Visual merchandising in times of pandemic – avoid these mistakes

The pandemic forced us to deal with many safety rules. While arranging commercial space in these unusual times, the principles of visual merchandising can help you to avoid many unnecessary mistakes.

Thanks to visual merchandising you can arrange a store space easier and make shopping more enjoyable. In times of pandemic, visual merchandising is proving to be more useful than ever. It allows you to change the retail space so as to encourage customers to buy, while taking into account new safety standards. We suggest several areas where mistakes can be made easily and which visual merchandising will help you to avoid.

Self-pickup in the store

Buy online, pick up in store, i.e. BOPIS, is the name of a trend that turned out to be particularly important in the pandemic. Thanks to the in-store pickup, we save money on the delivery fee. Collecting the order at the point designated for this purpose reduces the time spent in large groups of people. However, it is worth considering setting up multimedia kiosks (so-called info kiosks) in which the customer will be able to check the offer of a stationary store. You should also think carefully about the choice of the touch panel – here resistive screens will work better than capacitive ones. The former do not require us to take off our gloves, which is a common attribute when shopping in a pandemic. Near the kiosks, it is worth to set up a disinfection station and, if possible, barriers or shutters separating the kiosks.

Arrangement of commercial space and the human senses

It is easy to get carried away by the “more is more” rules, but following the maximalism principle in the arrangement of the store may result in a sensory overload of the customer. The empty space should occupy an area proportional to the space occupied by the exhibition. Too high density of products will be unpleasant for the human eye, and excess empty space will make the customer stop following what is most important in the display, i.e. products. It is important to pay attention to the assortment and give access to it, even with protective gloves. The opportunity to touch the product is important!

Diversification of the exhibition space

Visual merchandising gives also a creative approach to the arrangement of vertical and horizontal exhibition space. In short: any surface has potential. The walls can become the background for the display of large-format product photos, the ceiling can be used for suspended decorative or informational elements, and the acrylic displays can be successfully placed at the checkout on the store counter. When using acrylic and glass elements to arrange the store space, remember to use appropriate cleaning supplies. Due to the pandemic, shopping spaces require more frequent disinfection. Choose cleaning products that will not leave unsightly streaks.

Too rare changes in the arrangement of the store

The visual merchadiser calendar is full of opportunities that can give you the inspiration to create a new storefront design. It is worth remembering because even the best-designed interior can become commonplace for customers. Seasonal arrangements, for one-time sales or selected holidays (Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc.) make visitors feel that there is a lot going on in this store and it is worth visiting.

We hope that when designing the interior of your stores, you remember to take into account the issues listed in this blog post. In our opinion, they are crucial for a successful arrangement and maintaining high safety standards in the time of a pandemic.