Despite the festive season being one of the busiest times for retail businesses, the January sales are some of the most stressful, thanks to the common burnout from Christmas.
To be able to get the most out of the January sales season, retail stores should be as prepared as possible. With retail window displays ready to go and trade displays already installed, store merchandising and the brand experience should be fully ironed out so stores can hit the ground running.
To get you up to speed before the new year begins, Ripple’s experts have all the key facts and advice you need, including:
- How to prepare for peak sales
- Types of window displays
- Benefits of Window Displays
- Create Window Displays in 10 Steps
How To Prepare For Peak Sales
Having tailor-made retail displays is one of the best ways to grab a shopper’s attention for long enough to entice them into the store. They’re impactful, engagingly transmit the brand’s message and often highlight the very best products they can find in-store.
Prepare for peak sales with the following tips and tricks from the retail displays specialists at Ripple:
Types of Retail Window Displays
Across a variety of retail environments, commercial interiors can include a variety of window displays. However, the following are the most common types you’re likely to come across along the high street:
- Shadowbox Window Displays
- Open-back window display
- Closed-back window display
- Corner window display
Shadowbox Retail Window Displays
A shadowbox window display is a small, box-shaped display that can be host to jewellery, shoes, or makeup and are a fantastic option for a luxury item that allows for the concentration of just a couple of people at a time can look at.
Closed-back Retail Window Display
A closed window display is separated from the store floor by a wall or a temporary structure such as a backdrop. This approach for retail display designs allows the focus to be put on the products themselves and blocks out any distractions that are elsewhere in the store.
Open-back Retail Window Display
An open-back window display in a store is perfect for mannequins and other props that show off the products in a tangible way for customers to enjoy. However, these types of displays are incredibly open, meaning no wires or other hazards can be included due to how open it is to the customers.
Corner Retail Window Displays
As the name implies, you get a corner window display when two windows come together in a corner, creating a large, box-like display. Corners are optimal for attracting shoppers approaching from any direction and showing off products from more than one side. But, it can be difficult to arrange products in these displays, since they need to look attractive from multiple viewpoints.
Benefits Of Retail Window Displays
Window displays have plenty of benefits that make them well worth the investment of time and money, including:
Highlighting Products
Having the right type of retail displays and trade displays to present specific types of products will boost the type of impact it has on your retail environment. Retail specialists offer specific designs for specific products, finding design solutions that suit certain retail interiors.
Depending on the product, you may need a shelf, a shadowbox display or even a full display table. Highlight your products by ensuring they take up the appropriate amount of space and their tangible benefits are propped up and emphasised. It’s also important to remind staff to check on the display as the day goes on, as busier shopping periods usually result in a slightly unorganised display.
Standing Out From The Competition
From the moment a shopper sets foot onto the high street, there will be a multitude of brands fighting for their attention. That’s why it’s so important to ensure your retail displays have as big an impact as possible from the outside of the store, all the way through to the point-of-purchase areas. Effective window displays and product presentations can highlight brand identity and reflect the positive retail experiences that lie beyond the doors, along with signage to promote sales.
Increasing Foot Traffic And Brand Awareness
Foot traffic and brand awareness can be tricky to secure, especially with so many other competitors working to do the same. Window displays are more likely to transmit your business’s messaging uniquely and engagingly, giving customers a way to connect with your retail store and consider going inside. All of this is achieved without requiring the customer to enter the store, allowing them to think they are choosing to find out more of their own accord, despite your retail displays influencing them.
Promoting Offers And Sales
Window displays will grab the shoppers’ attention and hold it for long enough to keep them inside. This is the prime time to show off any promotional offers and deals you have available, as saving a few pennies is always an enticing element to any retail display.
However, once the customer is through the door, you can take the opportunity to highlight a full-priced stock that is new and exciting for shoppers to take an interest in.
Create Retail Window Displays In 10 Steps
Ready to get stuck in and begin creating your very own window retail displays? At Ripple, we’re passionate about retail design solutions and our specialists have broken down their easy-to-follow, ten-step process for creating impactful and stunning window displays you can use for the January sales:
1. Define Your Target Audience
Before you begin any creation process, you must outline exactly who you’re creating your retail displays and store merchandising for. Do you want to bring in an older audience or teenagers? Young families will be looking for different elements from a retail store when compared to the desires of retired couples out for a stroll on the high street.
