Display Management: What Customers Really Want in Visual Merchandising
According to a recent study by One Door and GlobalData, over 99% of consumers are aware of visual merchandising when making purchasing decisions in stores.
(You can download the full report here.)
This data underscores the importance of effective in-store presentation, but retailers are slow to respond.
Across all retail segments (luxury, mid-market, discount, and needs-based), 73.4% of consumers are not completely satisfied with how products look in stores.
And it cost US retailers a shocking $125 billion in lost sales over the past 12 months.
Based on data from real retail customers, what do they expect when it comes to thoughtful display management?
Display Neatness
Messy and disorganized displays are more than an eyesore. They’re top frustrations for shoppers and a costly problem for retailers.
A staggering 30% of consumers cite messy displays as a major annoyance when shopping.
This merchandising issue is especially prevalent in mid-market stores, including popular mall staples like Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Crate & Barrel, Sephora, Ulta, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as mid-tier department stores such as Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Dillard’s.
This lack of display neatness is driving mid-market customers, the largest group of consumers, away at an alarming rate.
In fact, this retail segment saw the highest shopper abandonment rates. Display mismanagement most frustrates these shoppers who expect convenience and efficiency, especially when shopping for non-discretionary or bulk purchases.
In the past year, 32 million shoppers walked out of at least one mid-market store due to messy displays, resulting in an estimated $6.6 million in lost revenue.
With 24.5 million shoppers reporting a walk-out to disorganized displays (costing mid-market retailers another $5 million in lost sales), retailers can’t afford to ignore this challenge.
Design Focal Points
Boring and uninspiring displays rank among the top merchandising challenges, cited by 18.3% of surveyed shoppers.
This issue is especially problematic for mid-market retailers, where a lack of creativity and boldness comes at a steep cost.
In the past year, 21.6 million consumers walked out of at least one mid-market store due to uninspiring displays, resulting in $5 million in lost revenue.
For these popular retailers, neglecting to innovate and captivate shoppers comes with a hefty price tag.
Better Care of Props and Mannequins
Worn-out and damaged props/mannequins are more than just visual distractions. They’re a significant source of frustration for shoppers, accounting for 7.7% and 7.2% of consumer complaints, respectively.
The issue of damaged props and mannequins is especially prominent in the discount retail segment, driving 7.2 million customers to leave these stores and resulting in $2.3 million in lost revenue.
This particular challenge affects lower-priced retailers such as TJMaxx, Marshalls, and Ross, as well as value-focused brands like Primark, H&M, and Forever 21.
Interestingly, mid-market retailers face the greatest challenge once again: 8 million shoppers walked out of mid-market stores in the past year due to worn-out props and mannequins.
These merchandising failures cost mid-market retailers an estimated $2.7 million.
For both segments, the message is clear: Overlooking the condition of in-store displays comes at a high price.
Clear Signage
Clear signage, branded with concise copy, plays a critical role in guiding shoppers through stores.
It communicates where they are, highlights current deals, and aligns seamlessly with the store’s overall branding.
Despite the importance of proper signage, many retailers neglect this vital visual merchandising step, leaving customers confused and dissatisfied.
In fact, 10% of surveyed shoppers identified confusing signage as a major frustration. While fewer consumers — less than 5% — pointed to worn-out or damaged signage as an issue, the impact of unclear messaging is undeniable.
Two retail segments suffer the most from this merchandising problem: discount stores and needs-based retailers. (The latter are defined as retailers that sell everyday products like food, groceries, and household goods.)
Last year, an average of 10.5 million shoppers walked out of each store type at least once due to unclear signage, resulting in significant losses.
Discount stores incurred an estimated $1.8 million in lost sales, slightly more than the $1.7 million cost for needs-based stores, like Walmart, Target, and go-to grocers like Kroger, Albertsons, and Safeway.
Investing in effective signage is essential for retaining customers and driving sales.
The Cost of Poor Merchandising: The $125 Billion Challenge
To gain insight into how imperative proper merchandising is (and how display management is a driving factor), download GlobalData and One Door’s latest report, The Cost of Poor Merchandising.