. Menu displays make sense in everything from salons to automotive service shops.

Speed and ease: Updating menus can take weeks to get designed, approved, printed, shipped and mounted. Digital menus can be changed with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, and even automated when using templates and integrated data.

Timeliness: Different menus by time of day is a fact of life in all-day restaurants, but other types of retail operators know customer interests and options can change by time of day or day of the week. Variable menus are easily scheduled using digital signage.

Motion matters: Adding subtle motion and simple visuals can have a big impact on consumers. For example, controlled testing at an Atlanta store revealed a dramatic sales bump when static menus added images, particularly with motion.

Feeling the pressure of hyper-competition from other brick and mortar and online retailers, savvy retailers are understanding the key to survival and growth is in delivering the kinds of customer experiences that draw shoppers and nurture loyalty.

Great retail experiences can be defined in many ways, but one of the keys is the way a store looks. Digital signage displays have been used as a sales tool for many years in retail, but now they’re being factored in as a core design feature.

In the past, an LCD video wall might have been used as one of several visual features around a store. Now, notably in a retailer’s flagship location, a video wall is the key wall in the store, using direct view LED technology as well as state-of-the-art microLED. Simply (and aptly) called The Wall, Samsung’s super-fine microLED product uses millions of additional LED lights — with each one being a single pixel — to create the ultimate, immersive viewing experience for shoppers.

Few restrictions: LED video walls can conform to most architectural dimensions and surfaces. They can be as wide, narrow or tall as needed. They work with gentle curves, wrap around structural columns, and can even function as ceilings.

Bright beacons: LED overpowers in-store lighting and bright sunlight, ensuring rich visuals in any conditions. It also is unaffected by reflection — often a problem for LCD displays.

Flexibility: A wide variety of pixel pitches (the amount of light pixels per display unit) and structural designs means LED video walls can be matched to the location, viewing distances and budgets — from wider pitches to The Wall.

Clever retail merchandisers and brand strategists are tying sensors together with digital displays to make otherwise static product displays interactive and engaging.

For example, a beauty brand with multiple products that all look similar — but have different features and benefits — can use a lift and learn display to help inform consumers. A merchandising display in aisles or on shop counters can combine product, print, screens and sensors to deliver an experience that triggers an explanatory video whenever a product is lifted up by a shopper.

In a busy retail environment where there may be more browsers than sales staff, digital can accurately do the work of explaining why consumers want and need a product. Moreover, touchscreen displays like self-service kiosks allow shoppers to explore each product available as well as check out without any closeup interaction.

With 4K screens, crisp visuals are available for marketers and viewers — but 8K displays are taking in-store messaging to new heights, showing products in their best possible light.

An 8K display has four times the total number of pixels of a 4K display, providing incredible levels of crisp detail. That can matter for luxury brands — from jewels and timepieces to cars and SUVs — that compete on quality and precision.

Even if brand marketers don’t have video material produced in 8K, they can effectively use those additional pixels if the displays have the right technology. Samsung has developed artificial intelligence (AI)-driven upscaling that uses machine learning to transform lower resolution visuals into vivid 8K.

Normally, lower resolution content — like full HD — played out on an 8K screen would cause blurring as the visuals stretch across all the pixels. But Samsung’s built-in AI technology, common across its 8K lineup, intelligently compensates and sharpens visuals to optimize how they look.

Couple that with Quantum Dots — nanoparticle technology that produces more than a billion distinct colors — and High Dynamic Range (HDR), which allows viewers to see all the subtle hues in both dark and extra-bright visuals, and retailers have visuals that can truly move consumers.

Shopping is no longer a chore for people — even items like groceries and cars can be bought online and delivered to homes. That means retailers have to work harder at delivering the kind of shopping experience that not only brings people in but keeps them coming back. Digital signage technology is key to innovative retailing.

Reinvent the retail experience with Samsung’s in store digital signage. Or sign up to download theultimate guide to high-brightness displaysto deliver clear, compelling communications in any weather.

When the powerhouse online retailer Amazon made its debut, it didn’t take long for other stores to follow suit. Walmart, Target and other large retail chains have items for sale online. There were doom and gloom predictions for brick-and-mortar stores whose days were numbered. One such prediction was that 2017 would be the year of the “retail apocalypse.”

In 2019, not only are retail stores still in business, but they’re experiencing a comeback. In fact, even online giant Amazon is now turning to the physical shopping experience with actual brick-and-mortar stores.

It seems impossible that there was a time when people were unfamiliar with Amazon, but near the end of 1994, an article ran inMoneymagazine examining the trend in consumers shopping from home, which included ordering through TV shopping channels and catalogs. That year, online shopping service started appearing on the radar, even though it wasn’t fully accepted yet. Of the $60 billion worth of purchases from home, almost all was attributed to catalogs or shopping networks, according to an article fromMoneymagazine.

It wasn’t until 2000 that the Census Bureau began tracking online sales. The result? In the fourth quarter of 1999, online sales alone hit a whopping $5.3 billion.

Fast forward to today, where almost two-thirds of Americans buy something on Amazon—and 40 percent of those say they buy from Amazon at least once a month, according to an NPR article.

Retailers understand that the future is a combination of both online and in-person experiences. The most profitable stores marry the best of both worlds, according to information fromForbesmagazine.

Consumers are all about a shopping experience, and desire the more personalized attention a brick-and-mortar store offers. A part of this experience is being able to touch or try on the merchandise.

Some online retailers offer free or dramatically reduced shipping, which takes a toll on profits. Brick-and-mortar stores can dramatically reduce the expenses by eliminating the need for delivery.

