Posts Tagged ‘mannequins’

Friday Featured Product: Mannequins

 Friday, May 8th, 2009

At the heart of any clothing display is the mannequin. These faux-humans can bring an item to life. They are even so iconic that major brands such as Old Navy are now even using the mannequin in the center of a national ad campaign.

But let’s face it; mannequins become a representation of your customers. Your target clientele should walk into your store and be able to imagine themselves in your clothes because they can see themselves as that mannequin. So you need to select a mannequin that reflects your customers and your clothing type.

So what type of mannequin is right for your store? While there isn’t a perfect mannequin type, there are some things to keep in mind when choosing a mannequin.

  • What hair style should they have? Standard mannequins either come with molded hair or wigs. Both have their advantages. Molded hair can be kept on the mannequin at all times. But mannequins with wigs have many hairstyle options. You can switch hair to coordinate with an outfit’s color and style.
  • Ethnicity: Mannequins come in a variety of skin tones. By matching the ethnicity to your customer base’s main ethnicity, your customers will relate to your items. If nothing else, introduce some diversity in your mannequins to appeal to all ethnicities. If you want to completely avoid the skin tone issue, you can purchase cameo mannequins that are cameo white and generic.
  • Do you really need the entire body? Many mannequins don’t even have heads. Some are counter top mannequins and have no legs. Others are made for wall displays and don’t have backs. Determine where your mannequins will be placed to decide whether you need to get the whole body.
  • Size does matter: Not everyone is a size two. Not all clothing is made for size twos. So if your customers tend to be plus sized, there are mannequins for them.
  • Don’t forget the boys: Men need to see clothes on them also, while there are more female mannequin options, there are definitely different male models also.
  • Kids need clothes too: Girls, boys and babies all have their own mannequin types.

Of course, if traditional mannequins aren’t your thing, there are alternatives such as uniquins, ladder mannequins and jersey covered dress forms.

What types of mannequins do you use? How do you dress your mannequins to increase sales?

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Tuesday Tip: Creating Displays that Sell

 Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

In any clothing store, the way you display your merchandise can make or break your store. You have to walk a fine line between showing off each garment and having enough racks to hold all of your merchandise. So the answer to this dilemma is variety.

There are three main types of clothing displays, wall displays, floor racks and tables. Each needs to be used in order to create an effective flow to your store and to showcase your merchandise.

One thing to remember is that shopping is a visual experience. People gravitate into a store when they see something interesting. We recommend placing something similar to a three tiered table right at the entrance. Frame this table with a couple of mannequins dressed to the nines. Then stock the table with all the necessary items needed to replicate the mannequin’s outfit. The three tiers will allow you to easily separate clothing items while dynamically displaying color and fabric options.

Once a shopper is drawn into your store, their eyes gravitate toward items they can see. Make sure you have racks and wall displays that offer face out clothing that feed into the center of the store. People can’t see your merchandise when it is shoulders out. Have a variety of rack types and heights so that browsing is easy and interesting.

Alternate rack types, have a few four way racks, then intersperse two way racks, one rail racks and an occasional round rack. Round racks have no display options, so we suggest saving these racks for your clearance items to maximize that space. In between racks, break up the monotony with tables of folded items.

For your wall displays, remember that the average person cannot reach items high on the wall. Have items on face out displays up high with a shelf directly underneath with folded clothing. This will be much easier to access than clothes being behind the high display item. Most people will not ask an associate for assistance getting down an item. Then under than shelf, have a hang rail with a variety of sizes and colors.

One tactic that works fairly well is to group clothing styles or colors. By grouping all of the professional attire in one corner, fancy in another section and casual clothing in a different place, people are more likely to grab multiple separates that will mix and match to create entire ensembles.

So, if sales are lagging, try to rearrange your display racks and create a dominant display at the entrance to your store in order to bolster purchases.

What works best for your store?

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