can power conditioners cause lcd displays to function pricelist

The HD Guru’s readers have asked for the real story on power line conditioners. Are they really needed with an HDTV? Do they provide a sharper picture as some salesmen claim? How well do they protect the TV in case of a lightening strike or other electrical spike? What about surge protectors and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)? The HD Guru responds.

In the United States the alternating current (AC) sent from your electric company should be delivered to your home at a steady rate of 120 volts at 60 cycles per second. In some parts of the US, there are variations, resulting in voltages that are either too high or too low. Sometimes interruptions cut the power altogether. Delivery of too much power is called a voltage surge; too little, a voltage droop or sag. Electrical storms can deliver lightening strikes, which can produce catastrophic voltage surges capable of destroying the power supplies of all the electronics plugged into the system, whether they’re powered up or not. Air conditioner and refrigerator motors powering on and off can also cause momentary voltage fluctuations. Another potential power problem is electrical interference caused by industrial grade electrical equipment operating nearby as would be found in a factory. Your home’s wiring may also pick up electrical line interference or radio frequency interference (RFI) caused by, among other things, broadcast transmitters located in your vicinity.

Fluctuating voltages can cause lights to brighten and dim. TV, lights and other electrical devices may momentarily shut off due to total voltage dropouts. Radio frequency interference can create hum and/or video noise bars and static.

Power conditioners can’t give your digital HDTV a sharper picture or better color, regardless of display technology, whether plasma, LCD, DLP, SXRD, or DILA rear projection. Period. Resolution is, by definition fixed, and so cannot be increased. If a salesman tells you otherwise, ask why are there no power conditioners connected to the dozens of TVs on display. All HDTVs have internal power supplies designed to filter and transform the incoming AC to voltages necessary for the set’s operational needs. These built-in power supplies do a great job, and are designed to accept a fairly wide range of line voltages. Can a power conditioner clean up heavy interference in your power line? Yes, but most of the time they are simply not necessary and will be of no use because the vast majority of households are free of electrical interference.

While power conditioners cannot improve your picture, a surge protector can protect your set in the event of a power surge. What’s needed depends on the display and the amount of protection you can afford. For LCDs and plasmas the HD Guru suggests a surge protector at the very minimum. According to experts, the rating should be at least 360 joules. These are very inexpensive, with prices starting at under $20. For lamp driven devices such as microdisplay front and rear projectors, including LCOS (Sony SXRD and JVC DiLA), DLP and LCD, you should purchase an uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). The HD Guru also recommends using the UPS with digital video recorders (DVRs like TiVo). A UPS will prevent the lamp’s cooling fan motor (or hard drive in the DVR) from shutting off during a power failure. You need just enough battery power to cool off the projector to prevent premature lamp failure or a DVR’s power down. 10 minutes worth of battery back up is more than sufficient. Virtually all UPS units also have built-in surge protection.

UPSs’ are either on-line or off-line designs. The on-lines are best because they actively filter and convert AC wall power into DC (Direct Current) to charge the battery, while simultaneously converting the DC back to AC to run your HDTV or DVR. In addition to offering excellent line conditioning, on-line UPS systems provide surge protection. Because it’s “on-line” there is no voltage drop when the AC power fails. The switch to battery backup is seamless.

The Tripp-Lite SU750XL is a good on-line UPS. Rated at 750VA, it will run a 500-watt load for about 10 minutes, which is plenty of time to cool off the lamp in any projector or properly shut down a TiVo. While it retails for $449, a quick internet search found it for $288.93 + shipping.

Depending upon capacity off-line UPS prices start at around $40. Because the AC in/out circuitry is not coupled to the output there’s around a 1-millisecond switch between line current and battery power. Virtually all have built-in surge protection and many of the mid size and larger one also have line conditioners.

Bottom line? Instead of selecting a line conditioner with surge protection, which can cost up to $500 or more, get first-rate protection that includes surge and battery backup plus top quality line conditioning, for under $300 by purchasing an on-line UPS. For under $100 you can be protected from the most common surge and short-term power loss problems with a UPS with surge protection combo.

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For small/medium size televisions, LCD is clearly the choice for those of you with limited power. The other great news is that they are getting cheaper as time goes on. Coles and a number of supermarkets are now selling 38 cm LCD televisions for under AUS$200.

I say "if" because they are designed to run off a 230V-12V regulated power supply. This is not the same as running it direct from a 12V solar system where the battery voltage can easily range from 11 to 15 volts. An even wider variance is possible with flat or failing batteries; a battery system being equalised to 15.5-16 volts etc.

There appears to be a few brands that can definitely be run off a battery and these are marketed to the caravan and yachting market. Majestic LCD televisions will operate between 10.9 and 15.5 volts. Xien sell a range for the marine industry. Sharp televisions are also sold as "12 volts" but come with a $140 special 12 V lead. I suggest this has a power conditioner on it. Dick Smith once sold (and may still do so) an AC/DC 15 inch model.

Most people assume that all the brands would operate satisfactorily but we are unable to recommend this without information from the manufacturers. If any of you have information or experience in this regard, please let me know.

The power "saving" of being able to run it direct is significant. From my observations, the 230 to 12V adapter supplied with the television is only about 50% efficient. By the time you then use an inverter to change your 12V to 230V, I estimate that you could be tripling your power consumption.

For those of you on 24 volts, an efficient 24 to 12V converter is a reasonable option. I tested the 15" Music TV using our 8A voltage reducer (APX-006 - discontinued) and it used a modest 1 amp on 24 volts.

