Role of Visual Merchandising
on Consumer Shopping Behaviour in Chhattisgarh
(A Study of Urban and Rural
Customers of Selected Area)
Pratibha
Rai1, Dr. (Mrs.) Bobby. B. Pandey2
1Research Scholar,
Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya,
Bilaspur CG India
2Assistant
Professor, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya,
Bilaspur CG India
*Corresponding
Author E-mail: pratibharai11@gmail.com;
its.drbbpandey@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
Purpose: To study the role
of visual merchandising techniques adopted by the stores on the urban and
adjacent residing rural customers of selected area of Chhattisgarh.
Methodology: This paper is
based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data is being collected from
200 respondents outside the store in the form of questionnaire on various days
of the week.
Findings: The outcome of
our study depicts that visual merchandising if implemented by the store in the
best possible manner can provide it with a cutting edge over its competitors
available in the market and also to motivate and attract customers towards that
store to enter and also stimulates their shopping behaviour
in the store and sometimes leads to even impulse buying by the customers.
Originality: This paper is
based on interpretation and analysis of original data collected from the
respondents.
Practical Implications: The study shows
the importance of visual merchandising on the part of store and its impact on
various segments of consumers. After this study the stores may reframe their
strategies of visual merchandising in a manner to attract more and more
customers towards their store to increase their sales.
Research Limitations: Due to paucity of
time and money the sample size is of 200 respondents which is quite small to
represent the whole target population. Also there is a scope for future
researcher to conduct similar study on large sample size and with other factors
involvement too to get the more detailed insight of the same.
KEY WORDS: Visual merchandising, urban
Customers, rural customers, Shopping behaviour.
In today’s scenario, due to cut throat
market competition and high expectation of customers from the retailers makes
the path of retailer full of hurdles and challenges. Due to competitive forces
and expectation of consumers makes the owners to look for various steps and
practices which encourage and motivates the consumers towards his store or
outlet for their shopping. The answer to all such question and solution for all
such problems is Visual merchandising with the best efforts.
Visual merchandising in general parlance
can be defined as what the customer sees, includes exterior and interior
displays, that develops a optimistic representation of a business and leads to
attraction , interest, wish and action on the part of the customer towards that
store. It involves the display of merchandise as well as other significant,
features that change the store’s complete atmosphere. Whatever we see has the
most domination; it’s rightly said that one picture is worth a thousand words.
Each customer has a perception towards a store and its products. A store should
possess a comfortable and catchy environment in order to have an upper edge
over its competitors in the mind of consumers.
Visual Merchandising is one of the key
elements in overall atmosphere of store. It includes both store exterior and
store interior. Store exterior includes window display, retail premises and
cover-up whereas store interior includes store layout, fixtures and fittings,
wall display and store highlights. For displaying the best part or feature of
the store the best mode is visual merchandising with a detailed informative and
attractive display.
Shopping has now shifted from need to an
adventure. It is now an Experience, mode of change, outing for celebration. At
this point in time it can be said that visual merchandising is gaining
importance among stores as part of their promotion strategy. Visual
merchandising leads to attracting consumers towards the store and display the
products in the store and rest is up to the quality of products available in
the store.
1.1
Tools and techniques adopted for visual merchandising:
· Exterior Presentation: The
exterior presentation generally display what customers can look for inside the
store. Attractive outer and catchy displays draws attention, develops interest
and stimulates the customer to enter into the store.
· Exterior Signs: An
attractive sign is an unvoiced sales person. A catchy sign is an effective
technique to let the customer know about the business in few seconds and also
what it sells.
· Marquees: Special
signs use to display the names of the business so as to create a separate image
in the mind of customers towards the store from the others. Sometimes marquee
can be complimented with taglines of business.
· Entrance and Aisles: Unique
entrance makes the remembrance of the store in the mind of the customers and
new entrants in the store. Cluttered aisles makes the shoppers feel
uncomfortable and thus sometimes leads to bitter shopping experiences.
·
Window
Displays: This
is one of the most important techniques of visual merchandising adopted by any
store. It is becoming very popular these days and is adopted by almost every
store. Only selected items should be displayed at the windows so that customers
should be attracted and not confused. And the business should also change the
window display time to time based on season, theme, etc.
