Visual merchandising

Seasonal products

Before you know it, we will be heading towards summer — it will come around faster than you think. Seasonal displays are a great way to capture your customers’ attention and showcase market-relevant products for the time of year.

For example, during the summer, pet owners are after cooling products, outdoor activities and walking gear.
Why not create a summer display? Not only does this allow you to highlight new products for the beginning of the season, customers will also engage with a fresh and eye-catching display.

Review your product selection

Take a look through your aisles and make a note of which products are displayed next to each other, should these products be in the same section or could they work elsewhere more effectively?

Take a look at key words within the display card of a product. Would this grab your attention as a customer? Perhaps include key terms on the product display card that your customers will be looking for when seeking a particular product, such as a grain-free dog food. By including the term ‘grain-free’ on the display card, your customers’ attention will be instantly drawn to the products, which allows them to have a smooth and successful experience in your shop.

Showcase product reviews

Reviews are a great part of online shopping. However, when shopping in-store you cannot always see how other customers have found the product, which could potentially increase a customer’s chance of buying a product from seeing positive reviews.

Reviews do not have to be online only. You could take some reviews of different products from your website, print them off and display them with the product.

If you would like to dedicate more time to this form of marketing, you could create a scannable barcode for customers to scan using their smartphone, which will redirect them to a mobile-friendly webpage to access all of the reviews for that product, and allow them to add their own review, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Boost your brand recognition

It is not just about the branding of the products on your shelves. In fact, your customers are visiting your shop for a reason and that’s because they have been drawn into your brand. Your customers should feel they know you as a brand, which builds up their loyalty to continue shopping with you.

Ensure your logo, colours, and customer values are clear and bold. All signs and displays, and marketing materials provided by product brands should fi t with your selected logo, colours and fonts to ensure consistency throughout your shop.

Set up an online shop

The growth of online shopping has taken the world by storm and has kept the pet industry on its toes. Pet shops have to compete with low prices and the convenience of online-based shops.

It is great to have the opportunity to visit your shop, and many people still love the idea of getting up and going out shopping. However, offering delivery as an alternative for customers who perhaps cannot access shops, or live too far away to visit the shop, could increase sales.

There are many online tools and tips to setting up an online shop – it is easier than you think.

Change up your displays

Your displays can often feel ‘same-old’ and repetitive for both you and
your customers. What better time to switch up your merchandising displays than the present?

If there is a product you feel could be getting more sales, move it to the front of the shop, allowing it to be one of the first products the customer sees when visiting.

Every shop has its regular visitors, who often purchase the same products. Make note of when these customers come in, perhaps they visit monthly or weekly. Set a reminder to double check you have the stock they usually purchase and move it next to a product you think they would also be interested in, for example, for a customer who comes in monthly to buy cat litter, perhaps try placing the cat litter next to litter tray odourisers. This could allow you to get another sale, while also creating a personable and successful experience for your customer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add a notice board

A notice board is an excellent way of sharing upcoming business news and events, or displaying new products and product giveaways.

This fresh and artistic way of displaying all of your updates is quick and easy to change. It allows you to continually keep your customers up to date in such a fast-moving industry.

Keeping clean

This seems obvious; however, it is something which often gets forgotten. One way to make your shop appear fresh and new is to ensure your shelves and floor space are clean and dust-free.

Keep a rota of when you plan to dedicate time within your week to ensure the cleaning is kept on top of. Especially when displaying food within your shop, it is vital to ensure no nasties are making their way into the food or onto the packaging.

Throughout the working day ensure products are facing frontwards so customers can clearly see what it is, as well as bringing earlier expiry dates forward to the front of the display.

Cleaning your shop gives you the opportunity to get a good view and focus on how your products are displayed, allowing you to make any changes as you go around, such as spacing products out or adding more products into an empty space.

Resources:

All Points Marketing – Pet Industry Sales Solutions.