There’s no doubt about it: new holiday in-store displays are key for retailers during the late fall and winter. If you fail to implement new displays in your store during the holidays, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to enhance the retail experience for your customers, which ultimately translates to missing out on more sales and profit. So how do you implement a display campaign for the holidays that will keep your customers shopping longer, and leave them with a more positive and lasting impression? It’s all about creating a feeling and inspiring positive memories.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of the Display
While it’s true that people do more research online before they shop in the stores these days, the Internet has hardly replaced the power of the in-store display. In fact, more than 75% of buying decisions are still made in the store, according to a 2012 study by Point-of-Purchase Advertising International. The study intensely looked at seven million customer transactions at big retail chains. The association found that things like end caps, bins and freestanding displays can have a huge impact on what customers buy. Don’t let this opportunity pass you up. Taking advantage of the holiday season, when shoppers are even more inclined to make impulsive purchases, can mean big dollars for you.

Create the Feelings That Drive Sales
Retailers of all sizes can increase their sales by inspiring positive reactions in their customers during the holidays. When your in-store display scheme is designed correctly, customers should walk into your retail store during the holidays and react with feelings of comfort, excitement and warmth – you may even evoke fond memories of family and childhood. So think of your target audience. What is likely to trigger these happy feelings and memories for them? How can you implement that in a design scheme throughout your store’s displays? If you can answer these questions, then you should be able to drive sales.

Imagine Yourself as the Customer
At the end of the day, you should always be able to imagine yourself as a customer before implementing a new display campaign for the holidays or any other time of the year. Think about the holiday displays you remember seeing in stores as a child. Chances are you can remember at least a few, and they stand out because they created a sense of wonder and mimicked the ideal sense of the holiday seasons that everyone longs for. Was it the color that spoke to you? The product? The signage? There was something very specific that moved you. So how can you recreate that for this year’s audience?

When you imagine yourself as the customer, you will be better prepared to implement new holiday in-store displays that inspire those feelings of comfort and warmth that will ultimately drive sales. So in the spirit of giving, why not give your customer what they want? A cheerful shopping experience that results in comfort for them and dollars for you.

Are you having a hard time coming up with new store display ideas to showcase your merchandise? This is understandable. Running a retail operation is demanding. It’s important to make this a priority, though. Studies have shown that people really do decide how long they’re going to stay in a store, what they’re going to buy and how much they’re going to spend based largely on the experience they have with the layout and décor. But keeping your displays fresh doesn’t have to be a source of stress. A few simple strategies and techniques can create outstanding displays that will wow your customer and translate into more purchases being made. It’s often been said that the power of suggestion should not be overlooked. Never has this been truer than it is with how you create and manage displays in your store.

The following guidelines should help you create effective merchandising displays in your store and keep them updated for each new season.

1. Stand in Your Customer’s Shoes
   While there’s no way you can read the minds of every customer who walks into your store, you undoubtedly have some basic knowledge of your target audience. In addition to standard information such as age range, education level and income, consider the typical behavior and lifestyle of people in your target demographic. What will make them feel at home?
2. Remember All Five Senses
   It’s possible to engage customers through more than just their sense of sight. Consider how you can engage their sense of sound, smell, taste and touch as well. If you sell food products, try engaging your customers by offering samples for them to snack on. Provide testers to encourage people to pick up and try out products. Playing music and burning candles are additional ways to contribute to the overall affect.
3. Change Your Displays Frequently
   You should remain in a constant state of curiosity about new ways to increase sales through your in-store displays. Keep looking for new store display ideas and trying them out! People want to see something new whenever they return to a store. New displays will keep people coming back.
4. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
   If you’re not feeling inspired, not to worry. You don’t have to come up with a new type of display that no one else has ever done before. It’s perfectly okay to get a little inspiration! Go online and check out message boards, blogs and image sharing websites such as Pinterest to see what’s worked for others. Creativity can be contagious, and even just browsing what others are doing may spark an idea for your space.
5. Keep it Organized
   Above all else, your in-store displays should be logically placed, evenly spaced and arranged in an organized layout. If people can’t see the displays because the store’s too disorganized, none of the other above guidelines will matter.

Successfully managing your business takes a lot of time. Don’t let the stress of coming up with displays overwhelm you.

There are few retail display strategies as important as the strategy behind your logo design. Your company’s logo is the first thing people notice. A logo represents the aesthetic component of a company’s brand identity and may be the one thing people remember most; even more than the actual product or service they receive. A logo must be memorable for the right reasons, though, to be effective. It’s not a process you take lightly. A lot of planning, revision and time is required to create the perfect representation of your brand in one small image. Once you’ve created it, the final product can go a long way.

So how do you go about designing and implementing a strong logo that represents your brand in the best possible light? Here are a few tips to help you do just that.

Broadly Brand Your Online or Brick-&-Mortar Store
Whether you do business online or from a brick-and-mortar space (or both), you will need to systematically brand your store(s). Design your logo using colors, images, text and lines that work together to leave a bold and lasting impression. If you have a physical retail space, imprint your logo on in-store displays, employee uniforms, price tags and other appropriate surfaces. Make sure you have prominent signage with an easily discernible design both inside and outside the store. The same design qualities should apply to the logos placed throughout an online store. Make sure the logo appears on every page of your website, and always above the fold.

