Summer Display Ideas to Make Your Storefront Shine

The best way to draw in passersby and convert them into customers? Grab their attention with a season retail display that will pique their curiosity to further explore your store. While red, white, and blue is tried and true, those flags and banners you put up for Memorial Day weekend will need a refresh by the time summer is in full swing. That’s because the more often you change retail displays, the more often customers will look at them. Keep reading for tips to create the perfect summer retail display, either from scratch or updating your current one, as well as some themes you can use for inspiration.

 

 

Why Seasonal Retail Displays Aren’t Just for Christmas Time

 

While the December holiday season comes to mind when thinking about window and retail displays, there are numerous opportunities throughout the year to display merchandise seasonally. Some are specific (Valentine’s Day, Back to School, Halloween); others are more broad themes that capture a season’s mood (rainy days, summer pleasures).

 

One of the most important ways to attract potential customers is through retail displays. A seasonal retail display in a storefront is usually the first thing a customer sees and can helps sway their decision to step inside or keep walking. If you don’t have a window, designate a flex space in your store’s layout that is visible to a customer as they enter your store, and you update it frequently with seasonal products.

 

6 Radiant Tips for Making Your Summer Retail Display Shine

 

Whether you are just adding a few small updates to an existing display or creating a new visual retail display stand experience for customers, here are a few ways your seasonal retail displays can make some waves this summer.

1. 1. 1.  Employ a Warm Color Scheme
         Incorporate warm colors that connote, well, warmth such as red, yellow, orange, and beige and browns. Designing your retail displays in colors that depict sun, sand, and fire will hit just right for the season. On an emotional level, these warm colors exude action (red), playfulness (orange) and optimism (yellow) —perfect for prompting customers to pay attention to your displays and make a purchase.
      2. Play With Various Heights and Sizes of Products (and Props)
         Add visual interest by varying the heights of the products or props that are on display. If items     are uniform in size, use tables and risers to create height differences. Also, don’t forget about using the floor, walls, and ceilings. To promote sale or featured items, place them at eye level (hint: when designing a window display make sure eye level is eye level from the street. Some storefronts have raised floors in their windows and eye level when arranging the space is  different from when viewing from outside.)
      3. Incorporate Florals, Beaches, and Summer Treats Into Your Display
         Freshen up your existing displays by adding pops of summer blooms, sand, and sweet treats. Use sunflowers and yellow accents such as banners and paper lanterns; place a sandbox (full-size or tabletop) and decorate with beachy accents; pay homage to summer treats like lemonade, ice cream, and barbeque favorites. You can even combine a few of these summer faves by crafting ice cream cone vases to hold flowers.
      4. Celebrate Summer Holidays
         Travel, staycations, even local celebrations all work for window inspiration. A simple steamer trunk with vacation staples (beach blankets, paperback books, bikinis, etc.) will set a vacay-vibe for your retail display. A hammock with brightly colored pillows and throws is reminiscent of at-home relaxation. If your window is facing main street and there are town-wide events (ice cream socials, 4^th of July parades, gardening club sales, etc.), create a matching theme for your window displays to show support for your community.
      5. Make Your Mannequins Active
         People are on the move during the summer so have your mannequins reflect that increase in activity. Pose them running, playing a game of cornhole, or diving into a pool. Use playful props like hula hoops, skateboards, bicycles, etc. to set a classic summer scene theme.
      6. Share on Social Media
         Don’t forget to post your retail displays on social media. The visual aspects that make the window or retail display stand out will make it eye-catching online as well. It’s an easy way to share your brand, show off new items, and reach followers and potential new customers that may not have had the opportunity to walk by your shop in person.

