The role of visual merchandising and its key strategies deployed within the fashion industry.
Introduction
This post analyses the role of visual merchandising within the fashion industry and within the context of luxury brands, and will evaluate key VM strategies employed by the industry and brands to engage their customers and meet their requirements.
Examining in detail two specific industry examples, a high end fashion and a luxury brand, this essay will analyse, evaluate and compare their strategies, techniques and approaches to visual merchandising across a variety of channels, with particular emphasis on their experiential, immersive and cohesive methods.
The Context
VM has been described as ‘silent selling’, as its aim is ultimately to maximise the volume of sales. Retailers have to present an attractive proposition to entice customers into their stores, exploiting and maximizing the layout and aesthetics of the store and product display. VM helps companies engage customers, conceptualises brands, drives up sales and maximises the return on commercial retail space. It is a vital component of branding strategy, and when brands within the fashion industry effectively apply the creative and scientific principles of retail design, merchandise moves and profits soar (Bell, J. and Ternus, K. 2011).
Visual Merchandising techniques, approaches and strategies in fashion and luxury retailing to engage customers
There are stores whose architecture, exterior facades and window displays are almost as famous as the store itself. Bergdof Goodman, Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Macy’s and Bloomingdales in New York are all known for their iconic window displays as are Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Liberty in London; the buildings and displays embody the history and heritage of the store and use these elements to provide their customers with a unique retailing experience.
Equally the luxurious and expansive interiors of famous flagship luxury brand stores, such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and high end jewellery retailers, Tiffany and Co. and Cartier, are closely connected in consumers ́ minds with heritage, elegance, exclusivity, exquisite taste, beautifully crafted interior displays and a premium, indulgent shopping experience.
Such iconic and memorable customer experiences start with two basic VM techniques, involving exterior and interior displays. These techniques are both immersive and experiential, designed to showcase brands and deepen consumer experience. Customers are seduced by a cohesive strategy beginning with the location and aesthetics of the building, the window displays, the store layout, the colours, interior themes and styles chosen, the presentation of goods and all aspects of the interior design, lighting and use of imagery. By exploiting each individual component of the store ́s or brand ́s aesthetic, visual merchandisers fully immerse the consumer in the experience and culture of the brand through visuals, touch, sound and smell, while creating an experience which, if all elements are cohesive with the brand ́s identity, is indelible and unique to the brand and their stores.
Effective in-store customer engagement can also be measured and evaluated if broken down into three phases: attraction, approach, and browsing. Two studies of customer behavior within stores illuminate how customer behavior can be affected and modified.
By analysing a customer’s psychological response, based fundamentally on an ‘approach or avoidance’ reaction, it is possible to understand the emotions triggered by visual merchandising and to then predict the outcomes as consumer behaviour (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Donovan et al., 1994).
The visual display, or first impression, is what induces the consumer to stop and take note. The subsequent approach or avoid phase, depends upon the emotions generated by the combined features of the display. The final stage of engagement, which leads to browsing, is the result of an overall positive experience, and if successful can result, in a consumer purchase. The aesthetic of the window display and in-store environment has a significant impact on the willingness of the customer to spend time in the store and on their spending intentions. Iconic and luxury brand stores understand the dynamics of this engagement perfectly: their choice of location, the architectural heritage of the building, the aesthetics of the window display and interior and the emotional uplift of the shopping experience.
Visual Merchandising as a brand loyalty strategy
Immersive and experiential techniques immerse customers in the brand ́s ethos, creating brand loyalty through emotional, cultural and sometimes ethical choices, depending upon the demographic targeted.
Developing brand loyalty requires consistency throughout every detail of the marketing strategy; all marketing elements must convey the look, experience and vision of the brand. VM must also play its role in selling this coherent vision, not only throughout all stores, and across all in-store displays, but across the brand ́s websites, promotions and advertisements. Brand loyalty is built by consistently delivering the emotional connection with consumers, with visual merchandising playing its vital part as an experiential, creative medium.
