Ambience

Anthropologie, London, takes floral decorations to the next dimension, with a vertical garden that spans two floors and acts as an impressive backdrop to the atrium.

Conventional visual merchandising may not always be enough to get the overall ambience of the store right. Retailers worldwide strive to offer their customers experiences that are not just merchandise-led. Interaction with a DJ or the tasting of food are just two of the experiences that today’s customer now expects.

Music

The visual merchandiser’s role often might not stop at laying out the shop floor and ensuring that the store is presentable and promoting the brand image. Today, it is likely that visual merchandisers will also be called upon to look at the overall level of the store’s ambience and atmosphere. They may be asked to decide if music should be played while the customers shop, and if so, what they should be listening to.

Music undoubtedly will add ambience; however, it is wise to consider which music suits the style of merchandise and the customer. A loud din of contemporary music may be off-putting to an older woman shopping for curtains, while it might inspire a younger audience browsing in a jeans shop. It may also be sensible to check that the lyrics are not offensive.

Aromas and scents

Aromas and scents will stimulate the senses of shoppers—provided that the customer likes the smell. Atmospheric aromas can also be introduced to an area that warrants them and can help to promote a product. Scented candles displayed in an aromatic environment will boost sales.

Some aromas are linked to their product category, particularly if that is an item of food, but it is always best to ensure that items are fresh. Nasty smells will, of course, be off-putting; disguising them will only act as a short-term solution. The aroma of freshly baked bread in a bakery will entice the customer to spend, yet the smell of stale fish in a fish seller’s shop will not have the same effect (the only solution would be to ensure that the fixtures and fridges are cleaned regularly). It is always wise to localize aromas to areas where they can be monitored and amended.

This rendering of the new Villa Moda store in Bahrain by Marcel Wanders aims to have all the elements that bring together the ambience of a store—theater, architecture, lighting, and mannequins.

For years, department stores have toyed with the idea of pumping aromas through air-conditioning systems to please shoppers. This idea, however, has never been proven to work. Everyone’s senses are different; what one may like, another may loathe. In an extreme case, a customer may be allergic to an alien smell—with genuinely distressing consequences.

Plants

Plants are a great way of creating ambience, color, and even scent. All will need watering, but outdoor plants will need to be placed outside for periods to make them last.