How to incorporate movement into your visual merchandising

Visual merchandisers and shop owners are constantly on the hunt for more creative visual merchandising techniques to implement into their stores. One such technique is the incorporation of movement and motion into product displays and signage in order to catch the attention of potential customers. 

In this article, we will remind you what visual merchandising is, discuss the types of motion that you can include in your visual merchandising efforts, explore the importance of movement in visual merchandising and provide tips on how to successfully create movement in your visual merchandising. Let’s get straight into it.

What is visual merchandising?

Visual merchandising is the strategic and creative presentation of products within a retail store or online, with the aim to attract potential customers and boost sales. There are a number of different components within visual merchandising:

• Focal point: The main focus of the display.
• Spacing: The empty space between products and how this makes the potential customer feel. For example, a lack of space between products can portray a cheaper, ‘jumble-sale’ like feel.
• Lighting: How much (or little) light is on a particular product or display, and the colour of the lighting.
• Colours: Different colours evoke different emotions within consumers. Blue, for example, portrays trust, whereas red showcases urgency, which is why it’s often used on sale signs.
• Positioning: Where your products are placed in your store and on the shelf.

Each of these components can be used to create a compelling product display that engage the senses and convince the viewer to make a purchasing decision.

Types of movement in visual merchandising

Movement is another easy way of piquing interest in potential customers. Luckily, there are a number of different types of movement in visual merchandising. Let’s take a look at three different types of movement within visual merchandising and the benefits of each:

Digital movement

Probably the easiest way of incorporating motion and movement into your merchandising efforts is through digital means. Digital movement refers to the use of electronic displays and interacting technologies to create dynamic elements. These means include things like digital screens for billboards and signage, LED displays behind shelving that change colours or patterns, and interactive kiosks that respond to information put in by the customer, allowing them to browse products that are in stock.

There are a number of different benefits of digital movement in your retail store:

• Easy to install: Installing digital screens is a quick and easy process when trying to update your displays to incorporate kinetic elements and motion.
• Versatile: Content can be easily updated to reflect changing stock, seasonal themes or new products, allowing for quick and cost-effective changes.
• Enhanced engagement: Think about your own shopping habits. How much more likely are you to stop and look at a digital, moving poster, rather than a traditional paper one? Digital displays can capture attention quicker and more easily than static images. 
• Analytics: Digital systems can collect data on customer interactions, providing valuable insights into consumer behaviour and preferences.

As with everything, however, there are also some drawbacks of installing digital movement displays:

• Initial Investment: Implementing digital movement can require an initial financial investment in hardware and software, which may be a barrier for some retailers.
• Maintenance: Digital equipment needs regular maintenance to ensure it continues to work and remains up-to-date. This includes both the physical upkeep of the hardware and the updating of digital content.
• Technical Issues: There is a risk of technical failures which can disrupt the customer experience.

Interactive elements

Similar to digital movement, interactive elements, such as touch-sensitive displays and AI experiences, are a great way to incorporate motion and excitement into your visual merchandising efforts. They can create a more immersive, personalised shopping experience for customers, increasing the likelihood that they will make a purchase. These elements can include things like touch-sensitive product displays that give more information and virtual reality fitting rooms that allow customers to see how a product will look on them without trying it on. Interactive elements such as these allow customers to engage directly with the display or product through touch.

Charlotte Tilbury, for example, has recently launched a virtual makeup try-on on their website, that allows potential customers to ‘try on’ different lipstick colours, blushes and eyeshadows. This allows consumers to visualise these products on themselves from the comfort of their own home without having to purchase them first.

Like with digital movement such as video billboards, interactive displays have various benefits: 

• Personalisation: Interactive elements allow customers to tailor their shopping experience to their preferences, whether by exploring product features, customising items, or virtually trying on products.
• Increased dwell time: Customers are likely to spend more time in stores with interactive displays, increasing the chance of making a purchase.
• Data collection: Interactive elements can track customer interactions, providing valuable data on preferences that can inform future marketing strategies.

Despite interactive displays being a fantastic way to personalise the customer experience and increase their time in the store, there are a number of other factors to consider:

• Cost: Implementing interactive elements can be costly, requiring an upfront investment to install and ongoing maintenance costs.
• Complexity: The complexity of setting up and maintaining interactive elements can be a challenge, especially for smaller retailers without dedicated technical staff.
• Privacy: Interactive displays that collect customer data must comply with privacy regulations and ensure that customer information is secure.

Mechanical movement

Mechanical movement is probably what immediately comes to mind when you think ‘motion in merchandising’. By incorporating things such as moving mannequins, elaborate motorised window displays and rotating product carousels, mechanical movement can create a dynamic, engaging scene that could catch the customer’s eye and draw them into the store. 

There are lots of benefits of installing mechanical mannequins or displays into your physical retail store:

• Attention-grabbing: Mechanical movement naturally draws attention and can make a display stand out in a busy retail environment. 
• Showcase multiple products: Rotating or moving displays can highlight multiple products within a single display area, making efficient use of space.
• Memorable experiences: Dynamic displays create memorable experiences for customers, increasing the likelihood of repeat visits.

Incorporating mechanical movement into visual merchandising can significantly enhance the visual appeal and engagement level of displays, however, it requires thoughtful consideration into a few different factors:

• Maintenance: Mechanical components require regular maintenance to ensure they work properly. 
• Noise and disruption: Moving parts can create noise, which may be disruptive in a retail environment if not managed properly. 
• Durability: Mechanical elements are subject to wear and tear over time. High-traffic environments might face more frequent breakdowns or require more durable components.

The importance of movement in visual merchandising 

Whatever type you choose to implement, movement can be an important factor of visual merchandising. Whether you choose to implement it in your physical store or online platform, movement can significantly improve the effectiveness of your displays. It can serve as an effective tool to capture customers’ attention and encourage them to make a purchase.

For example, research has shown that digital billboards can increase engagement by up to 400% compared to traditional static billboards! This highlights how dynamic elements can make you stand out in a crowded retail environment and draw in potential customers that may have passed by a static display.

Movement not only attracts attention but also keeps people engaged for longer. When tested with digital advertisements in London Bridge train station, twice as many people looked at the digital poster than the static one, and people spent an average of 60% longer looking at the digital advertisement than the fixed one. This increased browsing time can translate into more sales. 

Adding movement into your visual merchandising efforts can help to tell your brand story or convey a theme, building stronger emotional connections with consumers and making the experience more memorable. However, this movement should be incorporated in a strategic and balanced manner to avoid overwhelming customers and spending unnecessary money.

Our top tips for incorporating movement into your visual merchandising strategy

We have a lot of experience with helping our customers design beautiful product displays that catch the attention of potential customers. Adding movement into your displays can be challenging, so please find some of our top tips below:

1. Keep it subtle: Make sure to balance moving elements with static displays to avoid overwhelming your customers with too much going on.
2. Quality over quantity: Following on from our previous tip, make sure that you prioritise the quality of your dynamic displays over the number of them. Make sure that everything is high-quality and well maintained to prevent a poor customer experience.
3. Keep it consistent: Make sure that your dynamic displays are integrated seamlessly with the rest of your visual merchandising elements and stay consistent with your overall brand identity. You don’t want to confuse customers or appear to be incorporating motion just for the sake of it!

How Proportion London can help

At Proportion London, we live for visual merchandising. We have decades of experience in helping our customers, both in retail and museum spaces, creating engaging displays through our industry knowledge.

Our product range includes a variety of mannequins for purchase or hire, tailored to your specific requirements and created to elevate your displays. Contact us today to discuss your needs and learn how we can help you bring your vision to life.