A discussion about the process, steps and options of starting a new business

I hadn't really thought too much about the art of displaying my products.  I knew that the display should be appealing to my customers, but I didn't do any research on how to properly display my merchandise.  I figured I would just "know" how to set it out there attractively.

Big mistake. 

I thought I was making the store look classy by leaving a lot of space on the shelves, giving it a museum-like quality.  Well, it was so museum-like that people were afraid to touch anything, and not many got very close to the shelves, or even very far inside the store.  Why should they?  You could see everything from outside the open storefront. 

This morning I rearranged everything.  I moved the pieces of smaller merchandise much closer together, so that you really have to get up close to look at individual pieces.  I mixed things up a little so that there is more color and variety everywhere.  I placed more pieces closer to the store's entrance.  As an extra bonus, there now appears to be much more merchandise in the store, even though in actuality I have the same amount of stock out.

I noticed a difference almost immediately.  Although the merchandise isn't flying off the shelves yet, many more people came all the way into the store.  They also stayed in the store for a longer period of time than they had been when I was using the more spacious display strategy, which meant I had time to engage them in conversation.  This enabled me to find out more information about my customers, such as what other items they would like to see me stock, and to give them information about my products and my plans for the store.

If that small change made such a big difference, I definitely need to do some more research and study on setting up displays, and on product placement in the store.  I'm sure there is much more I can learn and more changes that I can make to increase sales.  If you are getting ready to open a retail store, do yourself a favor and don't overlook this very important detail.