We make a sale. Why discount information should be prominently displayed

Visual merchandising during the sale period should be even more understandable for customers than during normal times - because absolutely all consumers are preparing for this period, knowing that they can save a lot on purchases. Therefore, the retail store team must competently arrange both the trading floor and the showcase so that consumers go to them, and not to competitors. It is the showcase that informs passers-by and visitors of the shopping center about the discounts that are inside your store, and in the trading floor you need to focus on the use of POS materials and zoning. Marina Polkovnikova, an SR expert and visual merchandising specialist, tells how a store should be during a sale period.

Before proceeding to the rules of store design, let's talk about the stages of discounts.

The first phase of discounts begins in mid-December and lasts until mid-January. During this period, customers receive discounts of 30-50%.

The second stage of discounts begins at the end of January and ends in mid-February. Here, discounts increase to 50%.

The third stage of discounts, which isn't available at all stores (usually mass-market ones), begins in mid-February and ends in the first ten days of March. Discounts here reach 90%.

The store must change in accordance with each stage of discounts.

Window dressing

At the first stage of sales, information about discounts is introduced directly by stores into the New Year's window dressing: they are glued to New Year's balls, add a discount percentage inside decorative elements, or simply use stickers on the discount percentage. Mass market stores can use absolute prices, as they are more attractive to their target audience, for example: “Everything for 1000 rubles!”, “The second pair - for 1500 rubles!”.

At the second stage, New Year's decoration is replaced by a sale-decoration, depending on the price segment:

- mass market - prices cry for discounts, huge letters, numbers, stickers, volumetric elements, suspended structures, the main design principle - so that you can see from afar;

- premium and luxury - a concise showcase with neat informational materials, where the% discount is indicated.

The third stage, which, we repeat, is usually carried out by the mass market - globally the concept of the storefront does not change, only the% discount changes, it is possible to use stimulating slogans, for example: “There are 2 / 3 / 5 days left until the end of the promotion!”, “Recent discounts!” , “Hurry up to buy!”, “Last days!”, Etc.

Decoration of the trading floor

At the first stage of the sale, of course, it is necessary to highlight the entrance group, but not the whole, but only a part of it, since during this period the store makes money on a festive (New Year's) collection. As a rule, at this stage, a price corridor is made, starting from the entrance, and the bulk of the goods with discounts is placed in the back of the store.

At the second stage of the sale, when the discounts are maximum, the cheapest product is placed at the entrance - so that potential visitors can see the store’s offer, be seduced and stop by it.

IMPORTANT! The maximum discount is posted at the entrance and gradually decreases as customers move through the sales floor and delve deeper into the selection. At the entrance, items are 50% off, in the middle, 40% off, and further down the sales floor, 30%.

At the third stage of the sale, when more than half of the trading floor is occupied by the new collection, it is the new items that are placed at the entrance, and the balances with a discount of 70-90% are again moved to the depth of the trading floor, since you no longer make money on them.

How to inform store visitors

Now let's talk about POS materials - this is an important component of the design of the store during the sale period. Depending on the price segment, they can be neat and concise, in the format of A5, and can be bright and flashy, in the format of A0 and more. The most important thing - they should only have the essence (price or% discount), without a description of the conditions of the promotion and discounts.

IMPORTANT! Customers don't read POS materials. They skim information in a split second: they either understand what the store offers and what discounts it offers, or they don't.

In mass-market segment and lower stores, it is recommended to use suspended POS materials, since they work much better than the usual A4 and A5 formats placed on shelves. Also, mass-market segment stores and the average minus can change mannequins into special clothes, uniforms, and thus anonymize clothes on mannequins, focusing on shoes and enhancing the sale design.

Store zoning during the sale period

Zoning a store during the sale period can be done in several ways:

1. Grouping of goods at% discount (the most common and understandable way for the client).

2. Distribution at absolute prices, for example: all at 1000 rubles.

3. Sometimes in shoe stores you can see the grouping of goods by color, in the clothing segment this method is often used.

Promotions and discounts can begin as early as mid-November, and then the off-season sale smoothly flows into the first stage of the global sale. But not all and do not always make out discounts that have begun in storefronts; this is a serious mistake, because of which traffic and profit are lost. All stores strive to lure the customer with additional bonuses, discounts, and here the task of the merchandisers is to quickly respond to all changes and immediately reflect in the window - these are must-have VM professionals, otherwise no one will know about your promotions. By the way, the following very often happens in the retail: the marketing department develops and launches the action, but one staff knows about it, there are no POS materials, no sale window dressing for buyers, and as a result, there is no increase in sales for which the action, in fact, and started, does not occur.

If you do not make special POS materials and an informative sales window that will tell customers about discounts, if you don’t think about the promotion in advance and how it will be presented in the window, then no one will know about it.