Visual merchandising displays effect - or not - on consumers: The predicament faced by apparel retailers

Since the beginning of time, retailing has been with us. Through the years, the processes and systems used by retailing have been tailored and modified in order to meet the demands of the consumers. Similarly, the in-store activities aimed at the consumer has been growing and changing. In the early stages of retailing, the focus was solely on merchandising, but even merchandising has evolved and it became more absorbed, specialized and specific. This has led to this study focusing on visual merchandising displays and its effect – or not – on consumer expenditure. A great deal has been said about visual merchandising displays and the way it affects consumers and their behaviour. Consumer behaviour (with the focus on consumer perceptions) towards visual merchandising displays were therefore examined and assessed in this study. The main research question that pended from this study was to determine the effect of visual merchandising displays on consumer behaviour, with the focus on consumer perception. Explorative research was performed and qualitative data were collected by means of naive sketches and focus groups. The data was analysed by means of thematic analysis. The key conclusions that could be drawn from the research is that the perceptions that is formed by consumers in terms of visual merchandising displays are subconscious in creating attention and desire to further examine the goods on offer and aesthetically to decorate the store.