Budget but attractive. How to get a store window right and bright with a limited budget

Speaking about trends in window dressing, we need to start with the fact that we are not aleatherg them, unfortunately. The trendsetters are Europe and the USA, and we are still seriously behind them in approaches to visual merchandising, not to mention the costs of it. Compared to the situation five years ago, things have moved off the ground, but the onset of crisis did not add enthusiasm to development, and even vice versa - it drastically slowed it down.

The main Western trends in window dressing today are care for the geometry of shapes, the use of prints and a vibrant backdrop. But the crisis realities of Russian retail are not encouraging: many companies are severely limited in their capabilities. For most stores, window dressing is one of those expense items that they abandoned in the first place, or at least reduced. On the other hand, those who did not particularly pay attention to them thought about the shop windows. For such companies, the crisis is a time to act and stand out against the general background of competitors. So there is work for designers and decorators, and there are quite a lot of it, but the budgets for window dressing, alas, are not very large. In the face of financial constraints, the task of making a shop window bright, memorable, attracting attention is many times more complicated. This leads, first of all, to cheaper materials: window-dressers prefer to use cheaper materials, but more thoroughly, work with them longer, as they say, bring to mind. This is perhaps the main trend of showcase in the current conditions.

The showcase works in four shifts

With a competent approach to window dressing, it is necessary to determine a budget for decoration - first you need to understand how many window dressing changes you will have in a year. If the budget is small, then do not tear it into a thousand pieces. Decide on the amount that you are willing to spend on window dressing per year. Keep 40% from this budget for New Year decoration - the most spectacular, and therefore the most expensive. The remaining amount must be allocated to the remaining shifts. It makes sense to think carefully about how many there will be. As a rule, in addition to the New Year's window, spring / summer, autumn and sale are made, that is, three shifts.

Do not put everything on display!

Most owners of shoe stores and handbags make the same mistake every time, trying to “push the goods to the maximum” in their display case. In terms of attracting customers, this is not effective. What is the point of showing that you have a lot of choices, if that is so obvious to everyone? There are no shops on the market with a small assortment of shoes, which is possible only in mixed-format stores, but these outlets, as a rule, focus on clothing in their windows.

Stop and look at the windows, stuffed with goods to failure, the passerby does not even come to mind. Exceptions, of course, can always be found, for example, if you sell very cheap shoes or bags. “Any couple - 300 rubles!” - if this is your permanent poster in the window, then you, first of all, need to show that you have such a choice that viewing everything at one time is simply unrealistic. But this is still an exception to the rule.

You can attract the attention of passers-by with something special:

• unusual decoration;

• highlighting a product (for example, using an unusual highlight);

• calling for action posters (promotions, discounts, etc.).

Showcase is made for the target audience.

A very important point in the development of window dressing is the segment in which the outlet works. First of all, it is necessary to clearly present the portrait of your customer: man / woman, age, social status, income level, etc. There is always a group that buys more than others (highlight the 1-2 portrait) - this is the target audience. So the showcase must be done, focusing on it. There will always be those to whom the showcase will not be understood or will not like. The main thing is that it is understandable and liked by the target audience.

But no matter in which segment the outlet works, one of the most important criteria for an effective storefront (that is, that has a positive effect on the growth of the flow of visitors to the store) is lighting. No matter how wonderful the design of the display case is, no one will pay attention to it if it is not correctly submitted using lighting. With the proliferation of LEDs, the cost of good lighting is no longer so critical for the company today, so the issue of high-quality display lighting can be solved for quite reasonable money.

Which segment, such and showcase

Speaking about the concept, the following should be noted:

• shop windows of the low price segment are aimed only at informing the buyer - a demonstration of the goods, price, availability of assortment;

• Mid-range stores can afford design: from simple tricks with color schemes to complex plot themes that we often see only in the premium segment;

• shops of a high price segment are limited in window dressing only by the imagination of the designer, budgets, as a rule, are sufficient there to afford beautiful and original seasonal, holiday windows.

In any segment, do not abandon some of the tricks that are used in most cases when building decorations - for example, the use of suspensions and mannequins.

Whatever the showcase and in whatever segment the outlet is located, it should be remembered that the basic principles, which are obvious on the one hand, but as practice shows, are not always implemented:

1. The showcase must be clean.

There should not be any extraneous things in it. Garbage, personal items, as well as detached (fallen) decoration elements should be removed at the time of detection.

Glass windows must always be clean!

2. The window must have focal points (those where the passerby’s eyes first fall). Depending on the size of the display case, they can be from one to three. Do not overload the storefront with elements of equal visual significance.

3. The price tags in the display case, if used, must be visually the same for all products and must be readable from at least two meters.

4. Any decorations in the display case must be resistant to environmental influences (burnout from spotlights, temperature conditions). For example, living plants are not acceptable.

5. Lighting in the display case should be sufficient. Spotlights should be aimed at the goods and decorations and not blind passersby. Blown bulbs should be replaced immediately. Good lighting is already half the battle in creating a quality display case.

Window dressing standards

Not every store can afford the creation of an internal display case. The reasons for this are additional costs and limited trading space. However, the storefront is a great sales tool.

We will analyze the main issues regarding the interior display:

What is an internal showcase?

An internal showcase is an area inside a store that is specially selected to showcase goods. It is a specially made demonstration equipment or a group of such equipment arranged in one place. In stores with large retail areas, special podiums are often created on which a group of mannequins can be placed. The inner showcase may have decorative elements that should overlap with the main showcase and complement it.

What to exhibit in the display case?

Three categories of products can be distinguished:

• locomotive product, which has an incredibly favorable price, at which the store can have zero profit, but which is an excellent bait for buyers;

• best-selling goods - a group of the most sought after and purchased goods;

• the most expensive products are top models.

Where to place an internal showcase?

Most often, it is recommended to place an internal display case either at the entrance, where it will fall into the field of view of each incoming one, or opposite the entrance - in the back of the room. In the latter case, it is recommended to place it on a certain elevation and with excellent illumination in such a way that it serves as a kind of “beacon” in the trading floor, to which the visitor will unconsciously aspire, moving around the store. Most often, it is the podium that serves as such a beacon.