For the "big end of town", a consumer magazine tested 4 popular brands of large LCD and Plasma televisions for power consumption. Interestingly, the 45/ 46 inch Plasma televisions used 260 –286 watts while the 42/43 inch Plasma televisions used significantly less (183- 186 watts). All four used between 0.67 and 1.4 watts on stand by.

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Data acquisition (commonly abbreviated as DAQ or DAS) is the process of sampling signals that measure real-world physical phenomena and converting them into a digital form that can be manipulated by a computer and software.

Data Acquisition is generally accepted to be distinct from earlier forms of recording to tape recorders or paper charts. Unlike those methods, the signals are converted from the analog domain to the digital domain and then recorded to a digital medium such as ROM, flash media, or hard disk drives.

Note that there are several other measurands, including light and images, sound, mass, position, speed, etc. that can be measured by the data acquisition system.

Dewesoft provides easy-to-use modern and modular digital data acquisition systems for the simple and for most demanding test and measurement applications while also offering an industry-leading 7-year warranty.

The primary purpose of a data acquisition system is to acquire and store the data. But they are also intended to provide real-time and post-recording visualization and analysis of the data. Furthermore, most data acquisition systems have some analytical and report generation capability built in.

A recent innovation is the combination of data acquisition and control, where a high-quality DAQ system is connected tightly and synchronized with a real-time control system. You can read more about this topic in the related article: “Merging Data Acquisition with a Real-Time Control System”.

Data acquisition systems or DAQ devices are essential in the testing of products, from automobiles to medical devices - basically, any electromechanical device that people use.

Before data acquisition, products were tested in an unstructured, highly subjective manner. For example, when testing a new suspension in an automobile, engineers often relied on the opinions of test drivers as to how the suspension “felt” to them.

Example of a testing scenario where Dewesoft"s data acquisition system is used to record, store and analyze the data during extreme weight load testing on a truck

Today, no one would consider making any kind of vehicle, large or small, aircraft, medical devices, large-scale machinery, etc without employing data acquisition to objectively measure their performance, safety, and reliability.

Data acquisition is the process of converting real-world signals to the digital domain for display, storage, and analysis. Because physical phenomena exist in the analog domain, i.e., the physical world that we live in, they must be first measured there and then converted to the digital domain.

This process is done using a variety of sensors and signal conditioning circuitry. The outputs are sampled by analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and then written in a time-based stream to a digital memory media, as mentioned above. We usually call such systems the measurement systems.

The measurement of a physical phenomenon, such as the temperature, the level of a sound source, or the vibration occurring from constant motion, begins with a sensor. A sensor is also called a transducer. A sensor converts a physical phenomenon into a measurable electrical signal.

Sensors are used in our everyday lives. For example, the common mercury thermometer is a very old type of sensor used for measuring temperature. Using colored mercury in a closed tube, it relies on the fact that this chemical has a consistent and linear reaction to changes in temperature. By marking the tube with temperature values, we can look at the thermometer and see what the temperature is with limited precision.

So other types of sensors have been invented to measure temperatures, such as thermocouples, thermistors, RTDs (Resistance Temperature Detectors), and even infra-red temperature detectors. Millions of these sensors are at work every day in all manner of applications, from the engine temperature shown on our automobile dashboard, to the temperatures measured in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Virtually every industry utilizes temperature measurement in some way.

Depending on the type of sensor, its electrical output can be a voltage, current, resistance, or another electrical attribute that varies over time. The output of these analog sensors is typically connected to the input of a signal conditioner, which we will discuss in the next section.

If we continue the example of the thermocouple. The signal conditioning circuitry needs to linearize the output from the sensor as well as provide isolation, and amplification to bring the very small voltage up to a nominal level for digitizing.

Each signal conditioning circuitry is designed by the manufacturer to perform the elemental normalizing of the sensor output to ensure its linearity and fidelity to the source phenomena, and prepare it for digitizing. And since every sensor type is different, the signal conditioners must conform perfectly to them.

Sometimes also referred to as galvanic isolation, electrical isolation is the separation of a circuit from other sources of electrical potentials. This is especially important with measuring systems because most signals exist at relatively low levels, and external electrical potentials can influence the signal quality greatly, resulting in wrong readings. Interfering potentials can be both AC and DC in nature.

For example, when a sensor is placed directly on an article under test, (e.g. a power supply) which has potential above ground (i.e., not at 0V), this can impose a DC offset on the signal of hundreds of volts. Electrical interference or noise can also take the form of AC signals created by other electrical components in the signal path or in the environment around the test. For example, fluorescent lights in the room can radiate 400Hz which can be picked up by very sensitive sensors.

This is why the best data acquisition systems have isolated inputs - to preserve the integrity of the signal chain and ensure that what the sensor outputs is truly what has been read. There are several kinds of isolation techniques employed today.

Virtually every signal that we want to measure can be affected by electrical interference or noise. This has a variety of causes, including ambient electromagnetic fields which can be induced into high gain signal lines, or simple voltage potentials that exist between the sensor or measuring system and the object under test. Therefore, the best signal conditioning systems provide selectable filtering that the engineer can use in order to remove these interferences and make better measurements.

Some filtering, such as anti-aliasing filtering, can only be done in the analog domain. This is because once a false signal caused by under-sampling has been digitized, there is no way to know what the real signal looked like anymore. However, nearly all other filtering can be done in the digital domain, i.e., in software, after the signal has been digitized.

