We have grouped our information by general topics, some of which include application ideas for both the windows and the interior of your store. Be sure to read through the whole guide for ideas that work best for you.

In addition to creating visual excitement, remember to keep the five senses in mind when laying out your store. For instance, music related to your store concept and merchandise selections will help create an overall mood. Aromatherapy can work wonders; introduce a light scent such as perfumes or potpourri (remember to keep the scent light, a heavy odor can drive customers away). Where appropriate, allow your customers to touch and "experience" the merchandise.

Before you begin to adjust the design, display, and merchandising of your store you must have a clear understanding of the image you wish to project.

To do that you will need to understand the demographics of the community in which your store is located. What age groups are represented? What is the average income? What lifestyle do they live or aspire to? What interests do they pursue? Within that community you should identify the type of individual you hope to appeal to and gauge whether the population base can support the sales volume you need to succeed. Look at competitors within your market to see if there is a void you can fill. Whatever approach you take, a better understanding of who you are appealing to, and the message you wish to communicate, will make your displays more focused, more effective and easier to create.

To give you a more hands-on sense of how to display product, be sure to shop at other stores. Whether or not the stores you visit carry like product, a trip through your local mall can offer adaptable ideas. When you browse through the many catalogs that reach you through the mail, look for ideas. Vignettes and presentations pictured may be duplicated or trigger an idea for a fabulous creation. Lastly when attending our shows, don’t forget to note the innovative exhibit display techniques you see,  or when attending a Merchandise show.

In order to begin making changes to the product placement in your store you need to map out an overall plan. To do this, you first need to recognize the current traffic flow of your store and develop a plan to direct traffic flow so that customers will shop your entire store and with their attention focused where you would like it to be. By strategically placing demand/destination products and impulse items throughout the interior of your store, you can balance the traffic flow throughout your store and increase your overall sales by making the best use of every square foot. Start by taking the pulse of your merchandise selection from the front to the rear of your store and follow these tips for redirecting customer traffic to maximize your sales:  

• Once your customer passes through the "decompression zone" they look at the price of the first item, generally to their right, that is easily accessible. This initial item should have a price point that is not overwhelming to your customers, as this area, called the "strike zone," offers your customer their first impression of your store's prices. Extensive video auditing by professional retail designers has found that in Western cultures, customers usually turn right immediately upon entering a store into the "strike zone" and continue on their journey through your store. You should consider placing a compelling display of affordable products (in relation to the price point of your overall merchandise) in the "strike zone."

• Once through the "strike zone", the right wall of your store is usually your most valuable real estate as this is the area that is generally traveled first and viewed most thoroughly by our customers. On the right wall you may want to place affordable items (in relation to other products within your store). This can include products that you are promoting but which are not necessarily demand items. Demand merchandise includes those items that the customer has made the decision to purchase before they enter your store.

• Traditionally, the cash wrap is centrally located. It is highly recommended that you place your wrap to the left of the store entry and place impulse products around the cash wrap. The cash wrap also serves as a security checkpoint and as an area that can allow visibility to all parts of the store. When designing the cash wrap area, keep in mind the many functions that will be accommodated by the space and plan accordingly.

• One of the most highly trafficked areas is the cash wrap. Add-on and impulse merchandise should be placed above, behind and near the cash wrap where possible. The cash wrap is the location that offers the most captive audience (a waiting customer) and is the point at which impulse sales are most often made.

• High demand products placed in the rear of the store will pull customers through the store, increasing the visibility of other products along the way. Hallmark stores often place their greeting cards at the rear of the store moving traffic through seasonal, collectible and other merchandise to reach the destination area.

• Add-on merchandise and impulse products are usually placed near the demand merchandise in a highly trafficked area to suggest further purchases.

• Place impulse items in the front of your store and in locations of high traffic between the door and displays of demand products but outside of the "decompression zone."

• Be sure the aisles are wide and clearly defined for emergency exiting and in keeping with ADA (Americans with Disability Acts) directives.

Fixturing

Fixturing is the furniture that holds and displays the majority of your merchandise. It is one of the more difficult subjects to address because every store has different needs to show its merchandise. The style of fixture you choose should reflect the store's image and include anything from hardwood custom cabinetry to inexpensive raw wood or brass and glass shelving. Crate and Barrel became famous by using the shipping crates in which the product arrived as fixtures for display. Depending on the type of product you sell, the product itself can also serve as shelving. You may sell furniture pieces that, while in your store, can act as display units. Don't overlook antiques or unique pieces of furniture that can create a signature look to your store.

