The financial success of a retail store is measured by revenue per square foot. This means the total sales of the store are divided by the number of square feet to arrive at a number of dollars of income for each square foot of floor space. It is a convenient metric because it allows a small store to be compared to a larger one based on how effective merchandising and products actually are.
Retail store owners are always looking for ways to boost revenue per square foot, which is why it is so important to put good visual merchandising practices into operation whenever possible. Product display is part of it, but understanding human psychology is the real basis for any decision about how to put something on sale and make it appealing enough that customers will want to buy it.
Visuals Are Not Enough
One of the key things to remember about people who are shopping is they make purchasing decisions based on all five senses, not just what they see. If you are using product display tools like display cases, sign holders, acrylic risers, or you put featured products on an acrylic display stand to make them more noticeable, you should take this principle into account.
A stand or riser brings a product closer to the customer, which means they are more likely to touch it or catch its scent. Placing products on stands that reward these behaviors will lead to more sales.
The Rule of Threes
Ever notice superheroes almost always group up in odd numbers? Know why? Because with an odd number, someone is always in the center when they pose for the movie poster. The same is true for retail products. Human brains are wired to two major principles. One is symmetry and the other is centers. When using acrylic risers or an acrylic stand, placing products in groups of three or five and/or setting up symmetrical arrangements is likely to attract attention.
The key thing to remember is attention is what drives sales. Products that are not arranged symmetrically or with a center feature item are likely to look haphazard or sloppy, and that will invite customers to go elsewhere.
Lighting Highlights Merchandise
One of the most powerful things about an acrylic stand is its ability to reflect light. You really want to take advantage of this principle, and also keep in mind the dramatic potential of shadows when setting up your product displays. Reflected light gives any physical space a heavenly appearance, and sets people's minds in a state of wonder and exploration rather than a cold and sober evaluation of dollars and cents.
Since you control everything in the retail space, you can set up your product displays to take advantage of the available light from any vantage point in your store. When a customer gets to a certain spot, you can make it appear that any product is "in the spotlight" so to speak, and invite the customer to investigate.
Once there, you can set things up so the product display is lit any way you like. This is the principle that is used for all kinds of show business, and you better believe merchandising is show business.