2. Assemble Your Retail Window Display Tool Box
Once you’ve defined your target audience, you can begin to assemble your retail window display toolbox. Being prepared is key to avoiding delays in the creation process and also allows you to get started once you’ve decided on an idea.
We recommend having the following bits and pieces to hand when pulling together some tools:
- Tape measure
- Scissors
- Stapler
- Two-sided tape
- Hammer and nails
- Utility knife
- Glue gun and hot glue sticks
- Screwdriver and screws
- Pen, pencil, marker, and notepad
- Props
These items are like the store cupboard essentials to creating your window retail displays, so you may need to grab other parts as you go along, but having these to hand will make the process much easier.
3. Start With A Story Based On A Theme
Generating ideas based on a theme can help the creative process run much smoother. Grab a pen and paper and begin sketching out the idea you originally have. Then, you can begin developing it into something impactful and engaging by creating a story from a theme. We recommend taking a specific element from the overall theme such as decorating the tree from Christmas, and then making a story from it, rather than simply focusing on Christmas as a whole.
4. Create A Focal Point
Every window retail display needs a focal point for customers to engage with. Take a look at the window you’re working on and see it from the shoppers’ perspective. What area are you most drawn to? Which space is best suited for a few people gathering at once to take a closer look?
Once you’ve decided where your focal point can be, you can begin developing the arrangement of products that surround this focal point and any other design choices that can help the configuration come to life.
5. Be Bold
It’s no secret that shoppers’ attention spans are pretty poor, so retailers must do the very most to be able to grab their attention and retain it. Pulling out all the stops is essential if you’re to stand out, so being bold is the best option. Grab colours, props and lighting with appropriate signage to keep the momentum going, and if you have an unconventional idea, go for it!
6. Think Simple & Fresh
Whilst we recommend being bold with your ambitions, don’t overcrowd the display with clutter and useless elements. Every single part of your window display should play an integral role in the overall look. Simplicity implies freshness and doesn’t overload shoppers into moving on to the next thing.
7. Balance Is Key
Similarly to simplicity, balance is key in any window retail display. Light and dark colours must complement each other, along with product promotion and story-telling aspects. It cannot just be an explosion of colour and products, there must be light and shade to avoid an overbearing look that simply overwhelms shoppers.
If you’re not sure if you’ve got the right balance yet, take a long look at your window display. Do you feel happiness and joy with a willingness to learn more, or do you feel anxious and concerned? If it’s the latter, more balance is needed.
8. Lighting
Lighting impacts the mood of those around it in a huge way. For example, overhead lighting creates harsh shadows, whilst side-placed lighting leads to a softer look that draws the eyes into the products being illuminated.
Take time with your lighting, play with different colours and alternate focal points and discover what works best for your retail store. Don’t allow the lighting to become an afterthought, as poor lighting can ruin even the best retail displays.
9. Use Suspended Posters
Suspended posters could be included in a window display that has room for them as the advertisement role they play is invaluable. They’re perfect for signage, backgrounds are up all day long, so are fantastic for getting your message across to anyone at any time.
10. Not Everything Needs To Be On Offer
Remember that promotional offers are a great way to grab the attention of shoppers, but they don’t have to be the only thing you include in your window retail display. New, fresh and exciting products can also be included and are often a way to encourage customers to return another time after they’ve finished purchasing the products included in the promotional deals.
How Ripple Can Help Transform Your Retail Space
Not only is Ripple passionate about creative and impactful retail design solutions, but the team also has decades of experience in turning the industry on its head and providing the very best retail space transformations. Thanks to our end-to-end service, countless businesses have reaped the rewards of our hard work and can stay on top of trends whilst remaining timeless in their designs.
Thanks to our expertise, so many retail spaces now have design solutions that boost profitability, foot traffic and brand awareness. This includes MKM Home, who trusted Ripple’s professionalism and reputation for their takeover of the tile brand Brooke Ceramics.
Get in Touch with Ripple Today
A fantastic history and years of experience in the retail design sector mean we’re the choice for you if you’re ready to make waves on the high street with the very best window retail display.
Get in touch with our team of specialists today to find out more about how we can turn your retail space into the next big thing.