With brick-and-mortar stores making a comeback, you have a great opportunity to capture revenue and develop loyal customers. This often starts with a clear, custom retail display that showcases your brand, your product and your company philosophy.

Want to learn more about the benefits of a great POP display? Check out our previous articles and then give us a call so we can make your vision a reality.

Since 1977, McIntyre Manufacturing Group has created custom-designed displays with an uncompromised dedication to customer service. We utilize the latest technology and attention to detail to create the finest products with excellent craftsmanship. If you can dream it, we can create it. Contact us to see how we can bring your vision to life.

Ecommerce may be on the rise, but that’s no excuse for brick-and-mortar retailers to ignore the power of visual merchandising. By investing in your window displays and in-store layout, it’s possible to drive foot traffic to complement your existing out-of-store advertising efforts. Whatever your budget and brand aesthetic, business owners of any size can bring the shopping experience to the next level with creative merchandising.

Looking to get started? Follow these five tips to ensure that your customers have as much fun visiting your brick-and-mortar location as they do perusing your online store.

Of course you want your store to look stunning, but don’t forget that there are other ways to appeal to customers. By paying attention to all five senses, you can create a shopping experience that makes visitors want to spend more time in your store — and with your inventory — rather than keeping the experience strictly transactional.

Depending on your brand identity, consider what sort of music would get your customers into the right state of mind to make a purchase. Try lighting candles to set the mood, and encourage customers to handle goods or try on clothes to activate their sense of touch. Whether or not you sell baked goods, consider offering tasty treats to round out the overall shopping experience.

Whether your customers are old or new, it’s always the right time to boost your brand profile and feature your custom logo throughout your store. From boxes and bags to labels on different products, make sure your customized branding is on display throughout the store.

If your store is short on surface space, consider building your displays up rather than out. Building a display doesn’t require a carpenter and multiple trips to the hardware store: you can create a no-fuss hierarchy of products by stacking cap top gift boxes on top of one another with your products at the pinnacle. During the holidays, you can even wrap the boxes in seasonal wrapping paper to get your customers in the holiday spirit.

By curating your packaging and upping the ante with your displays, you’ll encourage visitors to feature your store on their Instagram or Snapchat stories. For example, these clear soft vinyl bags are a great way to showcase your products to a younger set and make for fun take-home items. Add some ribbon and a custom label, and your products will be ready for their Instagram debut.

If you’re spending a lot of time and effort creating eye-catching visual displays, it may be tempting to leave them up year-round. However, changing things up every now and then will keep customers on their toes and inspire repeat visits.

Take advantage of seasonal opportunities to change up your décor. Whether you deck out your store for Easter or reorganize your layout to emphasize back-to-school products, creating visual displays that speak to seasonal trends will keep customers coming back for more.

There is no doubt that the outbreak of COVID-19 inflicted a very heavy blow to the brick and mortar retail stores all around the world. Now, when the pandemic enters its third year and it looks like the traditional stores are finally preparing a comeback, retailers find themselves in a completely different world painted with new sensibilities, purchase habits, and design trends.

How do all these things affect indoor displays that have always been some of the strongest brick and mortar marketing tools practically carrying walk-in revenue on their shoulders? Even more important, how you can use these trends to stand out in what looks like a very competitive post-Covid market?

Essentially, the role of a display is to invite people to come closer and check out what you want to sell. Here, you can take a note or two from digital marketing that has, as of late, been putting a heavy focus on creating immersive and augmented experiences. So, do something inventive and try to tell some sort of story to your customer. Use a unifying theme for each sector of the store, augment with comic book bubbles and let them speak with your customers, and use props to enhance the effect. All these things will invite the people to explore every corner of the store and discover all the Easter eggs and in-jokes.

Plants can elevate any space regardless of the backdrop you have created. They are also highly in tune with the rise of environmental consciousness we are experiencing on a global level. Therefore, you can’t go wrong by turning your store into a small but lush oasis. What’s important to remember is that plants like lavender and aloe vera are known for their stress-reducing effects which is something you should, by all means, try to achieve throughout your premises. Shopping can be a very stressful and even downright frustrating chore. Allow your customers to get more enjoyment out of it and they will keep coming back.

In other words, don’t always insist on splitting the products by their category. Some items are naturally used together so displaying them together will increase the chance of people buying more of them. For instance, quality massage devices are not in the same category as running shoes, but if you put them next to each other the future runners checking through the shelves will think about the sore muscles in the future and consider buying this item as well. Just be sure to keep such marketing spots limited or you are going to create a layout people will have a hard time finding their products through.

First-hand experience is one of the strongest purchase motivators in existence and at the same time, one of the last great advantages the brick and mortar stores have over their brick and mortar counterparts. So double down on this unique perk you have at disposal and allow your clients to freely interact with the products you sell. If you want to go one step further, you can even create a realistic setting in which they are most likely to use them. A vacuum cleaner has little value if it doesn’t have a huge rug to vacuum. Playing the latest shooter will speak about some PC countless times more than the list of its specs.

Present-day marketing envelops at a relentless pace. With that in mind, keeping your displays for weeks without any change or regard to these shifting sensibilities will make your store stale and won’t give people enough of an incentive to come back. So, your goal should be to play with the layout and create new displays as frequently as possible. This job will be made considerably easier if you supply your store with portable displays that can be instantly moved around. This portability will also allow your workers to cut the time necessary for maintenance and arrangements and focus on what they do the best.

This is yet another area where brick and mortar stores can take a couple of cues from online marketing that scored extremely good results by offering the website visitors free instructions, how-to’s, and other forms of free content. These things are not only effective hooks, but they also give the potential clients an idea about the new use-case scenarios they haven’t even thought of in the first place. To push this idea to the fullest extent you can display some sample content next to the item display (e.g., how to use key special features) and offer customers access to free online content after the checkout.

