My favorite store is Zara, which specializes in low-cost and fashionable clothing. As it is a clothing store, it uses merchandise to visually captivate customers and those who pass by. It was especially apparent the last time I went there. Zara primarily targets sight, which is supported by other senses, like sound. The proper combination of these techniques has led to favor their product over those of other stores.
The store connected with me on the sensory level almost immediately. The first thing everyone sees is mannequins dressed in brand clothing. This is the first and most common merchandise strategy, which uses sight to attract attention (Park, 2015). When I saw Zara’s mannequins for the first time, I immediately realized that I could find women’s clothes in this store. I thought that they would not place something that they do not sell in the windows. Therefore, by putting a female mannequin, the strategy worked, and I decided to explore the merchandise.
Another strategy that worked by affecting the same sense was the choice of lighting. Somro et al. (2017) write that “cool-colored in store settings are favored more over warm-colored store settings” (p. 24). I saw the realization of this tendency first hand. Most of the clothes were located in areas with blue background, which was further accentuated by the light electronic music. As a result, the strategy of a cool-colored setting combined with light sound led me to buy one sweater. Once I saw the item in broad daylight, my perception changed.
Zara is attempting to expand its merchandise to include plus size models in 2020. However, this store is not generally associated with selling plus-size clothing. Jones and Sherman (2020) argue that Zara will address this drawback by correcting store layout. Soomro et at. (2017) write that “good window display also leads to unplanned buying” (p. 26). Therefore, it is likely that Zara will put examples of plus-size clothes on display, thus affecting the customers’ sense of sight.
References
Jones, R., & Sherman, H. (2020). Zara Plus Line: The Next “Trend” For Zara. International Journal of Research in Business and Management, 2(4), 2692-2258.
Park, H. H., Jeon, J. O., & Sullivan, P. (2015). How does visual merchandising in fashion retail stores affect consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intention?. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 25(1), 87-104. Web.
Soomro, Y. A., Kaimkhani, S. A., & Iqbal, J. (2017). Effect of visual merchandising elements of retail store on consumer attention. Journal of Business Strategies, 11(1), 21-40.