The Upcoming Trend – Visual Merchandising

As the number of retail outlets is increasing in cities as well as in shopping malls one of the challenges retailers are facing is to increase the foot print to their stores. Visual merchandising actually starts on the street outside the store. Creative and interesting window displays will catch the eye of people walking by and will draw them into the store. The display of products makes customer stop look and pick up products due to its attractiveness in a retail store. Visual merchandising utilizes displays, color, lighting, smells, sounds, digital technology and interactive elements to catch customers' attention and persuade them to make purchases. Visual merchandising helps to convey the image of the brand and reflects the personality of the target markets. Now a day’s retailers are investing heavily to make window displays and interior displays more attractive.

The present trend that is followed on displaying item is placing both familiar and unfamiliar products together. The stopping supremacy is relatively high for this combination rather than displays that are full of items which are familiar to consumers. Display settings largely influence the consumer’s perception and relation to the product and the brand displayed. Therefore it will directly influence the pricing and consequently the profitability of the product being sold in retail store. Retailers used to change the displays based on the customer’s visits to the store. Now day’s retailers use to create product displays that will show the customer how an item might fit into their everyday life. In a clothing store it might mean dressing mannequins, customers are more likely to purchase if they can imagine themselves wearing the apparel.

Rise of a new Avatar - Private Labels

With the growth of Retail Industry in India Private Labels are also getting more popularity. First we will see what private label is. Private label means products that are launched under retailers own brand name. For Eg: Earlier we were aware of brands like TATA, Annapurna Salt etc but now if we visit a Big Bazaar or Reliance outlet we can see their own brands like Food Bazaar or Reliance Namak. Long back this practice was done by only local kirana shops but now all prominent players of organized retail sector have started to come up with their own brands. Now private labeled products are available starting from grocery to textiles and from mobile phone to all kinds of consumer durables and garments.

Consumers also now trust the private labels as they can get quality product at a cheaper price. Today many of the national brands are facing a threat from private labels and as a result most of the manufacturers have begun to compromise on the price of their products.

Consumers want brands for the quality assurance and the emotional satisfaction they provide. As the retailers became more everywhere and successful providing the necessary mass of investment in banding activities retailers now able to position their private labels as brands in their own right. Their store brands are increasingly imbued with emotion and descriptions. 

The future is Kids Wear

We know that India has the world’s largest child population. Children are the main focus of Indian families. Few years back Kids wear market was largely unorganized. Now all major brands are targeting to this segment due to ample opportunity and growth in this market segment.

There is a huge opportunity for retailers to attract these customers because during old days parents used to make decisions regarding purchases for their kids. But now they are not. Kids in India today are very, very different from the kids of yesteryears in their ways of thinking, processing, analyzing and responding to stimuli. Kids are aware of brand names, they know what to wear.  Parents spend a lot for their kids as presents and gifts. India, a country with high disposable income shows people have more money to spend for their kids.  There are also a lot of untapped markets for kids like footwear’s that will show a high impact in the future of retail market.

There are two important factors to be considered for making a kids brand a success - variety and price. A children's apparel collection should have variety that will appeal to kids. Moreover, kids outgrow their clothes very rapidly. Hence it is necessary that a kids' apparel range be reasonably priced. Pantaloon and Gini and Jony have entered into a joint venture to set up a chain of retail stores for children's apparel. Raymond has launched its first store for kids' apparel ‘Zapp!'. DS Corporation, which owns the Ruff Kids brand of kids' garments, is planning to expand. But still there is enough space for new players to enter the market.