Visual Merchandising and Psychology

This project report explores the role of visual merchandising and psychology in influencing consumer behavior and maximizing sales revenue. It includes a case study of Burj Al Arab, a luxury hotel in Dubai.

Visual Merchandising
and Psychology

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Explore current structure of the sector through investigation of local retail environment and
investigate that how retail sector respond to the change & trends...............................................1
2. Critically assess that how visual merchandising techniques are applied to the product &
services of Burj Al Arab..............................................................................................................2
3. Evaluate the role of external merchandising in maximising the number of customers and
make recommendations for the improvement..............................................................................3
4. Critically examine the psychological and technological merchandising techniques which
influence the consumer behaviour...............................................................................................4
5. Discuss the influence of operational design on sales revenue ................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Visual Merchandising is the design skills which used by the organizations to promote the
image, product or services in the retail business. They develop eye catching product display and
attract customers to buy their products or use their services. It is used to maximise the sales of
the company and play critical role (Baek and et.al., 2015). This project report based on the case
study of Burj Al Arab which is Dubai based luxury hotel and it is the tallest hotels in the world.
This report include the current structure of retail sector, assess that how visual merchandising
techniques are applied in Burj Al Arab and evaluate the role of external merchandising with
some recommendations. In addition, how these techniques influence the customer behaviour as
well as operational design on sales revenue.
MAIN BODY
1. Explore current structure of the sector through investigation of local retail environment and
investigate that how retail sector respond to the change & trends
In the retail business environment, structure of the organization become more diverse
because of expansion of brands in the different categories and in the local. There are various
perspective which used to define the structure of retail sector such as:
Size: UK retail sector is continuously grow because of competitive market but in the
current business environmental it force the industry to limit their size (Cant and Hefer, 2012).
Basically, increase in the number of business will increase the competition which further affect
the productivity as well as profitability.
Trends in sales: From past two year, retail sales was decreases dramatically because of
recession which impact the sales. Some of the retailers reported that they face the 10% low sales
in comparison to previous year. It will further impact the growth rate of the UK as well as impact
the consumer's confidence specially in the City area where number of retail stores are high.
Store size and location: In the UK, retail companies such Tesco which expanded their
business in terms of size as well as location. In order to get success, management of the company
have to change the physical structure through opening new stores in the different location. It is
possible when business exaction their operations in the international market. It is only possible
when they offer variety of product range along with good quality which satisfy the consumer's
needs and desires to satisfy them.
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Above mention structure of retail industry used to categorise the business as per the size,
sale, location etc. So organizational have to change their operations accordingly to the latest
trend of the market. For example: If customer preference change then business have to identify
the current need and offer products & services accordingly. Business also used to adopt latest
technology for the comparative advantage which helps in maximising the productivity as well as
profitability.
2. Critically assess that how visual merchandising techniques are applied to the product &
services of Burj Al Arab
It has been critically analyse that Burj Al Arab followed visual merchandising in order to
attract customers and encourage them to use their products & services. Below discussion
mentioned that how this techniques applied in the organizations.
Evaluate overall colour scheme: Under this techniques, architecture match the interior
colour with the themes which they wanted to execute in the hotels. Management of Burj Al Arab
match the colour of hotel rooms and dining area which make people excited to stay and enjoy the
food as well as other services (Hefer and Cant, 2013). Hotel provide the service such as dine at
underwater aquarium restaurant so they set the colour accordingly.
Develop merchandising themes: Under this, management have to consider the product
and match with the concept which they hoping to execute. In Burj al Arab, they offer unique
services such as dining at underwater aquarium so they set their theme according to the aquarium
and visuals related to the fishing and other related things which attract customers to come and
visit the place at least once.
Features sale product creativity: In order to attract customers and encourage them to
use Burj Al Arab services and products such as dining, rooms, interior of building etc. So they
have to use bright colours for the product display and use light colours for the featured products.
For example: in the Burj Al Arab, they provide dining facility where they use light colours for
underwater aquarium and dark theme for product display. Here they have to research about other
stores, competitors and the customer demand which provide the opportunity to develop new idea
which attract consumers.
Keep fresh perspective: In order to maintain their product or services demand, they have
to change product display or according to the seasons & festivals which create excitement in the
people to come and visit the hotel and dining of Burj Al Arab. Along with this they have to done
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various activities to entertain as well as educate them which enhance the learning of customers
regarding use of products (Kernsom and Sahachaisaeree, 2012). They also make sure that new
display is more attractive or relevant and along with this, provide some benefits or rewards to
those customers who regularly visit the hotels for the specific services.
Through following all the above mention techniques, Burj Al Arab can maximise the
demand of their facilities or services among the consumers. It helps in attracting people in the
large volume which increase the sales and also maximise the potential of retail environment.
With the help of visual merchandising, organization get the various benefits but it has
disadvantage as well. Such as they required huge staff members to execute their plans, invest
more to complete implement the strategy and required to change the product display which is
time taken as well as expensive process.
3. Evaluate the role of external merchandising in maximising the number of customers and make
recommendations for the improvement
External merchandising refer to the procedure of project which promoted in order to
maximise the number of customers which further provide the benefits to maximise sales as well
as profit margin. With the help of it, Burj Al Arab maximise their sales and play essential role