Make Sure Your Logo Stays With Customers After the Sale
You can turn sales into marketing opportunities with the right retail display strategies. If you have a brick-and-mortar retail space, imprint your logo on bags, boxes, promotional signs and printed advertisements for sales and other promotions. If you have an online store, make sure to take advantage of the opportunity to imprint the logo on shipping boxes, labels and other parts of the packaging.

Use Promotional Merchandise to Your Advantage
Plenty of companies give out free promotional merchandise to current and prospective customers, but if you really want to strengthen your brand, you will need to do something different with this strategy. Think about what your target audience will appreciate and use on a regular basis. These don’t need to be expensive things – products such as key chains, pens and reusable water bottles are relatively inexpensive, and people actually do use them – but they need to be eye-catching and attractive. With a matching display, you can also give out free promotional merchandise that advertises in multiple ways.

Deciding on your logo can be a daunting, exhausting process. Your business is your baby, and you have nurtured it, lost sleep over it and painstakingly planned for it to succeed every step of the way. Don’t let your dedication and hard work go unnoticed. Make the most of that logo and your identity. By following these simple tips, you should be well on your way to a stronger brand identity.

When setting up your store—from the placement of corrugated displays to the signage to the decorations and more—it’s important to consider your customers’ values. This doesn’t mean that you should know the religious or political affiliations of your target audience, but it does mean understanding their general ways of life and purchasing preferences. Ask yourself, “what demographics are heavily represented in my store? Where do they tend to live, and how do they tend to live their life?” Do you serve a lot of parents and families, for example, or are your customers more likely to be young professionals, teens, seniors or some other group? Knowing who tends to shop in your store can go a long way when deciding how to set up your displays. Here are a few tips to help you create an environment that helps you connect with your audience in more unique and personal ways.

Get to Know Who Shops in Your Store
There are many ways to get a feeling for the demographics that are most represented in your customer base. This doesn’t have to be a giant undertaking, and could start with simply observing your customers. Things like surveys, questionnaires and polls can also help you get a sense for who shops in your store. There are plenty of resources for accessing demographics information about the people who live nearby and are more likely to shop in your store. Get to know them, and you will be able to design a corrugated display for your store that makes them feel more at home.

Reflect Your Customers’ Values
By reflecting your customers’ values, you can inspire the kind of brand loyalty that retailers dream of. The point of purchase area is a great place to reinforce those values with images and short bursts of text that customers are likely to see right before they walk out the door. While there are many ways to reflect the values of different demographics within your customer base throughout the various aisles and sections of your store, the displays near the checkout stands and entrance and exit are more likely to stand out in their memories. Different demographics are likely to shop in your store, so try to install displays that target a variety of these demographics as well as a more general audience to cover all your bases.

Include a Call to Action
There is one last thing to consider when setting up your corrugated displays, signage, seasonal decorations and other installations around your store: a call to action. Making people feel at home is great, but unless this feeling inspires purchasing decisions it could all be a bit fruitless. So make sure to grab their attention with the images in your displays, signage and decorations, but don’t stop there. Also make sure to include bold copy that grabs their attention and includes a simple call to action. A call to action should address the customer directly, and present a solution to a problem or feed a desire. This will inspire more purchases, plain and simple.

Point of purchase displays are known to be highly effective for securing last-minute sales of products that customers weren’t even necessarily looking for. From tempting treats and seasonal items that shoppers may have forgotten to reminders about in-store promotions, there are many possibilities to boost revenues at the point of purchase before customers leave the store. And with the holidays around the corner, retailers can expect to make a big impact by installing displays that reach their customers at this critical point in their shopping experience. If you haven’t already considered the possibilities, it’s about time you take advantage of everything your store’s point of purchase area can offer. Here are a few suggestions to help unlock this wealth of potential just in time for the holidays.

Try to See Through Your Customers’ Eyes
Before you begin ordering new displays and filling your point of purchase area with new products and promotions, it’s important to think carefully about what your customers want and need. Try to imagine being a customer, finishing your shopping trip and being at or near the checkout stand. What would you be most likely to add to your shopping basket at this moment? What kind of promotion is most likely to catch your eye? It could be something a customer doesn’t even realize they need until they see it, or it could be something they don’t need at all but simply can’t resist. Most importantly, it should be something that can boost revenues.

Include an Easily Recognizable Call to Action
When customers see a display as they are nearing the end of their shopping trip, they should be inspired to take immediate action. Whether you want customers to make a purchase or remind them of a special sale going on now or in the near future, the display should make them feel as if immediate action is necessary. You don’t want to use high-pressure tactics or be too obvious about your intentions to increase revenues, but you do want customers to act fast.

Be Consistent in Branding and Promotions
The types of displays you place near the point of purchase area should be consistent with the overall flow, design and color schemes of your store, and they should incorporate text and images that reflect the same atmosphere you have created throughout the retail space. Furthermore, if you’re using similar displays at more than one location, they should all be consistent with one another.

Update Signs, Add Giftwrap and More
While you’re taking all the time to update your point of purchase displays for the holidays, it’s also a good idea to change your signage to match and add some extra-special holiday touches such as giftwrap services. With all these new additions and updates in place at the same time, you will accomplish much more than if you just changed the signs or just added new displays. When customers come and go from your store during this critical retail season, they should feel like they’re having a completely different experience than they would any other time of year.