This article dates from 2019 and we publish it as it was. Some phrases of the time are more absolute than the way we would speak today: we do not disown them, but our standard today is a different one, with conditions and limits stated and no promise of results.
What is Visual Merchandising?
by Luciano Vunich
First of all, let us start from a correct definition of Visual Merchandising.
“Visual merchandising is first and foremost a set of purchasing methods and display techniques that work together to give the assortment a functional role of active selling. The correct application of the display criteria of visual selling allows the company to create an institutional image, a widespread commercial management, the profitability of the point of sale and the optimization of the income statement.”
In short:
A branch of marketing for the strategic commercial management of goods at the point of sale.
Visual merchandising is therefore a necessity that cannot be postponed. A sort of cornerstone of the commercial soul of any company whose prerogative is to create added value and distinction in its own competitive arena.
Moreover, visual merchandising plays a decisive role in the planning, and then in the operational implementation, of commercial strategies and in the design of new concepts.
As for the operational phase in the field, starting from the assumption that in commerce the imperative dogma is to sell, having a good product is not enough. It has to be placed in the right place, at the right time, in the quantities suited to its turnover.
We must not forget, however, that the product stands in complete solitude before the user or potential customer. It must therefore necessarily communicate by itself, with rational logic, its intrinsic contents: function of use, lifestyle and pairing.
In short, through the application of visual selling, the identification of the focal points and the related sales paths, the product must:
- tell its own story
- stimulate
- move
- convince
- satisfy
- build loyalty
Finally, in terms of professional development, visual merchandising can and must go beyond simple creative work at the point of sale, reaching, as its highest goal, an important place within the management chain of a company.
I am referring in particular to the producer, the purchasing office, the sales director, marketing, the technical office, the distributor and, last but not least, the retailer.
All these functions or departments must have visual merchandising as their connecting tool, because it remains the only conceptual link between the various operational and managerial levels.
So whoever buys will buy according to how the display will be. Whoever designs layouts or concepts will design according to the assortment values and the target. Whoever sells will sell according to how the sales canvas and the window calendar have been planned.
All of this has been presented in extreme synthesis. It is an extract from a vast and variable marketing discipline. But it could be presented and argued exhaustively in our specific courses at several levels.
I am sure I have passed on to you curiosity and substantial material for further study, to enrich and develop your professionalism.
So what is Visual Merchandising? Sign up for the Free Visual Merchandising Course to find out more.
Welcome aboard!!!!!!!