Filters are also defined by how many poles they have. The more poles, the steeper the roll-off they are capable of performing on the signal. This roll-off or slope simply means how many decibels of the signal can be rolled off per octave. The specification of the filter in question will typically give the maximum roll-off in dB/Q.

Dewesoft DAQ hardware typically provides low-pass filtering as required by the types of signals being measured. Some conditioners additionally provide high-pass filtering, for example, CHARGE signal amplifiers. Removing unwanted low-frequency elements is especially critical if the measured signal will be integrated or double-integrated, as unwanted elements would badly distort the derived speed or displacement values.

You will also hear of filter types such as Bessel, Butterworth, Elliptic, and Chebyshev to name just a few. Because all filters impose distortions onto the signal itself due to their very nature, engineers over the years have developed their own filtering types in order to provide the best possible results for their specific purposes.

You can see that there are trade-offs among these filter types. Therefore it is up to the engineer to choose the best filter type for their application.

DewesoftX DAQ software provides a broad palette of user-selectable filtering options, including all of the ones mentioned above and more. It is interesting to note that software filters can be applied after measurement - and even removed or modified after measurement. This provides the engineer with many tools by which to analyze their data non-destructively.

Using DewesoftX software, engineers can record their data without filtering, and then apply various filters after recording and experimenting, even doing side-by-side comparisons with the original signal. This flexibility is a powerful analysis tool and extremely easy to implement. It preserves the raw, unfiltered data and simultaneously allows the engineer to apply filters as needed, creating a different data set for analytical or presentation purposes.

The output of most physical measurement signal conditions is an analog signal. It is necessary to convert this signal to a series of high-speed digital values so that it can be displayed and stored by the data acquisition system. As such, an A/D card or A/D subsystem is used to convert this signal.

There are a variety of ADC types, including both multiplexed and single converters per channel. In a multiplexed ADC system, a single analog-to-digital converter is used to convert multiple signals from analog to digital domain. This is done by multiplexing the analog signals one at a time into the ADC.

This is a lower-cost approach compared to having an ADC chip per channel. But on the other hand, it is not possible to precisely align the signals on the time axis, because only one signal can ever be converted at a time. Therefore, there is always a time skew between channels.

In the early days of data acquisition, 8-bit ADCs were common. As of this writing, 24-bit ADCs are standard among most data acquisition systems designed to make dynamic measurements, and 16-bit ADCs are commonly considered the bare minimum resolution for signals in general.

On the Y or vertical axis, ADCs are available with various resolutions. The most common today are 16-bit and 24-bit. An ADC with a 16-bit resolution can theoretically digitize an incoming signal with a resolution of one part in 65,535 (2^16 = 65,536).

This number is actually reduced by noise and quantization error among other factors, but it provides a good starting point for comparison. Because each bit of resolution effectively doubles the quantization resolution, systems with 24-bit ADCs provide 2^24 = 16,777,216. Thus, an incoming one-volt signal can be divided into more than 16 million steps on the Y-axis.

ADCs which provide anti-aliasing filtering (AAF) is highly desirable in all applications involving dynamic measurements because they prevent measuring errors caused by sampling a signal at a too low rate. This aliasing is when a false signal is created by sampling too infrequently for a fast-changing signal.

Once converted to digital, our signals (aka measurands) are processed by the computer subsystem in several ways. First and foremost they can be displayed to the test operator on the system’s screen for visual inspection and review. Most DAQ systems show the data in several popular formats, including a time-history aka “strip chart” (Y/T) display, as well as a numerical display. But other display types are available from many systems on the market today, including bar graphs, X-Y graphs, and more.

Today’s data acquisition systems typically utilize a solid-state hard disk drive (SSD or HDD) to stream data from the ADC subsystem to permanent storage. Writing the data to disk also allows it to be analyzed after the test is completed.

Most DAQ systems allow the data to be exported to different file formats for analysis using third-party software tools. Common data formats include CSV (Comma Separated Values), UNV (Universal File Format), and more.

DewesoftX data acquisition software which is included for free with our modular data acquisition systems is able to export data to both formats plus many others. See the complete list of supported file export formats.

One of the most critical functions of any DAQ system is the ability to visualize the data in real-time during data storage. Systems typically employ an integrated or separate flat-screen display, which can be configured in a variety of visual formats.

Waveform data can almost always be displayed as Y/T waveforms against a graph or grid, and in numeric form. But other graphical conventions can be employed in addition, such as bar graph meters, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) frequency/magnitude graphs, and more.

Today’s most flexible DAQ systems allow the user to configure one or more displays freely using built-in graphical widgets in an easy manner. DewesoftX software offers several high quality built-in visual instruments:

Data acquisition systems provide an important visual reference to the state of the test in real-time. But after it has been stored in the DAQ system, the data can also be analyzed using tools either built into the DAQ system or third-party data analysis software.

As mentioned earlier, nearly every DAQ system on the market today has several built-in data export filters that convert the system’s proprietary data format to third-party data formats for offline analysis.

Today"s data acquisition systems come in many forms and flavors. From modular data acquisition systems to all-in-one DAQs. There are many to choose from that suit certain applications. To learn about different types of data acquisition systems please check the following article - Types of data acquisition systems.

Data acquisition systems are sold by a variety of companies and are available with a broad range of capabilities and specifications, thus the prices can vary significantly. It is useful to provide general pricing for these various levels of DAQ systems, using the price-per-channel model. Estimated prices are given in USD (US dollars):

Do-it-yourself DAQ systems are impossible to estimate because they cover a wide span from a few channels to a system that took 10 man-years to develop and/or which involve hundreds or even thousands of channels.

