Importance of Visual Merchandising from Apparel Retailers’ Perspective

The field of visual merchandising is growing very fast as the Indian retail is making its presence felt in the national and international arena. Today’s fierce competition and the similarity of merchandise force each segment of the fashion industry to utilize visual merchandising to improve the desirability of products. Apparel retailers, especially, place more importance on visual merchandising to differentiate their offerings from others’. Retailers can help customers to find the right products through focused merchandising, intelligent store design and layout, and other visual merchandising practices. Visual merchandising uses displays, three dimensional spaces, and floor plans to create an environment that highlights a product’s appearance, features, and benefits by appealing to one or more of the five human senses, most commonly sight. The present research aims to provide insights as to why visual merchandising should be considered as an important component of marketing plan and how visual merchandising influences buying behavior of customers.43 retailers working for apparel retail outlets across Bangalore city were surveyed and asked to give their opinion on the role of visual merchandising in apparel retailing. The research results evidenced that the visual merchandising elements influence the apparel buying behavior of customers in the store. The results of this study can be valuable to apparel retailers for designing effective window and in-store displays to enhance the attractiveness of the merchandise and to create a favorable attitude towards the products among the shoppers.