Think about the many ways your visitors/clients/customers touch your business. It starts with the door handle – we’ve all entered a restaurant that might have an oversized fork or antler for the pull, and no doubt you made note of that and maybe even commented about it to your companion. That’s a great way to start engaging your audience! Once inside, there are a multitude of items that we come in contact with – how many of them are making a good impression on your visitors? Here are a few of them to consider:

• Business card or brochure
  How does the weight and finish of the paper feel?  Does it represent your brand and level of service? Or, is it standard fare?
• Reception/Transaction counters
  Do they have nice smooth durable tops? Or, do they have chips and worn spots? These counters are a reflection of your brand and business. What about the front of them? Having fun textured fronts can get people curious enough to want to touch them – more customer engagement!
• Furniture
  (Waiting/lounge, conference room, dressing room, dining): how does the upholstery feel? Is it soft to the touch? Does it stay cool during summer months so skin doesn’t stick to it? Does the feel of the furniture reflect your brand and the value of services offered?
• Product displays
  Are they set up so customers are encouraged to get involved and pick up, try out, or try on? The more you can get a customer to engage with the products, the more likely they are to buy them. So don’t make your displays so perfect that no one wants to disturb them – make them intriguing!
• If you’re in the spa, hotel, or health industry, then the feel of sheets, towels, pillows, and robes are all critical to the guest/patient experience. Higher quality feel = higher perceived value = higher price points, which will be expected and accepted.
• Packaging
  In what do you put your customers’ purchases? A nice hefty branded paper bag with handle that can be reused? Or, a thin cheap plastic bag that will get tossed when they get home? The former will again provide a perceived higher value to the products you are selling. The feel of the package will leave a lasting impression.

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1. We won an International Design Award for a window display we created with paper dresses for Kessler’s Diamonds in downtown Milwaukee
2. We hit our sales goal for 2018 well before year end
3. Lyn received highest marks from attendees for her presentation at the  International Shopper Brain Conference in NYC.

4. We completed a very successful 48-hour makeover of Annie’s Café in Fond Du Lac.

5. We moved into our fabulous new office (watch for an invite to our Open House this spring!)

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It began as a simple idea, to create oversized puzzle pieces and have two pieces fit together. Then, we were wanted to add graphics and images to evoke emotion and enhance a display.  The Retailworks’ Display Team did just that. They created larger-than-life 3D puzzle pieces and enhanced them with seasonal patterns and graphics. We call this “eye candy”. It’s a powerful and strategic way to bring attention to product displays.

It’s working. According to Kim White, Display Director, the clients have told us they see customers stop just long enough to get them to pause, and that pause is what gets them looking beyond to the products. It’s a perfect time for the sales staff to greet or ask a question to engage the customer.

We can customize these for you too.

Use puzzle pieces to attract and show your customers you pay attention to the details. We can brand them with your logo, as well as add color, pattern, or seasonal images to support your products and drive sales.

Simple, affordable display props make big statements adding value to the overall shopping experience.

The Retailworks Display Team is available to be your missing piece when it comes to enhancing merchandise and adding that something extra. Contact us today.

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1) Due to the bombardment of messages hitting our brains on a daily basis, it’s imperative to reduce the number of images in an ad. Through neurotechnology, studies are showing the ad will make a bigger imprint on the consumer’s mind when it has one simple picture. Faces are still the biggest attractor.

2) When attracting consumers’ attention, consider what part of their brain is activated when they look at the ad – contextual, rational, or emotional? Where do their eyes wander? Aspirational visuals have a strong positive impact on viewers. Want to maximize your homepage, print ads, or brochures with the right layout and photo selection? Call us for assistance.

3) Haptic technology recreates the sense of touch using vibrations, forces, or motions from the user. This technology has lead to the investigation about how the human sense of touch works and ways to recreate it for to control haptic virtual objects.

4) Shapes communicate a sense of energy – whether relaxed or active. We react to shapes, textures, and colors on an instinctual level, and via learned responses.

Understanding how the elements and principles of design affect consumer behavior in a built environment is critical to creating a successful selling environment.

5) Our reaction to sound/noise is 20,000 times faster than to seeing something (often hear danger before we see it). A chemical cocktail of oxytocin and dopamine are activated in our brain when listening to music we like. Want to increase sales by implementing cross-modal sensory congruence in your space? Give us a call! (414) 249 – 4881

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The gathering space is the Merchandise Mart in the heart of Chicago. Nearly 1 million square feet, and twenty-five floors, our team walked over 15,000 steps to see countless vendors and zero in on this year’s trends. Here are our top four takeaways:

1. Companies continue to pay close attention to space optimization, posing the question, “How well are you using your space?”. With the ongoing trend of large open spaces, many vendors continue to offer private, see-through pods and acoustic fabrics. Although these products can still create the impression of an large open space, they introduce more private and intimate spaces, minimizing background sounds.
2. Furniture with built-in outlets and desks with colorful pop-up outlets, make it easy for people to access electricity without having to leave their couch or desk.
3. Sustainability and creating an eco-friendly environment continues to be important to many vendors/businesses. Products made out of recycled materials and green “living walls” were prevalent throughout the show. These moss-filled walls offer an aesthetically intriguing natural boost to morale, while acting as natural air filters. They also reduce noise levels as the vegetation naturally blocks high-frequency sounds.
4. We were particularly impressed with the amount of new and fashion-forward light fixtures on display. Many new materials and shapes were introduced. One of our favorites was the circular pendant made out of real quartz crystals. (see below)

We left NeoCon that day with tired feet, but inspired and full of ideas for current projects on our plate. 

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