·
Props:
A
prop is an aid with a product in display to know more about the product
displayed. Props are the essential part of a display. A prop is not there for
sale but play a vital role in sale of the displayed products
· Signage:
Signage related to different product sections are put up evidently to
distinguish areas, helping customers to give a better understanding of what is
displayed where in the store.
1.2 Visual merchandising and Consumer
Buying Behaviour
There are many visual merchandising factors
or elements e.g. merchandise colour, manner of
presentation, placement of fixtures, direction arrows, attractive lighting
which can attract and turn customer entering and exiting the store. These
variables and elements should be identified, adopted and implemented in the
best possible manner to attain the maximum possible outcome.
In Chhattisgarh, the organised
retails are concentrated in mainly 3 cities Raipur, Bilaspur
and Bhilai along withstandalone
stores, traditional stores which have the identical merchandise at the similar
price in different number of stores. In last few years there are extra choices
available there for customers than earlier, so retailers must regularly lay
their emphasis on attracting more and more customers towards their store. Sometimes
unattractive exterior leads to a perception in the mind of customers that the
products in the store are not up to the mark. Store layout and merchandise
displays and presentation have become significant differentiating factors among
the different stores. It can lead to immediate sales in form of impulse buying,
and also helps to develop a different image among the customers to build their
loyalty towards store.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW:
Cant and Hefer (2014) revealed in their paper that the perception of
consumers about visual merchandising and displays are subconscious in creating
attention and visual merchandising creates desire to further look at the goods
on offer and its enhance the aesthetic value of store and decorate the store.
Moayery, Zamani and Vazifehdoos
(2014)investigated in their paper the relation between apparel impulse buying behaviour and visual merchandising among Iranian young
adult females. For this purpose a sample of 150 young adult females in Iran
complete the questionnaire which contained measures of impulse buying, window
display, in store form/mannequin display, floor merchandising, promotional
signage, cross merchandising design. The results of the study prove that there
is a pivotal relation between Iranian young adult females’ impulse buying behaviour and three types of visual merchandising
practices: window display, in store form/mannequin and promotional signage.
Castro, Morales and Nowlis
(2013) demonstrated that, in certain cases, disorganised
and not fully stocked shelves tend to reduce sales, but in other cases,
disorganized shelves that are not fully stocked tend to increase sales. In
particular, for products that are ingested (e.g., juice), purchase likelihood
is reduced when the product appears to be disorganized and product quantity is
limited. However, for products that are not sold (e.g., fabric softener),
purchase likelihood increases when the product appears to be disorganized and
product quantity is limited. Importantly, the authors also show that brand
familiarity moderates these effects.
Hefer
and Cant (2013) concluded in this study that the visual merchandising displays
provide direction to consumers and help in finding the product they are
seeking. It is also play a crucial role in their decision making while
purchasing. The consumers agreed that their buying behaviour
is influenced on a subconscious level, based on the prominence of the visual
merchandising displays, but their decision also influence on the basis of their
personal preferences and gender.
Kaur (2013)
demonstrated that there is a direct relationship between consumer’s buying behaviour and in-store form/mannequin display, promotional
signage and window display. The main idea of display is to demonstrate the
newest trends and new arrivals. It is also observed that most consumers are attracted
towards product by looking at the store’s ambience and visual display.
Madhavi
and Leelavati (2013) suggested that the themes that
linked most strongly to purchase intention were: merchandise colours, presentation style, awareness of fixtures, path
finding, sensory qualities of materials and lighting. These visual merchandising
stimuli incite a desire that eventually motivates a consumer to make an
unplanned purchase decision significantly influence consumer’s impulse buying behaviours.
Srivastava
and Kumar (2013) revealed that in-store environment and visual display does
affect consumer’s preference for a jewellery store
especially branded ones as compared to non-branded. In survey consumers also
disclosed that they give importance to visual merchandising for creating
distinctive image for a store and selecting them for their final destination of
shopping.
Jones and Smith (2011)concluded in their
study that POS promotions involving price or volume discounts have a strong
impact on young people, and are particularly effective in encouraging the
purchase of increased volumes of alcohol.
