One of the fundamentals of sales success or fashion retail is merchandising. Being a merchandiser, you should constantly consider different elements which affect a customer’s decision to make a purchase. Let’s look at five such elements and how merchandising applies to fashion retailers differing from other retailers:

• The Decompression Zone

The area which is at the front of the store which is used to attract potential customers or provide a space where they can familiarise themselves with the store is known as a decompression zone. A customer will stay longer if he or she feels comfortable inside your store.

Among fashion retailers, the decompression zone differs when compared to general stores in which this space should reflect a large area and should be welcoming so that customers navigate easily within the store while in the case of fashion retailers, aesthetics is given special emphasis as it should attract the customer to enter the store.

In the case of a grocery retailer, they reflect a benefit that the customers visit them routinely with the intention to make a purchase while fashion retailers don’t have customers who are visiting routinely due to which the compression zone is made aesthetically pleasing as the first impression counts in their case.

As the fashion industry is changing frequently, customers want the newest items or trends of the season to be displayed due to which the decompression zone has to be checked regularly.

• Creating a Customer Path

Creating a customer path acts as a guide for the customers across the store leading them to more merchandise. This should be done while considering the placement of merchandise or fixtures around the store.

Areas where the display is arranged, till points and fitting rooms, have a direct impact on how the shopper will navigate through the store. Hot spots should be created by placing them correctly.

Sale items or basic fashion items should be placed at the back of the store when it comes to merchandise as this will force the customers to walk through the whole store and make unplanned purchases as they see new or attracting items along with them staying for longer in your store. 

Fashion lead items are for nearly two weeks nowadays which reflects that new items arrive frequently due to which layout of the store or merchandise should be updated regularly.

• Principles of Merchandise

Fashion purchases have a direct correlation to aesthetic appeal due to which imparting certain principles of merchandise is necessary to boost sales such as:

• Cross Merchandising: related items should be placed together as customers are more interested in shopping the whole look and placing the items in this manner will enable the customers to see how they should be worn leading to impulse purchases
• Visual Balance: play around with different colors and heights while creating a display wall to reflect a balance
• Consider Seasonality: displays should be created according to the latest trends and the current season
• The Arrival of New Stock: As fashion cycles are short frequent planning with regards to ew merchandise has to be made as they should be placed in the correct areas of the store
• Merchandise Based on the Nature of the Product: when talking about fashion merchandise, the display of the items should be according to the display of a product
• Take Consumer Decision Tree into Consideration: take into consideration if the customers are shopping according to size, color, or brand. It is important to keep all the sizes in one place to avoid the frustration of the customers. Colors can be grouped as most of the customers’ shop accordion to the colors as they know what color will look good on them

• Create a Multi-Sensory Experience

Customers are most likely to remember a store according to a combination of sensory experience which was offered. However, it differs majorly from a general merchandise retailer: 

-sight: One of the most important factors to consider while merchandising fashion items is focus on display and signage as people tend to have the best memory of what makes sight

-smell: As smell is linked to our memory and emotion it can increase brand connection. The amount of time a customer spends in the store or the impression that is created on the customer is dependent on the way a store smells.

– hearing: The music you play reflects a subtle effect on how your customer will behave

-touch: customer wants to feel the fabric due to which this is one of the major elements due to which shoppers prefer visiting the store than online shopping

• In-store Signage

One of the most frustrating things for a customer is not being able to move within the store. When focusing on in-store signage always remember that it has to fulfill a dual purpose of providing information and contributing to the image of the brand.

In-store signage can affect or boost sales majorly and can affect how merchandise is viewed by the customer

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