Archive for June, 2018

Effective visual merchandising is one of the most important elements to creating a retail environment which is both enticing and memorable for the consumer. When we talk about “visual merchandising” this is everything from the window display a prospective customer first sees that draws them to the store, to the signage and POS displays that guide them through their in-store journey and eventually encourages their purchasing decisions. As David Ballard, Creative Director at Lick Creative, highlighted recently: it’s all about standing out from the competition by using a strategic approach to catch their eye, ultimately influencing them to purchase something by giving them what they want!

Our friends over at IGD looked into the true impact of merchandising in larger format stores:

1. Two-thirds of shoppers are influenced by merchandising when visiting a large store

According to IGD’s research over 60% of shoppers are influenced by merchandising. However with so much communication in-store it can be hard to stand out. To maximise the chances of shoppers picking up a product that they had not planned to, merchandising in larger stores needs to be eye-catching, simple, engaging and relevant.

Successful merchandising should reflect the needs and behaviour of shoppers in that area of store and the time of year.

2. Gondola ends and in-store signage play an important role in highlighting special offers for shoppers, and therefore influencing their purchasing decisions

Out of aisle displays play a crucial role in increasing category conversion and unplanned purchasing, especially in categories that are less frequently purchased. Shoppers may not go down every aisle on every trip, especially if they are on a specific shopping mission. Displays help to increase awareness and therefore consideration of certain categories and products.

Consider where the most relevant part of the shopper journey is for you to influence shoppers with your brand. Where are you likely to have the greatest impact in-store?

Gondola ends are essential if you are looking to maximise promotional sales.

3. Gondola ends are associated with promotions

Promotional strategies should result in a change in shopper behaviour. It is therefore vital that brands and retailers understand the shopper behaviour that is being targeted – for example, deep price reductions are more likely to encourage impulse category purchasing and can be effective at driving trial of new products whereas “multi-buys” are more likely to drive basket size.

Shoppers often struggle to determine if special offers are good value and so providing both the promoted price and the savings made may increase appeal.

4. Dual sightings are important to drive trial of new products

In larger stores raising awareness of new products is more of a challenge, as there are more products and multiple messages being communicated at the shelf. An effective approach to tackling this is to maximise sales at launch by locating the product on a display outside of the aisle.

In-store communication of new products needs to clearly highlight the key product features and benefits and give shoppers a reason to try – for example if a food product provides additional health benefits (particular during seasonal periods where diets are being reconsidered, like after Christmas or in the run-up to Summer).

5. Certain merchandising has less impact

It is important that you are clear on the role of different types of merchandising and that you continually monitor the return on investment of any in-store activity.

The following questions should be considered before determining the most effective type of merchandising for the brand:

• What shopper behaviour are you trying to drive?
• Which types of shoppers are you targeting?
• Which type of shopping mission or occasion does your product appeal to?
• What is the main message that you want to communicate to shoppers?

Location in-store, time of year, store location and store layout will all impact the effectiveness of different types of in-store merchandising.

We are delighted to announce that The Delta Group has been listed in The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200!

The International Track 200 ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastest-growing international sales, measured over their latest two years. Compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times, The Delta Group have been featured for the first time in the 2018 list (published on 10th June), coming in at no.58!

Our CEO, Jason Hammond, states:

“We are absolutely thrilled to be featured in The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200, recognising our strong international sales growth. Our performance is reflected in an excellent rate of customer retention and significant new business wins. The whole team have worked relentlessly to achieve our objectives and reach the level of success we are enjoying today.”

Every year at London’s Retail Design Expo some of the retail world’s leading tech companies showcase their latest and greatest innovations, giving the 20,000+ visitors a taste of what the future holds.

In my latest blog post I’ve rounded up my favourite innovations – and the one’s I feel will have the biggest impact on the retail space in year’s to come – to emerge from the two-day event.

Tokinomo (with Aculom Limited)
Winner of the Innovation Award

Tokinomo’s approach to traditional POS is simple yet highly effective. By incorporating technology behind the product, they have enabled sensory interactions with shoppers through bespoke motion, sound and light. It’s simple: as the shopper approaches the product on the shelf (fitted with the Tokinomo kit) a motion sensor detects them…prompting it to literally come alive with movement, light and sound!

A number of multi-national brands have already deployed the Tokinomo in their POS to great effect. Heineken saw a 130% sales increase experience by using Tokinomo for 10 days, while Danone say a 125% increase compared to the previous two weeks.

Mystor-E

“It’s not just about the amount of traffic in your stores, but it’s what you do with the traffic that matters most.” A compelling argument proposed by Mystor-E, a software company that enables retailers to increase sales by shifting the online advertising model to brick and mortar stores. By using algorithms and apps on digital screens in the physical store space, the brand works to grab data and use it to convert customers.

June 20

June20 lets customers explore, compare and configure products in-aisle by using videos, reviews, expanded content and product offerings beyond what’s available in-store. Customers are then able to transfer information to their mobile device to make an immediate purchase in-aisle or take home for further consideration.

Volumental

With an aim to introduce a more personalised fitting experience to the footwear industry, Volumental combines 3D scanning technology with AI to give consumers highly personalised footwear recommendations. As well as the personalisation angle this has tremendous health benefits too by enabling customers to actually understand their health, and empower them to select something that fits them.

Inspector Cloud

After realising that brands and retailers are losing billions of dollars in lost sales due to the inability to monitor shelf space, Inspector Cloud detects what goods are on shelves and generates actionable reports within 10-15 seconds. The advanced image recognition system provides accurate and relevant information about products on the shelves and helps brands and retail to improve on-shelf availability, while cutting down on shortages and product wastage.