Creating Atmosphere

Ambience of The Store

The store ambience plays a vital role in attracting new customers and keeping existing ones.

A customer would never buy anything from a store which is not clean. Foul odours irritate individuals and they might leave in no time. On the other hand, soulful music has a positive effect on the customers. The store should be well-lit and ventilated for the customers to enjoy their shopping.

The end-user will never notice something which is not well-organised but stacked or thrown in heaps.

Proper space, lighting, placing of dummies, colour of the walls, type of furniture, music, and fragrance of the store all help in increasing the sale of the products.

Visual Merchandising

Visual merchandising is the art of increasing the sale of products by effectively and sensibly displaying them at the retail outlet. Visual merchandising refers to the aesthetic display of the merchandise to attract the potential buyers, prompt them to buy and eventually increase the sales of the store. In simpler words, visual merchandising is the art of displaying the merchandise to influence the consumer’s buying behaviour.

The store must offer a positive ambience to the customers for them to enjoy their shopping.

The location of the products in the store plays a vital role in motivating the consumers to buy them. Sensible display of the merchandise goes a long way in influencing the buying decision of the individual.

Why Visual Merchandising

The benefits include the following:

• Visual merchandising helps the customers to easily find out what they are looking for.
• It helps the customers to know about the latest trends in fashion.
• Without any help, the customer can decide what he intends to buy.
• It increases the sales and results in increased levels of customer satisfaction.
• The customers can quickly decide what they need, and thus visual merchandising makes shopping a pleasant experience.
• Visual merchandising gives the store its unique image and makes it distinct from others.

Music

Some consideration should be given to the music that will be played in the retail outlet. Research suggests that music should be played and that the beat of the music can influence the pace at which consumers walk. In addition, the type of music can also give the impression that products are either expensive or inexpensive.

Other sources suggest that retailers choose ‘light jazz’, as this type of music promotes a moderate walking pace and appeals to a broad spectrum of consumers. Be aware that associations, composers, authors, and publishers, as well as radio and television stations, require retailers to purchase licenses to play recorded music or programming.

If you are in doubt, play the local radio station.