Law, Wong, and Yip (2010) demonstrated in
their paper that the consumers have mainly two points of view when evaluating
visual store displays, i.e. utilitarian and hedonic aspects. The utilitarian
aspect concerned to the actual needs of consumers, the hedonic aspect related
to the perceived female image governs consumer interpretation and acceptance of
visual displays.
Sen,
Block and Chandran (2002) explored how the store and
product category information communicated by a store’s windows are related to
consumers’ shopping decisions. Results of the study shows that product category-related information (e.g.
fashion and product-self fit) is more strongly associated with purchase
decision rather than store related information (e.g. merchandise and store
image). Moreover, consumers having medium knowledge about product are more
influence by windows in their buying decision than those who have low or high
knowledge.
3.OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:
· To find out the impact of visual
merchandising on buying behavior of urban and rural customers of selected areas
of Chhattisgarh.
· To
determine the important factors of visual merchandising influencing customers’
buying behavior and in-store promotion activities.
· To determine whether visual merchandising
leads to impulse buying or not in the selected area.
4. RESEARCH
FRAMEWORK:
An outline was developed to guide the
research and it suggests specific relationships among visual merchandising and
buying behaviour of consumers. The present study is
descriptive in nature.
4.1
Data Sources:
- The study has done on the basis of primary and secondary data.
Secondary
Data:- Secondary
data is collected from books, newspapers, articles, websites, various reports,
magazines etc.
Primary
Data:- The
primary source of data is respondents (customers) and collected by using a
predefined questionnaire. The instrument is administered methodically to the
shoppers outside the store just after their experience and interface with the
visual merchandising elements on random weekdays and weekends.
4.2
Research Approach – Survey
Method
· Research
Instrument – Questionnaire
· Contact
Method – Personal
contact
· Sample
Size – 200
(100 Urban and 100 rural customers)
Demographic profile:
The study covered
a wide demographic profile of urban and rural shoppers of selected area of
Chhattisgarh. 43% of the shoppers were women and 57% were men and the average
age of the shopper was 30.5. 41% of them were single and 59% were married. 23%
were higher secondary graduates, 56% were under graduates and 21% were post
graduates. 20% of the sample includes students, 17% were housewives, 16% were
self-employed and 48% were employed. Thus, we try to obtain significant variety
of sample from the population. However it is to be mentioned here that from
rural customer we include those customers who are residing in nearby towns and
areas attached to the major cities of the state, i.e. adjacent to the cities of
Chhattisgarh.
5. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:
Ř Have you walked into a store impressed by
its decoration and window display even though there was no intention to buying?
Fig:
1
Discussion and Interpretation:
It was found during the study that that 28%
of the urban customers and 34% of rural customers have many times walked into
the store by its decoration and window display though there was no intention of
them to buy the product. Around 50% of both the customers have sometimes done
that. And only 17-18% has never done this. This clearly indicates that by
catchy decoration and attractive window display a store can make more and more
customer enter into its store even when earlier their purpose was not to buy
the product at all.
Ř What is the most influencing feature
driving you inside the store?
Fig:2
Discussion and Interpretation:
It was found during the study of urban and
rural customers that 17-19% of the respondents find store exterior graphics and
signage as the most influencing feature driving them inside the store. However
14-16% of them felt the same for window display setting done by the store. In
case of urban customers outer glimpse of the store capture 16% customers mind
whereas it is 21% in case of rural customers. In case of merchandise display it
is equal 19% in both the cases. 11-14% of the customers is brand loyal and is
mainly influenced by the brands available in store. Lastly it’s the promotional
strategy which attracts 16-18% of the urban and rural customers to enter into
the store. It can be observed that 60-70% of the customers are attracted
towards the store through the visual merchandising techniques followed by the
store. So the stores should plan and adopt well visual merchandising strategies
in order to have a cutting edge over its competitors.
Ř Which factor affects more while purchasing
the products?
