Retail SMART

Window Displays - They Are the Story of Your Store
 

By: Dennis A. Conforto
Chairman & CEO of A-Z Media Group, Inc.


For the month of August I will be discussing merchandise displays. The best displays should be the ones that consumers see first. As a kid, my favorite time of year was the Christmas season: I loved the lights, sounds and smells of it all. My grandparents would take me through the neighborhood so we could see all the lights and displays in front of the homes. I loved the streets most when every home was done up.

My favorite place to visit for the holidays was downtown Seattle. Seeing the window displays of the major department stores made it a true wonderland, with moving displays that just made you have the desire to go into that store and see it all. And that is just what tens of millions of Americans did, they were compelled to walk into those stores and see it all. And you know what? We were never disappointed; the window displays did reflect the incredible wonderland found within.

Today’s warehouse type retail stores don’t even have windows to display that wonderland of past years. In reflecting on it now, I realize that the crews that created those windows displays were not only talented but that those crews had to be large. It was a huge commitment for those retail department stores to pull it off each year.

Now I would like you to consider the following when it comes to your window displays:
1. Are you creating displays that are fresh and updated at least monthly?
2. Can the display be seen from the road by cars driving by?
3. Do your displays show the latest, greatest, new products and techniques?
4. Are your displays based on a sales event?
5. Can you tell from the display signage when that sales event ends?
6. Is the sales event in keeping with the time of year?

If you didn’t answer yes to all these questions, the good news is you can improve your top sales line. Window displays are multipurpose; all of these are critical to your sales and marketing efforts.

Your window displays should do the following:

1. Show that your store is exciting and has the right products at the right time for the right price.
2. Show when the sales events start and end. And that the sales events match the seasons, time of year and holiday.
3. Cars driving on the road by your storefront should be able to see a powerful message in the few seconds they pass by. The message should be so bold that they are compelled to come into your store or to remember your store when they are ready to buy. To do this, the displays and signage need to be enlarged so that cars driving by can really see what your store is all about.
4. Window displays can and should rotate between themes, brand names, categories and single items.
5. They need to look highly professional and inviting to the consumers.

Make no mistake your window display is the story of your store. And doing it right is what being SMART is all about.