Take a look at Goodwill’s price list! The below chart depicts standard prices on clothing and household items found at Goodwill stores. Small appliances, furniture, antiques, exercise equipment, and other special donations are priced individually, based on quality and condition. Goodwill’s price list does not apply to Second Editions (our outlet store) or the GW boutique.

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These activities range from visual merchandising and product display to special offers and pricing. The ultimate goal of product merchandising is to get customers to come into your store and make a purchase, but also to have an enjoyable experience and visit your store again.

Successful product merchandising allows you to get the right products in front of the right customers. By doing this, you’ll order and sell the correct amount of inventory, drive profits, and make your products (and your store) memorable.

A big part of this is visual merchandising—the process of creating a planogram, designing, and displaying products to highlight their features and benefits. The colors, lighting, product positioning, and store layout all play an important role in product promotion.

Product merchandising also includes experiential elements, like getting your store visitors to interact with products, try sample products, take photos, or sit down to take a break.

When customers visit your store or look at your products online, they interact with shapes, colors, the order of products, and many other visuals. For brick-and-mortar shoppers, there are also scents, sounds, and tactile senses at play.

They all play a role at how your customers will perceive and remember your brand. Your brand’s perception is often a result of more than people can grasp on a conscious level. It’s subtle and powerful.

This bright, sleek look and feel translates to its online store as well, which features very few colors, short lines of copy, and plenty of space between different elements.

Another example is Lush, a fresh handmade cosmetics brand. If you’ve ever been to a Lush store, you can likely vividly remember what it smelled like. You can also walk through a mall and smell a Lush store nearby, even if you don’t see one.

And once you’re in, you can see hundreds of packaging-free products you can touch, smell, and try a sample of. Lush is famous for its colorful, fragrant in-store experience.

Product merchandising emphasizes the best features and benefits of your products and leads to more sales, as well as larger purchases through upselling and cross-selling.

For example, you promote a new hair care line by giving out travel-size samples. The customer doesn’t need a new hair conditioner now, but tries it out once their current bottle runs out. They like it and choose to purchase it the next time they’re in the store.

This is how they discover hair stylers and tools they were looking for, so they buy them and grab samples of other products from the line—and the cycle continues.

Product promotion through samples, positioning, and grouping complementary products encouraged the customer not just to make a larger purchase, but to keep returning to the store as well.

Their experience will depend on more than just product merchandising, including interactions with sales associates and payment options they can choose from.

But your products play an essential role. Was the customer able to find what they were looking for? Could they easily make sure they’re buying the right product for their needs? Did the store layout and signage make it easy to navigate options? Would they tell a friend to visit your store to buy that product?

Product merchandising aims to meet the customer with the ​​best product at the right time. In turn, you’ll create loyal, returning customers and brand ambassadors.

Holding excess inventory is expensive. Holding the right amount of the products your customers want, however, improves cash flow, maximizes your storage space, and avoids unsellable inventory (products you can no longer sell because they’re out of season or style).

This is why product merchandising is key. Instead of passively holding stock and hoping customers find their way to it, you can consider different seasons, customer needs, historic product demand, and upcoming trends to intentionally manage your inventory and promote the right products at the right time.

Your inventory impacts sales (by dictating how much you can sell) and expenses (by dictating what you have to buy), so it’s worth focusing on product merchandising for maximum sales and cash flow—and minimal risk.

Shopify POS comes with tools to help you manage warehouse and store inventory in one place. Forecast demand, set low stock alerts, create purchase orders, know which items are selling or sitting on shelves, count inventory, and more.

For example, people go to IKEA to buy furniture and home accessories, but customers’ needs aren’t that simple. If they were, IKEA would be nothing more than a basic showroom displaying popular pieces of furniture with a checkout at the end.

Instead, IKEA gives its customers the chance to plan and visualize layouts using their products. They can walk through sample bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, hallways, and patios to get inspired to implement a solution into their own home.

IKEA takes this to the next level with fully equipped and decorated apartment examples, often emphasizing its spaciousness and organization despite a small square footage.

How likely are they to have the exact product in mind? What information and visual cues do they need to make the best decision? How can you emphasize key details and benefits of products in your store with those needs in mind?

Your store layout plays another key role. To improve your store layout, consider your products, the consumer behavior you want to encourage, and your store’s square footage.

Check out all 10 store layout options to create one that helps you achieve your product merchandising goals. Do you want customers to slow down and browse? See complementary products together? Consider more versions of the same product?

For example, you can display clothing on mannequins, garment racks, and display tables. Smaller accessories like bags, jewelry, and fragrances look great on freestanding displays, display cases, and glorifiers.

The idea is to create an engaging, visually pleasing combination of product display types to get customers into the right mood and frame of mind as they browse your store.

Pay attention to how your customers move through the store and interact with different products, and the way they’re displayed, so you can understand what works and what doesn’t. You can tweak product displays and experiment with any of the 19 popular retail product displays for maximum results.

Have you ever stepped into a store where the products were also the artwork? It’s quirky and memorable. And while it may not always be functional, it can be a new way to position your products and emphasize what makes them special.

I love when there are artful displays of products, because it shows true mastery of the principles of design. It’s almost conceptual art, or conceptual retail.

The striking art of the nose makes passersby stop and take a closer look—and discover the perfumes beneath the nose. It’s art and product in one, a great balance between tasteful and effective in attracting customers.

