Remember Me
forgot your password?

Marketing with Mannequins

Mannequins can be your greatest asset when marketing your apparel.  Mannequins have unsurpassed effectiveness in visual merchandising schemes.  They get a lot of attention from customers and help to boost sales. Mannequins show customers and even just people passing by what clothing will look like on.  Mannequins are great for showing just how certain garments can be worn.  A lot of clothing hangs limp on the hanger.  This is especially true of light or flowing fabrics. Dress mannequins are extremely effective in selling dresses.  This is because almost no dress looks good simply hanging.  Dresses need to fit the body in a certain way.  A lot of simple dresses would just look like a long t-shirt hanging on the clothing rack, but may look stunning on a dress mannequin. Accessory sales can skyrocket if you use your mannequins to promote them.  Assemble the display with accessories that fit the style of the outfit.  Hats, gloves, scarves, earrings, necklaces, purses, shoes, tights, and backpacks can all be included in your display.  Don’t overload your mannequin with too much stuff or it can take attention away from the outfit that you really want to sell.  But, using accessories will entice people to purchase more than they planned. People like to see a mannequin showcase in stores because it gives them fashion ideas.  A lot of times, the display will feature a new style that someone hasn’t thought of.  For example, wearing combat boots with a sun dress, or a scarf with a short-sleeved blouse may not have occurred to them before they saw it in your display. Putting outfits together keeps people from having to dig through racks and come up with the ideas on their own.  Layering is an effective marketing tool because shoppers may not have purchased any of the items alone, but love the look of them layered together.  So, instead of buying one shirt or nothing, they actually purchased a camisole, a sheer long-sleeved shirt, and a pullover sweater. Displaying clothes on a mannequin won’t automatically make sales for you.  You have to be creative enough to give your mannequin displays feeling.  People can envision themselves in outfits worn by <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.slstoredisplays.com/cat-43-1-28/Mannequins.htm"title="Mannequins">mannequins</a> that they can relate to.  Develop a scene that gives the display personality, or that creates a mood or feeling.  These kind of displays help people to feel a certain way.  Think about what feelings your customers have when they decide to purchase something.  Do they feel sentimental, athletic, or beautiful?  Help customers to get that feeling that they need to decide to go through with a purchase and your displays can be incredibly effective.

Mannequins can be your greatest asset when marketing your apparel.  Mannequins have unsurpassed effectiveness in visual merchandising schemes.  They get a lot of attention from customers and help to boost sales.

Mannequins show customers and even just people passing by what clothing will look like on.  Mannequins are great for showing just how certain garments can be worn.  A lot of clothing hangs limp on the hanger.  This is especially true of light or flowing fabrics.

Dress mannequins are extremely effective in selling dresses.  This is because almost no dress looks good simply hanging.  Dresses need to fit the body in a certain way.  A lot of simple dresses would just look like a long t-shirt hanging on the clothing rack, but may look stunning on a dress mannequin.

Accessory sales can skyrocket if you use your mannequins to promote them.  Assemble the display with accessories that fit the style of the outfit.  Hats, gloves, scarves, earrings, necklaces, purses, shoes, tights, and backpacks can all be included in your display.  Don’t overload your mannequin with too much stuff or it can take attention away from the outfit that you really want to sell.  But, using accessories will entice people to purchase more than they planned.

People like to see a mannequin showcase in stores because it gives them fashion ideas.  A lot of times, the display will feature a new style that someone hasn’t thought of.  For example, wearing combat boots with a sun dress, or a scarf with a short-sleeved blouse may not have occurred to them before they saw it in your display.

Putting outfits together keeps people from having to dig through racks and come up with the ideas on their own.  Layering is an effective marketing tool because shoppers may not have purchased any of the items alone, but love the look of them layered together.  So, instead of buying one shirt or nothing, they actually purchased a camisole, a sheer long-sleeved shirt, and a pullover sweater.

Displaying clothes on a mannequin won’t automatically make sales for you.  You have to be creative enough to give your mannequin displays feeling.  People can envision themselves in outfits worn by mannequins that they can relate to.  Develop a scene that gives the display personality, or that creates a mood or feeling.  These kind of displays help people to feel a certain way.  Think about what feelings your customers have when they decide to purchase something.  Do they feel sentimental, athletic, or beautiful?  Help customers to get that feeling that they need to decide to go through with a purchase and your displays can be incredibly effective.

Ron Maier

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail displays, including mannequins, dress mannequin forms, female mannequins, gridwall and slatwall store fixtures. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.

