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An eye for retail
Shoppers browse through a store at Grand Indonesia Shopping Town in Jakarta
Shoppers browse through a store at Grand Indonesia Shopping Town in Jakarta. (JP/Nurhayati) (JP/Nurhayati)
Shoppers browse through a store at Grand Indonesia Shopping Town in Jakarta. (JP/Nurhayati)
Not to disqualify the power of retail therapy, but one should always take note of the gimmicks found throughout the different stores within shopping malls ' from piped-in perfume to unflattering lighting above vanity mirrors ' all aim to coax purchases.
'Retail is detail,' said Amanda Tiza, visual merchandising manager at Debenhams, one of UK's more popular department stores to have reached Indonesia under Mitra Adi Perkasa (MAP), during a recent workshop at the Indonesia Islamic Fashion Fair.
She then walked participants through the rudiments of the retailer's handbook, such as window displays, outfit building and how to configure counters and focal points around the spatial flow of customers.
'If we equate a window display to a magazine, a window display is like the magazine's cover. It comes before everything else and is a sample of that brand,' she says.
She said there were two types of shop windows ' closed windows and open windows. The former denoted the selected display of flagship items or mannequins before a backdrop, while the latter allowed the interior of the store to be viewed from the outside.
Enlisting the use of props to provide that first-impression 'sampling' of the store's brand is where creativity comes in.
'Props can be anything: A sewing machine, clothespins, tin plates ' all of these things can be used as props depending on the concept and our brand identity. If you want to use fabrics, plates, vases or even frames ' that's up to you,' said Amanda.
'If you browse on the Internet you'll see all kinds of props that you wouldn't have thought of as props before, but look really good when they're displayed in the window or as a focal point.'
Gaudy Christmas lights or overly bright lights that recall the fluorescent beams of supermarkets are avoided at all costs, she advised.
'The lighting has to focus on the products, so we don't install lights on every walkway. The lights should be trained on the merchandise to highlight it.'
In a store where items of clothing are sold piecemeal, astute 'outfit building' offers mutual benefit for the customer and the seller: The buyer can purchase a head-to-toe outfit that is ready to wear and the retailer sells more stock in fewer purchases.
'We have to inspire customers to take several items to create an outfit ' whether through using mannequins, displaying them on the rail bar or on the wall. This way, customers can see several items put together and say 'Okay, I'm going to wear this outfit tonight'. so they don't have to think about how to combine pieces.'
In the case of clothing retail, mannequins play as pivotal a role in persuading purchases as runway models do. Retailers should therefore personalize the mannequins they order from suppliers as an additional opportunity for brand perpetuation.
'Have you seen the Chanel store at Grand Indonesia? The mannequins have been specially ordered so that their eyes have the Chanel logo. Chanel made a special order so that the pupils of the eyes are in the shape of a 'C',' she mused.
'Usually retailers want to make specific requests for the [mannequin's] makeup, like nude makeup or red lips for example.'
A common crime committed by retailers, she said, is to use extravagant fonts on price tags with calligraphic swirls and curlicues that confuse the customer.
'Point of purchase is what we call 'silent selling',' Amanda said of pricing and product information, whether on clothing labels, signs or shelves.
'But this information has to be short and to the point ['¦] so we minimize customers' having to ask questions,' she said, cautioning that certain shoppers may be shy to approach salespeople.
Following the presentation, workshop participants assembled into groups of six and were prompted to create their own mood boards based on a given store concept such as 'Smart Casual', 'Ladylike Lace' and 'Ethnic'.
Participants were tasked with creating a blueprint for their store's layout ' to scale ' using pictorial representations for fixtures such as entrances, carpets, sofas as well as fitting rooms and so on.
Next came the choosing of 'products' and an ambience in keeping with the assigned theme by clipping corresponding bags, shoes, accessories, furniture and decorations from fashion magazines and arranging them in correct color gradations per retail standards ' from light to dark or vice versa.
The microscopic attention to peripheral details ' entirely extrinsic to the merchandise itself ' is a part of your shopping experience every day.