Change and rotate the fixtures within the store to add variety and excitement to the shopping experience. Keep in mind that some fixtures can be used for display in a window as well as on the sales floor and fixture and window rotation is up to the individual shopkeeper. Usually, the retailer changes the interior and window displays according to the return pattern of their typical customer within a given period of time. For example, if a customer shops your store twice a month, make a small change twice a month and a dramatic change once a month. A small change can consist of switching key merchandise in a window or interior display. A dramatic change can consist of moving fixtures within the store or redesigning the front display window. Think about putting your display racks on wheels so that you can easily reconfigure your departments to emphasize and de-emphasize product categories depending on inventories, promotions and seasons.

The most successful fixture systems are installed to be flexible and offer you the opportunity to make major display reconfigurations with little or no additional investment. Use the flexibility of these fixtures on a frequent basis to add interest and excitement to your store.

Basic types of fixtures you will want to consider:

Wall shelving... floor standing shelving units... pedestals... tables... bins...  revolving display stands... wheeled carts... security fixtures like glass showcases... hanging fixtures... waterfall... faceouts... roundracks... bar...  antiques... armoires... unique pieces of furniture

Tips for fixture selections:

Keep in mind the scale and size of your merchandise while planning your purchase of fixtures.

Make certain the fixture you select will physically carry the weight of the product you plan to display on it.

Include costs for shipping to your location into the overall expense of the fixtures.

Consider the cost of the fixture as compared to the possible revenue that will be generated from it in its area of real estate within your store. In other words, you may not want to spend $100,000 for a fixture on which you plan to display chewing gum.

When purchasing the hardware accessories for any fixture for your store, consider the different types of product that might be displayed on each unit. For instance, some units offer shelving which can be removed to make way for a hang-bar. Be sure that when you buy the unit you purchase all the hardware necessary for each configuration you will use.

If your store has a vendor or brand shop, the fixtures in this area may be different than fixtures used in the rest of your store, in order to add a special cache to the brand merchandise. Special terms sometimes apply to vendor fixturing purchased with merchandise (i.e. free freight). These types of fixtures should be used on a limited basis and primarily with very high-profile merchandise. Too many vendor fixtures in varying types can detract from the store's overall ambiance.

General lighting...
...illuminates both the merchandise and the traffic path in a store. It is usually not flexible.

Accent lighting...
...can accentuate merchandise and is usually designed for adjustability. Most accent lighting is placed to highlight focal displays, or other areas of prime real estate.

Task lighting...
...is used in work areas, such as under the counter of the cash wrap or in a stock room. This lighting is usually fluorescent and should not create shadows.

Basic types of Lighting fixtures follow:

• Track mounted onto ceiling or walls
  Best used for: highlighting focal displays
  (not recommended for task lighting)
  Cost: moderately expensive
  Best bulbs to use: quartz-halogen, incandescent bulbs
• Recessed ceiling mounted also called "high-hat" Best used for: lighting pinpoint focal displays while concealing the light source.
  Cost: expensive
  Best bulbs to use: quartz-halogen, incandescent, compact fluorescent
• Wall mounted sconce or other decorative fixture
  Best used for: illuminating something just below the fixture
  Cost: moderately expensive
  Best bulbs to use: quartz-halogen, incandescent, compact fluorescent
• Exterior ceiling mounted.
  This covers a variety of fixtures good for general illumination - used with all types of bulbs depending on the fixture.

Basic types of light bulbs include:

• Fluorescent
  Best used for: task lighting
  Cost: economical overall
  Longevity: excellent
• Compact fluorescent
  Best used for: general illumination
  Cost: expensive initial cost, very economical to operate
  Longevity: excellent
• Incandescent lights
  Best used for: ambient illumination
  Cost: mid-range initial cost, expensive to operate Longevity: medium
• High Intensity Definition "HID"
  Best used for: warehouse situations
  Cost: expensive initial cost, mid-range to operate Longevity: good
• Quartz Halogen
  Best used for: accent lighting, particularly on jewelry, easy to focus
  Cost: expensive initial cost, expensive to operate Longevity: short

Tips for lighting:

• Check with your building to find out if it has an economizing "electrical crunch unit." This unit, available on most commercial buildings, is placed on the building by the electric company, and controls the amperage of the electricity to your electrical zone. This affords you a better opportunity to control cost.
• Some electric companies offer free or nominal services to visit your location and discuss cost cutting efforts. It will help if you have a lighting blueprint and fixture plan for the meeting.