through attracting large number of customers. Hotel promote the products & services which they
offer such as dine at underwater aquarium, gold interior, lust suites etc. These services or
products not matched with their competitors because it has remarkable performance. Some of the
recommendations discussed below for the improvement of external merchandising.
 Burj Al Arab should follow the attractive design of the product which increase the
demand as well as sales of the products & services they offer.
 Organization have to increase their presence in the various public areas in order to attract
large number of consumers which helps in maximising the sales as well as revenue (Law,
Wong and Yip, 2012).
 Burj Al Arab have to expand their promotional strategies which encourage people to try
their services or product once.
With the help of external merchandising, Burj Al Arab able to attract maximum
customers which increase the overall demand but they have to regular review the process and
done some changes as per the requirement which is beneficial for the organization.
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4. Critically examine the psychological and technological merchandising techniques which
influence the consumer behaviour
In the visual merchandising, psychological aspect is one of the important component
which required to consider if organization wanted to optimise the success of visual
merchandising. It further help the business to influence consumer behaviour and understand the
required changes which they have to implement. Organizations also use the latest technology to
improve the merchandising efficiency (Mehta and Chugan, 2013). Consumers mostly make
purchasing decisions by using their emotions. Psychology is science which helps in
understanding human mind and their behaviour which affect the demand of products and
services. In context of Burj Al Arab, management use the psychological merchandising where
they try to understand the consumer behaviour which impact the production as well as
profitability of the hotels. Visual marketing is important and at the time seeing advertisement,
what customer think and feel about that product or services which is also important to analyse.
Burj Al Arab hotel totally based on latest technology where they offer dining facilities in
the unique places such as underwater which force the customers to think about to try once and
feel the nature. By using technology will improve the logistics that further helps in reducing the
cost or maximise the profit margin. With the help of it, they organizations deliver the low cost or
real time availability that helps in identifying the issues which generated because of
merchandising (Pegler, 2012). Low cost or timely availability of products & services influence
the customer behaviour regarding their purchasing decisions. Organizations used psychological
and technological merchandising technique which help in improving operational efficiency as
well as effectiveness which is important to attract customers. With the help of visual
merchandising, business able to promote their products & services by using effective colours and
theme for the display of products which encourage individual to try this service and experience
for the best.
5. Discuss the influence of operational design on sales revenue
Effectiveness of operational functions influence the sales as well as revenue of the
company. It is very important for the Burj Al Arab to focus on their operational design in order
to attract more people which maximise the sales. With the help of effective operational design
business able to perform their other hospitality activities which provide various benefits and
increase the level or customer satisfaction. Operational designs of the hospitality sector should be
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well manner which influence the overall productivity as well as profitability (Somoon and
Sahachaisaree, 2012). Basically, management of Burj Al Arab hotel have to set various standards
and should follow all of then in order to complete their operational activities which further help
in achieving business goals & objectives.
Improvement in the operational activities will result the quality work which satisfy the
demand of consumers and make them satisfy after using their products & services. It further
helps in getting success at huge level. Along with this, one of the key issue of the organization
which resolve by using effective operational design such as wastage of resources which reduce
the overall cost of the product and services. It further help the management to meet their goals &
objective which maximise the production as well as profit margin. At the time of processing their
functions, organization make some changes as per the requirement which helps in improving
operational performance. Customer satisfaction is the most important aspect and it provide future
benefits in monetary terms (Wu and et.al., 2013). Satisfied customers recommend other people to
use the products & services of Burj Al Arab which is an word of mouth marketing. In the hotel
premises, there are number of technology used regarding power as well as time saving activity. It
further helps in helps in providing huge opportunity which enable the organization to influence
the sales revenue or operational design.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it has been concluded that, with the help of visual
merchandising business able to attract people through changing design or colour of the display .
Customers able to identify the uniqueness which generate the interest to use the products as well
as services at least once. Along with this, external merchandising play essential role to increase
the volume of customers which automatically increases the demand and sales. Organization have
to improve their performance with the help of necessary changes in the product display.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Baek, E. and et.al., 2015. An exploratory study on visual merchandising of an apparel store
utilizing 3D technology. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing. 6(1). pp.33-46.
Cant, M. C. and Hefer, M. Y., 2012. Visual merchandising displays: wasted effort or strategic
move? The dilemma faced by apparel retail stores. Journal of Applied Business
Research (JABR). 28(6). pp.1489-1496.
Hefer, Y. and Cant, M. C., 2013. Visual Merchandising Displays Effect On Consumers: A
Valuable Asset Or An Unnecessary Burden For Apparel Retailers. International
Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER). 12(10). pp.1217-1224.
Kernsom, T. and Sahachaisaeree, N., 2012. Strategic merchandising and effective composition
design of window display: a case of large scale department store in Bangkok. Procedia-
Social and Behavioral Sciences. 42. pp.422-428.
Law, D., Wong, C. and Yip, J., 2012. How does visual merchandising affect consumer affective
response? An intimate apparel experience. European Journal of marketing. 46(1/2).
pp.112-133.
Mehta, N. and Chugan, P. K., 2013. The impact of visual merchandising on impulse buying
behavior of consumer: A case from Central Mall of Ahmedabad India. Universal
Journal of Management. 1(2). pp.76-8.
Pegler, M. M., 2012. Visual merchandising. Kanada: Farchild Books.
Somoon, K. and Sahachaisaree, N., 2012. Design elements and users’ perceptual response: A
case of window display design for adolescent merchandising. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences. 50. pp.685-690.
Wu, J. and et.al., 2013. Fashion product display: An experiment with Mockshop investigating
colour, visual texture, and style coordination. International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management. 41(10). pp.765-789.
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