Fig: 3
Discussion
and Interpretation: During
the study, five important factors (quality, price, variety, design and visual
merchandising) affecting the purchase of products have been identified and
considered for study. The study clearly indicated that around 25% of customers
feel that quality is a very important factor affecting the purchase of
products. 21% of urban and 28% of rural customer’s price is the most
considerable deciding factor. Around 15-18% of both the customers chose the
variety and design as the deciding factor. Whereas 21% said that visual
merchandising is a very important factor for purchase of product. Therefore it
is attention to the retailers that they can increase their sales in their
stores by focusing on the tool of visual merchandising by attracting more and
more customers towards the store.
Ř What is the most noticed feature inside
store display?
Fig: 4
Discussion and Interpretation:
It is revealed during the study 18% of urban and 24% rural customers mainly
notice bold graphics available in the stores. 24% and 26% which are attracted
more towards pleasant lighting and soothing music played inside the store while
shopping. Around 30-34% of the customers attracted mostly towards mannequin
placed in the display of the stores which makes them go for the particular
product. And 24% of urban and 20% of the rural customer’s like creative product
display the most among the various features inside the store. This
diversification represents that equal importance should be given to each and
every above mention factors as they all somewhat equal importance from
customers attraction point of view.
Ř What is the main reason behind choosing a
particular store?
Fig:
5
Discussion
and Interpretation: In
today’s scenario there is large no. of stores providing the similar products
and almost similar prices, so it is the utmost requirement of every business to
make the customer come and choose its store for shopping instead of others. The
study shows that around 50 % customers feel that better quality is the main
reason for selecting a particular store. Another, 30%% customers said that
offers and discounts are the main factors which help them to decide which store
to go for. Store environment/ visual merchandising plays a significant role in
mind of around 20-25% of the customers and does makes it an important
consideration in the mind of stores to look after for. Better the visual
merchandising strategy better would be its market share
Ř Do you always pay attention to displays and
signage while entering in store?
Fig:
6
Discussion and Interpretation: It
was found in the research that 78 % and 81% of the rural and urban customers
respectively always pays attention to the displays and signage’s used by the
stores when they enters the retail
store. The display windows displays are an important way to draw the customer’s
attention and make them towards and into the store. The storekeeper should
display what’s best in his store so that the customer is highly attracted
towards it because customers spends hardly few seconds while passing away from
the common area of outer display of the store. Very few only 10 % do not pay
any attention to displays or signage which can be ignored by the retailer.
Ř Does display induce you to try new product?
Fig:
7
Discussion
and Interpretation: It
was revealed from study that 69% of urban and 76% of rural customers said that
they would go for new products which are on display while 12% and 18% does not
go for it and would likely to choose usual products for which they have
actually come to the store. Since, the no. of customers showing positive
responses is very high as compared to the adverse one the store can avail this
opportunity to gain the maximum out of it. They can make use of effective
visual merchandising techniques and can attract customers to buy new products
available in their store.
Ř Do you think company uses visual
merchandising as marketing tools?
Fig:
8
Discussion and Interpretation: The
study indicated that 81% of urban customers and 76% of the rural customers feel
that by having effective and attractive visual merchandising techniques the
companies can display and represent their products in a better way. Data
depicted that only 16% and 13 of customers said that marketing of the product
is not affected by visual merchandising. The remaining 3% urban and 11% rural
customers said that they had no defined opinion in this context.
Ř Do you think displays attract more
attention than other products lying in the racks
Fig:
9
Discussion and Interpretation: Around
more than 70%% of respondents in both the cases felt that those things which
displayed grab more attention of the buyer if compared to the other products
which are lying in the store’s racks. It has been observed that customers while
shopping give more attention towards the displayed products as they found it
catchy and attractive and help them to make perception about the buying
decision of those products. Buying decisions starts after customers enters the
store soattractive display should be used to attract
more attention of the customers.
Ř Does visual and display affect your final
buying decision?
Fig:
10
Discussion and Interpretation: The
survey revealed 56% % of urban customers and 61% of rural customers said that
their final buying decision is affected by visuals and display of products
while 38% and 31% urban and rural customers said that their final buying
decision is not effected by visuals and display. Visual merchandising sets the
background of the merchandise in an aesthetically soothing fashion, presenting
them in a form that would transform the customers doing window shopping to
actual shoppers of the store. Various tools of visual merchandising including
graphics and signage, window display, mannequins and lighting can be used in
the best possible manner to gain the maximum benefit out of it.
