Use these merchandising tips to help you create a buzz that encourages shoppers to interact with and buy small items on impulse, without sacrificing merchandise security.
You can increase conversions on small items in your store with visual merchandising techniques that use display stands for small items to trigger customers to make unplanned purchases on impulse. Once you get the techniques down, they can play a major role in driving revenues for your retail business.
Here are ten recommendations on how to be strategic with display stands for small items in your store to attract customers’ attention, get them thinking emotionally and inspiring them to buy more.
Don’t create “clutter” in trying to display lots of options
With small items, it’s easy to make the mistake of visually overwhelming customers with lots of choices, but that is a no-no. Less is more when it comes to inspiring impulse buying, so keep it simple visually. Use display stands for small items that create focal points within your store to simplify the customer’s purchasing decision as much as possible, and not overwhelm them with too many products.
You don’t want confusion to enter the process, which may force customers to reconsider what they should and should not buy. A cluttered countertop with too many displays will only serve to reduce your products’ perceived value.
Focus instead on displaying one or two items, and that will get customers to make a yes/no decision. Some great display tools for this are shelves, racks, endcaps and wall slat displays, which are all great at showing off small items.
Countertop displays in particular, like boxes and cases, are some of the best display stands for small items that do not need to be secured. Other options include wood barrels, trays and risers which will help you organize products effectively while decluttering your floor and counter spaces and enabling customers to browse small items comfortably.
For small items sold at a higher price point, consider locking cases
You will surely want to secure small items that are popular theft targets, like watches, mobile phones and other small electronic gadgets, and this makes it a bit of a challenge to display them in a way that stands out. The solution is to use display stands for small items that have a locking mechanism to keep them secure. When customers want to handle the items, they will inform a sales staff member, and this secures each product without hindering the customer’s ability to get a feel for the product.
Another great merchandising tool for small gadgets and mobile phones is an acrylic cell phone stand. These stands are versatile and come in a variety of colors, and can be placed underneath lockable glass counters. They can be easily incorporated into any merchandizing arrangement and will prop up your small gadgets in a manner that is ideal for viewing from all angles.
Show your brand colors
You want to make sure and incorporate the colors of your store’s brand identity in any display stands for small items, as these will reinforce a strong visual impact and show off your unique personality. Some displays can be customized with colors quite easily, and even printed with logos and graphics.
Display small items at eye level
For adult customers, that means between the waist and shoulder level is ideal, while for items marketed to kids, put them lower and they will make sure their parents look down to see them.
Use special lighting
Spotlights, LED strip lighting or colored lights will draw attention to your display stands for small items. Don’t neglect the lighting, as an underlit display may go completely unnoticed. Make sure that the lighting varies from the surrounding environment, but don’t overdo it, because that can make your display stand out too much, which could raise concern. You want to be subtle while also spotlighting the fast-moving items in your display most to get the impulse going.
Cross-sell by telling a story
Make sure you place complementary purchases alongside one another on countertops or put a mix of products within one display stand for small items, and this technique will make it much easier for shoppers to visualize how products work together. You should aim to tell a story and establish context by offering shoppers an entire creative solution in one display. This will get shoppers to see connections while also creating visual interest and encourage them to look around more, rather than simply zeroing in on one item. Dump bins are very effective at cross merchandising, especially as stand-alone displays for small items, since they are large, less organized and a great way to feature small, individually packaged goods—such as candy, or small electronic items (like pen drives), that can go well with mobile phones or other higher-priced, small gadgets.
Use signage
to highlight key product features, special promotions, ratings or reviews. Floor standing sign holders, like metal or acrylic poster stands, are ideal for getting customers’ attention at eye level. They can easily be placed next to display stands for small items, and their mobility gives retailers the freedom and flexibility to position them anywhere throughout a store.
Rotate displays every week or two
This is best practice, and gives customers a reason to remember that location in your store and come back. Use this technique to promote brand new items, call attention to sale items or introduce seasonal themes. Another technique is to change the location of display stands for small items altogether from time to time. This will disrupt the normal shopping pattern of your regular customers, and make them aware that something has changed.
Conclusion
Have you got a merchandising arrangement that sells small items well? Photograph it and duplicate it in the future. Keeping notes on what does and doesn’t work will help you to continually improve your display stands for small items in the future and keep those sales ringing.