Visual Merchandising Ideas for 2023

Typically, the longer a customer is in the store, the more likely they are to make a purchase (and purchase multiple items). Consider a motif for your retail displays to add coherency throughout your store’s visual merchandising. This motif could be a similar phrase, a display element, a color scheme, a pattern, or even a character. If you wanted to add a small cardboard cutout of the store’s mascot or another character to a few displays throughout the store, you could turn this into a game for kids. In the end, having similar elements in your displays can encourage customers to stay longer.

Depending on the nature of your store and your products, there may be a lot of different colors and visual elements already in your store, just from your merchandise itself. Using a few color schemes in your displays and signage can add consistency for the customer and be aesthetically pleasing. The color scheme can be derived from your brand’s logo or reflected in a particular season or holiday. There may be requirements for certain branded displays with specific products, but you can get creative beyond that.

Retail displays should catch your customer’s eye, but they can also involve other senses. Interactive displays are popular in visual merchandising for a reason – when customers can engage with the product via multiple sensory experiences, they are more likely to purchase. Interactive displays could allow customers to pick up the product, sample it, or look through which version they prefer. Interactive displays take extra work to set up and should be designed to avoid theft, but this time invested should pay off in the long run. 

Pole toppers are a unique way to set your retail display apart and get your customer’s attention. These pieces can be on top of many displays you may have in your store. Although signage is usually at a customer’s eye level, having your pole topper just slightly above eye level can pique a customer’s interest. Pole toppers are often made of cardboard and serve as a temporary display. This is effective for highlighting a new product, bringing attention to a seasonal line, or any display you change out often. 

Some retailers think outside of the box in a big way when they plan out their displays. A common practice is to build a “larger than life” object out of individual products, such as creating a giant jack-o-lantern around Halloween by stacking up products packaged in orange and black boxes. These displays are great to put in the front of the store to wow customers as they enter. Manufacturers may also be able to make temporary cardboard displays that are giant mockups of a featured product or an object with a logo printed all over it. These creative ideas may take time, but they make memorable, attention-catching displays.

Another creative idea for your visual merchandising in 2023 is to use cardboard cutouts in your store. Life-sized human or animal cardboard cutouts can be especially fun – is there a celebrity, fictional character, historical person, etc., that would associate with the product? If there isn’t a specific person or animal, an object can always be a cardboard cutout, such as a cutout in the product’s shape with the logo plastered all over it. Anytime you create a memorable display, it gives the customer something to talk about even if they don’t buy the product. They may go to work and mention the display at the store, and your store’s name can travel by word of mouth. 

Consider a pallet display if you’re looking for an affordable and easily maneuverable retail display. These displays are often made out of cardboard, making them less costly than plastic or acrylic displays, and are sized so that they can be placed on a pallet. If you’ve seen a store with a large “bargain bin” type box, this was likely a pallet display. You can put pallet displays in extra space on the floor or at the end of the aisles to grab attention.

If you’re starting to form some ideas for your visual merchandising for this year, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at Butler Merchandising. We’ve been in business since 1926 and commit to quality designs and products daily. We have in-house design and manufacturing capabilities to get your product to you efficiently. Get in touch with us today!