“In [retailers’] ability to create an artful piece, they’re also showcasing that this is an important piece for the customer to have. It’s an artful version of a spotlight and I love it,” adds Guillot.

“We also love that the Melbourne store is a full-body experience. Not a single screen in sight. Instead, the guests are inhaling the scents, admiring the displays, watching the demonstrations, tasting the samples, chatting with each other and with the team members. They are participating, engaging, and enjoying,” states a report by The Cool Hunter.

And Harvey Nichols, a British department store, uses large-scale touchscreens to show customers videos of collaborations and product information. Customers can also add products to a basket for checkout.

There’s scientific proof behind the benefits of fresh flowers—they’ve been found to make people feel comfortable, relaxed, and natural. And what retailer wouldn’t want an easy-going, happy customer in their store?

Macy’s caught on to this more than 70 years ago with its annual Macy’s Flower Show. It’s a two week exhibition that attracts around half a million people to participating stores.

There’s a reason we give flowers as gifts to the special people in our lives. Most retailers don’t offer such a large, artful display because it isn’t feasible for the space and budget they have, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add flowers to your store.

Place fresh flowers outside your storefront to greet customers, and sprinkle them throughout your store and near the cash registers. Look for ways to thoughtfully integrate them with your product—maybe you use a pitcher as a vase, or you could create fresh flower headpieces for your mannequins.

The Trina Turk Boutique did that with old logs. Instead of displaying her fashion apparel and accessories on standard product stands, it took a rustic, creative approach with trees.

It adds a different visual appeal and speaks to your brand identity when you use outside-the-box product displays. And if you upcycle in a smart way, it can also save you some serious room in your budget.

Logs aren’t the only way to be creative. Find something that suits your store: refurbished record players could be used in a music shop, wind chimes or necklaces could be displayed on a vintage coat rack, or a wheelbarrow could hold flower seeds at a home and garden shop.

Using real humans in your store in place of mannequins can be a powerful visual merchandising tactic—especially if you’re an apparel and accessory retailer.

Abercrombie & Fitch has mastered this. As its target market of teenagers walk past the storefront, they’re attracted to this real-life manifestation of what they aspire to be.

“I am a huge advocate for this notion … being this living embodiment of wearing the apparel,” Guillot says. “That personalized experience, whether it’s visual or not, is so critical. But I love it when it’s visual because then you are weaving seamlessly in it around the space.”

This is extremely effective for these stores because of the lifestyle they sell and their strong brand image, and the models are tangible proof that the Abercrombie & Fitch image is attainable.

Customers will want to buy the clothes those models are wearing so they can live this lifestyle, too—not to mention the photos with the models they’ll share all over social media.

And if your store is starkly different from Abercrombie & Fitch, you can still find ways to use real people instead of mannequins to merchandise your products. Make your products part of the employee uniform, host a fashion show, or host demos where your employees show how they use your products in real life.

If ever a retailer mastered how to direct customers through the store, it’s IKEA. It has laid out its brick-and-mortar locations so well it practically guides every step its customers take.

This works so well, because when you know how your customers are traveling through the space, you also know where they’re likely to look and what they’re likely to see. Using that knowledge, IKEA can place promos, new products, and other priorities in those high-trafficked, visible spots.

Guillot recommends always considering customer line of sight when setting or refreshing the floor plan. “Customers scan and view the store at about 45 degrees from their own path of walking. So, oftentimes when merchants or owners, or even employees, are setting or fixing the visual merchandising display, they’re doing it right in front, head on, without respecting how customers are walking around,” she adds.

“After you merchandise, or when you’re merchandising, actually physically walk around your space and scan the customer’s line of sight to make sure they’re seeing and approaching the product from this 45-degree angle.”

A while ago, Guillot hosted an event at The Carrot Flower Company, a local floral shop. “The owner had the windows open, a bench outside, and we were using that—not only the inside, but the whole front of the store, too.”

Pedestrians walking by see that there’s a group of people at this store—social proof that this is a place worth checking out. And though no products were part of this display, it’s visual merchandising for your brand and the experience you provide.

Welcome your customers to spend time in your store, even if they’re not shopping. Provide a cozy space for customers to hang out. Things like offering free water, tea, and coffee can go a long way.

IKEA Canada hosted the IKEA Play Café, a pop-up shop, in Toronto. The homeware store turned a space in downtown into an area where guests could eat, play, and shop.

BlueCollar Working Dog, a dog store in Los Angeles, sells natural foods, hiking packs, locally produced meats, supplements, harnesses, and training equipment. Thanks to a large retail space, these products are arranged around stations for jumping and climbing so dogs can play while their owners shop for them.

LIVELY, a lingerie brand, perceives its spaces to be more than just a place to purchase products. You’ll see customers chatting, having coffee, and taking pictures in front of stunning walls.

Retail used to be about sales per square foot. Today, [shoppers] don’t need to come to a store to buy. They want to come to a store for human interactions. They need something to do that’s not on their screen anymore.

Women walking around the city need a place to stop and take a break, and they know they can rely on LIVELY’s store for that. Some have even come in and nursed their babies.

“It’s like a clubhouse. We want women to come in and feel comfortable. They can rely on us to come in here and not feel any pressure to shop,” Michelle added.

Find out ways you can create comfort for your customers during their visit without pushing them to buy. Grocery stores can provide customers with a free in-store snack, while baby stores can offer free use of a baby carrier for new moms.

The famous Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado, is a top tourist shopping and dining destination. The pedestrian mall spans a few blocks and is lined with quaint shops, restaurants, and drinking holes.

