Hot Merchandising Trends

Moving products through brick-and-mortar stores remains one of the most crucial strategies for many independent retailers, especially those in the beauty and skin care industry. As more and more buyers turn to online shopping, these retailers are looking for creative ways to keep foot traffic high and sell more merchandise.

The answer to selling products is creating fabulous and unique in-store experiences that cannot be replicated by web-stores. Often that means independent retailers, distributors, and wholesale brands have to work in tandem to improve customer satisfaction and stay on top of hot retail merchandising trends.

Without further ado, here are 5 independent retail merchandising trends you out to watch closely.

1. Curating products/brands around a customer’s story

Most online stores are narrative-driven, and often create an appealing story around their brands. A narrative is often a story that appeals to a target audience or persona who’s highly likely to purchase from the e-commerce platform. Creating around a narrative has allowed online stores to understand their typical customers and build robust brands.

Turns out, more and more brick-and-mortar stores are also creating around the customer’s stories. The trend started off last year, and it has taken off pretty well in the first quarter of 2018. In other words, if you’re planning to create in-store merchandising displays, you need to curate your brands and products with your customer’s story in mind. What does your typical customer want? Why does he or she visit your shop?

2. The emergence of flash stores

What’s a flash store? Also called pop-up stores, flash stores are a merchandising trend that has burgeoned in the past decade or so to become a $10-billion niche. These stores allow wholesale manufacturers to directly target consumers at a specific period, instead of having a year-long store. This way, independent retailers can test out designs/ideas and expand to new locations without breaking the bank.

The good news is that 61% of shoppers visit brick-and-mortar shops because of a pop-up store idea. It all about being in the right place at the right moment, with on-spot brands and products.

3. VR and AR

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies are catching up in the merchandising space. With VR, the customer can immerse herself and experience how it feels to own or use a brand or product right in the comfort of the store. In a way, the VR kiosk allows customers to “try out” the products before they can purchase them.

4. Interactive Merchandising Displays

Gone are the days when retail displays were boring. Interactive merchandising is all the rage right now, with many brands and independent retailers investing interactive kiosks. These high-tech displays are making it easier than ever for customers to find out about inventory levels, try out products, and determine what they want.

5. Mobile Checkout and Payment

With the advent of mobile payment platforms like Apple Pay, Gumtree, Android, and Paypal, it has never been more convenient for retailers to allow customers to pay using their smart gadgets. And, with tech-savvy and Millennials leading the way, mobile payment and checkout are hot in the merchandising scene.