VM should always align with the marketing strategy. Stores like Benetton and The Gap, for example, reinforce emotionally the loyalty of their targeted demographic by offering in-store sensations of homeliness, predictability and security, while relaying a sense of youthful cosmopolitanism. Simple, organic materials are used in both the clothing and the store interior design, mixed with bright lighting and the symbolism of global interconnectedness with their strategic wall displays (Castle H, 2000).
In stark contrast to this, the teen fashion retailer, Hollister, which is a subsidiary of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., was known for its dark interiors with black walls, low lighting and use of music to create a nightclub atmosphere. Selling casual fashion apparel, their brand was targeted at affluent 14-18 year olds, and the visual merchandising recreated the beach and surfing lifestyle of Southern California. Their storefronts were originally designed as a beach ‘shack’ concept, featuring built in video screen walls, with live streams of Huntington Beach, and imagery of the ocean, connecting consumers with the laid back Californian coolness of the brand.
Hollister stores announced a strategic focus on a fast fashion retail format and underwent a major remodeling in 2014, which included the removal of the brand’s signature shutters (VMSD, 2014). Seeing the impact of visual merchandising strategies on their sales- the stores which removed the outdoor facade shutters as part of the new visual merchandising pilot saw a double digit increase in sales and overall traffic- the company began the remodeling of a further 75+ stores within that same year. While removing the iconic beach shutters could have been a risky move, given their links with the brand ́s ‘surf shack’ identity, it demonstrated the brand’s willingness to adapt to the changing needs of their consumers, by utilizing VM as a marketing and engagement strategy, to place a new focus on customer service and the overall consumer experience.
Following this success, and other modifications to the design such as the installation of brighter lighting and clear glass shop fronts, which were also believed to have been a factor in the increase of sales, the brand decided to extend their VM overhaul to include all its 414 U.S. locations and its 139 international stores (VMSD, 2016). The VM strategy was perfectly aligned to attract a new demographic and retain customer loyalty.
Brand 1 Analysis: Hermès
Because of the revolutionary changes brought about by the internet and digital technology, it has never been easier to connect with consumers and to create a personal relationship with a target market. There is now a 360· approach to visual merchandising and engagement. Luxury fashion brands can explore the many experiential, immersive, and cohesive options available to them. Two specific industry examples will illustrate how companies have responded to the digital revolution in their VM strategies.
Hermès Rive Gauche boutique in Paris, its flagship store in France, is the embodiment of luxury. At 1470 m2 of display space, it comprises both a store, a flower display area, and a tea salon. The building is in itself a historical monument of the city’s Art Deco years, and was once home to a swimming pool built in 1935.
Behind its discreet façade is an expansive, exclusive space, which invites its clients to explore its inner pavilions via a labyrinth of nine metre high ash wood huts, each telling a story about a different, iconic collection. Painted in natural earthy tones, the inspiring space perfectly showcases their high end brand and encourages complete immersion into the Hermès lifestyle, where a vast array of products such as leather goods, fashion, jewellery, homeware and services are available. The messaging is both overt and subliminal: the consumer has entered an exclusive world of elegance, high art and sophistication.
The staircase that once led visitors into the former pool is now also encased in an ash wood structure, which is both perfectly carved and organic. Bathed in natural light emanating from large skylights above, each of the wooden structures are also subtly lit, allowing the mosaic covered floors, pillars and staircases to glimmer and recall its underwater history.
Hermès’ reputation is based on creating a unique shopping experience, and it certainly delivers. Today the brand ́s core values are centred on craftsmanship, heritage, quality, savoir-faire and modernity. Hermès Rive Gauche fully embodies these values, as the building in which it is housed reverberates with history and grandeur while having a modern feel inside; the store combines both heritage and modernity, creating a link between its origins and the present. These values are intrinsically linked with the design and visual merchandising strategy of this store as it has retained all of the original architectural features, yet reinterprets them with a sleek contemporary flair.