Just a block off the main mall is Salon Liquid, along with its vintage bicycles adorned with flower pots. You might wonder what bicycles have to do with hair, and the connections really are limited. The impact it makes, though, is standing out from the crowd.

“Walking up and down boutique streets, I see really typical signage, like A-frame signs, blade signs, signage painted on windows and awnings,” Guillot says. “People think that’s the fastest way to attract customers.”

Ditch the standard folding chalkboard and go for something more unique for your storefront. Signage inspiration can be found almost anywhere—check out Craigslist, yard sales, and second-hand shops to see what gems you can uncover.

Check out Forage Plants, an interior plant shop and community for plant lovers. Its stores carry a sense of home, with comfy chairs, clothes racks, couches, and a bathtub—a great way to make the store feel like a room in customers’ homes, and to help them imagine what a plant will look like in a home setting.

Kowtow stores are dramatically different from what you’d expect of a clothing retailer. Instead of racks and shelves packed to the brim, you can see bare walls, small stacks of garments, and pieces of clothing hanging on their own or only a few at a time.

This minimalistic store design is something you’d see in an Apple store, but this clothing retailer gives it a different meaning. The store display perfectly aligns with Kowtow’s sustainability mission, encouraging customers to make conscious buying decisions that preserve the planet.

If you’ve ever been to big stores with sports and cycling gear, you know stores often crowd dozens of bicycles together and display other cycling equipment on tall shelves. It’s not particularly appealing from a visual perspective.

“The intention of the Tokyobike store design was to complement the clean lines and color palette of our bicycle line,” Juliana Rudell DiSimone, co-owner and director of Tokyobike, told Momentum Mag. “There is a strong emphasis on curation, as our ordering includes a range of products, from bicycles and related accessories to branded collaborations to design goods from Japan and beyond.”

The brand created a concept it calls “Tokyo Slow,” a belief that a bicycle is a vehicle for exploration of one’s city, not just a simple means of commuting. Its store display reflects that concept.

Take these benefits, tips, concepts, and examples and create your product merchandising approach. This way, you’ll be able to emphasize the impact your products can make in your customers’ lives—and generate positive cash flow and loyal customers as a result.

Use Shopify’s analytics and reporting to make the right merchandising decisions at each of your store locations. Spot seasonal trends, see which products need more promotion, measure your promotions’ impact on product sales, and more.

The merchandising of a product is the process of promoting and selling the product to consumers. This can be done through a variety of means, including advertising, packaging, pricing, and placement.

There are many types of merchandising, but some of the most common include retail merchandising, wholesale merchandising, and digital merchandising. Retail merchandising is the process of designing and managing the look of a retail store. Wholesale merchandising is the process of designing and managing the look of a wholesale store. Digital merchandising is the process of designing and managing the look of an online store.

When you go shopping for your air conditioner, you are most likely looking at energy-efficiency, air quality and cooling speed. One of the points that will probably go completely unnoticed will be the functions on the remote control for the AC unit. But, once the AC unit has been unpacked, installed and you sit down to enjoy your cool air, you may suddenly find yourself baffled.

At first glance, you probably thought all these symbols on the remote control will be easy to decipher. But, the confusion can limit your capacity to fully enjoy the functionality of your AC. To shed some light on the subject, we will supply you with our expert understanding of remote control symbols and what they mean to you the consumer.

You probably thought this would be easy, and it really should be. There was a time when there were only a couple functions for an AC unit and the symbols needed to control these functions were all pretty straight forward. Not anymore!

If you have purchased and installed your AC unit, one of the last things you will be introduced to is the remote unit and the countless pictures symbols, graphs, numbers and such all laid out on a clever LCD display. What you thought would be the easiest part about the AC unit now seems strange and daunting.

Obviously, some of these will be easier to understand than the rest. But, the only way you will get the most from your air conditioner will be to fully understand all of these and how they are used to improve the interior environment.

Typically the installation professional will give you a rundown of everything you need to know, but if they haven’t, you may find yourself with a costly unit that only performs with limited capacity. So to improve your understanding of your AC unit here is what you need to know about the symbols you will typically find on your remote, their functions and how you can use them to improve your home life.

This is what you will use to switch your air conditioner on and off. It looks very similar to the power button on most other electrical appliances and is represented by a vertical bar within a circle or semi-circle.

The symbol of a snowflake is the universal sign for the cool air mode. Sometimes this cool mode will leave the air conditioner on despite the temperature settings you have entered into the thermostat.

A relatively new symbol on the scene and not always present in every type of AC unit. This symbol looks a bit like the sun and represents the heating mode. This setting will reverse hot air that is typically blown out the back and send it in to the room to reach the desired temperature asset on the thermostat.

The symbol for dry mode ironically appears as a raindrop or sometimes a series of drops in a triangle or circular form. It is easy to mistake this for the cool symbol of a snowflake. This setting is used to reduce the humidity levels of the room while still circulating cool air.

The fan mode is important for a variety of reasons and is typically represented by a fan symbol. If you don’t want the room cooled any more than it already is, this function can help circulate the air of the room without the cooling feature, thus saving on energy expenses. It is also a good option to use every so often to prevent ice from building up in the AC unit.

Looking a lot like the signal bars on your mobile device and allows you to choose the rate your fan blades will be circulating air. The number of bars will also indicate the various power settings with the shortest bar being the lowest setting and the longest bar the highest wind speed.