There are many different varieties of Lighting fixtures a retailer can use in a store. Simply changing the type of light bulb in your current fixture can make a large difference. The lighting industry is constantly changing and introducing new variations of light bulbs to the market. Visit your local lighting store to discover the selection of bulbs available. Quartz halogen bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs have recently made dramatic additions to the market with their technologically advanced color renditions. Here are a few lighting choices to consider and an explanation of the applications they are most suited for:

General lighting...
...illuminates both the merchandise and the traffic path in a store. It is usually not flexible.

Accent lighting...
...can accentuate merchandise and is usually designed for adjustability. Most accent lighting is placed to highlight focal displays, or other areas of prime real estate.

Task lighting...
...is used in work areas, such as under the counter of the cash wrap or in a stock room. This lighting is usually fluorescent and should not create shadows.

Basic types of Lighting fixtures follow:

• Track mounted onto ceiling or walls
  Best used for: highlighting focal displays
  (not recommended for task lighting)
  Cost: moderately expensive
  Best bulbs to use: quartz-halogen, incandescent bulbs
• Recessed ceiling mounted also called "high-hat" Best used for: lighting pinpoint focal displays while concealing the light source.
  Cost: expensive
  Best bulbs to use: quartz-halogen, incandescent, compact fluorescent
• Wall mounted sconce or other decorative fixture
  Best used for: illuminating something just below the fixture
  Cost: moderately expensive
  Best bulbs to use: quartz-halogen, incandescent, compact fluorescent
• Exterior ceiling mounted.
  This covers a variety of fixtures good for general illumination - used with all types of bulbs depending on the fixture.

Basic types of light bulbs include:

• Fluorescent
  Best used for: task lighting
  Cost: economical overall
  Longevity: excellent
• Compact fluorescent
  Best used for: general illumination
  Cost: expensive initial cost, very economical to operate
  Longevity: excellent
• Incandescent lights
  Best used for: ambient illumination
  Cost: mid-range initial cost, expensive to operate Longevity: medium
• High Intensity Definition "HID"
  Best used for: warehouse situations
  Cost: expensive initial cost, mid-range to operate Longevity: good
• Quartz Halogen
  Best used for: accent lighting, particularly on jewelry, easy to focus
  Cost: expensive initial cost, expensive to operate Longevity: short

Tips for lighting:

• Check with your building to find out if it has an economizing "electrical crunch unit." This unit, available on most commercial buildings, is placed on the building by the electric company, and controls the amperage of the electricity to your electrical zone. This affords you a better opportunity to control cost.
• Some electric companies offer free or nominal services to visit your location and discuss cost cutting efforts. It will help if you have a lighting blueprint and fixture plan for the meeting.

Graphics and signage communicate your store image. They can be used to educate customers about merchandise for sale, announce special promotions or to direct traffic flow through your store. Graphics and signage should present a uniform level of quality.

Window signage and graphics can compel individuals who have never entered your store to visit for the first time and encourage past visitors to become repeat customers. The window offers a preview of product, as well as an instant image of your store.

Many stores use large posters, photo enlargements or other large graphics in their windows with items placed near-by. This approach offers a clean dramatic look. For instance, to promote candles within your store you could, source a photo of candles from a photo warehouse (sources listed under "List of Professional References"), have it enlarged and place it in the window behind a stacked display of the candles you have for sale. While photo warehouses usually charge a small fee for stock photos, some artwork is public domain and can be used free of charge. Large graphics should be able to be seen from 20 feet away and be immediately recognizable to an individual walking by. While there are many other ways to decorate a window, some of which are addressed in "Merchandising Similar Products Together" and "Cross-Mix Merchandising", these oversized graphics are currently a popular display prop because recent technological advancements have reduced the cost of producing them.

The process of creating a window using large graphics may seem like a difficult exercise the first time around, but once you have established your resources and become more accustomed to the process it will be easier and the reward will be worth the effort.

Here are a few ideas:

• Large graphics can reflect product style. For instance, you could use a blow-up of a Monet floral painting behind a display of floral merchandise. For added impact, repeat that Monet graphic within your store near the merchandise for sale. If your store sells children's products, like educational toys, you could use a blow-up of a little red schoolhouse or a college campus as a backdrop for the merchandise.
  