8 Summer Theme Ideas for Your Retail Display

 

 

1. 1. Pool Party
      Position mannequins against a custom backdrop of blue water and place beach balls at their feet and inflatable tubes around their waists. Display products on blue acrylic pedestals. Accessories like red sunglasses for clothing stores or red-handled tools for hardware store displays will pop against the background. Or simply hang a rainbow of swimwear, sunglasses, and/or flip flops on a clothing line against the pool blue background. Or “pool” a collection of blue products (books, dishes, garments, etc.) together to form the illusion of water and position mannequins lounging poolside or dipping their feet in.
      
   2. Beach House Chic
      The beach is big this year, thanks to the coastal grandma aesthetic that’s trending on TikTok. Channel a beachfront abode for your retail displays by using whites with blue, cream, and khaki hues and then layering on natural elements like woven baskets, wooden Adirondack chairs, and cable knit blankets and sweaters (candles, wine glasses, linen, and cashmere all feature prominently as well). The neutral colors will provide a calm and relaxing atmosphere, so customers linger in the store a little longer.
   3. When Life Gives You Lemons…
      …Make a lemonade stand. A wood display cart or any display table can transform into a curbside lemonade stand. Wooden baskets, pitchers, and mason jars can hold faux lemons (or yellow-hued products), chalkboard signage with chalk markers can advertise “Lemonade 5 cents.” If the display is inside the store, you can create an actual lemonade stand and serve free refreshments to customers for an engaging new take on retail display stands!
      
   4. Nautical Know-How
      Navy and white are just right for summer retail displays. A simple seasonal display starts with a   white background (panel, beadboard, fence, stacked wooden crates, white drapery or fabric panels, etc.). Then arrange navy-colored products or props against the crisp white for an eye-catching statement. Reverse the use of color for a more dramatic display. For instance, white t-shirts against a custom navy backdrop.
      
   5. Botanical Garden
      You can’t go wrong lush foliage, tropical-bright colors, and floral prints. Hang greenery from the ceiling or place tall plants in pots on a display table. Line a 3-tier display table with faux grass and use to display golf or tennis shoes (or complement the grassy green with items that are the color of the blue sky). Extend the window display to the sidewalk in front of the window. Tables and risers can hold perennials and potted plants.
      
   6. Summer Camp Memories
      Create a campfire tale for your shoppers with rolled-up sleeping bags, a canoe, paddles, a firepit, s’mores, and more. A custom backdrop of the night sky sets the scene. Make a campfire by placing red battery-operated string lights inside an acrylic cylinder and stack twigs/branches against it on an angle. Acrylic cylinders can also be used to hold skewers of roasted marshmallows (use large dowels for sticks and batting for marshmallows), archery arrows, oars, fishing poles, or other camping essentials. Pitch a tent nearby with product spilling out the entrance. On a retail display stand you can craft a tabletop tepee and place products inside. Nearby wooden crates and risers can hold other featured items. A canoe in your flex space can be stocked with inventory (think t-shirts, bath bombs, pillows, etc.) or used as a prop for your seasonally-dressed mannequins.
      
   7. We All Scream for Ice Cream
      Nothing screams summer more than ice cream. Create a vignette with a life-sized ice cream truck and stream jingles for an auditory experience; hang a banner of paper ice cream cones and set cones in specialty acrylic stands and fill with tissue paper, balloons, pom poms, light bulbs—whatever fits!
      On a smaller scale, arrange upside-down ice cream cones on a retail display stand, riser, or pedestal and use to hold jewelry, small accessories, and even sunglasses.
      
   8. Host a Barbeque
      It’s grill time! A kitchenware or hardware store can create a windowscape of a backyard barbeque complete with grill and bistro table. Clothing retailers can do the same and set their mannequins in this familiar summer scene. You can create a more whimsical display with oversized cut-outs of ketchup and mustard bottles, burgers, watermelon, and corn on the cob, along with an actual grill, a few coolers, and some colorful croquet mallets, on a faux lawn.

 

When designing your summer retail displays, keep them fun, eye-catching, and on brand. Contact the experts at shopPOPdisplays for help in bring your custom display vision to life.