According to RMS, Visual Merchandising is a marketing practice that uses floor plans, color, lighting, displays, technology, and other elements to attract customer attention. Its ultimate purpose is to use retail space to its optimal potential to generate more sales.
How does this relate to digital catalogs? You need to view your digital catalog as an online version of a retail space. By leveraging techniques traditionally used in physical retail environments:
- Floor plans
- Color
- Lighting
- Product displays and interactive technology
You can create a captivating online shopping experience that drives engagement and boosts sales, mirroring and improving your brick-and-mortar results. Let’s explore how you can convert these principles into usable optimizations for optimal results in your digital catalog.
Light, bright, and clean grids help customers easily view products and information.
Using floor plan techniques to create strategic catalog layouts
Traditional retail floor plans guide customers through the store, highlighting key products and promotions. Similarly, a well-structured digital catalog can direct customers to featured items and special offers. Visual merchandising techniques recommend that the layout be intuitive, with a clear hierarchy that guides users from one section to the next in a logical journey.
If your physical store was cluttered and difficult to navigate, would customers make an effort to come back? Most likely not. The same goes for your Digital Catalog — a precise, neat, and logical layout allows customers to find what they need easily and quickly and to have a pleasant experience. If catalog visitors have a good experience and get what they need, they are likelier to share the publication, favorite it, and visit again.
Planning your catalog carefully using product data and customer behavior to direct the flow and strategy.
If your customers typically start in the fresh produce section of your grocery store and then move to meat, tinned goods, and cleaning products, a good strategy is to lay out your catalog similarly, allowing customers to shop along a familiar route. If you advertise ‘meal of the week’ deals, seasonal discounts, or season-based promotions at the entrance of your store, then do the same in your catalog.
Another way to ensure your catalog layout aligns with your customers’ shopping behavior is to use insights such as ‘what do customers generally buy together’ and ensure those items are placed near each other in your catalog or identify which items customers might need simultaneously. For example, customers who buy pasta will likely look for pasta sauce, parmesan cheese, and garlic bread. Placing these items in close proximity to each other in the catalog can enhance the shopping experience by making it easier for customers to find and purchase complementary products.
Enhancements and Optimizations:
- Use a search bar and a menu with sections and page numbers to allow easy navigation, especially for longer-form catalogs
- Ensure all your top-selling products are always at the beginning of your catalog
- Create season-friendly promotional groupings at the beginning of your catalog
- Implement clickable sections and categories that mimic the natural flow of a physical store.
- Responsive Design – Ensure your digital catalog is mobile-friendly, providing a seamless experience across all devices.
Harnessing the power of color in your digital catalog
Color is a powerful visual merchandising tool that influences customer emotions and behaviors. In a digital catalog, strategic use of color can draw attention to specific products, create a cohesive brand identity, and enhance the overall aesthetic appeal.
Aqomi comments on color psychology in retail: “Cooler tones like green and blue can provide a relaxing ambiance that encourages extended browsing hours, while warmer colors like red and yellow might draw attention to high-priority products or promotions.”
Source: postermywall.com
Aqomi also outlines some fascinating case studies describing how different industries can use color based on their product fit. You can easily implement this color guide in catalogs as the main color scheme.
Apple: The Epitome of Minimalism and Innovation (Tech products)
- Utilizes a minimalist color scheme: whites, grays, and occasional blacks.
- Highlights product screens against white backgrounds.
- Emphasizes product-focused refinement and creativity.
- Uphold’s premium, elegant, and contemporary brand character.
Tiffany & Co.: Signature Shade of Luxury (Jewellery)
- Iconic “Tiffany Blue” represents the brand.
- Uses the color in packaging, store interiors, and marketing.
- Evokes an opulent and exclusive shopping experience.
- Enhances brand awareness and sentiments of exclusivity and elegance.
Target: Bold Colors to Guide and Excite (Retail)
- Employs vivid red color across all retail spaces.
- Uses bright, lively colors to draw attention and create enthusiasm.
- Implements color zoning to guide shoppers through departments.
- Mixes strong and neutral colors to highlight sales and seasonal items.
Whole Foods Market: Natural Hues for a Health-Conscious Brand (sustainable food/products)
- Consistent use of green accents and earth tones.
- Reflects commitment to natural and organic products.
- Creates a clean, natural atmosphere in stores.
- Aligns color palette with brand values of sustainability and health.
- Appeals to health-conscious consumers.
- Efficiently applying color strategies in retail settings.
- Recognize your audience and brand identity.
- Understand your target market and brand identity.
- Reflect brand values, personality, and desired emotional responses in color choices.
- Align color schemes with audience preferences and perceptions to elicit the desired reaction.
Enhancements and Optimizations:
- Highlight key products: Use bold, contrasting colors to make featured products stand out.
- Consistent color scheme: Maintain a consistent color palette that aligns with your brand identity and product fit, creating a cohesive and professional look.
- Seasonal updates: Refresh the color scheme periodically to reflect seasonal trends or special promotions.
Using visual merchandising lighting techniques to enhance catalog colors
Lighting is crucial in setting the mood and highlighting products in a physical store. While you can’t control physical lighting in a digital catalog, you can use visual effects to create similar impacts.
Source: proshotmediagroup
Here are some techniques that you can use when capturing products and editing them for your catalog:
- Softbox lighting: This method diffuses light evenly, reducing harsh shadows and highlighting product details, making items look more appealing and true to life.
- Three-Point lighting: This classic technique uses three light sources—key light, fill light, and backlight—to create depth and highlight product features, ensuring a professional look.
- Natural lighting: Natural light can make products appear more authentic and relatable, particularly for lifestyle items—position products near windows or in outdoor settings for natural, soft illumination.
- Ring lights: Ideal for smaller items, ring lights provide uniform lighting with minimal shadows, enhancing the product’s finer details.
- Color temperature control: Adjusting the color temperature of your lighting can evoke different moods and suit various product types, such as warm tones for cozy home goods or cooler tones for tech gadgets.
Using these techniques can significantly enhance the visual appeal of products in digital catalogs, making them more attractive to potential buyers.
Leverage technology for interactive & engaging product displays
Interactive and engaging product displays are the in-store visual merchandising technique most closely tied to digital catalogs. The points below are the foundation for what to focus on to ensure you create engaging product displays with interactive elements within your catalogs:
High-Quality Images
Use high-resolution, professional images that accurately depict the product. Ensure that the photos are well-lit and showcase different angles and key features.
Detailed Descriptions
Provide detailed product descriptions highlighting key features, benefits, and specifications. Avoid clutter and keep the information to the point and informative.
Interactive Elements
Allow customers to zoom in on product images and rotate them for a 360-degree view. This gives a more comprehensive understanding of the product.
Enable click-to-expand features for more detailed views or additional product images.
User-Generated Content
Include customer reviews and ratings to build trust and provide social proof.
Feature photos and videos submitted by customers to show the product in real-life settings.
Multimedia Integration
Incorporate product demonstration videos that show the product in use and highlight its features.
Source: Brochu Walker’s Catalog
Design a strategic and intuitive digital catalog
Creating an effective digital catalog mirrors the principles of a well-organized retail store, guiding customers intuitively through product selections. Leveraging high-quality images, detailed descriptions, and interactive elements can significantly enhance customer engagement.
Integrating technologies like multimedia further enriches the shopping experience, making products more appealing and accessible. Understanding customer behavior and strategically using color and layout to reflect this can streamline navigation and highlight key promotions. A thoughtfully designed digital catalog simplifies the shopping process and encourages repeat visits and sharing, driving both customer satisfaction and sales.
