For the third installment of our discussion, Putting the ‘Visual’ Back in Visual Merchandising, we are chatting with Anthony Perrotta, who worked with specialty retail brands, including J. Jill, Alex and Ani, and Gap Inc.
Over his career, Perrotta developed and implemented visual merchandising and fixture planning for 300+ retail locations.
With experience in new store set-up processes, store planning, and retail marketing, Perrotta talks about the artistry of brand storytelling and the importance of keeping up with retail technology.
One Door (OD): How does your background in interior design and photography influence your work in visual merchandising?
Anthony Perrotta (AP): Visual merchandising is all about blending the visual and the physical. Photography is visual. Interior design is physical.
Things like mapping floorplans and visual awareness come naturally to me because of my background. While photography gave me a deep understanding of composition, interior design has exposed me to digital programs like AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop, which have all been integral to my career.
OD: How have you seen the role of the visual merchandiser evolve over your career?
AP: Technology matters now more than ever. When I began, visual merchandising was very hands-on. The development of floor sets was created in mock stores, where we were using physical space to design merchandising layouts.
Now it’s more about creating digital renderings of the various merchandising solutions to be able to move faster to meet customers’ expectations. We’re developing planogram-style visual guidebooks and trying to find ways to showcase the full breadth of visual displays in stores digitally.
The goal for every visual merchandiser is to move customers through the entire store, so no matter what kind of retailer you are, it’s all about figuring out what the key drivers and items are that draw customers toward the back end of the store.
For customers, retail is more than just about shopping. It’s about the discovery of products throughout the store.
OD: What challenges did you face in creating and implementing planograms for stores like J. Jill and Alex and Ani?
AP: We worked on visual merchandising guides that went to 300+ stores where thousands of associates relied on them. The challenge was to make planograms easily understandable for store teams.
Imagery and rendering in planograms became increasingly important to the successful communication of visual merchandising intent. They ensure the consistency of the brand voice from store to store and provide a visual presentation for each visual merchandising story.
Visual merchandisers are storytellers of the brand. At J. Jill, we met with product designers to get an idea of where their inspiration came from. Then, we took that inspiration and decided how to apply it to the physical space.
For example, we did one campaign with a southwest feel last March. The inspiration was all about the Arizona wild flats. We took a desert color pallet and motifs and built a window display using those elements to reinforce that story.
Inside the stores, we added raffia-woven baskets as props to infuse the interior with depth to bring the campaign to life. Storytelling is the cornerstone of visual merchandising. It helps create a value proposition, a point of difference and connects products to a brand’s mission.
To execute the plan in-store, we made the visual merchandising guides available digitally to help communicate these plans more efficiently. I’ve worked at brands that used digital planograms on iPads, and at brands that used paper planograms, and found the compliance was far better when store associates used iPads because the information was more readily available to and navigable for associates.
A lot of other retailers use paper guidelines sent through email that must be printed. When stores received the paper planogram sometimes information was outdated because promotions changed, or the product wasn’t available to be merchandised.
OD: If you could come up with your ideal solution to solve the problem of the paper planogram, what would it be?
AP: Get rid of paper planograms and make it all digital! I’m younger and grew up with technology, so digital planograms are second nature to me.
Interestingly, at J. Jill a lot of the store associates are older women who might not be as technically inclined. So, there’s more of a learning curve to get them comfortable with the technology at the beginning.
Once they got a handle on it, they easily understood how it made their lives a lot easier. They didn’t have to flip through binders page-by-page, and they could zoom in on the picture to get a better view.
Offering training modules and in-store support made the store associates more comfortable with the shift, and I think it can work for other retailers, too.
OD: Do you have an example where communication failed between HQ and the field that could have been avoided with the use of technology?
AP: I’ve seen in the field where HQ may fail to report visual updates to all stores or perhaps rely on paper copies of the updates. Paper copies may get lost or damaged, or stores may never receive them.
When you don’t offer these updates on an intranet or via an iPad, stores miss out. As we know, visual updates are important for maintaining presentation while providing direction to stores based on sell-through.
They also redirect the focus of the collections or product assortments. I’ve seen other companies mail updates, causing delays and miscommunications along the way. Stores may not get the full picture, both figuratively and literally.
So, making the visual book available via cloud or digital platform eliminates confusion and strengthens communication, which enhances the presentation.
In addition, having photos and files digitally accessible allows for better graphic representations of the updates. Store associates can blow up the imagery at the swipe of a finger to see details that may otherwise be missed.
OD: Does visual merchandising for specialty retail require a different skill set than for big-box retailers?
AP: From a technology standpoint, both require that you know about software programs. Big-box retailers spend more time on the space planning side analyzing SKU assortment by fixture and wall sections, whereas your specialty retailer is more focused on a visual theme to drive a campaign for promotions and product launches that change consistently.
OD: What kind of impact has social media had on visual merchandising for you?
AP: Social media helps make competitive shopping online a lot easier. I used to physically go out to other stores and look at their displays to see how we could elevate our presentation.
Today, you can do this virtually on social media channels to stay attuned to trends and move quicker in the marketplace.
LinkedIn is also a great source of visual ideas. Visual merchandisers love to share what they’re doing and showcase what’s happening at the moment. The whole idea is to stay on trend but to interpret in your way.
For example, greenery was having a moment in 2019. Everyone was investing in putting fake or real plants into their store to make it feel fresh and bring it to life.
There was a term that went around called “resimmercial.” It was about taking commercial spaces and making them look residential.
Learn more from seasoned visual merchandisers and space planners in this series:
- How to Make In-Store Execution of Planograms Better with Easy Technology
- How Art & Visual Merchandising Work Together, According to an Expert
- How Walgreens Embraces Store Planning Technology, According to Its Sr. Director of Space Management
- AR/VR & Visual Merchandising: Future Trends According to a Retail Strategist
- From Algorithms to Aisles: The Future of Curated Retail Experiences
About Anthony Perrotta
Anthony Perrotta is a rising leader in visual merchandising who grew up on technology and found his joy in merchandising through photography, which strongly influenced his designs. He is the author of AstroStyle: The Intersection of Fashion and Astrology Book.
He holds his bachelor’s in fashion merchandising and retail marketing from Johnson & Wales University. Perrotta also attended the University of Tennessee for interior design.