A shop window isn't just a display, it's a salesperson
working for you 24 hours a day. Coming up, everything
you need to know to make yours impossible to walk past.
Welcome to the Resilient Retail Game Plan. I'm Catherine Erdly and in the
next few minutes you're about to get powerful real world retail strategies
from insights shared both from my guests and myself, backed up
by my 25 years in the retail industry. Keep listening to learn
how to grow a thriving, profitable product business. Let's jump
in with this latest episode.
Today's episode is one that came directly from a trip that I took
to Spring Fair a few weeks ago. I bumped into quite a few people
who listened to the podcast, which is always a pleasure, and it also
meant that I got to ask them what they wanted to hear more of. This
topic was overwhelmingly a favorite one that you wanted me to address.
My guest today, Sarah Manning was the obvious choice to reach out to,
as she is a visual merchandising consultant, course leader, and
a real expert in her field. It made for a great
conversation. We talk about the value of great window displays,
how to work with awkward spaces, and how visual merchandising
is an important consideration for anyone who sells in person, whether
that's in a shop or at events or shows. I asked
Sarah what her four guiding principles are when implementing window
dressing and what she came back with was something I honestly hadn't heard framed
this way before. She has a great name for it. The Power of the
Pyramid. It's all about elevating your
concept, your composition in the window, whether
you're working with fashion or 3D products to the
eye line of the customer. And it's all about
engaging the customer's eye as they walk past
your shop window. The top of the pyramid should be at
the eye line, which is called our focal point, and that is the
key area that the customer is going to concentrate on first.
So all of that should contain your
Ultimate Hero product or kind of push products as we
call it. So anything that you want to highlight to the customer
first, you place it there. We also work with lots of
threes, repetition, alternation, and also our
half pyramid, which is the asymmetrical pyramid, which
quite cleverly takes the customer's eye towards the entrance as
well. We always follow the graduation. One of you sent in a
question by Instagram that really gets to the heart of something I think every
independent retailer wrestles with. Do you use your window to push
products or to tell your brand story? Sarah's answer
Surprised me especially what's changed since 2020. See,
Sarah works with clients that range from small independents to Tower
Bridge itself. And what she's seen across all of them is a shift in what
customers expect. It's not just about beautiful displays anymore.
I think it's a really interesting question. And I would say with most of
my own customers since 2020, it's been
really important for them to actually visually
communicate who they are as a brand in their window.
So all of that is really important because as a kind of customer
now, our sort of expectations have greatly changed and we
really want to understand and have
transparency of those brands that we are choosing to come and
shop now to communicate who they are in
the shop window. That could be a slogan, that could be
using QR codes that are scannable, that the
customer can find out more information on that
brand. And also showing your product in a way,
maybe with various different textures and kind of props and kind of
colors, which also helps to illustrate who you
are as a brand. In regards to
seasonal, I also work with a lot of
customers, including, say, Tower Bridge, that we do
seasonal installs for, which happen every two months.
And all of that helps to create that freshness and that newness
for the customer. However, at the same time, we also tell
the story of Tower Bridge through that concept.
So I think it's really important to talk about who
you are as a brand. So that could just be your brand logo,
a slogan which kind of gives the customer an idea
of who you are and also maybe a QR code.
Here's where it gets really practical and honestly, a little counterintuitive.
You might assume you put your bestsellers in the window, but Sarah's
take, not quite. Usually
most product that is showcased in a window is new,
seasonal or promotional. I see the
shop window as an area of opportunity.
So you wouldn't ever put product in there that your customers are
going to come in for anyway. It's an opportunity to
really showcase to the customer your
newness and promotional product and
also for independence, a kind of great way to
try and upsell something that hasn't sold.
So I've got lots of independent kind of customers who won't always
have new product coming through. So actually, that
shop window can work as a really great example
of how you can push product that maybe
hasn't sold. That actually, you know, if it's placed in a
window, it's dressed, it's styled, it's accessorized,
then place at the hotspot in store, which is the first area that you come
to most of the time. We do see increases
in sales in that. Okay, so we know what
goes in the window, but how often should things actually change? I
had a hunch Sarah would say as often as possible, but her answer
is a lot more nuanced and a lot more manageable.
We often will suggest every four weeks in
regards to changing the composition in a shop
window. I think anything more frequent to that
is often time consuming. But it's very important
that every four weeks you create that sort of newness
coming through. So if we give the example of
Tower Bridge, the spring concept, which is
currently there, is only there usually for about two
months. However, after Easter, we will take
the Easter elements out of it and just keep in
more spring. So actually, from a customer's point of view, it
creates that illusion of newness constantly. When we
look at larger department stores where they have a
larger spend, say someone like Selfridges or
Harrods, usually you'll see that turnaround every eight to 10
weeks because they have greater sort of, you know,
spend on that concept. However, for
independents, I feel if they can try and structure some
kind of change in the window every four weeks,
even if it's just a slight product change, it will really
help just to kind of draw more attention to the window
and just keep it really fresh and interesting for their customer.