We hope these few suggestions gave you a general idea about the ways you can make your displays more effective and in-tune with the latest trends and increase your revenue as a result. Now when the end of COVID-19 finally seems close, brick and mortar retail stores are expected to experience a resurgence. Use this opportunity to get at the head of the pack while this emerging market still finds its way into the future.

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In-store retail displays play a crucial role indriving conversions. Window displays alone influence 24% of purchases,according to NPD Group. And that’sbeforeshoppers walk into your store: Imagine the impact of displays once they’re inside?

Despite the opportunity that retail displays provide, many stores are still overlooking this important selling tool. Below, we’ll dive into nine reasons why your in-store retail displays aren’t working and what to do instead.

One common mistake that retailers make is creating a one-dimensional display that lacks depth and height, a couple of the most important characteristics for appealing visuals. Whether it’s monochromatic or features products of the same height, this in-store display mistake could make your products and your store appear dull and boring.

Vary the visual elements; add height, color or depth where possible. If your products are the same size, put some on pedestals, or hang them from the ceiling as in the example above.

It was a great concept, but the main challenge was that the products on display were pennants. These items were flat, and posed unique challenges, especially when it comes to physical displays. Dan Taylor, omni-channel merchandiser at United By Blue, was up for the challenge.

“I really focused on giving the setup 360-degree shopability and building in enough visual drama to keep customers engaged,” Taylor says. They nested a 4-foot table into a 7.5-foot live-edge walnut slab table to hold the display, along with a “vintage industrial platform.”

“Along with the table cluster, I added a matte black metal hang rack that allowed me to add more height but also show some of the same product in a different way, and be shopped from the back,” Taylor describes. “Above that rack, I hung product from the ceiling, effectively giving the cluster five different levels.”

“All of this culminated in one of the most unique setups and successful retail activations in our flagship store.” – Dan Taylor, omni-channel merchandiser at United By Blue

With 250 pop-up attendees, the in-store display saw more engagement than most of the store’s previous pop-ups and regular store displays. The display contributed to a 155% month-over-month increase in sales.

Sometimes, less is more. But it’s easy to overdo it with your in-store displays. “Simple is best,” says Greg Corey, founder and principal at retail design agencyPorchlight. “Oftentimes there is so much information that the space becomes cluttered and overwhelming.”

Whether it’s because of various team members’ conflicting input, lack of clear vision, or something else altogether, adding too much to a display can distract from its ultimate purpose: to drive sales.

“In some cases, the retailer immediately turns the shopper away before they have even sparked interest in the item by making the display unapproachable,” Corey says.

Establish a focal point for your display: If there’s one thing in your display that you want every passerby to see, what is it? Then design your display around that. “It’s best to narrow your focus and pull out key attributes that consumers can pick up on from at least six feet away and be drawn to learn more,” says Corey.

Check out this display at Elevator, an accessories and jewelry store in Toronto. Notice how they put the focal point principle to good use by choosing to highlight just one item (their scarves) and laying out the rest beneath it.

It’s important to remember that shopping trends shift based on the time of year, current events, or even the general sentiment of consumers. Your retail displays must mirror these trends in order to feel relevant to your shoppers.

For instance, if your customers are starting feel festive because of the upcoming holiday season, but your windows are looking too bland, then you’re not going to compel people to walk through your doors.

Keep your eyes and ears open and stay in touch with upcoming trends. Are there any shopping events or holidays that your customers really care about? What seasonal elements can you incorporate in your current displays?

You can answer these questions by interfacing with your customers and observing them. It also helps to tap into retail data. Use a tool like Google Shopping Trends to identify what people are searching for, and then use those insights to craft your displays.

Linda Cahan,retail visual merchandising and design consultantsays one major miss for retailers is not respecting price point designing your displays. “Space equals cost,” she says. “If you have expensive merchandise, people will understand that if there’s actually some space between the items.”

“People don’t want to feel like they’re bargain basement shopping and then see a price tag for $400.” – Linda Cahan, retail visual merchandising and design consultant

Cahan recalls a shoe store that disregarded price point in relation to visual merchandising. They had the shoes spaced apart, one at a time, similar to an art gallery. “The shoes were spread out and very elegant,” says Cahan. It was great, until you got to the price point: a surprisingly and relatively inexpensive $90.

“The visual merchandising attracted people who were looking for shoes that were in the $400 range, and then they saw these $90 shoes and they were a little betrayed by the display,” she says.

Mind the space for your merchandise; the amount of space a product occupies should be proportionate to the price point. This sets expectations. “Itimproves the shopping experience,” Cahan says.

“Customers instinctively understand that retailers are paying per square foot. The more stuff retailers cram into it, the more affordable the merchandise will be,” Cahan explains. “When there’s space, then the feeling is, ‘Wow, this stuff is more expensive.’ Customers just get it. And you can’t trick customers. You can’t make something be perceived to be less or more.”

If your in-store retail displays look beautiful but serve no purpose, you’re missing out on sales opportunities. Many times, retailers will use products that aren’t for sale, hide pricing information, or make it difficult to find the displayed merchandise elsewhere in the store. Your display could also be blocking pathways or the overall flow of your store.

Cater to your customer. Think about if you were shopping the display: Which information would you like to see? Perhaps there’s a sign that lists product details and prices, or a map of the store that shows you where to browse more size and color options. Better yet, bring a rack over or have a small section of the display dedicated to shoppable products.