The design directive for each of Hermès flagship stores is to showcase their extremely exclusive products in an environment which projects their classical values of heritage and timelessness. Investing in premium property, on the most exclusive streets of the world’s cities, they have entrusted the RDAI agency, to design all the Hermès stores worldwide to ensure cohesiveness (Warmann, 2010).
In a culture where French fashion houses were historically judged by the sophistication of their window displays, Hermès has long been famed for its enchanting window dressing, particularly those created for its Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré house by the now iconic designerLeïla Menchari (Tungate, 2012). Menchari dressed the headquarters windows for three decades until 2013, setting a new standard for other brands in the industry. Inspired creations such as giant waves crafted from marble, multicolored saddles with wings and Kelly bags reimagined in metal helped to distinguish the brand in the hyper competitive luxury world of the period.
In recent years, Hermès has frequently used a half-height carriage window, often adapting new stores worldwide to suit this aesthetic. While this style of window prevents people passing by from seeing inside the store, it allows some daylight to enter, but keeps the focus on the products and visuals displayed within the window. Hermès often creates simple yet striking displays with clutter free, thoughtful visual merchandising and narratives. The window displays tell their own story yet keep the interior of the stores an alluring mystery.
The artistic director of Hermès, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, describes the brand’s window displays as a portal into the culture of the brand: a culture to deliver aesthetic pleasure by encountering their products. This quest for perfection across every detail of the product collections extends into their design of the window displays. They aspire to high art to elicit the same intense response in their consumers (Anaya, 2014).
This cultural aesthetic is reflected cohesively in the way Hermès engages with its public; from their deliberately old-fashioned events, eschewing the ephemeral, to ignoring celebrity endorsement in their brand advertising. The Hermès in- store visual merchandising strategy excels at underpinning its brand image and exclusivity. Its brand awareness is apparent in each of its stores. It is not afraid to be daring as its worldwide stores demonstrate, integrating its high aesthetic with different cultures, and using, for example, exotic animal imagery in its window displays. But it does not stray from its core values of exclusive, iconic products made with the finest materials and craftsmanship.
That ́s not to say, however, that the brand could not learn from others in the luxury industry. Hermès could benefit from an overhaul of its digital strategy integration with its in-store visual merchandising. Unlike other luxury brands such as Burberry or Dior, they do not have a high level of visual merchandising integration. They could benefit from having more technology in store, such as digital screens or iPads for consumers navigating their way throughout the store and product selection. A more cohesive digital strategy could include this technology for the customization of their luxury products, offering uniquely crafted items personalized in store, designed online or made to order using virtual reality technology.
The in-store digital projection of the illustrations and photography of the Hermès house biannual magazine Le Monde d’Hermès, could offer another innovative avenue for the Hermès marketing team to explore. Featuring work from talented artists, photographers and designers, it is currently available in hardcopy within the brand’s flagships. By further exposing the work on the walls, and incorporating the themes and artists of the magazine into the visual merchandising of the store, it would allow consumers to interact more directly with the work. Turning the pages of the luxury magazine on in-store LCD screens, introducing editorial spaces and allowing instant sharing of the imagery via social media or via a chosen hashtag, could help reach younger, more tech savvy clientele, for whom their silk scarf collection is tailored.
Remaining relevant to a changing and digitally driven demographic in the luxury market, Hermès needs to be agile and to adapt their brand strategy more rapidly to the consumer driven and e-commercial demands of the industry. In the luxury sector, fashion by definition is seasonal, merchandising every few months, and store architecture every six years on average (Vernet, D. & de Wit, L. 2007). Therefore Hermès must continue to evolve and change, be both tech savvy and willing to approach the VM of its stores as an evolution, not assuming their store designs are a permanent fixture, but as adaptable spaces- their pop-up stores reflect this mentality already- with a strategy for staying relevant and more experimental within the imperatives of luxury retail.
