Merchandising 101: How to Maintain a Dynamic Display

One of the great mantras of merchandising gurus is "Keep It Dynamic." They tell you to update your displays frequently. All of your big-box competitors have a department at corporate, and usually at least a few regional staffers, devoted to maintaining a constant barrage of changing visuals, seasonal displays, eye-catching end-caps, and the like.

When you read about industry trends, somebody with ambiguous all caps initials after their name is always touting the merit of a reset, that is, closing for a day (or pulling an all-hands all-nighter), taking all the fixtures you have purchased and... you guessed it, throwing them away. Then, with your inventory in a heap, assembling and installing all new, modern, highly effective fixtures. This, they tell you, will give you an annual sales increase the likes of which you can hardly believe. The pain, they tell you, is far worth it because of the additional revenue that comes.

And why does the extra cash come? It comes because you changed something. And why did you change something? Because statistics show that dynamic displays sell more than static displays.
So why do most retailers staunchly refuse to update their fixtures, to replace their displays with something new? Do retailers want to send all their fixtures to the landfill? No. In fact, many independent retailers do almost nothing. They rotate stock, sometimes. They bring in seasonal items and display them, usually. But fixtures - though we all agree that dynamic is better - for the most part, stay the same. Year after year.

So the question is, what should you do? If you do nothing, then you will learn first-hand a lesson that has been proven throughout the history of retail- that an object at rest tends to remain at rest, on your shelf. But what if doing is rest is just not financially viable? Here is a simple recipe for consistent success in merchandising. Create a list of monthly tasks to be done or delegated. Here is an example:

1) Move two fixtures, even if just a little, to change the feel of the space.
2) Move at least two product families - make logical, though emotional decisions about what to put where - move books about traveling to Venice near the Italian Cookbooks, etc.
3) Pick one fixture you want to get rid of - ugly, dysfunctional, outdated, etc. and plan to put something new in its place this quarter.
4) When you do add a new fixture - either to replace the ugly one, or to add a new product, etc - consider the fixture's ability to change, to move, to be dynamic.
5) When you are done, write down your plan for what to do next month. You do not have to stick to it, but having a plan for the next move while completing this one adds a sense of continuity to the changes.

After a year or so of this you will have effectively reset your store. You will have minimized the financial pain of an overnight reset. You will have kept the attention of your customers by constantly offering them something new to see. You will have established a pattern of keeping the merchandising plan dynamic with minimal effort, and you will have developed an eye for what works. You may even want to add some initials after your name.