Customers also want to see your product in action. It’s one of the main advantages a physical retailer has over ecommerce sellers. Creating displays that show your products in use or allow shoppers to try them out will help with engagement and conversions.

Brandless executed this really well in theirPop-Up with a Purpose in Los Angeles. Their displays effectively the different products they carried along with their uses. For example, they had a display that showcased the different pizza ingredients they were selling. To make it more effective, they merchandised it with pizza utensils and even had an iPad with video showing how people could use the various ingredients.

“The whole purpose of visual merchandising, other than selling merchandise, is to teach the customer what they should buy and how to put it together,” says Cahan. “That’s why you accessorize a mannequin. Essentially, an unaccessorized mannequin is an untapped opportunity to upsell.”

Cahan recalls someone she knew who would look at an entire designed room in the Bloomingdale’s home section and simply say, “I want that.” The associates could then assemble all of the displayed products for her, and she’d take everything home knowing that it will look good, since she’s already seen it in action.

Immersive retailis creating more opportunities for retailers to stand out than ever before. But when it comes to in-store displays, it’s easy to forget to incorporate that interactivity. After all, displays are meant to be visual, right?

In today’s retail world, you’d be remiss to exclude interactivity with your in-store displays. Consumers want to experience your product, not just look at it.

Your in-store retail displays are no longer for simply showcasing products; they should be interactive elements of your store that allows customers to have deeper engagements with your merchandiseandyour brand.

London’sSipsmithis a gin distillery and shop. Theycreated a retail displaythat allowed customers to experience their product on the spot with a sipping station.

Another example comes from Brandless, which gave guests that ability to test their products at their pop-up. Here’s a tasting station where people could test different olive oils and sauces.

Taste-testing is a surefire way to create an immersive experience in the food and beverage industry, but there are other ways you can get creative.Anthropologieis one major retailer that creates an immersive experience through in-store displays of their home goods, clothing and accessory products. “When you go into Anthropologie, you’re entering their world and you know it,” Cahan says. “Each area is designed and displayed and decorated uniquely.”

“Anthropologie does a lot of visual layering; it’s not just one prop on a wall. They create texture and movement through their displays,” Cahan says. “They know their customer, and they gear everything towards that customer.”

Many times, retailers lack basic standards or guidelines. That makes it easier for smaller details to go unnoticed during the design process. “Standards matter,” Cahan says. “Messy means cheap, that everything’s on sale.”

Consider documenting brand guidelines for in-store displays. This becomes increasingly important for retailers with multiple locations, as it will help ensure both stores create a synonymous customer experience.

“It also sets a tone,” Cahan says. “One of the best ways a manual works is if you explain why you have this rule. When people understand why, then they’re more inclined to go along with it.”

“One of the things retailers do that is a mistake is that they basically just stay in their stores,” Cahan says. “They don’t shop competitors.” It’s easy to be “heads down” in your business and fall into a routine, doing the same displays you’ve always done.

First thing’s first: Take a walk. Look at the other shops near your store, home or favorite store to shop as a consumer. Which in-store displays catch your eye? What do you like about them? Take pictures so you can recall and recreate later.

“Getting inspired by other types of retail can be a wonderful way to freshen and invigorate their own displays.” – Linda Cahan, retail visual merchandising and design consultant

“For instance, if you have a clothing store and you look at the displays of a gift shop or an antique store or an arts and crafts store, you can creatively borrow ideas,” Cahan says. “It’s a wonderful way to get a lot of fresh ideas. There are no rules about what you can or cannot do.”

Here’s an inspiring window display to get you started: One clothing retailer on New York City’s Madison Avenue used inexpensive paint brushes to create an artistic and eye catching display. “It was unexpected and pretty and not expensive, but it was very creative,” says Cahan. “When you see creativity in a window, then you feel that you’re creative by buying from this store.”

Luxury brands may turn to Saks Fifth Avenue as a source of inspiration. Consider thesewindow displays for Dior: The innovative, industrial approach appealed to the quality of the product and style of their target market.

Portland-based Tilde, an accessories and home goods shop, is conveniently located across the street from a popular restaurant. The retailer lures customers in with their creative window displays, which are complemented by the textures and playfulness of the in-store merchandising. “She’s never spent more than $40 per window,” Cahan says.

One common mistake among retailers is failing to update the in-store displays frequently enough.One survey from PricewaterhouseCoopersfound that 40% of consumers make weekly purchases at brick-and-mortar retail stores. Whether they visit your store weekly or not, you’ll want to make sure each visit reveals new products to discover.

“Every couple of weeks, move displays around to keep them from getting stale – and certainly move them when new merchandise comes in. Since the fairly new products will still be selling, switch your displays two weeks after their arrival. Move one display from the front to the middle of the store and another display from the middle to the back.”

You can also use holidays, events and seasonal changes to inspire changes in your in-store retail displays. That’s what one San Francisco-basedCore Hardwarestore did for Halloween.

Hanging brooms in the windows, along with a “Witch broom?” tagline, drew attention and foot traffic, thanks to an unlikely but creative parallel between Halloween and hardware. “A little cleverness goes a long way. Window displays are on-street entertainment and on-street advertising,” Cahan says of the example. “It’s one of the less expensive ways to advertise and it lasts a long time, especially if you’re in an area where there’s walk-by traffic.”

While we may have grand, creative ideas, they’re not always realistic. There are logistics that every retailer must account for, including but not limited to budget, staffing, and timelines. “Displays are on and off the floor in a matter of weeks to make room for new products,” says Corey.

“Another challenge is electrical. Electrical doesn’t always run to the middle of the store,” Corey points out. “So when you have displays that are in the dead-zone, there’s no way to incorporate video displays or backlit displays.”

