Can you believe it’s that time of year already? 2021 might be winding down, but the holiday season is just getting started. It’s a great opportunity for retailers to end another unusual year on a high note: as much as 80% of in-store spending happens during the holiday season! Many people are excited to get back to in-person shopping, and here’s how your store can use creative holiday graphics and merchandising to boost foot traffic and sales this December.
Engage Shoppers with Creative Holiday Graphics
December is the busiest month in terms of foot traffic for brick-and-mortar stores. This creates many opportunities to engage customers with visual merchandising displays. Customers now have dozens of options for purchasing any given product, your in-store graphics can make or break a potential purchase. Prepare eye-catching displays with:
- Surface and Window Graphics
- Wallpaper & Wall Murals
- Hardware
- Illuminated Signs
- Customized and innovative displays
What creative works best for displays? It can depend on your industry and specific products you are trying to promote, but some top strategies to consider for your Christmas retail displays include:
- New product announcements – Lean into novelty and showcase what’s new arrivals
- Complementary Products – showcase bundles of products that people would buy together, like:
- Kitchenware – bakeware and oven mitts
- Clothing – holiday dresses with shoes, jewelry, and purses
- Discounts and sales – Signage promoting discounts is the fail-safe strategy for drawing attention to your holiday displays. Pairing sale items with other complementary products is a great way to get the most out of your holiday sales and promotions. Plan to be strategic with your sales display placement as well. Place your sales at the back of the store to encourage people to walk through and explore more.
- Customer capture – signage to signup for your newsletter can help you easily grow your sales funnel. You can even implement QR codesto make the process as easy as possible, and encourage more customer sign-ups.
When you are planning your merchandising and assessing your signage needs for the holidays, keep these best practices in mind:
- One thought at a time – don’t try to tell people too much, keep the message simple. Nobody is interested in reading an essay: if you can communicate the purpose of your display in as few words as possible, it will garner more attention.
- Use larger fonts – use at least 100 pt font for signage at the back of a store and 200 pt font for windows.
- Use color effectively – holiday displays can use festive, seasonal colors to complement and contrast with the products you are trying to promote and help them stand out.
- 3D signage – Creative, dimensional signage can create depth and catches people’s attention.
- Use all space – floor stickers are a great opportunity to engage customers as they wait in line or explore the store.
Be Inclusive
The holidays for many are Christmas and New Years, but for others, it is so much more than that. Being mindful and inclusive of the other celebrations and events throughout December can improve sales and make your store feel inclusive. December celebrations and events to be aware of include and acknowledge in your holiday graphics include:
- Hanukkah 11/29–12/6
- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 12/24–12/25
- Boxing Day 12/26
- Kwanzaa 12/26–1/1
- New Year’s Eve 12/31
Display Design Essentials
Keep your holiday displays well-stocked throughout the day, and look for weekly opportunities to refresh products or their position in the store. For your display graphics, make sure that:
- Each display has a clear purpose that customers can understand in 5 seconds or less.
- All displays have signage including a call to action. What is the product? Why is it important to them? Why buy it now? Whether it is a great deal, a limited time offer, or in short supply, use your graphics to get your customers to act.
- Use contrasting colors between your graphics and products to grab the attention of customers.
- All displays are professional and in “like new” condition. They should be representative of the products and services they are promoting.
Think Outside of the Store
Effective visual marketing begins before customers even set foot in your store. Exterior signage and graphics can pull in potential customers who otherwise would walk by amidst their busy holiday shopping. Your storefront is the first impression many potential customers will have of your business, so it is a worthy place in which to put some extra effort into your holiday graphics. You can add some flair to your exterior this holiday season with:
- Window clings
- Custom murals
- Outdoor holiday banners
- Light pole banners
- Custom window displays
- Wall wraps
COVID Safety
Although this holiday season feels more normal than 2020, COVID-19 still poses a health risk to your employees and customers. Be prepared to safely manage the increase in foot traffic this holiday season by refreshing your COVID signage. Taking appropriate safety measures will make potential customers more comfortable with shopping in person again. You’ll want to have:
- Social distancing floor stickers
- COVID-19 prevention graphics
- Well-marked hand sanitizing stations
- Holiday-themed COVID-19 signage
We’ll get your retail store holiday-ready. Contact us today and get all of your holiday printing needs covered.