Fill in the Blanks

By Amy Meadows

Maximizing Display With Shortage of Merchandise

Perhaps you’ve been stymied by recent supply-chain glitches, or you’ve encountered the annual post-holiday, empty-shelves dilemma. Regardless of the reason, low inventory — and the resulting merchandise gaps on fixtures or in displays — are a headache. Should you embrace the empty space? Yes. Should you look for filler to avoid empty spaces? Yes to that as well.

Less Is More

Studies continue to show that when consumers see merchandise in multiples and in crowded fixtures, their reaction is negative. But fewer dupli­cated items, with more room to breathe, conveys that the merchandise displayed is special, likely to sell through quickly, and should be purchased right away. Crowded shelves and items in quantity scream “discount” to the average consumer.

That doesn’t mean, however, that fixtures lightly sprinkled with merchandise are necessarily sales drivers. While many of last year’s shipping and delivery difficulties have been resolved, a steady arrival of goods means a constant need to rotate merchandise throughout your store. An informal survey of visual merchandisers, shop owners, and buyers elicited the following replies:

“Puzzles! We’ve been filling the empty shelves with puzzles!”

Puzzles and books are flexible. They can be merchandised with the spine or lid-edge facing out or spun to fully face front as space allows. You can also look at reducing the number of rows per surface, shortening stacks, and adding risers.

“Plants and large-scale planters are saving the day.”

Plants, fresh flowers, and even vases of branches, add color and texture. The biophilic design trend continues its impact on décor and product develop­ment. Within your shop’s footprint, choose a single type of plant or flower (succulents, branches, or potted annuals) that will work throughout the entire shop. Maintain consistency with height, color, and containers.

“Double-exposing inventory, using larger graphics, and reducing the fixture footprint have helped us.”

Double-exposing specific inventory items or categories is a divide-and-conquer strategy. Be intentional, don’t just randomly scatter products throughout the store. Find an additional area in a nonadjacent zone. You might offer extra product as an impulse item at the point-of-sale or as a featured item near the restrooms or dressing rooms. Avoid double-exposure of full-price merchandise in a markdown area.

“We buy from as many local vendors and artists as we can. In some cases, this was an opportunity for them to showcase new products.”

Here’s another great opportunity for reducing empty shelves and driving business. Nicely printed and framed signs are terrific ways to share stories about the artist or a specific product currently in stock or items on backorder. Educate the customer, build shopper engagement, and make the fixture look a tad less forlorn.

Slat wall areas can be simplified. The beauty of a slat wall is that you can scoot entire wall configurations up one or two grooves, and that modest realignment makes the wall look brand new. If you can no longer justify the space needed for longer rods for hanging clothes at shoulder height, switch to waterfalls. Longer glass shelves can be switched with shorter ones. As with hutches and armoires, remove the topmost items and hardware.

If you’re planning any changes in floor layout, fixture placement, or slat wall configuration, I recommend you map it out in advance. Use either paper or painter’s tape to mark boundaries and tentative locations. It takes a little extra time, but it’s nothing compared to the time spent undoing everything later if your guesstimate doesn’t work!