Despite snowstorms in the north and chilly weather in the south, spring is just around the corner. And for retailers, that means now is the optimal time to prepare your store for the coming season. You don’t want to wait until it’s too late to spruce up your establishment and create a unique, clean look that your customers will love. Unlike the other seasonal shifts, springtime is full of energy and excitement that comes from the blossoming and budding of nature. Use that energy to fuel your creative process as you design a new layout and design motif for your store.
Preparing for spring is a great time to “air out” your store and get things nice and fresh for the coming season. You’ll have the opportunity to get rid of poorly performing products, clean all of the nooks and crannies, and achieve a beautiful visual design. If that seems like a daunting series of tasks, never fear! We’re here to help you along every step of the way. But first, do you know when the best time is to transition your store into spring shopping mode?
Colorful visual displays are very noticeable from the street.Changes of the season
The first thing to remind yourself of when making a big change in your store is that it doesn’t need to happen all at once. If you start early enough, transitions can be slow and subtle – like the changing of the budding trees outdoors. After the new year festivities, you probably already began to make some changes. Gone were the Christmas decorations and in came the Valentine’s Day displays. In fact, you should consider the end of Valentine’s Day to be the signal to begin transitioning into springtime displays.
If you find you have a lot of winter merchandise still cluttering up your shelves, it’s a great idea to have a sales event. According to VendHQ, the emphasis should be on the world “event.” Savvy shoppers are on the lookout for good deals on winter clothes and other items. By making the sale an exciting event rather than a run-of-the-mill promotion, you’ll draw more customers and clear your shelves more quickly. Check below for tips on setting up your winter clearance sale. For now, remember that the changing of the season breathes new energy into your shoppers, and you should try to harness that feeling and good will.
After Valentine’s Day, your Easter displays will be the final push into spring – for not too long afterwards, it will be time to move onto the summer season. Positioning your displays around holiday benchmarks is a fantastic way to keep you and your customers on the same page.
Winter clearance sales
As we mentioned above, a winter sale event is a great final push to clear away unsold inventory from the previous season. VendHQ recommended holding a “flash sale,” in which the promotions are time sensitive. Doing so will create sense of urgency for your customers. They’ll want to snatch up the deals before everything disappears.
For your sale, use some of your winter displays to create a sense of visual cohesion. Our hanging paper snowflakes and display lighting are the perfect addition to your sales displays. They’ll remind customers that although winter is at its end, there’s still one more chance to enjoy the season. Positioning products as useful for next year is another good idea. Your shoppers will be able to save money by buying things almost a year in advance.
Spring cleaning and decorating
The concept of spring cleaning isn’t just for the home. It’s a wonderful excuse for you to give your store a thorough cleaning before decorating it with the colors of spring. Our steamers and vacuums are great for removing the dirt and dust of winter and leaving you with a fresh, clean surface to work from. Doing so will reenergize you and prepare your establishment for the new season.
Once the cleaning is done, it’s time to start preparing your displays and decorations. When fully transitioning into spring, you should hold nothing back. Your window displays should shout that winter is over and spring is here. Our hanging paper flowers will add layers to your visual displays and make them pop out to those passing by on the street. There should be lots of colors in your displays to really emphasize the break away from winter. In addition to bright greens, yellows, reds and blues, you could also use more earthen colors such as brown and orange. Our burlap jewelry displays are the perfect example of using earth tones to bring out a feeling of nature in your merchandise displays.
“Use the natural energy of the season.”
Marketing campaign
As with your winter campaigns, your spring marketing campaign should reflect your store’s visual theme. Whether you plan on advertising through traditional methods or social media, your message needs to be cohesive. When it comes to getting rid of old merchandise, CIO magazine suggested partnering with a “daily deal” site. These are sites that thousands of people check every day when looking for something interesting to spend their money on. You won’t make as much profit on these items, but you also won’t take as much of a loss either, if you can get enough eyes on them.
The key to a great spring campaign is to use the natural energy that radiates at this time of year. Get your loyal customers excited about your promotions and they will be more likely to tell their friends. Soon, word of mouth will spread the information further than your marketing budget ever could. Check out our article on how retailers should use social media for more tips and tricks.
With a little planning and design work, your store will really shine this spring. Give your establishment a chance to start fresh and take on the new year and the new season. As always, we’re here to help and serve you as you steer your way to retail success.
