Online visual merchandising tips and tricks

More retailers believe that visual merchandising is only for brick and mortar retail stores. It is how they decorate and organize the store to improve the customer experience. It is also how they communicate the brand identity. For online stores, visual merchandising is how the site and its experience lead to the same experience as the retail stores. Here are a few tips and tricks:

Sound

Every store has a signature sound. It could be soft ethnic music, instrumental music, etc. Anyone who has been to the physical store will have the same feeling as soon as the music plays on the website. A lot of customers tie the entire experience of a store together, the color, the décor, and the music. It is one of the easiest ways of branding a website.

Spatial feel

The store layout and materials used to invoke a certain feeling. For example, a chain of stores would use polished concrete floors and wooden counter tops. The same color and material textures will bring about the same sense of the space on the website. Use the same accents from the store on the website.

Story

For new customers, the homepage of the website needs to tell a story. They should recognize that story if they ever set foot in a physical store. The homepage has plenty of real estate for large images and text. The story and any social proof to go along with it should be as visual as possible.