Heritage is key to the Hermès brand, and this is achieved by its use of the same design agency; nevertheless they would likely be rewarded for taking more visual merchandising risks in some of its smaller stores, by collaborating more frequently with younger designers, to appeal to more tech savvy consumers and to reposition their brand. Hermès has taken calculated risks before in order to diversify and open new markets, such as when they moved from leather goods to silk, and remained wholly credible as a luxury brand given their legacy and influence. (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). Remodeling their VM focus from the symbolism of European heritage and tradition could benefit flagship stores in the US and Asia where history is not Euro-centric.
Brand 2 Analysis: Anthropologie
Another high end brand going from strength to strength is Anthropologie. The American store, started in 1992, has enjoyed a lot of recent success because of its focus on experiential visual merchandising techniques. Now with 227 stores in the US, UK and Canada, the company ́s clientele is sophisticated, educated and contemporary women, between aged 30 to 45, with a high disposable income (Anthropologie, 2017).
Inspiring fantasies and exciting consumers with colourful dreamlike interiors, Anthropologie entices consumers with a targeted and calculated visual merchandising strategy (Lieber, C, 2014). While its merchandise is very different to that of luxury brand Hermes, its strategy and the planning of its stores, is taken just as seriously. Creating an experience as unique as that of Hermes, it connects with consumers in a very different manner via its visual approach and appeal. Unlike the clean lines and organic colour scheme of Hermès, Anthropologie’s mood lighting, quirky handcrafted art, glowing scented candles and dreamy soundtrack help to envelop their shoppers with a feeling of home away from home, appealing to all the senses.
It has set about cultivating a brand image that represents both cool and attractive women, but what sets it apart is its visual merchandising focus on comfort, warmth and authenticity, not dissimilar to what these cool and attractive women would want from their own living space.
Immersing shoppers in a retail space that is both eclectic and approachable allows them to imagine the products in their home and in their life. Artistically displayed on tables, racks and stacked on shelves as they would be in a lounge room or bedroom, their merchandise is styled in such a way to promote creativity and inspire interaction with each product.
Anthropologie’s flagship in Philadelphia, is located in a beautiful historical building, in the heart of the city. Its ornate outside facade, amazing ceilings, and crown moldings are complete with four floors of merchandise. In 2016 they also launched their new large format ‘superstores’ in Portland, and Newport Beach featuring a trend shop, a dress boutique, a shoe salon, and a beauty station, in addition to 12 fully decorated ‘rooms’ to showcase their design service centre (Chapin, 2016).
The floor plans and furniture compositions of Anthropologie, while seemingly ‘relaxed’ in style, are deceptively strategic, with blueprints carefully planned to ensure all racks, displays and furniture pieces are at 40 degree angles. This consistency and symmetry create a fluidity that draws shoppers further into the store, encouraging them to explore. Segmented rooms lead shoppers into the discounted merchandise where they can sift through clothes and the home collections at their own pace. The ethos is discovery and self-discovery.
Taking the strategic creative direction from their headquarters, each store ́s visual merchandising team is given the freedom and license to interpret the theme as they please. Each concept’s components are perfected by carefully considering the colours and materials to be used, and the overall vision. The target market is at the heart of every concept but is then conceptualised to appeal to all ages and consumers. Continually changing yet carefully curated, the stores often take on the appearance of a modern bazaar full of one-off pieces. Tying together its fashion apparel collection and handmade pieces, with its homeware and gifts, it is difficult to spot exactly what is part of the aesthetic and what is for sale.
Anthropologie often opts for highly conceptualised window styling. Handmade by employees or by local artists, the window displays are intricately crafted down to the smallest detail, and within a strategically low budget, to allow for more creativity, originality and the reuse of materials. Distinctly feminine in its use of colour and textures, its displays often present dreamlike, or semi-abstract visual stories, embodying the aspirations of modern women.
Their blog within the Anthropologie website, details how they create their store window creations in the series ‘In The Window’. For Earth Day, the brand celebrated wind in each of its stores and in anticipation of the Chelsea Flower show, its UK flagship recreated a breathtaking plant filled greenhouse within their windows, making 1000s of handcrafted, varnished leaves and 3,000 holographic beetles. Their VM strategy speaks to 21st century environmental and sustainable issues, social media interconnectedness and modern lifestyles.