Ř Do you think visual merchandising induced
impulse buying?
Fig:
11
Discussion and Interpretation: During
the study, it was found that 44% of the urban customers said that effective
visual merchandising induces impulsive buying. In case of rural consumers this
%age is 51%. However, 27% and 39 % of customers feels that impulse buying is
not induced by visual merchandising. This shows that rural consumers are showing
higher % and are sure about the impact of visual merchandising on impulse
buying whereas 29% of the urban consumers are not sure about this impact.. At
the point of the impulse buying process, retailers can attempt to stimulate
consumers’ desire for the products, including the awareness of the products,
which can satisfy their desire, can be attained by browsing and being out to
the stimuli, such as visual merchandising. The positive impulse buying sign leads
to development of store loyalty and customers perception and satisfaction
affects future buying decisions.
5. RECOMMENDATION
AND SUGGESTION:
ü One of the most important tools of visual
merchandising is window display.whichmotivate
consumers to enter into a store. So display should be more attractive, aesthetic
and informational.
ü A disorganized store is
unable to attract the consumers so it should be properly organized in logical
order. All the products of one type, color size should be put together that
provide great help to consumer while choosing products.
ü Colors always have a
distinct position in the mind of consumers. It affect the psychological aspect
of consumers, so retailer should take extra care while selecting color for
display items and for other decoration.
ü Light play a crucial role
in visual merchandising. An appropriate selection of lighting system can
satisfy the psychological need of consumers.
ü Music does not only
entertain the consumers but it’s also creates a pleasant environment for
shopping and influence shopping behaviour of consumer.Soft and classic music can induce consumer to
spend more time in store.
ü Evening hours are best
time for shopping and mostly consumer’s visit store in evening hours. So the
retailer should pay extra care towards environments of store in evening time.
ü Display should be organised according to the season.
ü Store should be neat and
clean. Cleanliness of store can convert a window shopper to potential shopper.
6. LIMITATIONS:
· The sample size is 200 which is small and
that might affect the overall reliability.
· The study is limited to only some selected
city of Chhattisgarh and cannot be generalized.
· The time available is short and that also
limits the study.
·
The
study is based on the opinion of respondents (questionnaire) and there can be
biasness on the part of respondents.
7. CONCLUSION:
In the changing global environment,
customers are not only involved in shopping for fulfillment of their need but
they enjoy it as adventure and fun, so now a days, smart customers are not much
influenced by routine selling style but they attracted towards showcases and
displays. Due to these changing expectorations of customers visual
merchandising has become one of the prominent strategies of retailers, so they
should take extra care while formulating visual display strategies. Visual
merchandising is known as “silent salesman” that does not use verbal languages
but attract customers through their appeal. VM helps in building store image
and provide competitive advantages. It’s proved by research that visual
merchandising has direct relationship with sales because due to attractive
visual displays customers attracted toward store and store footfall increases,
which ultimately increase sales volume and profit of retailers. Visual
merchandising has capacity to convert a window shopper into a real buyer.
This study shows that visual merchandising
influence both urban and rural customers. Attractive display, mannequin,
attract most rural customers toward store because these proved a new experience
to rural customers. The outcome of this
study depicts that visual merchandising if implemented by the store in the best
possible manner can provide it with a cutting edge over its competitors
available in the market and also to motivate and attract customers towards that
store to enter and also stimulates their shopping behaviour
in the store and sometimes leads to even impulse buying by the customers.
Urban customers
take rational decision while shopping but they agreed that they also influenced
by visual merchandising. The study shows the importance of visual merchandising
on the part of store and its impact on various segments of consumers. After
this study the stores may reframe their strategies of visual merchandising in a
manner to attract more and more customers towards their store to increase their
sales volume.
8.
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Received
on 23.05.2016 Modified on
07.06.2016
Accepted
on 10.06.2016 © A&V
Publications all right reserved
Asian
J. Management. 2016; 7(2): 143-152.
DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2016.00022.6