It’s best to anticipate logistical challenges and design your displays around those circumstances. “As designers, we have to build the displays with low cost, non-permanent features because they will likely be shuffled around or damaged during relocation,” Corey advises.

You can also get creative around those challenges. In small storefronts especially, space is extremely valuable. And retail displays take up that valuable space. Denver’sBouzy Wine & Spiritsdesigned its displays to allow for better functionality and use of space. Theircustom-made floor fixtures have wheels and a curved designthat makes it easy for the retailer to reposition them to make more room on the floor.

Chocolate brandjcocoalsomade their retail displays multi-functional. They hosted a pop-up shop in Washington’s The Bellevue Square shopping center and needed to find a way to maximize the space but also keep the pop-up fresh (as is the nature forpop-ups). Everything was easy to disassemble and reassemble, plus it offered additional storage for merchandise.

You don’t need to be an overly creative or experienced designer to create effective in-store retail displays. The most successful displays are created with a specific goal and the customer in mind.

According to researchersDr. L.D. Rosenblum, Dr. Harold Stolovitch and Dr. Erica Keeps, here is the breakdown of how our five sense processes information:

Clearly, human beings are highly visual in nature, and this is a fact that is particularly important when you’re running a physical store. One of the main reasons why people decide to shop offline is to see merchandise in person, and this is all the more reason to design winning retail displays.

The best way to make a lasting impression is to immerse your customers in a particular environment or setting. Check out the example below. The displays themselves are simple, and the retailer only makes use of a few simple racks and fixtures.

But because all the other elements of the store (i.e., the color of the walls, the cold-weather items, and the text “it’s cold outside”)  follow a unifying theme, the overall effect is quite powerful. It engulfs customers into the “cool” theme of the store, creating an immersive experience.

Keep this example in mind for your next display. Recognize that you don’t necessarily have to build something fancy. If you have a strong theme and ensure that all the components of your shop are in line with the story you want to tell, you can create a compelling and immersive experience using just a few simple products and fixtures.

In a survey by Ripen eCommerce, they found that the top reason people shop in brick and mortar stores instead of ecommerce is that physical retail enables shoppers to touch and feel items in person.

The key takeaway here? Create displays that encourage people to touch and feel for you products. If your items are sitting on a shelf or a table while still inside their respective boxes, you could be missing the chance to connect with your customers.

So, take your products out of their packaging and get shoppers to really experience your merchandise. Ulta Beauty, for example, does this with their hairdryers. While other stores keep the products in their boxes, Ulta has their hairdryers out for people to touch and feel them.

Need an easy and affordable way to breathe life into your visual merchandising? Use plants. Doing so doesn’t just make your displays more attractive, they can also create healthier and more pleasant shopping experiences.

In an interview with Retail Focus, Joey-Michelle Hutchinson, associate vice president at CallisonRTKL, said that having more greeneries in retail environments “makes them feel more inviting, which in turn decreases customer stress levels and increases their dwell time.”

Having more “green” displays clearly has some benefits, so consider incorporating plants into your designs.For inspiration, look no further than homeware retailer Harper & Grey House. Plants are a staple in their displays and the greens do a tremendous job in accentuating their merchandise.

Cross-merchandising is a subtle but effective way toincrease basket sizes and average order values. The practice promotes product discovery and entices shoppers to look at items that complement what they’re already buying.

There are a number of ways to implement cross-merchanding. One is to merchandise items that go together. You could, for example, create a display with a blouse, jacket, and matching purse.

Another idea? Display gift cards next to relevant products. Have a look at what Target is doing. The retailer has some baby-centric gift cards next to some toys in the store’s baby section to remind shoppers about their gift cards.

Speaking of little ones, have you considered creating kid-friendly displays? The practice can be quite effective particularly if you cater to Gen X and Millennial consumers.

Even the most creative displays will fall flat when they’re not well-lit. So invest, in the equipment to make sure that your products are displays in the best possible light.

Is your store on the small side? Consider using portable displays so you can make better use of your space. Such displays are easier to move so you can quickly re-merchandise your shop or make room for other things if necessary.

Portable displays can also help in keeping your visual merchandising focused and on-point. Since you have limited space, you’re forced to only display the most important and most high-impact products.

The following cookware display at Crate & Barrel does exactly that. The top part of the display has images of the items for sale along with a quick description of what each product is and what it does.

Colors can make or break your retail displays, which is why it’s essential to select the right color scheme. A big part of this will be driven by the colors of your products. If most of your items are come in pastel shades for instance, then those colors will be quite common in your displays.

That being said, how those products are displayed together matters a great deal. There are various ways to mix and match colors, so have a think about how you’ll do it in your displays.

The folks at Live By The Sword salon did an amazing job merchandising their shelf of Amika products, which come in a variety of colors.By really leaning into the colorful nature of Amika’s items, they were able to set up a vibrant display that pops.

Take this example from The LifeStyled Company. The team created a display featuring Babe Australia’s products, most of which come with predominantly white boxes and labels.

Timely displays are sure to grab the attention of your customers. Keep a close eye on your retail calendar and make sure that your visual merchandising coincides with relevant shopping events and seasons.

For instance, during last year’s back-to-school season, Target dedicated an entire corner to school supplies and relevant merchandise. The area of the store was filled with large, back-to-school displays that were impossible to miss.

If you’re running multiple stores, make sure your displays reflect the tastes and preferences of each location. Pay attention to local trends and popular products in the area and ensure they’re front and center in your displays.

You can shed light on these insights using your POS reporting and retail analytics. Identify the top categories or items in different cities and use the data to inform your merchandising decisions.

