Challenges in Visual merchandising

Merchandising is the arrangement and design of goods and retail space to make the buying experience more attractive and fun for the consumer. Merchandising consists of product display, pricing, store layout, signage, promotional events and all manner of other sales-driving techniques aimed at raising the profile and the profits of your small retail business. For all its advantages, merchandising does bring a few possible negatives to the table.

Bringing clients in to involve high costs: Merchandising can increase the amount of customers who notice and enter your store. With increased traffic may come increased sales and success. Merchandising should start outside, where customers first see the store and make the decision whether to come in and shop or not. Bright signage and manicured grounds, a clean parking lot and well-kept retail structure are factors that involve them to come in, but it's hard to do because it is very expensive.

The greatest disadvantage of successful merchandising may be the need to keep at it to meet the expectations of your clientele and to keep a steady stream of new customers coming in.

When customers come in: When buyers drop inside they should not be disappointed. Those things that will attract their attention should not only be outside but also inside.

Demands on Staff: An increase in customers often translates to a necessary increase in payroll. With more people coming in on a daily basis, more sales and more deliveries comes more customer service issues, longer hours and a need for more bodies to do the work. More work and more workers are two disadvantages of successful merchandising.

Expense: The expense of installing new fixtures, creating new signage and improving the overall appearance of your retail space inside and out can add up quickly. Although good merchandising can result in an increase in profitability over for a long period of time, it will likely cost you time, effort and money in the short run. You must be comfortable with the disadvantage of an initial investment to reap the rewards later in the process.

To conclude this chapter I’d like to mark that there are some rules. Using them it is easier to attract customers. The set-up of goods, comfortable location and the right eye level in the stock turn possible buyers into real buyers. Color and display are also the most important factors that influence buyers. The right choice of the display items color can turn viewer into shoppers and it increases sales. It is also important to know advantages and disadvantages of motions to know customers’ needs. We should remember that consumers, in general, are influenced by the situation, condition surrounding their shopping trip. Location of the store, merchandise display, store design, and noise level of the store can involve them. Merchandising should start outside, where customers first see the store and make the decision whether to come in and shop or not.