How To Create An Effective Window Display
Reaching new customers on the high street can be challenging, even when footfall seems abundant in a certain area. Retailers can feel isolated despite only a few feet between themselves and passersby. What stands between the two, however, is the most important asset for gaining greater attention on the high street: the window display.
This simple feature has an amazing impact and can even serve to promote a business outside of its opening hours, continuing to draw the attention of prospective customers as they stroll by early in the morning and late at night.
Achieving this, however, requires an effective window display. One that captures attention and creates intrigue, ensuring that shoppers will enter a store or want to buy a product. Such a display needs only a few basic considerations, foundations that support appealing design then allowing individual brands to find their own creativity.
Standing Out
Simply placing brilliant products in a window isn’t enough and retailers must ensure that the window setting is in order. Colours and lighting should stand out among the high street, being bolder or more stylish than nearby competitors. Bright colour designs are, understandably, effective but not always appropriate and, in such scenarios, lighting can be used, with contracting elements and spotlights being ideal to draw attention.
Stand offs and digital displays are also effective ways to help a business to stand out, being assets that can easily fit into and complement a window display.
Utilising Backdrops
There are two main types of window display, closed and open. Understanding the advantages of each, and whether they are appropriate for a specific business is essential.
Open window displays are those that allow products to be displayed against the backdrop of open shop space. This means that customers are able to not only see the display itself but also the interior of a shop. In many circumstances, this can be advantageous, allowing window displays to merge with the stylish interior design of a shop as those passing by are able to see the type of atmosphere being enjoyed by others.
Closed window displays, however, divide the shop space from the window. This may seem limiting, but contained tableaus, for example, can be created, free from other distractions, ensuring that customer attention falls entirely upon the display at hand. This greater degree of control also means that eye-catching elements can be used to ensure that, against a solid backdrop, products stand out.
Lifestyle Not Product
It is often the case that when advertising, retailers should promote lifestyle and value over the product itself. This means not simply showcasing hiking boots or hair conditioners but mountains and luscious hair. Or, as Elmer Wheeler famously noted, sell the sizzle, not the steak.
For a window display, this is crucial. Successful brands tend not to spend window display resources directly advertising products but will, instead, attempt to cultivate an attractive scene or design. This might involve bringing in other props and assets so as to create a story or a theme.