Forever developing their engagement with their consumers, they encourage followers to post their own photographs of the Anthropologie windows with the use of #anthrowindows. Hosting events in-store ranging from yoga mornings to cooking classes, their fully experiential strategy, ensures complete brand awareness and loyalty from their customers, as they start to plan their social calendars around the brands ‘Anthro’ lifestyle (Anthropologie, 2017).
Anthropologie has opted to use a variety of channels which link into the physical store experience. They were early players in the digital technology movement, having launched an iPad catalogue app in 2011. They have now started to build AR into their visual merchandising strategy; partnering with creative studio CVLT to add 3D imagery to their furniture library and for adjustment of their visual assets within their mobile app. Allowing consumers to review all their upholstery options for customisation, they can now also view products from every angle, while taking into account the light and shadow of their own living spaces (O’Shea, 2017). As a natural next step, it would make sense for Anthropologie to extend this level of customisation into their fashion and apparel lines, in order to really distinguish itself in the retail market as a high end brand.
Comparison and Evaluation
When entering an Anthropologie store, the emphasis is placed on creating a unique, explorative, transformative journey for the consumer. It can be explored through the touch and selection of items, at their own pace. When entering Hermès, the experience is more focused on the beauty and aesthetic of the space, and while impressive, it can appear highly regulated or untouchable, their merchandise behind glass or on high shelves. This focus, while it still presents a unique experience, is more on the products, craftsmanship and detail, while in Anthropologie the experience is very much tailored to the individual in store. Hermès, and in particular its Rive Gauche boutique, is uniquely positioned to fully seize this same direction, by allowing consumers to move more freely within the retail space and ultimately create their own experience through exploration and connection with the products. The challenge for Hermès is to adapt to the pace of technological innovation while not diluting their carefully cultivated classicism.
Like the Hermès Rive Gauche boutique, many of Anthropologie’s stores are concept stores, catering for fashion, beauty, home and gifts. However the lifestyles they promote are vastly different, as while the Hermès experience is exclusive and rarified, Anthropologie aims to be welcoming and accepting to all. The experience derived from Hermes is exclusive, classical, awe inspiring, while that experienced in an Anthropologie store is approachable, tactile and heartwarming. While still classifying itself as a luxury brand, Anthropologie invites its consumers to explore, touch and discover all it has to offer.
Anthropologie, being the younger of the two brands, should strive to embody more of the traditional qualities of Hermès, if it is to be taken seriously as a true luxury brand. While its homey atmosphere is fundamental to retain the brand loyalty of its current following, if it were to take on the appearance of a starker 21st century boutique, limiting its merchandise and showcasing more large scale permanent art installations, it could penetrate the more exclusive luxury market, and in turn increase product pricing.
Both brands could benefit from using more personalised, data driven services across all of their platforms. Exclusive and exceptional experiential relationships with consumers, will be key to enduring success. Omnichannel strategies, and utilising social and digital marketing, will be a key component in creating these crucial consumer experiences. They must also strive to incorporate more digitally immersive means of connecting and communicating and the power of data would further ensure their success if used as part of their overall integrated visual merchandising strategies. With e-commerce contributing to more sales than ever before for brands, they have an opportunity to invest more time and energy into their flagship stores and into how their stores look globally. They can be seen less as a distribution channel, and more of an engagement or media channel, allowing for more inventive ways of creating an elevated consumer experience.
What is apparent from this analysis of Hermès and Anthropologie is that they have been successful due to their application of strategically focused visual merchandising techniques and experiential, immersive and cohesive methods of consumer engagement principles. Each has put their stores at the forefront of their branding strategy, using their flagships as an extremely effective channel of communication, solidifying their corporate image and brand identity. Both have demonstrated focused, innovative and cohesive VM design strategies in their respective markets and shown its crucial importance in engaging and retaining customers.
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