What Sarah said next is the kind of practical tip that genuinely makes things
feel doable. If you're a small business owner with limited time and budget,
it's about building a permanent skeleton in the window. So the
monthly fresh is just about a wardrobe change, not a full rebuild.
And I would say with lots of customers who I work with,
we will pre set up a sort of template, if you like, in
window. So say we're going with the symmetrical
pyramid. I will pre set up, say, plinths or
kind of podiums in the window that give you that
symmetrical shape. And then all they have to do
each month is just change the actual product and maybe any
prop elements in the window. But the structure is already
preset, so that can be really helpful
for independence to actually have a permanent sort of
structure in the window, which obviously brings that height
up, brings the eye line to the product, and
all of that can be created with kind of crates or floor
plans. Not every retailer is working with a
beautiful, wide, deep shop window. I heard this a lot
at Spring Fair. My window has no depth. Mine is tiny.
Mine is basically a gap in the wall. So I asked Sarah what to do
when the space itself is working against you. I actually have
a particular client, Elenique, who has got a lovely
clinic in Fulham Road in London. And I've worked
with Elena for probably the past eight years now. Her window
is really shallow, so we tend to do a lot of
hanging in her window. So we've had like a hanging
rail installed over her shop window
where we can hang graphics or we can hang props
in there. We've also used a
floral arch quite a few times, particularly at Christmas,
because the feet on the arch are quite short,
so it kind of sort of slots in. So having something that's quite narrow
or hanging. But I've got another customer who's got a very
slender shop window who's had a screen put into
that. So it, you know, it kind of, sort of allows them to
constantly showcase kind of content on that screen.
You can also have quite small podiums created,
which obviously help to give you the elevation of height
and then also allow you a bit of a kind of platform to be
able to dress. And also hanging shelves can
also actually be really effective in those areas.
So maybe thinking more about what you can hang from
the ceiling rather than on the floor area
itself,
Then we got into something that might split opinions. Open
windows where customers can see straight through into the shop, versus windows
with a background screen or barrier. And honestly, I hadn't really
considered how much of a difference that choice makes until Sarah explained
it. When we talk about open windows
and open windows are brilliant because that obviously allows the
customer to actually see through in store. However,
it can create confusion because
obviously you're not looking at the window, your eyes sort of focusing
straight past the window. So to be able to break that
eye up and to be able to allow the customer to.
To really focus on the window, we would either put in
like a hanging panel just behind the window area, you
know, that only needs to sit in the middle of the window, so it's not
going to sort of block out light either side. So it could be a
panel. I've had a couple of examples where we've
created like a branded graphic which is hanging.
We've also hung some fabric which can also be really
nice for a home interior store. You can do,
say something like wallpaper panels, and
it just separates the customer's eye. So it kind of
helps to allow them to really focus upon
the actual concept in the window. So. So that creates
strength and then it also helps to be able to create
the clarity inside. So you are able to see through,
but you're also able to actually concentrate on the Window as well.
By this point in our conversation, I wanted to zoom out beyond the window
itself because Sarah is actually writing a whole new course
on the retail experience. And what she shared next about external
theatre makes so much sense of what I've been seeing while out and
about recently. I'm currently
creating some new content for a brand new online course
through the ual, which is all about creating this retail
experience. And one of the first chapters is us
talking more about examples of
brands that have created impact not only through
their shop window, but actually on the exterior of their
store to make the customer want to
feel that they are entertained and ultimately help to
draw them in. And a couple of great examples to talk about,
I feel, which is obviously looking at more sort of luxury
brands, is Louis Vuitton has some fantastic examples
that we can all take inspiration from. So a couple that I've
used on that course is the Rainbow,
which was shown on their flagship here in London, which
obviously ultimately created that pointer as well in store,
but it was obviously right on the exterior of the store,
which obviously creates greater impact as the customer is
approaching. And then cleverly, like a sort of
asymmetrical kind of pyramid takes the eye not only to the window
but also to the entrance. It also creates
that sort of talking point, photograph opportunity.
And also another one which was shown at Harrods, which was
in 2023, when they collaborated with Kusama,
who's the Japanese artist. And we probably all saw
the polka dots on Harrods and also the Harrod
size Kusama painting those polka dots on
Harrods itself. So it's all about creating that
huge theater. Maybe, you know, talking about the
art element too, which is very interesting.
