Store Displays: Do Them Right and You'll Do Better Business

As a retail small business owner, you’ve probably thought a lot about how to get people into your store. You may even be an expert at creating window displays to draw traffic, but have you mastered the art of converting visitors into paying customers once they’re inside?

Creating smart, appealing store displays is one of the easiest ways to increase your profits. Try these tips for maximizing any display’s impact.

Let the Products Shine

It can be tempting to get too creative with store displays. Some retailers go out of their way to create unusual signage and outlandish settings meant to draw the eye. Unfortunately, these can go too far, swallowing the product rather than showcasing it. "The best displays are eye-catching, but not overpowering," says Melissa Santos, director of marketing at Rose Displays, a signware solutions provider that specializes in signage that integrates with retail displays. “[They] fit in well with the store environment, décor and branding.” Your products should always be the star of the show, so keep them center stage, well-lit and free of unnecessary distractions.

Use Tabletop Displays for Touch

For any retail small business, tabletop displays are the single most important fixture you can invest in. Because of their inherent touch-and-feel experience, they’re ideal for introducing customers to products (and they’re unbelievably flexible). And one of the key advantages retail stores have over their online counterparts is the element of touch. Customers like to test products they’re interested in, and tabletop displays are the perfect way to signal which items are intended for closer examination. Just remember: No customer has ever put something back the way he found it, so you’ll need staff to clean up those tables periodically.

Design Your Display Cases

Sometimes you have to display items behind glass that aren’t meant for hands-on viewing. But bear in mind that fixed products create fixed lines of sight, so anything you’ve placed directly in front of another item is likely to block it from view. Think “group photo” rules here: Keep smaller items in front and larger ones in back for a balanced and easily viewable presentation. If necessary, incorporate risers to elevate products into the customer’s line of sight. For an extra upselling boost, feature complementary items side by side, such as earrings and the matching necklace.

Figure Out the Traffic Flow

Take a day or two to watch how customers move through your store. Foot traffic tends to develop an organic flow, and you can take advantage of your customers’ natural instincts. Display the items you most want to sell at key points along that route to increase attention and interest. Remember that you can use your biggest sellers to draw customers deeper into the store and past some of your less popular items.

Store displays can also facilitate traffic flow. “If you’re good, you can create displays that attract attention and also get customers to a specific area of the store,” says Santos. “They can be a great way to direct people.”

Store displays can invite interaction, create visual interest, and highlight information about the products you sell. But don’t rely on the display alone to do all the sales work. You need to combine the efforts of a great visual display with the natural appeal of great products, a range of price points and active sales initiatives.