It also helps to call out the name of each town or city. For instance, the homeware retail chain Home Goods has a sign that reads, “Happy to Be in Cerritos” in its Cerritos branch.

Got a bunch of quotable quotes up your sleeve? See if you can incorporate them into your retail displays. When done right, a bit of text can complement your products and encourage shoppers to take a closer look.

And as a bonus, walls or displays with quotable quotes are a magnet for Instagram users. With the right display, you’re bound to gain a bunch of social shares and tags along the way.

If you’re looking for ways to showcase your full product lines without cramming your shelves and racks with too much merchandise, then see if you can use technology to “extend” your displays.

Case in point: when the online retailerShowpolaunched their pop-up store in Los Angeles, they chose to display a small selection of products in the shop.

Showpo even took things a step further and used another table to capture customers’ details in-store. To encourage people to provide their email, they threw a 15% discount that can be redeemed online.

In retail, space conveys value. The more space there is in a store or display, the higher the perceived value of the merchandise. This why many luxury retailers display items in standalone cases while discount stores overstuff their shelves with merchandise.

The right amount of space to use in your store depends on how you want to be perceived. But one thing is clear: if don’t want people to think that your products are cheap, then you’ll want to use fewer items in your display.

Take a look at this window fromSaks Fifth Avenue. The display features a single mannequin and table on which there’s just one pair of shoes. Aside from the paintings on the right, there aren’t a lot of details to distract people from the products.

Upcycling — the practice of using old or discarded materials to create something new — can help you build out-of-the-box retail displays. In the example below, we can see that the retailer used old chairs to create racks on which to hang their merchandise.

Now, don’t get us wrong: traditional racks and fixtures are still essential. But hopefully, this example encourages you to reimagine the use of old items. You never know — that old chair, box, or frame could be just the thing that would get your display to stand out.

If you’re celebrating a special holiday or occasion in your store, use your shop displays to show your festive side. Materials like balloons, tassels, garlands and other party supplies could help your displays pop.

With retail being more competitive than ever, there’s just no room for uninspired and mediocre retail displays. Now, more than ever, you need to constantly cook up in-store visuals can stop people in their tracks and encourage them to buy, share, and come back.

And remember that no matter what kind of display you have, it won’t be effective if it doesn’t showcase merchandise that your customers want to buy. That’s why it’s important to make data-backed decisions when it comes to merchandising. Use your POS or inventory management system to generate sales and product reports that will inform your decisions around what items to show off in your store.

Francesca Nicasio is Vend"s Retail Expert and Content Strategist. She writes about trends, tips, and other cool things that enable retailers to increase sales, serve customers better, and be more awesome overall. She"s also the author of Retail Survival of the Fittest, a free eBook to help retailers future-proof their stores. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Google+.

You’ve all heard about showrooming, where customers go to a local store to check out products they’d like to buy, then purchase the product for less online. It’s been going on for several years and is becoming more popular as technology enables instant comparison shopping.

Online stores often provide lower prices than brick and mortar stores because of lower overhead costs, no sales taxes (in some states) and free shipping offers.

Showrooming can be costly to brick and mortar retailers, not only in lost sales, but also in the wear and tear on products handled by people with no intent to buy.

Some retailers have tried to compete with showroomers by reducing prices. Major retailers like Target are trying to fight showrooming by making a deal with manufacturers to sell products exclusive to their stores.

Best Buy is taking steps to reverse the practice of showrooming by providing store employees with new training and mobile technology to better serve customers, expanding its technology services to both consumers and small businesses, and offering shoppers the best price whether they’re shopping in a bricks and mortar store or online.

Nevertheless, showrooming is on the rise and is becoming a concern for some retailers as the number of shoppers checking prices with mobile devices while shopping in a local store has increased.

Comparison-shopping rates range from 59 percent of US smartphone owners (InsightExpress, 2011) to 25 percent of US mobile phone owners (Pew Internet and American Life Project, January 2012).

Some studies suggest showrooming is a looming threat with huge implications for retail merchants. That’s because local merchants must hire staff, pay rent, utility services, janitorial services, real estate and sales taxes and invest in merchandise, and then wait for customers to come in and buy.

However, online merchants without the same expenses have become competitors, while consumer behavior has gradually changed, putting local stores at risk.

According to the 2012 Deloitte Retail & Consumer Spending Survey, Smartphones will influence 19 percent ($689 billion) of U.S. retail store sales by 2016. Smartphones already influence 5.1 percent of all retail store sales in the United States, which Deloitte predicts will amount to ~$159 billion in annual retail sales this year.

These findings run counter to the widely held theory that consumers are increasingly using local stores as showrooms where they can learn about and see products in person, and then buy from a competitor online.

Instead, this study shows that many shoppers use their smartphones to enhance their store shopping experience, rather than using the store as a showroom for online retailers.

Google also lets retailers bid by location, so you can run unique search ads based on proximity to your retail location. In the search copy, offer discounts or coupons for brands if a purchase is made in-store.

In a world where low prices are just a few clicks away, it is crucial for brick ‘n mortar retailers to offer attractive pricing that offsets the shipping delays that accompany online and mobile shopping.

This is an excellent way to encourage shoppers to buy from a retailer rather than comparing prices online. Google Shopping’s paid ads provide a link for downloading coupons. RetailMeNot has a new app for iPhones with money-saving features designed to help retailers keep consumers in stores with discounts.

Provide better customer service through well-informed sales associates. Retailers can leverage their built-in advantages of customer service and immediacy. An assisted sale vs. online self-service sales gives brick-and-mortar stores a huge advantage for certain types of sales.

