Errol Andam, founder of creative experiential marketing agency 10X10 StudioLab, is a marketing and branding professional in the brand, retail & event industry. In the following article, Errol discusses the evolution of visual marketing.
Humans are
visual creatures. Our brains primarily use notable visual cues to help us find our basic needs - as well as our wants and desires. So, when we see something aesthetically appealing, we're naturally drawn to it, and retailers rely heavily on that fact.
Shop owners display items, design storefronts, and organize their stores to attract customers using their understanding of aesthetics, psychology, and human behavior. This visual blend is the framework used for something we call visual merchandising. The tactic might pique our sense of delight or curiosity, or promise to engage us in ways we simply can't resist. It's an age-old marketing strategy because it works so well.
Below, Errol Andam takes a look at how visual merchandising draws in consumers, drives sales, and continues to evolve as we head into the digital age to enchant us whether we're near a store or not.
Errol Andam, formerly of Nike, on the Strategic Craftsmanship in Visual Merchandising
isual merchandising can take advantage of nearly all our senses. Errol Andam, formerly of Nike says to picture two stores selling soaps and candles.
The first is a big-brand store full of bright colors and seasonal scents that lure in weary holiday shoppers from the hustle and bustle of the mall, giving them a brief respite with the scent of baking cookies. The smell alone evokes positive emotions and memories, but the beautiful stacks of colorful products, both large and small, make it a vivid and invigorating experience. Customers want to take part of that home with them or give it as a gift to replicate the feeling for others, so they buy.
The second is a high-end boutique along a busy promenade. It's unassuming, but the vintage French sign and even its unique font trigger curiosity. Inside are bundles of lavender, tea sachets, handmade soaps, and even hand-thrown pottery with handwritten price tags tied on with twine. The tones are muted and soothing. It's nothing like the first store, but customers are drawn in for the same reasons - they want to engage, and then they come out with the same thing - a piece of that experience to take with them.
Once inside a store, visual merchandising is especially apparent in the product displays and the use of texture, lighting, and signage to lead shoppers further inside - perhaps even to a well-lit focal point with the most profitable merchandise. If another customer happens to be in the way, it only makes the ultimate goal of getting to that prime display even more alluring.
No matter the way a seller is using their visual merchandising, whatever color scheme, lighting, and fonts they choose, it's always intentional.
Creating Memories with Marketing
Errol Andam explains that all stores use some type of visual merchandising strategy - even grocery or hardware stores. These are places we need to enter for practical purposes. Maybe the window display isn't what draws in customers, but everything from in-store product displays and posters to shelving, price tags, and register setup is designed to do three main things:
- Evoke a sense of brand identity.
- Engage shoppers and leave them with positive associations.
- Encourage them to make purchases immediately and again in the future.
Errol Andam notes that it doesn't matter if the clientele is shopping for bananas or a chainsaw; the products are displayed for maximum visual force.
However, creating this subtle interplay between decor, color, lighting, texture, sound, smell, and more requires special training. Visual merchandisers must learn not only design, but human psychology. You can also get
Comgraphx logo stickers custom-made to increase the visual appeal.
Storytelling Goes Digital
Errol Andam also says that while experiential retail and other tactics that draw customers back to brick-and-mortar stores are on the rise, it's clear that
online shopping isn't going anywhere. For over two decades, visual merchandisers have been finding ways to take their talents to the internet for designing store websites and apps as well. At this point, they have more sophisticated technology than ever before to choose from.
Think about a retailer like Amazon. It sells almost everything, but the branding of each webpage on the site creates a unified shopping experience that ensures customers know who the retailer is. Anyone who has been on the site before can expect to be greeted by neatly organized categories of products that they might be interested in.
Errol Andam explains that machine learning algorithms are used to help personalize Amazon's digital space for every individual user. High-quality images, elaborate product descriptions, occasional videos, and constantly curated lists of products based on browsing patterns are there at every click.
Like Nike, Sephora, Home Depot, Wayfair, IKEA, and more, Amazon has introduced augmented reality features that allow potential customers to see what a product might look like on them or in their homes. In other words, visual merchandising strategies certainly
aren't confined to physical stores.
Summary
We want to be dazzled when we shop or decide on a brand to follow. Even customers who are "in and out" shoppers can't help but give in to the visual delights that the human brain is programmed to respond to. Visual merchandising counts on shoppers to be curious - and these pros are more than adept at sparking interest and joy.
