Elements of visual merchandising are tools or guidelines that can be kept in mind while creating or designing a retail display that is aesthetically pleasing as well as effective in items of its purpose. Visual merchandising in the practice of presenting the products of any retail store through strategic planning in order to attract potential customers through the way it is presented as well as its user-friendly and effective nature, encouraging them to make a purchase. Visual merchandising plays an important role in improving the revenue of a store.

Creating an effective visual merchandising can be challenging especially when there is an abundance of customer preferences, resources, styles and ways of presentation. The following are various elements that can be considered to create visually appealing as well as purposeful visual merchandise.

Colour

Colour in visual merchandising is an important tool that helps in attracting a customer’s eye. There are different colours that have the ability to capture the attention of a viewer than others. However, this doesn’t mean using a lot of colours that create visual chaos in the viewer, but using colours that create harmony in the visual senses of the viewer. There are different types of colour combinations such as monochromatic, complimentary, split complementary, and many others that can be derived from a colour wheel; these colour combinations have the ability to create a visual appeal. Using such colour combinations, along with the understanding of how each individual colour has the ability to attract attention that can be understood from the colour theory will enable one to create a display that has good colour coordination.

Emphasis

Emphasis in visual merchandising means creating an ‘anchor’ point in the visual display. In the presentation of a retail display, there might be a lot of products on display. Creating a focal point by emphasising on a particular space in the display enables it to catch the attention of the viewer and guide them to navigate the other products in the rest of the space. This also enables the display to have ‘depth’ which encourages the customer to experience various products in their own individual experience rather than a standard way of experience.

Storytelling

Storytelling in visual merchandising is a core element that enables powerful retail presentation. By creating a storyline for products, the customer will be able to understand more about the product and relate to it. Storytelling can take shape in many ways such as signage, text, graphic, mannequins, or any other visual communication tool. It can also be a combination of all these tools, in which case, it is important to understand how the composition works together in telling a singular powerful story. Through storytelling a customer realises why they need a product in their life and what difference it can make.

Space

Space in visual merchandising is a tool that gives a customer the experience of enjoying a retail space. If a retail space is crammed with products, however good those products might be, it does not give customers the breathing ‘space’ to enjoy and experience it. A retail space that has ample amount of space to walk around will help them make better conscious decisions regarding the purchase of the product as well as enable them to enjoy the retail experience better so that they will visit the store again in the future.

Composition

The various tactile elements in a retail store and the way it is presented in it make up the composition of the store. The lighting, product display as well any furniture or equipment also includes in this list. The individual elements in a store do not work independently, but collectively to create the ambience of a store as well as its efficiency of display and storytelling. Customers are more prone to buying or viewing merchandise that are displayed openly in the store rather than ones that are kept inside or stacked up on shelves. Understanding the importance of light as well as the role it plays in accentuating the display helps in creating a space that is well-balanced and purposeful.

Elements of visual merchandising do not work independently to create a well-informed and well designed retail space, but they work collectively together to create a space that compliment the other products as well as in accentuating the harmony and ambience of the space. The usage of these elements will be highly effective if the visual merchandiser understands consumer psychology, the knowledge of which will enable them to create space that is human-centric in nature. The elements of visual merchandising are taught and practiced in our visual merchandising course in bangalore which not only equips students with the knowledge on how to create a purposeful online and physical retail space but also the skills needed to lead an efficient visual merchandising career.