Retail Holiday Displays

Retail stores are stocking up for the holiday season.  If you’re looking for ways to ensure that all of your merchandise moves, consider your mannequin displays.  They can have more of an impact on customers than you might imagine.

Mannequins have always been effective merchandising tools because of the way that they make people feel.  There are a lot of emotional decisions that are made in a customer’s mind before they decide to purchase.  Customers rely a lot on their first impressions and also their gut instinct.  There are a few things to consider when attempting to satisfy all that a customer might be looking for.

People shopping for gifts want to feel like they have found something special, something unique, and something that makes them feel a certain way.  If they don’t get that feeling, then they are unlikely to purchase anything.  They don’t want to settle on something unless they will evoke the same emotional tie to the item that they felt when they were shopping for it.

Understanding the psychology of gift giving can help you to arrange your mannequin displays in a way that will make people imagine the heartfelt emotions that come with giving a really thoughtful gift.  Don’t dress lifeless mannequins in your most expensive holiday wear, stick them in the window and be done with it. People will stroll by and pay little attention.  Sure, they might notice the purse that you put out, but they won’t feel anything.

People develop complex emotional attachments to family and friends that are strengthened by the act of giving something that is emotionally significant.  The giver generally receives much more satisfaction than the receiver when it comes to giving.  Giving helps people feel closer to the ones that they are giving to.  Think about what scenarios might evoke a giver to feel like your store will offer them the type of emotional satisfaction that they are searching for while holiday shopping.

Simply displaying products may make weary shoppers focus on the materialistic side of giving gifts for the holidays.  People aren’t interested in spending money and getting nothing in return.  What they are looking for is that emotional connection.  Show them that the merchandise in your store will help them to achieve that goal.

The trick is to do it quickly and make it obvious.  Human beings make snap decisions about people and places within five seconds of seeing them.  Use your window displays to make your first impression an emotionally significant one.  Mannequins can be positioned to show a child discovering a treasured teddy bear.  You can elaborate on the scene by including the parents, touched by the child’s happiness, looking on from the stairs.  Include a male and female mannequin whenever possible so that men and women can relate to the display.

The possibilities are really endless.  A mannequin helps a person to instantly relate to the scene.  Dress mannequins in a way that not only displays your product, but also adds feeling to the scenario.  For example, touching scenes need soft, fluffy, natural fiber clothing.  The display, if done with thought and detail, can evoke those feelings that will reel them into your store with the mindset that they will find something meaningful here.

Remember that you are selling more than clothes and accessories.  You are selling relationship building gifts that bring people closer together and make them feel emotionally attached to each other.  Treat your displays with that in mind and your showcase holiday mannequin displays will be your best ever.