How important is it to make the most of seasonal displays?  One of our clients found that gift packs of their products consistently found uplifts of 74% when placed in the seasonal aisle.

We at Fifth Dimension have helped many retailers with their seasonal displays.  This help usually comes in three forms: visualising and refining the displays as they go through design revisions; researching the impact of the proposed design: and communicating the results to the stores themselves, usually through DVD’s, online training materials and printed guides.

Throughout, the secrets to seasonal implementation success are clear:

• keep the stores on top of what they need to implement
• give them clear guidance for the short duration of this seasonal implementation
• ensure stores understand the value of what they are doing
• ensure stock supply to store is plentiful during these high sales periods
• ensure on shelf stock replenishment is timely and all store dressing is maintained throughout the duration of the promotion.

Most manufacturers and retailers are already knee deep in Christmas planning, with the smart few already having all of this in the bag.  The truth is that we at Fifth have in the past worked on Christmas implementation materials as late as September, with our client still designing their strategy even at this late stage!

More and more often, suppliers are being asked to drive part or all of these seasonal displays, not just Christmas, and this includes defining the range, designing the look and ensuring the correct implementation.  We find that our consumer research, range analysis and micro space planning services help our customers to gain the knowledge and retailer focus to define range and content, while our Visual Communications team facilitate the development of the look and feel and create the materials to ensure top notch, accurate implementation.

Different Approaches – Retailers and Suppliers

It’s noticeable that suppliers and retailers approach Christmas seasonal implementation in two different ways and both could learn something from each other.  Retailers usually opt for implementation training movies.  These are very detailed, listing exact code names for the components and hardware, and showing precisely how items are to be constructed and where items are to be placed.  The objective is perfect implementation for this extremely important time and nothing is left to chance.

Manufacturer movies however are usually more general.  They focus on the overall vision and less on the detail of the implementation.  What these movies do very well however, is focus on the possible financial uplifts of correct implementation of certain tactics.  This comes out of the need to persuade the retailer to take on their ideas, and for the supplier to financially justify their vision.

Our job at Fifth Dimension is to add more of the financial why to retailer staff implementation movies, to empower the store staff to understand the financial impact of correctly implemented and maintained seasonal displays, and the cost of poor compliance. If store staff understand the financial importance of keeping displays fully stocked and pristine, their display has a far greater chance of being compliant throughout the phases of the season.

For manufacturers, our job is also to add our implementation experience and advice to ensure that the manufacturer has considered the practicalities of the seasonal display.  How easy is it to implement?  What maintenance is required?  When should it be revised or enhanced, and what specific pieces of kit are needed? Without this detail, supplier visions may lack implementation buy-in from the retailer and the store.

Virtual Collaboration

Clothing retailers have greater issues, where the point of sale materials and seasonal dressing must complement the styles and fashions or stories for that year.  Often the content of our movies will shift and develop as the plans are being shaped, with the delivery movies acting as instore design reviews for windows, atriums, escalators, counters and fixtures.

This is where online or real-time store visualisations can help seasonal planners. The digital environment can be updated as the designs are progressing and stakeholders can collaborate virtually on the evolution of the design.  This can go through many changes in collaboration with design departments, but by coming back to the store visualisation, a real world implementation sensibility is always uppermost.

Seeing everything in context answers the question of whether designs work in store, and any amendments can be updated quickly and shared with all decision makers, regardless of their location.  At any stage, this can be tested by select members of the public through Virtual Consumer Research, ensuring that the most effective display package is selected for these vital trading periods.

Often these visualisations are merely the vanguard of a series of communication mechanisms.  After setting the tone and introducing the vision, clothing retailers will often follow up with specific implementation guidance for each business unit for that season, either with printed brochures or via internal intranet portals.  There really is no excuse for poor compliance, especially using the process of:

• Virtually shaping the instore seasonal design
• Refining designs collaboratively with all stakeholders
• Validating the display effectiveness with focus groups while still maintaining secrecy and confidentiality
• Issuing engaging content to the store, while maintaining clear communication of how the fixtures change and evolve during the lifecycle of the seasonal promotion period

So as Spring begins, have a Merry Virtual Christmas and a Happily Compliant New Year!

Let us know your experiences with Seasonal Displays from retailer and supplier viewpoints.  How easy is it to get instore compliance?  How close is the implementation to your original vision?  What one issue about seasonal displays would you LOVE to see solved?

See our other blog Insights In Retail for our views on how new technologies can reshape category management, space optimisation and consumer research.

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This image comes from a series of renders created form a Virtual Store built for House of Fraser by Fifth Dimension to illustrate their visual merchandising themes for the Christmas 2008 season.

Now a little dated in terms of the actual products on the display, this image still shows the effectiveness of visual merchandising using virtual simulation techniques.
Fifth Dimension collaborated with Sainsburys to create a series of approaches for this category.