Rate this Article: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s)
Print Email Re-Publish

Add new Comment



Captcha

  • Latest Management Articles
  • More from Ron Maier

Employee Motivation Techniques - How to Achieve Peak Performance Through a Change Initiative

By: Stephen Warrilow | 30/11/2009
The term "employee motivation techniques" is in my view a little misleading as it implies a tactical "quick fix" approach. Whereas to achieve a peak performance from your people and in so doing, to create a genuine source of competitive advantage demands a strategic approach that embraces leadership style, corporate cultures and the supporting business and management processes.

ADKAR Change Model - An Evaluation of Its Strengths and Weaknesses

By: Stephen Warrilow | 30/11/2009
The ADKAR change model was first published by Prosci in 1998. Prosci is the recognised leader in business process design and change management research, and is the world's largest provider of change management and reengineering toolkits and benchmarking information...

Barriers to Effective Communication in Change Management - But Do They Feel What You Are Saying?

By: Stephen Warrilow | 30/11/2009
The single biggest barrier to effective communication in a change management situation is quite simply the disconnection between the change leader and those who are or will be impacted by the change. Here are 5 proven barriers to effective workplace communication in change management.

Managing Change in the Workplace - 4 Key Steps to Incremental Change

By: Stephen Warrilow | 30/11/2009
In managing change in the workplace it is extremely important to draw the distinction between "incremental change" and "step change". Here are the 4 key steps to managing incremental change in the workplace...

Change Management - How to Make it Work and Deliver the Benefits

By: Stephen Warrilow | 30/11/2009
The traditional project approach to change management sees it as a set of tasks that if executed successfully get a result. In other words the typical process led approach which has failed so consistently and so spectacularly over the last 20 years...

Take Advantage of Federal Contracts For Your Business Startup

By: K. MacKillop | 30/11/2009
The American government, at all levels, spends billions of dollars per year on everything from spy planes to pencils. Just about every purchase requires a government contract, and most government agencies require that a portion of these contracts be set aside for small businesses. Getting on board with federal, state,...

Change Management Models - Do They Help and If So How?

By: Stephen Warrilow | 30/11/2009
Change management models have clearly evolved from the days of Kurt Lewin's freeze phases model which was very much a product and reflection of the industrial age - with the emphasis on command control imposed from the top down. Any change management models theories or concepts that directly address the people issues, has particular resonance and practical relevance in the current climate and adds values to our understanding of strategies for managing change...

Situational Leadership Theory in Change Management - Different Strokes For Different Folks

By: Stephen Warrilow | 30/11/2009
Given the catastrophic 70% failure rate of all change management initiatives, the quality of leadership exercised is clearly a significant component in reducing this risk. In essence, situational leadership theory emphasises 2 areas.

How Mannequins Influence Consumer’s Decisions to Buy

By: Ron Maier | 23/11/2009 | Management
How can mannequins influence your customers? You can showcase clothing, but something like a female mannequin can actually force your customers to consider a purchase.

Keeping Up with Retail Appearances

By: Ron Maier | 23/11/2009 | Management
Keeping up the appearance of your retail store or boutique this holiday season will be easy when you utilize your gridwall or slat wall to manage your showcase displays.

Mannequin Displays for the Holidays

By: Ron Maier | 23/11/2009 | Management
Learn how mannequins mannequins can showcase your products, draw in new customers, and even help keep your displays straight this holiday season. For example, a female mannequin is perfect for displaying affection, giving customers an emotional connection to your store.

How to Keep up with Merchandising During the Holidays

By: Ron Maier | 23/11/2009 | Management
Tips for keeping things neat and running smoothly in a retail store this holiday season. Slatwall and grid wall displays are perfect for your showcase items.

Creating Effective Visual Displays

By: Ron Maier | 23/11/2009 | Management
Learn how to effectively showcase merchandise utilizing gridwall and slat wall this retail holiday season.

Creating Effective Visual Displays

By: Ron Maier | 23/11/2009 | Management
Learn how to effectively showcase merchandise utilizing gridwall and slat wall this retail holiday season.

Marketing with Mannequins

By: Ron Maier | 14/11/2009 | Management
A lot of simple dresses would just look like a long t-shirt hanging on the clothing rack, but may look stunning on showcase mannequins.

Managing Retail Displays this Black Friday

By: Ron Maier | 14/11/2009 | Management
Attention retailers, are you prepared for Black Friday? Use these helpful tips including how to effectively use your slatwall, grid wall and showcase to make things run smoothly this Black Friday.

Submit Your Articles Free: Signup

Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (0.24, 6, w2)