Market Know-how: Attention: Items Behind Glass

If there are 7- 8 shops selling the same products in a row, each of them needs to have something special to stand out from the others. Having a good window display plays an imp0ortant role in this. And proprietors of shopping centers usually give relative freedom to tenants in filling their display space.

The view from within

“One of the main requirements from the point of view of tenants is the presence of a display window,” says leading consultant of Magazin Magazinov Viktoria Didovich. Some chain operators specify that the window should have a minimum width. For example, trademark New Yorker requires no less than 12 meters. But, according to her there can be exceptions, depending of the interest of the brand in this or that shopping center. For example, the optimum display window for trademark Zara is 33 meters, but at times this can be reduced to 16-18 meters. Svetlana Ionova, director of the rental department at ADG Group, agrees, adding that the minimum length for a display window for Mango is not less than 15 meters and for Detsky Mir stores is not less than 12 meters.

Alexander Osipov, head of the consulting department at Astera, says that the size of a display window is “the most significant requirement for a tenant.” The bigger the shop the bigger the window. For small shops 3 meters wide is sufficient, while larger shops measuring from 1,000 sq.m need 12 meters, the expert says. A shop with a corner location can increase the size of the display window by up to 50 per cent in relation to the internal measurements of the walls.

Every retailer has an individual set of requirements regarding the parameters of display windows and their formation, and depends on the concept of the store and the style of the company, says Elena Zakharova, a consultant in the retail real estate department at Cushman & Wakefield/Stiles & Riabokobylko. The key factor is recognizing the brand in the shopping center. The display window of a shop should be noticeably unique. For example to attract attention to certain details accented lighting can be used.

Often, the proprietors of shopping centers develop a design guide, according to which projects should be carried out, says Ionova. In this document the proprietor specifies, for example, which materials can be used for decoration and which can’t, the recommended places and methods of fastening for signs and lighting requirements. For example, you cannot use fragile glass in a display window. In general window designs should meet modern requirements. For example, in quality shopping centers the use of window displays with metal structures is prohibited.

The internal regulations of the shopping center may also contain requirements regulating the appearance of the appearance of window displays. Among other things it can be the ability to see through into the store or obligatory seasonal renewal of the display. In Didovich’s opinion, besides the “beauty” of the display, it is necessary to consider the cleaning of the windows and the area adjacent to them.

Consultants are assured: the most disciplined in this plan are chain operators. Their approach is the same. The majority of such companies are familiar with the standards of shopping complexes, and therefore conflicts don’t arise. Individual companies that don’t have much experience in renting premises in shopping centers can cause more problems. But retail representatives have different approaches to window displays. For example, a small window display in connection to the specific type of goods on sale is sufficient for a shoe shop, while for a jewelry store, on the contrary, they prefer something much bigger, often a corner window with strong lighting, say the experts.

First impressions

Retailers confirm that they have certain requirements regarding window displays. Cosmetics or clothes stores require different paces to show things in their best light. But more often than not, these requirements are put aside, especially, if from the point of view of marketing, it is important for the company to be present in this or that shopping center. In fact, when they come, they come to a completed shopping center. Nobody will break down walls for them.

There is no fashion in dressing windows, market participants say. Just as there are no fashionable designer-decorators, declare chains questioned by Vedomosti. Regular window designers of companies create the concept of a brand. Everyone does the best they can: some use bright colors for window displays, some use unusual goods, others simulate hand inscriptions. Anything to stand out from other shops and be remembered by the consumer.

The LeFutur chain (shops that sell amazing things) was created in 2002. Initially the project was planned as shops selling non-standard gadgets, director of the marketing and advertising department at United Brand Company Kirill Plyushchev says. According to this the design for window displays was created. To attract buyers bright orange color was chosen, which in those days was absolutely unusual for retail. The principle of displaying unusual goods in the window display was chosen, says Plyushchev. For example, in a window display there was a fur monitor. This was done so the buyer would understand that if he came inside, he would find unusual goods. Plyushchev is sure: it is more logical to have in-house designers that are engaged in the development of window dressing, than have to explain every time to a temporarily employed expert what LeFutur is and what the essence of its brand is.

In Lush shops handmade English cosmetics are sold. Bright and unusual cosmetic goods in the window display spread such an aroma that you want to come inside simply because of the smell. All prices and signs are made in the style of hand writing, which also strongly distinguishes the window display of the shops of this brand from others. Your attention is drawn by the original lights that change on a regular basis depending on the season, forthcoming holidays or new collections in the shop, deputy brand manager of the company Mariana Sorokina says. In each country a team of designers-merchandisers work on the development of the design of window displays.

"I always liked to look at the picturesque heaps of goods in greengrocers," says Mark Konstantin, the founder and managing director of Lush. A source of inspiration for the creation of the style and design were cheese shops, German vegetarian restaurants and fish counters in the south of France.

The company Rendez-vous, which owns shoe shops, has said that the redesign of the window displays in all their shops has now begun. The first to be carried out is a boutique in the Okhotny Ryad shopping center. This is being carried out by the art-director of Jean-Francois Shavat. Window and corner displays are being redesigned, says head of marketing and advertising services Elena Yusupova. For the new displays the expensive material corian (chocolate colored stone) will be used and experiments with light are planned. The concept for the dressing of shop windows of Dikaya Orkhideya was developed by the president of the chain during its establishment. PR director of the company Oksana Donskaya says in order to attract buyers to the shops they completely change the window displays for holidays and festivals (New Year or Women’s Day) when there is a splash of consumer activity. At this time any new things are thought out. For example, shares Donskaya, for one New Years holiday all the window displays of Dikaya Orkhideya were black. However she is certain of the fact that a window display should not be overloaded with details.

Each of the central offices of Inditex, which owns eight trademarks - Zara, Bershka, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterque - has its own staff of designers which develop the designs of window displays in 70 countries for almost 4,000 shops. "The team of designers takes the collections of each season and its main trends and creates a special seasonal design. As soon as the images of the season have been approved, the elements of the decor for window displays are collected and the team of designers from the central office and other offices around the world gather to discuss designs and make sure that the image of the window displays across the world will correspond to the main line/idea of the given season," shares Angelina Semenyuk, PR manager of the company.

At the central office of each brand there is a "trial shop" where coordinators and designers work and where the «testing" of new window displays take place. But in some cases Inditex uses the services of well-known designers. For example, for the latest collection, Easy Edges chairs by Frank Gehry were used. The window displays of different brands reflect their concept. For example, the displays of Bershka are brighter because it is a youth brand, while the window displays of Massimo Dutti are stricter and more elegant, concludes Semenyuk.

Viktoria Bessarabova, marketing manager at Maratex, which represents various clothes and footwear brands in the Russian market including Aldo, Companys, Orsay and Esprit, adds that the principles of dressing window displays in all the franchises of the chains are practically identical. The concept is developed in the West, and the main requirement is for Russian shops to conform to western samples. The main difference is that all the materials for window displays for more well-known brands, as a rule, are made in Europe and then sent to Russia with visual instructions. This concerns, for example, the Esprit shops. Less known brands, she says, trust their Russian colleagues more. Therefore all decoration is done in Russia with the approval of materials and samples.