• Large graphics can suggest a lifestyle or how your products are to be used once purchased. For example, a graphic of a family enjoying the outdoors can be placed behind picnic or beach items that you might have for sale. To promote a casual summer line of clothing a recent Ann Taylor window pictured a large graphic of a summer lighthouse behind the clothing display.
  
• Repetition of large graphics in one window, various windows or throughout the store in various sizes serves as a reminder of a particular product, creates a dramatic effect and draws your customer from the window through the store.
  
• If you have a well designed logo, reproductions of the logo on theatre scrim, another type of fabric or paper can be hung in your window as a backdrop to changing product displays.

Interior graphics and signage can show brand identification of specific products, identify classifications of product within your store, and, depending on the size of your store, offer direction to various departments. Interior signage can be a medium for promoting a campaign, previewing a product "coming soon" or announcing an upcoming event like a book signing, demonstration, or a holiday promotion.

Here are some ideas:

• Repeated or related photos can be used throughout the store to reinforce a campaign or overall look. For a graduation promotion you might want to create a "Great for Grads" sign including a mortarboard. This sign can be placed in areas with merchandise for graduates, such as calendars or interview books. To add impact, include this graphic in your window display as well.

• Graphics and signs can set the tone for a special campaign. You can highlight 4th of July sale merchandise by placing American flags both near the product as well as in your window.

• Graphics and signs educate by announcing a sale, promotion or discount. Signage tells your customers that a particular item is, for instance, hypoallergenic or microwave-safe. In short, it offers information that might not be clear from the product alone.

• If you are selling a brand-recognized product like Lenox china or Calvin Klein watches, it may be beneficial to highlight that product with a small strategically placed sign of their logo near the product.

Tips for signage:

• To reinforce an overall store image, be sure font/letter type is consistent with all other signs within the campaign.

• Look for consistency on all store signage even those not related to a specific campaign. Signage sets the tone for the store.

• Signs can have an upscale look, but need not be expensive. They can be computer generated or handmade as long as they are well done and reflect the image of the store. It only takes a few poorly done signs to detract from the store's overall impact. Keep signage fresh.

• Remember that the merchandise is the main focal point and that signage is meant to enhance your presentation.

Cross-Mix Merchandising is displaying a variety of seemingly unrelated products together to create a comprehensive visual story. This type of merchandising communicates breadth of product and educates your customer about merchandise they may be unaware that you carry.

Cross-mixing merchandise within a Window can increase the visibility of your store image and promote the look of a certain lifestyle for customers to buy into. It illustrates the variety of selection or breadth of product you carry.

To cross-mix you can use larger items within your product lines as props for smaller items. Pottery Barn has created vignettes that cross merchandise items like adirondack chairs, lanterns, outdoor dinnerware and throws. They carry the theme into the store by creating smaller versions of the vignette throughout various departments of their store. Williams Sonoma created a window display including a large graphic of cherries in bushels behind a selection of product including a Cuisinart, ceramic pie plate, measuring spoons, pastry board and checkered towels. Their theme "pie making" was stenciled on the window. Tiffany created a cross-mix window representing a "fantasy" lifestyle. A small picnic table, chairs and mosquito net served as prop back-drops for a selection of high-end dinnerware, crystal, candle holders, pitchers and serving pieces. A wide-brimmed sun hat was draped over a chair on gravel flooring and a floral arrangement completed the picture.

Cross-mix merchandising within your store's Interior can increase UPTs (units per transaction). It makes the customer visualize how they would use an impulse item after the sale is made and helps to confirm the decision to purchase an item. This can be done by highlighting an impulse product with demand items. Some retailers create entire anchor areas within their stores by cross merchandising product by a particular theme. For instance, they might display all of the product they carry for the bathroom in one area including soaps, scents, bath towels, soap racks and toothbrushes and all of the product they carry for the home office in another. The Nature Company recently offered a Shark theme display within their store that included stuffed, inflatable and animated floating sharks, video tapes, books and even novelty items, including floating Shark tooth key chains, shark lights and tee shirts.

Tips for Cross-mix merchandising:

• Retailers today often sell merchandise by portraying a dream lifestyle for the customers to buy and take home. Sell your products by selling dreams.
  