Ensure your employees are well trained as salespeople rather than just clerks. When they stress the benefits of immediate delivery vs. online shipping fees and the hassles of returns/exchanges for online sales, this can go a long way toward mitigating showrooming.

Providing online chat helps promote sales either online or through local stores. Businesses with lots of SKUs can answer questions online to enable a sale through their local store on furniture items like chairs, which can be researched online and then tried out and purchased locally.

Merchandising is critical when fighting back against showrooming since it is nearly impossible to replicate online and through mobile devices. By using attractive displays and store arrangements that optimally display products, retailers can persuade consumers to make a purchase decision.

Retailers can ask for exclusive product deals from manufacturers agreeing not to offer certain products/models online. That strategy seems to be working for Target, which has made some exclusive product agreements with technology suppliers and has retaliated against Amazon for showrooming by discontinuing its Kindle sales.

The conversion tactics above require an investment of time and personnel, adding to your overhead costs. But multi-location retailers can leverage local SEO and SEM strategies to bring foot traffic into their brick and mortar stores from online searches.

By employing best practices for local SEO, along with location-based schema markup elements into both store location pages and local landing pages, to help drive in-store sales. For larger retailers, this may mean investing in an automated SEO solution to get the job done across hundreds to thousands of locations.

Below are aggregate results seen by a national retailer and a global dealership client, using an automated Local (Maps), Organic (SEO) and Mobile (Smartphone) SaaS solution, designed for enterprise multi-location businesses.

Measure increase in Traffic to Store Locator, then measure increase in Foot Traffic for the same month, applying the same equation with the expectation that the Increase to Store Locator will show an increase in Percentage of Foot Traffic.

On the upside, most in-store researchers (35%) bought from the retailer’s store location where they were comparison-shopping, 19 percent bought online and only 8 percent went to another store (Pew Internet and American Life Project, January 2012).

Sometimes, immediacy is important for conversion, and there’s no substitution for the personal touch. Brick and mortar retailers can be more profitable by keeping up with and adapting to changes in consumer behavior while considering ways to cut overhead with the use of SEO and other marketing tactics to drive in-store sales.

In conclusion, gone are the days when retailing was relatively simple. Today’s retailers must not only know how to sell, they must integrate every online-offline marketing tactic available to gain advantage, as indicated in the information above.

Paul Bruemmer is Managing Partner at PB Communications LLC. Specializing in SaaS solutions for Enterprise Store Locator/Finders, Semantic/Organic/Local/Mobile and SEO Diagnostic Audits for increasing online and in-store foot traffic.

Webopedia defines ‘sticky’ as the ability to keep visitors on a Web site once they have navigated there or encourage the visitor to return frequently (i.e., the visitors “stick” to the site). A site’s stickiness depends on the content of the site that encourages the visitors to remain there but is not necessarily what the visitors went to the site for.

When you can create a brick-and-mortar retail environment that’s rich in visual appeal, and so well thought out as to engage and accommodate customers through every step of their visit, customers will feel compelled to remain in the store for a long time and come back often. And the stickier your location, the greater the chance that customers are going to spend their money with you as opposed to looking around for other places to shop. Let’s look at three key steps today’s retailers are using to create stickiness:

A powerful way to enhance a retail brand image is to elevate the store environment with attention-grabbing visual technology. Customers will respond to and remember what they see throughout the store, and the right digital signage displays can make all the difference. When used with moving content that mesmerizes customers with lifestyle images, product beauty videos and high-resolution graphics, digital signage can evoke the feelings you want your customers to associate with your brand.

Consider all the places your customers might be throughout your store. Today’s digital signage offers the form factors and flexibility to fit virtually anywhere, from outside the entrance to the front windows to the back wall, and anywhere in between. All while making your brand look like a technology leader.

Many digital signage displays are available with Beacon and Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) technology to enable individualized messaging to customers that have the store’s app on their smartphones with Bluetooth enabled. When the beacon detects such a smartphone, it can push personalized content to the phone or even directly to the display as the customer approaches.

The most effective types of messaging make the customer’s immediate experiences easier and richer. This can include welcome greetings, information about the products near the display, special offers and coupons, and product recommendations based on the customer’s shopping history on the store app.

That’s not all Beacons can do. They can generate data including demographics about how customers move through a store, highlighting areas where people tend to spend time. They can also be used to create sales system metrics and help with analytics.

Having a wide assortment of products is critical to the success of a retail operation. But unlike an online store, bringing every model, color and variation onto the retail floor may not be feasible, especially when trying to create an environment that stands out while maximizing sales per square foot.

Digital signage excels at making the most of the retail sales floor. It can enable customers to view the entire inventory on a big, beautiful screen where details are crisp and colors pop. Retailers can then carry strategic items in the store and use the displays to show everything else that is available, in what is called an endless aisle. By combining digital signage with touchscreen overlays and services like dropship, retailers can bridge the gap between online and in-store and create a very effective and accommodating, self-serve shopping experience.

Create endless aisle experiences that cannot be had online, by using interactive software and a touchscreen overlay. In a furniture store, for example, a display can be placed in a showroom to provide product information, fabric choices and related accessories. It can also give the customer the opportunity to upload a picture of their living room, add a couch, change the color and add other pieces. The customer can be pleasantly occupied viewing hundreds of pieces of furniture in their virtual living room, and design their living room on the big screen.

The same idea can be used to create endless racks and shelves. An example would be to integrate a video camera on top of a small display in an eyeglass/sunglass store. A customer could then sit comfortably in front of the display, see themselves on the screen and virtually try on hundreds of styles with the touch of a button.

Major brands are spending millions of dollars to create flagship stores—larger retail environments that serve a different purpose than just selling product. These iconic stores are more involved in creating a relationship with the customer that solidifies the brand image, connects with the customer and creates loyalty.

