? for Retail Owners

[pdevine]

I opened my retail shop up in Nov and am having a tough time deciding how I want to display ALL of my candles. For most fragrances that I carry, I make the following:

Tins 4 & 8oz

8 oz Square masons

Flower Pots (the clear glass one's)

Votives & Tealights

Mottle 3x3 & 3x6 pillars

Some fragrances, also Linen/Room Spray

I can't decide whether to display everything in the same fragrance together or to display same containers (no matter the fragrance) together.

How do you prefer displaying your items? TIA Portia

[theoldehearth]

I'd probably would group them by scents so that way, the customers can choose their pick of containers,votives & tealights right away and not have to look for them.

I'm opening my shop this spring so I've been brainstorming on displays, layout, decor,etc. and that is probably what I'll do with my scents.

HTH

Shannon

[mixnwax]

I keep mine displayed by the scent. My personal reason for this is that my store is not particularly large and I noticed when I seperate the colors it tends to make everything look too busy which I have noticed means the customer stops seriously looking and smelling half way through the store and that's not a good sign. hth

[sockmonkey]

I think it's advantageous to group all scents together. My reasoning is that shoppers can see all items that are available at once.

Some shoppers may only burn candles and never use room spray. If they go into your shop with the intention of only buying a candle they may never venture into other areas of your shop where the room spray is located. But, if while they're standing there looking at candles they see their favorite scent is also available in a room spray they might decide to add a bottle to their purchase. Organizing that way makes it easy for lazy shoppers or people who are in a hurry to make their selections.

I think if you display by container type something will probably get overlooked by customers.

[SpaceGirl]

I don't have a retail store (not even close!) but as a customer I like to have sscents grouped together. If you're worried about having customers miss some of your scents because there are too many to look at, you could pick a couple of areas to display a mix. If you happen to have some small items, you could group them in all scents on the checkout counter? Like small sprays or lotions (sorry , realized you didn't list B&B stuff). And maybe feature a new "item" every month on a central display table in all the scents -- like all candle tins in all the scents. That way you can also rotate some stock as well.

Just my 2 cents

[debscent]

As a consumer, keep the scent lines together. I tend to buy "everything" in the scent, therefore more sales for you. I am the shopper that buys, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, lotion, etc. that all compliment each other...yes, I spend too much $$ on smelly things.

[pdevine]

That's kinda the answer I expected to get. And just to see what it would look like, it's too boring. I went ahead and arranged a section with size and like containers on a shelf, then pillars to themselves and it just didn't look too presentable "eye catching" to me. Right now, I'm carrying 65 fragrances, so I'm gonna have to find enough space to do this. Oh, lord wouldn't I loveeeee to have a family member who was an interior decorator right about now:yay: Thanks,,,,,,,Portia

[andrealh1975]

Portia think about the way Bath & Body works is laid out. They group everything in a particular scent together. And like the others said, it could be more sales for you when customers see that you make x amount of things in their favorite fragrance. HTH

[sockmonkey]

65 scents is a huge amount. If you plan on having that many scents in stock, how many of each scent do you plan on displaying? It seems like it would be overwhelming to create and maintain a substantial inventory of 65 different scents if you're just starting out in retail and making them yourself.

It's only my opinion, but I think it would have a greater impact if you cut back on so many scents but displayed more of fewer scents. I think 30 scents is a large amount to offer customers.

It might benefit you if you pay a visit B&BW and a Yankee candle store to see how they arrange their items. What type of look are you going for, a more upscale look or maybe a country look? What type of shelving do you already have to work with? Maybe we can help with arrangement ideas.

[lindsaycb]

My question would be ...how many of each do you have poured & on the shelf. If its only two or three, yes BORING. But when you jam it full of 12 pillars, 12 tins, etc. etc...it looks full & stocked like a mercantile store.

Something to think about...figure out cool ways to label the scents. If its buying extra large wooden letters & painting them in coordinating colors. Or tacking them at funny angles on the shelves. Be creative instead of the same sign for each shelving area.

I would think one central located display of a pillar in each fragrance would be neat. & then on top, put one of those sign posts like they had in Mash that has an area for every location of the scent & put fun things, like ten paces and a nose (how far to get there) or two baby steps to the right. That'd be worth a chatter in the store.