The Auto function bar is typically represented by the capital letter “A” surrounded by different arrows. The function is designed to maintain the current temperature setting whatever that may be. Both the cooling and heating functions will be used to achieve and maintain the temperature at a constant desired temperature.

This symbol looks like a person using the universal sign of silence, a single finger over the lips. While most air conditioner units are already pretty quiet, the “silent” or “quiet mode” setting takes this to a whole new level. Use this to allow your AC unit to function silently for listening to music, watching movies or getting a better night’s sleep temperature.

This symbol appears like a series of arrows pointing in various directions away from the internal mini-split unit. This function will cause the vertical blades of the AC air flow to either to oscillate, remain stationary or alternate between them according to predetermined automatic settings.

This symbol will look almost identical to the vertical air swing icon, except the arrows will have a horizontal orientation. You can select this function to further adjust the flow of air in any horizontal setting or an oscillating orientation.

We have taken a look at some of the most common symbols you can expect to find on an AC remote. Sometimes the variations of these symbols and functions will be different from unit to the unit such as sleep mode. Furthermore, there are many new AC models being produced and many have functions that are specific to the brand. If you have any further doubts about an obscure symbol on your AC remote, the best place to look for answers will be on the user’s manual.

The inner workings of any home air conditioning system don’t make much sense to the average homeowner. And most of the time, that’s fine! All we need to know is that our AC units provide cool, dehumidified air during the middle of July when the weather"s hot.

We also know that no one wants their air conditioner to suddenly stop working during the dog days of summer. If your AC unit quits on you, a broken compressor might be the cause.

The compressor is the heart of your cooling unit. It’s the element that produces cool air. When it starts to slow down and requires repairs, you’ll probably want to start thinking about how much it may cost you to replace it.

According to data by HomeGuide, the average cost to replace a home air conditioner compressor is about $600 to $1,200 (CAD 800 to CAD 1,600) under warranty, or $1,300 to $2,500 (CAD 1,700 to CAD 3,300) when it’s not under warranty.

Many HVAC contractors charge $75 to $150 (CAD 100 to CAD 200) per hour, plus the cost of parts. These labor rates vary based on your location and individual contractor.

In some cases, you may have to replace the entire AC unit, and that can take 4 to 6 hours for a qualified contractor to do. A typical price range for a complete AC unit replacement is $2,500 to $7,500 (CAD 3,300 to CAD 9,900) using existing ductwork. The actual cost depends on the unit brand, contractor labor rates and how long it takes to complete the job.

There are a variety of air conditioning systems that you can use to cool your home — window units, portable systems, ductless air conditioners and central air conditioning systems. No matter what system you choose, they all work in basically the same way. According to The Spruce, there are five important parts to every air conditioner:

Compressors come in a variety of models — single-stage, two-stage and variable-speed. The two-stage and variable-speed styles are more efficient but also cost more to replace.

There are many brands to choose from, and each one provides great options for different budgets. Central AC units usually work best with a compressor from the same brand.

After you replace the compressor, the refrigerant has to be filled. Refrigerant refills cost between $100 and $320 (CAD 130 and CAD 420) for a modern unit that uses R410A Freon, or $180 to $600 (CAD 240 to CAD 790) or more for R22 Freon in an older unit.

The compressor is the main part of the AC unit. A warranty plan typically covers a significant portion of the cost of fixing the compressor. If the compressor is not under warranty, it may be easier and cheaper to replace the entire AC unit.

While no one can predict when an AC compressor might decide to break, the season is a factor when it comes to AC compressor replacement costs. Prices tend to increase during the spring and summer months when HVAC contractors are busy. Off-peak months are generally the most affordable times — January through March and September through November.

When your AC sputters to a stop on a 100-degree day, the compressor may not need to be replaced completely. Sometimes, the unit just needs a repair. Identifying the symptoms of a bad AC compressor may help you troubleshoot the issue quickly and efficiently.

Faulty thermostat: If your AC stops working or is no longer blowing cool air, it could be the thermostat batteries, sensors or other issue causing the device to read the wrong temperature.

Compressor blockage: If something is blocking your compressor unit, it could impact how your AC compressor functions. Make sure no yard debris, overgrown shrubs or other items are blocking your unit.

AC compressors can last 10 to 20 years, depending on where they are located, how well they are maintained and how often they are used. In the northern part of the U.S., air conditioner compressors last 15 to 20 years, while in the south, AC compressors can last 8 to 10 years. Routine maintenance, regular check-ups and periodic filter changes will help keep the AC unit in great shape and prolong the compressor’s lifespan.

Once a firm has defined its target market and identified its competitive advantage, it can create the marketing mix, which is based on the 4Ps, that brings a specific group of consumers a product with superior value.

Every target market requires a unique marketing mix to satisfy the needs of the target customers and meet the firm’s goals. A strategy must be constructed for each of the 4Ps, and all strategies must be blended with the strategies of the other elements. Thus, the marketing mix is only as good as its weakest part. For example, an excellent product with a poor distribution system could be doomed to failure. An excellent product with an excellent distribution system but an inappropriate price is also doomed to failure. A successful marketing mix requires careful tailoring.

At first glance you might think that McDonald’s and Wendy’s have roughly the same marketing mix. After all, they are both in the fast-food business. But McDonald’s targets parents with young children through Ronald McDonald, heavily promoted children’s Happy Meals, and in-store playgrounds. Wendy’s is targeted to a more adult crowd. Wendy’s has no playgrounds, but it does have flat-screen TVs, digital menu boards, and comfy leather seating by a fireplace in many stores (a more adult atmosphere), and it has expanded its menu to include more items for adult tastes.