Following the gist of that lesson, there isn’t an area in a retail environment that cannot be fitted with commercial display technology and engaging content to create amazing customer experiences, all in the pursuit of greater retail stickiness.

If you"re a business owner, you might struggle to decide between traditional brick-and-mortar and e-commerce marketplaces. Which will lead to better profits? Which will lead to failure? The answer isn"t clear-cut.

According to Harvard Business Review’s study on consumer shopping habits, 73% of participants use both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce during their shopping journey.

E-commerce enables your business to reach more customers. Instead of catching the eyes of passersby with an enticing storefront display and sign, a well-placed online ad can reach the screens of thousands of users locally and beyond.

Customers won’t always find what they’re looking for on the shelves of traditional brick-and-mortar stores, or they might find perusing the aisles to be a waste of time. In addition, you may not be able to stock your full range of merchandise in every physical location. E-commerce enables you to bring the full range of choices typically found only in a flagship stop to every shopper.

With a few clicks, an online store provides customers a complete view of what a brand offers, including what’s in stock, the bestsellers, related items and current promotions.

The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of nearly every retail business. A study by McKinsey and Company found that e-commerce year-over-year growth in 2020 was two to five times faster than before the pandemic. Retail stores closed down, people stayed at home, and e-commerce increased rapidly.

The Covid boom is not slowing down. Roughly three-quarters of people using digital channels for the first time during the pandemic said they will continue using them when things return to “normal,” according to McKinsey. In addition, Shopify"s most recent trend roadmap expects the e-commerce market to grow by almost $11 trillion between 2021 and 2025, with global sales expected to reach $6 trillion by 2024.

Even as pandemic restrictions end, and many people continue working and watching movies at home, stores are mounting a comeback. It turns out there are limits to buying goods from a screen. Society has a long history of going into a store to buy something. That need is more resilient than the temporary need to buy things online during a pandemic.

According to Raydiant"s second-annual State of Consumer Behavior Report, 46% of respondents preferred in-store shopping over online, with 33% citing the ability to touch and interact with the product.

Brick-and-mortar stores create an experience that a phone, tablet or computer screen can"t provide. With in-person shopping, customers can test a product in real-time, bring it home, and exchange it for a different product or return it for a refund the next day if they aren’t 100% satisfied. Customers don"t want to wait to try out a product, even if waiting means a same-day delivery with Amazon Prime.

A physical storefront can potentially give your customer a more powerful experience and engage their imagination. Online ads can provide dopamine spikes, but these feelings are fleeting and lack the human engagement that comes with asking questions about a product. Interactions in the outside world carry more weight in the human brain due to the confluence of multiple sensory inputs.

In addition, face-to-face interaction holds immense value. A landing page, app UI, or FAQ page cannot recreate the impact of a well-trained sales associate. This in-person advantage can make a difference for a skeptical customer.

March 2022 was the first month since the pandemic hit during which e-commerce sales declined from the same period a year earlier while in-store sales rose, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks transactions made over the Mastercard payments network as well as survey-based estimates for spending with cash and checks. The drop in online spending was 3.3%, the first year-over-year decline since November 2013. The rise for bricks-and-mortar stores was 11.2%.

Successful companies are omnichannel, which means combining the magic of in-store experiences, and the convenience and availability of online shopping as well as direct delivery.

Shopify"s survey found a mutual relationship between the two channels: 54% of participants said they"re likely to look at a product online and buy in-store, while 53% are likely to look at a product in-store and buy online.

It"s an even split. Both channels can operate as a showroom. Both channels provide value for retail consumers. And using both allows businesses to meet customers at every touchpoint of the buying process.

Brick-and-mortar businesses cannot simply rely on word of mouth or walk-in traffic. Combining brick and mortar with a digital strategy enables retailers to promote inventory to customers anytime, anywhere.

Conversely, an online-only strategy excludes the benefits of traditional brick and mortar retail: the power of immediacy, same-day purchase and returns, tactile engagement, and community-building events.

Enabling customers to buy online and pick up merchandise in the store is a strategy that bridges the gap between traditional brick and mortar and e-commerce channels. This provides the convenience of in-home shopping with the immediate availability of products at a nearby store, typically on the same day. This also enables a customer to satisfy the tactile experience they desire. Whether it is to just see and feel the size, quality or functionality of an appliance, or to try-on clothing for fit and appearance. They then can make a decision, while they are still at the store, to keep, exchange or return the product, and avoid the inconvenience and possible cost of shipping the item.

Our intuitive and flexible location platform includes dedicated solutions for omnichannel businesses. Our technology helps you get customers to stores as well as optimize their online experience.

Mapbox Movement data provides in-depth insights on where and when people are moving most. Get a quick understanding of high-traffic locations, where you should place your store, and which existing stores are driving the most or least traffic.

Our Isochrone API offers a birds-eye view of your network radius. Enter your parameters, and you’ll know which areas are reachable within a specified time, whether by foot, bike, or car. Make sure your customers know where to find you with an easy and engaging store locator.

For online shopping, checkout must be fast and direct. A poor checkout process loses customers and hurts brand reputation. With Mapbox Address Autofill customers can enter their addresses quickly and accurately into a single search box. Checkouts are faster, and there’s less room for missed deliveries caused by address typos.

As an omnichannel business, you can guide customers toward what they want online, give a good first impression, and provide them with an in-store experience that will keep them coming back. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores can do better by leveraging the online world. On the other hand, e-commerce platforms can’t ignore the benefits of providing a seamless experience between in-person and online shopping.<