Selfridges have added lots of touch points to the glass.
So it isn't just about a sort of static window, it's about
something that maybe plays music or creates kind
of movement. And then also AR technology,
which is AR scannable codes. You can have
more of a. An experience through your smartphone, if
anyone's interested. We actually talk about quite a lot on the
courses. The collaboration with Selfridges and a company
called 8th Wall, which was taken from
2022, where they had the AR scannable codes
actually in store, which kind of sort of allowed you to have
like a holographic kind of catwalk experience. So
there is lots of sort of elements that kind of can be added
to the outside, which obviously then
creates the theater to draw the customer inside.
Something I've heard referred to as the third window is what happens Once a
customer actually crosses the threshold is that first display they encounter
inside the store. Sarah had some very specific thoughts on how
to make it work hand in hand with whatever's in your actual window. And
so the hotspot area, which is that kind of third
area as you come through, as you talk about, should be
your area as you come into the entrance. So the
hotspot area shouldn't be too close to the entrance because that
can also subconsciously block the customer flow. So
it should be further back so you have that clear space before the
customer actually, you know, to encourage them to come in. And then
they obviously sort of discover the hotspot space.
That hotspot space can be a table, it can be
rails, can be any type of kind of fixturing. However, it
should hold all of that range of product that
you've just shown your customer in the window.
So it's creating that opportunity which we
say in the industry, see it, like it, buy it. So you're seeing it in
the window, you like it, it's kind of sort of drawing you
in. And then that product is the first product that you come across
as you come in to store. And usually if
we're looking at sales through vm, that
hotspot is quite an important area because it kind of helps
to sort of drive more commercial sales. Particularly
if you've got those packages of products all together at
that area as well, which kind of obviously comes on to link
selling. So that about trying to sell your customer
that entire package of product that you've just shown them in
the window. When you were saying that about the external theatre, I was thinking
about obviously for independence. Then some of these things are,
you know, if only we all had the Louis Vuitton budget. But I was thinking
about just even certain areas where you see lots of
independence. I was in North Lane in Brighton, for example,
shops, they almost like paint upwards as well. So it's like you see.
And the other place that always strikes me is Camden. As you're
walking from Camden tube station to the Camden Lock market, there's
a lot of those shops will have. There's like a giant Dr. Martens boot on
the side of the Dr. Martens store. And there's like again like the paint will.
It'll be the brand colors. But then it's almost like the first story of the
shop has been painted as well. So it feels quite eye catching. There's a shop
there in Brighton called Soctopus and it's bright blue and it's got the big
logo on it. So it sort of really stands out. So I love what you're
saying about brand colors, like the color impact of the shop being really
important as well. I wanted to ask Sarah where she
goes when she needs a hit of inspiration. And she didn't just rattle off the
obvious names, she gave us a genuinely useful list. And one
recommendation in particular I hadn't come across before.
I would really recommend, if you are local to
London, if you, you can go and look at them in person, I think it's
brilliant. However, equally, we can all obviously access
all of the content from pictures in store and also in the
windows on their Instagrams. But look at Harrods,
Liberty, London, Selfridges, particularly the corner shop
is a great example of a pop up shop which changes
approximately every eight weeks. They have four shop
windows there which are brilliant examples of these
interactive shop windows and lots of brand theatre.
Also looking at brands like Fortnum and Mason,
particularly at Christmas time, is a great example of
showcasing food and 3D packaging in a
really inspiring way. They had their advent calendar this year that
was really fun. Where they actually had like in the windows of Fortnum and Mason,
they had the different numbers. Yeah, their windows look
absolutely brilliant. I would also say
Tiffany for jewelry is a great one.
If you're working more with smaller showcases
in your windows or also in store, that is a very
great example of how they use their brand color
and really kind of sort of brand props which
kind of take the element all the way through really
consistently. And then finally talking about
somebody in our industry called Tim Nash, who's got a
fantastic blog called the Shop Drop Blog. Obviously I'll give
Catherine the link. Yeah. Now he's got his own
podcast, but he's also got a blog page that you can
subscribe to his complimentary newsletter that comes out
every Thursday. And he has got lots of great content
on pop up shops which are happening globally. And there are lots
of examples on there of great installations,
great product placement and also great use of
branding. Fantastic. Thank you, that is great. Yeah, we will definitely
link to that in the show notes. Thank you so much. And yeah, do you
want to just finish off by telling everyone where they can find out more about
your work and your courses? Of course, yes. So if you want
to check me out, you can check out the website,
which is visualmerchandisingcourses.co.uk
and on Instagram it's
@visualmerchandisingcourses
So there we have it. A masterclass in making your shop window do the
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