Retail merchandising is important because we live in a competitive world. If retailers only had to display their products and expectreta that shoppers would view those products in the best possible light, then there would be no need for retail merchandising. Unfortunately ? or maybe fortunately ? we have competition and you know that as soon as you display your products a competitor will try to create a better display and all of a sudden you have retail merchandising.



But retail merchandising is much more than how you display your products. Your merchandising becomes the ?personality?, or brand, of your store and business. From the moment a shopper sees your store from outside, your retail merchandising is at work.

Not every retailer can afford to have a designer storefront, but you can't afford to have a storefront that is not presented in the best way. Window posters, merchandise and lighting all affect the look of your store and the impression it makes on your customers and, more importantly, your potential customers. Proper retail merchandising means that your customers? will have the impression you want them to have about your store. If that isn't that isn't the case right now, you should adjust your merchandising.

Once in the store, your retail merchandising starts playing an even bigger role in your customers? perceptions and their buying decisions. Long before they get to how your product is displayed, they start making conclusions based on your merchandising. Everything in your store, the colour of the walls, the width of your aisles and, yes, your product displays, are part of your retail merchandising and they all affect whether or not your customers will make a purchase.

Even if yours is a ?discount? store, or carries a variety of merchandise, your retail merchandising is just about the only thing you have that sets you apart from your competition. (If you compete on price, taking a little time for merchandising will improve your retail sales.) It makes merchandising one of the most important parts of everything you do as a retailer.

Indeed, why do anything else as a retailer if you are not going to merchandise properly? Many retailers go out of their way to get the best pricing from their suppliers so they can offer lower prices to their customer. Price competition is the difficult and takes a lot of effort and diligence, but it will be wasted if the products you worked so hard to find are merchandised badly and don't sell.

Other retailers advertise heavily. It's a good plan and there is no denying the power of advertising. But no amount of advertising will overcome the detrimental effects of poor retail merchandising. Advertising makes sense, but spending a lot of money to get shoppers to your store, only to be met with poor merchandising makes no sense.

If you advertise but have poor retail merchandising, you are wasting money. It means you need to keep advertising heavily to keep customers coming back. If your retail merchandising was better, more of your first time customers would be encouraged to return again and again, which means you would need to do less advertising.

Regardless of what you sell - or even what business you are in, customer service is always an effective way to compete and win against your business opponents. Every company is in the business of customer service. In retailing, basic customer service means presenting your merchandise in the most pleasant and logical way possible. Retail merchandising is basic customer service. Even if you went out of your way to find what customers were looking for, but did not have a well-merchandised store, you would still be fighting a losing battle.

It doesn't mean you must get all the latest display units, shelf d'cor and complex planograms ? unless they will make your store more appealing than your competition. Good retail merchandising is a little like getting dressed for a social occasion, you want to look your best, and when you do, you feel better and perform better.

Retail Merchandising will make your store feel better to your customers, which means it will perform better for you.