HOLIDAY 2022 SHOP SET-UP
If you are a decision-maker in a retail business, you know that it is not too early to be talking about strategies for Holiday 2022; too early to see holiday decor in stores? Absolutely! Too early to strategize retail visual marketing? Absolutely not. Now that we’ve addressed that initial reaction, let’s dig further.
If you are the owner of a retail business, you hopefully understand that adding a Christmas tree or a few sprigs of pine to your retail presentation does not make you more sales. You also understand that you cannot afford to lose the opportunity of sales success that the holiday season brings.
This does not mean that decorating for the Holidays are incorrect - but adding decorative props is one of the last phases of creating your holiday set-up. Consider it the cherry on top. To strategize your visual merchandising set-ups for Holiday 2022 in a way that will really make an impact on your holiday sales, let’s start from the very beginning, which is always the ORGANIZATION.
In Visual Merchandising, we refer to the store organization as the Consumer Journey, which includes reworking your space plan by planning zones, fixture layouts and creating relevant product groupings. Sometimes these are pre-determined, such as whole collections or static fixtures, and other times, we have the option to create or recreate to make a larger impact.
To be able to do this the Holiday way, let’s considering what categories we may expect to see on the usual shopping list:
ME MYSELF AND I - customers may need to shop for themselves in anticipation of attending and hosting parties, be it work or personal.
MAIN GIFTS - consider these the gifts for those whom are closest in the customers’ personal lives. The type of recipients may be allocated per zone e.g. romantic partners, children, parents, etc. These types of gifts may be less conditional on price points compared to the rest of the list, but may still require inspiration by showcasing unique gift ideas. Create groupings by curating a whole package for gift-giving ideas, encouraging purchasing more items.
SOCIAL GIFTS - consider these what you will need if you are hosting, and what may sell as host gifts.
GENERIC GIFTS - this is for the “I-don’t-know-you-well-but-here-I-am-needing-to-get-you-a-gift” recipients. Customers especially need inspiring ideas for this category that are both appropriate and generic enough.
GIFTS IN BULK - there is an opportunity to cater to those who need a smaller gifts for a group of people e.g. the neighbourhood kids, teachers, colleagues, etc. This means easy giftables that are also at more affordable price points.
STOCKING STUFFERS - this point is self explanatory. These may not require as many units as the “Gifts in Bulk” but are still expected to be smaller items at lower price points.
Next, let’s consider what the different zones of our stores are, and how we need these sections to work for the Holiday season:
WINDOW DISPLAY - The main show-stopper that draws traffic and features the reason that a customer would want to explore the store.
LAUNCH ZONE - This is the first section you see upon entering, directly in front of you, and is usually another attention-grabbing visual display that ties into the theme of the window display. It does not need to feature the exact same items as the window display, but is an extension of it.
SECONDARY STORIES - The next few sections of the store that would be seen upon entering, where you would position (as you guessed) stories of secondary importance. For example, perhaps Holiday parties are the main focus in the launch zone, and therefore gift ideas are in the secondary story sections if it’s a little bit too early, OR perhaps the peak of the gift-giving season is reaching its end and more people are shopping for New Years’ parties. This is how the main stories differ from secondary stories.
P.O.P. SECTIONS - The point of purchase sections, positioned conveniently by the cash-out point, is an easy up-sell section. It would be a shame to not leverage on this section with easy Stocking Stuffer ideas as well as the Gifts in Bulk items.
COMMODITY SECTIONS - Depending on the size of the store, it is an unfair expectation that customers would navigate an entire store to gather and compare essential items. For example, coats may be styled in coordinating outfits, yet because they are an essential product, it would also make sense to group them all together in a “coat shop” as a commodity section. This is a considerate way to make the shopping experience easier for customers. After all, easier shopping means more shopping!
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE - Needless to say, the customer experience should be considered in all points of the store, but in this case we mean carving out out a section purely for the experience of pleasure. Perhaps it’s a beautifully designed section that would encourage photo opportunities and thus motivate social media posts for free advertising, or a customer pampering moment with refreshments. Whatever the actual activation looks like, these are the pieces that draw in many customers into stores despite the convenience of online shopping.
Think of the phases of the consumer journey like this: attracting, reeling in, engaging, and finally promoting selling points to achieve the point of cashing out - and hopefully, returning! Please keep in mind: with both lists of categories and store zones, you need to know your customer above all else, as retail spaces may vary based on their target markets and spaces. Therfore you may use the categories and zones mentioned above, or edit a few, or add your own. We will leave customizing your consumer journey up to you, which would require allocating the correct categories to each zone. If it seems like there will be different phases for each month of the Holiday season, there very well could be to stay relevant all the way through.
At VM ID, we can certainly help you re-work your consumer journeys through our a-la-carte services, OR, you can try it out yourself with our guided D.I.Y. VM Floorplan.