In essence, the term “product” refers to anything offered by a firm to provide customer satisfaction, be it tangible or intangible. It can be a single product, a combination of products, a product-service combination, or several related products and services. It normally has at least a generic name (e.g., banana) and usually a brand name (e.g., Chiquita). Although a product is normally defined from the perspective of the manufacturer, it is also important to note two other points-of-view, those of the consumer and of other relevant publics.

For a manufacturer like Kraft Foods, their macaroni and cheese dinner reflects a food product containing certain ingredients packaged, distributed, priced, and promoted in a unique manner, and requiring a certain return on their investment. For the consumer, the product is a somewhat nutritious food item that is quick and easy to prepare and is readily consumed by the family, especially the kids. For a particular public, such as the US Food and Drug Administration, this product reflects a set of ingredients that must meet particular minimum standards in terms of food quality, storage, and distribution.

Making this distinction is important in that all three perspectives must be understood and satisfied if any product will survive and succeed. Furthermore, this sensitivity to the needs of all three is the marketing concept in action. For example, a company might design a weight-reduction pill that not only is extremely profitable but also has a wide acceptance by the consumer. Unfortunately, it cannot meet the medical standards established by the US Federal government. Likewise, Bird’s Eye Food might improve the overall quality of their frozen vegetables and yet not improve the consumers’ tendency to buy that particular brand simply because these improvements were not perceived as either important or noticeable by the consumer. Therefore, an appraisal of a company’s product is always contingent upon the needs and wants of the marketer, the consumer, and the relevant publics. We define product as follows: anything, either tangible or intangible, offered by the firm; as a solution to the needs and wants of the consumer; is profitable or potentially profitable; and meets the requirements of the various publics governing or influencing society.

Consumers are really buying packages of benefits that deliver value, which always includes some tangible aspects and some intangible aspects. The person who buys a plane ride on United Airlines is looking for a quick way to get from one city to another (the benefit). Providing this benefit requires a tangible part of the product (a plane) and an intangible part of the product (ticketing, maintenance, and piloting services). A person who purchases accounting services buys the benefit of having taxes completed on the correct tax form (tangible part of the service) and having the taxes prepared correctly by a trusted person (intangible part of the service).

Marketers must know how consumers view the types of products their companies sell so that they can design the marketing mix to appeal to the selected target market. To help them define target markets, marketers have devised product categories. Products that are bought by the end user are called consumer products. They include electric razors, sandwiches, cars, stereos, magazines, and houses. Consumer products that get used up, such as Nexxus shampoo and Lay’s potato chips, are called consumer nondurables. Those that last for a long time, such as Whirlpool washing machines and Apple computers, are consumer durables.

Another way to classify consumer products is by the amount of effort consumers are willing to make to acquire them. The four major categories of consumer products are unsought products, convenience products, shopping products, and specialty products. Unsought products are products unplanned by the potential buyer or known products that the buyer does not actively seek.

Convenience products are relatively inexpensive items that require little shopping effort. Soft drinks, candy bars, milk, bread, and small hardware items are examples. Consumers buy them routinely without much planning. This does not mean that such products are unimportant or obscure. Many, in fact, are well known by their brand names—such as Pepsi-Cola, Pizza Pizza, Axe deodorant, and UPS shipping.

In contrast to convenience products, shopping products are bought only after a brand-to-brand and store-to-store comparison of price, suitability, and style. Examples are furniture, automobiles, a vacation in Europe, and some items of clothing. Convenience products are bought with little planning, but shopping products may be purchased after months or even years of search and evaluation.

Specialty products are products for which consumers search long and hard and for which they refuse to accept substitutes. Expensive jewelry, designer clothing, state-of-the-art stereo equipment, limited-production automobiles, and gourmet restaurants fall into this category. Because consumers are willing to spend much time and effort to find specialty products, distribution is often limited to one or two sellers in a given region, such as Neiman-Marcus, Gucci, or a Porsche dealer.

Introduction: When a product enters the life cycle, it faces many obstacles. Although competition may be light, the introductory stage usually features frequent product modifications, limited distribution, and heavy promotion. The failure rate is high. Production and marketing costs are also high, and sales volume is low. Hence, profits are usually small or negative.

Growth: If a product survives the introductory stage, it advances to the growth stage of the life cycle. In this stage, sales grow at an increasing rate, profits are healthy, and many competitors enter the market. Large companies may start to acquire small pioneering firms that have reached this stage. Emphasis switches from primary demand promotion to aggressive brand advertising and communicating the differences between brands. For example, the goal changes from convincing people to buy flat-screen TVs to convincing them to buy Sony versus Panasonic or Sharp.Distribution becomes a major key to success during the growth stage, as well as in later stages. Manufacturers scramble to acquire dealers and distributors and to build long-term relationships. Without adequate distribution, it is impossible to establish a strong market position.Toward the end of the growth phase, prices normally begin falling, and profits peak. Price reductions result from increased competition and from cost reductions from producing larger quantities of items (economies of scale). Also, most firms have recovered their development costs by now, and their priority is in increasing or retaining market share and enhancing profits.

Maturity: After the growth stage, sales continue to mount—but at a decreasing rate. This is the maturity stage. Most products that have been on the market for a long time are in this stage. Thus, most marketing strategies are designed for mature products. One such strategy is to bring out several variations of a basic product (line extension). Kool-Aid, for instance, was originally offered in six flavors. Today there are more than 50, as well as sweetened and unsweetened varieties.