Many people assume merchandising is simply about giving out promotional items or freebies. In reality, merchandising can influence how customers see a brand, highlight product value, and create lasting impressions that drive decisions.
Merchandising plays a key role in business by increasing product visibility, strengthening brand recognition, and shaping customer buying decisions. It not only helps sell products but also builds stronger client relationships, supports sales growth, and expands overall market presence.
What is Merchandising?
Merchandising is a strategic marketing activity that involves planning, managing, and displaying products effectively in the right place and time to drive sales. The main goal of merchandising is to boost sales, enhance customer experience, and strengthen brand awareness by ensuring products are easy to find, visually appealing, and aligned with consumer needs.
Merchandising goes beyond arranging products on shelves or selecting suitable store layouts. It also covers a wide range of in-store activities, including designing promotional programs, offering special discounts, conducting live product demonstrations, distributing free samples, and applying effective point-of-sale to capture customer attention and influence purchasing decisions.
Function of Merchandising in Business
- Acts as a branding tool
Placing a company logo on items such as tote bags or mugs helps introduce the brand and its products to a broader audience. - Serves as a marketing channel
Merchandise can encourage word-of-mouth promotion from one customer to another. - Token of appreciation
Giving merchandise to event attendees leaves a positive impression and shows gratitude. - Draws attention
Merchandise can draw visitors to booths or stands at busy events such as trade shows, malls, or bazaars.
Common Types of Merchandising
Below are common types of merchandising retailers use:
- Product Merchandising
Product merchandising is a set of marketing and promotional activities focused on improving a product's sales performance. It involves how a product is presented, promoted, and positioned to attract consumer interest.
In physical stores, product merchandising can be seen by how items are arranged, highlighted, or grouped on shelves and displays. In online channels, elements such as website layout, product page design, visuals, and navigation drive in-store purchases. - Visual Merchandising
Visual merchandising is about presenting products in a way that attracts attention and highlights their main features. Its primary role is to create an appealing look that draws customers in and encourages them to explore the products more closely.
In physical stores, visual merchandising involves optimizing space use, arranging products creatively, improving lighting, and enhancing the overall store layout and design. In digital retail, this applies to visual elements such as selecting an appropriate website theme, adjusting color schemes, and designing an attractive interface that enhances the shopping experience and keeps visitors engaged. - Omnichannel Merchandising
Omnichannel merchandising, also known as omni-channel retailing, involves coordinating product presentation and marketing across multiple sales channels to provide a seamless shopping experience. The goal is to ensure customers experience a consistent brand image and service, whether they shop online, in-store, or via mobile apps. - Retail Merchandising
Retail merchandising is the process of presenting and selling products in a physical store. It focuses on creating an appealing shopping environment that encourages customers to make purchases on-site.
This type of merchandising includes strategically arranging products, planning promotional campaigns, using signage effectively, and organizing in-store marketing tactics. The goal is to make the shopping experience enjoyable while maximizing sales within the brick-and-mortar store. - Digital Merchandising
Digital merchandising or e-commerce merchandising covers all efforts to showcase and sell products through digital platforms. Its purpose is to attract online shoppers and boost sales by making products more visible and appealing in the digital space.
This includes organizing website layouts, creating online promotions, displaying products effectively on e-commerce sites, running email campaigns, engaging customers on social media, and other digital marketing strategies.
Merchandising Strategies
Some of the most popular ways to entice buyers to purchase include:
- Eye-catching window and in-store displays
- Grouping related products
- Shelf signs and in-store ads
- Free samples and demos
- Well-stocked shelves
- Highlighting promotional items
What are the 5 P’s of Merchandising?
- Planning
Define the objectives of your merchandising activity and create a roadmap to achieve them. - Positioning
Designing a unique identity for the product that sets it apart in the customer’s mind. - Promotion
Implementing marketing activities that increase product visibility and encourage purchases. - Pricing
Choosing a price that balances profitability with customer appeal. - Placement
Ensuring product availability across all outlets and online channels to effectively reach the target audience.
Transform Your Merchandising Activity with BOSNET Mobile Merchandiser
Effective merchandising is crucial for any business aiming to boost sales and improve brand presence. Proper merchandising ensures products are visible, organized, and presented to influence customer buying decisions while maximizing revenue.
BOSNET Mobile Merchandiser helps businesses take full control of their merchandising operations and ensure product availability across all outlets. Our platform provides the tools to monitor field execution in real time, validate store visits with photo and GPS proof, and manage shelf visibility, helping increase revenue, reduce costs, and protect assets.