• Remember to keep your cross-mixed visual merchandising displays clean and to the point. The average customer views a focal display of merchandise for about one second.
  
• Be sure to place displays featuring cross-mixed products in high traffic areas and as focal points within a department. Don't be afraid to use both demand and impulse items in your display.

The placement of merchandise that is arriving to the store can be planned out on paper by using a Planogram before the products actually arrive to the store. A planogram is a retailer's drawing (blueprint) which visually communicates how merchandise and props physically fit onto a store fixture or window to allow for proper visibility and price point options. The retailer can plan to mix the new products with current items or initiate entirely new displays. If you have more than one store this is an excellent way to communicate to your staff how you would like displays executed.

Props (properties) are special elements, which help to sell the concept of a company image as well as add an accent to the environment, which you are creating. Many Hollywood films depend on the use of props to project a feeling of reality on the screen. As Rick in Casablanca, who would Bogey be without that famous martini glass in hand?

As in motion pictures, the retailer has the option to fill display sets with props, which help to maximize sales along with merchandise flavor. You can promote a fall theme by bringing in a rake, dried leaves and a wheelbarrow as props for store merchandise. Ralph Lauren uses saddles and stirrups to merchandise belts. Waterworks used an old bathtub filled with clear Christmas ornaments (to look like bubbles) as a backdrop to promote bath products. You could use flexi-flyer sleds as a prop for a winter theme promotion or promote "your ideal summer break with the family" by using towels, lotion, sunglasses and a beach umbrella as a backdrop for product.

Be aware of local events that are taking place in your area. For example, if there is a music festival in your town, but your products have no relation to the music field, your props can still reflect the event with music stands as pedestals and instruments as background accents.

The best recommendation for gathering props is to look no further than a friend or relatives storage area. First, start with people who have an established reputation for bargain hunting and collecting and recruit them as your prop suppliers. Unusual items like wire baskets, old-fashioned fruit scales, funny hats, picture frames and artificial flowers often serve as great props. A quick dash of spray paint on some of the items may give new life to the once weathered products. Since props usually enhance the products look, it is best to display the merchandise in front of the props.

Some prop houses provide the service of renting unusual items. However, most prop houses are geared toward the commercial and advertising industries and rent their products on a daily or weekly basis. Consider purchasing props and special items since most props are expensive to continually rent. Garage sales are excellent resources for used items where traditional as well as modern items can be found to fill the need to further a visual look. Consider a prop barter system and borrow a neighboring company's item in exchange for full credit in your window. If your store sells home textiles and you would like to create a table linen display, consider asking a local retailer of tabletop products to loan you place settings to enhance the presentation of your product. The obliging retailer could be credited on place cards at each table.

Here is a list of visual merchandising and display supplies every store should have on hand:

• Calendar listing of all holidays and special occasions
• Duct tape
• Fishing line
• Glass cleaner
• Hammer
• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue sticks
• Iron with board or steamer
• Ladder
• Light bulbs (extras)
• Nails and screws (assorted)
• Pencils and sharpener
• Rubber bands
• Scissors
• Screwdrivers, flat tip and phillips head
• Straight dress pins
• Tape measure
• Tool box
• Two-faced tape
• Utility/razor knife
• Velcro strips
• Wire
• Yellow pages

If you feel the need to hire a Professional Design Service as you become more familiar with designing on your own, you may want to interview or review portfolios of designers from a list of several types of professionals with varying skills. You may want to consider hiring any one of the following:

• Architect
• Interior designer
• Interior decorator
• Visual merchandiser
• Display designer
• Window trimmer

If you decide to hire a professional you should define all costs and means of payment by contract for all projects. The contract should include the scope of services, subcontractors involved in the project, due dates and schedules, design fees, type of payment, travel fees, extra expenses and design ownership. You may investigate other contract types by contacting one of the following retail design-oriented industry organizations listed below:

Professional Associations & Publications

Institute Of Store Planners (ISP)	1-800-379-9912
National Association of Display Industries (NADI)	954-893-7225 www.nadi-global.com
National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers	954-893-7300
Retail Reporting Bureau	212-279-7000
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Magazine (VM&SD)	513-421-2025

Graphics & Display Web Sites

Big picture	http://www.bigpicture.net
Screen Web	http://www.screenweb.net
Sign Web	http://www.signweb.com
Where It's At Retail Newsletter	http://www.where-it's-at.com
Visual Store	http://www.visualstore.com