Retailers have said more than once: If a particular item isn’t selling as hoped, move it to a new spot. That piece might not be new to you, but it might be new to a customer seeing it in a fresh location. Reinvigorated merchandising helps customers — loyal and new — to see your home furnishings, lighting, gift or other retail store in a new light, which can often drive traffic and register rings.
Time is precious for retailers. So how do you achieve winning new merchandising with minimal effort? There is no easier way to attain a fresh look in a store than updating the fixtures that house the merchandise.
“We try to educate our retail customers to update fixtures every three to five years,” says Josh McKay, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Kalalou. “Customers pick up on changes immediately when you change the fixtures. They know it felt one way the last time, and it feels different this time.”
Updating fixtures every three to five years… wouldn’t that be costly? With a little creativity and Kalalou as a partner, it doesn’t have to be. Kalalou showcases a mix of everything from accent pieces to botanicals, lighting and furniture. There’s so much to see in a Kalalou showroom, you could miss that the multitude of eclectic, multifunctional display pieces in the showroom are also for sale… as they could be in your retail store.
Kalalou supplies a plethora of display pieces in different sizes, styles, materials and finishes. From tables to shelving to stackables to glass-enclosed cases, these pieces come equipped with reasonable price points, flat-rate shipping and dedicated customer support. Even better, many of these display pieces are exclusive to Kalalou, which gives retailers something unique that won’t be seen everywhere.
“We have a mix of materials that are on point with today’s trends,” McKay says. “These are well-thought-out pieces. You’re getting a great aesthetic that affords you the function you are looking for with merchandise presentation.”
Kalalou’s display furniture covers a bevy of aesthetics from rustic to industrial, modern and beyond. They also feature materials and finishes that span from square iron to rosewood to stained or natural mango and acacia. There are even pieces that are constructed from recycled pallet wood — adding a sustainability story — for customers looking for that focus. In some cases, woods and metals are mixed for even broader appeal.
McKay also suggests that as a retailer, you should have a price tag on that display piece. “Wouldn’t you like to have a $1,000 purchase at the end of the day?” he suggests. That’s possible with Kalalou’s versatile furniture, which works as well in a residential environment as it does on a retail floor. Kalalou works with its retail partners to make these purchases easy. That display piece can stay put; a retailer can place the order with Kalalou, and the company will ship it to the address provided.
As far as merchandising and display are concerned, Kalalou is there as a partner with your retail store, even beyond providing these display pieces that can double as revenue drivers.
Brick-and-mortar retail can be challenging in today’s environment, with consumer expectations and online competition. To drive traffic and sales, bringing unique experiences to customers, new and loyal, is critical. “You don’t want to be the person waiting for the tide to change,” says McKay. “You want to bring the changes to the tide. We want to help you with this.”
Events such as ladies’ night out, a spring open house, monthly gatherings that get the community buzzing about your store can all help drive traffic and make your store a destination. “Give them a reason to come in and have fun,” McKay continues. “On the heels of event planning, when was the last time you updated your store? Move some things around, bring in a couple of [display] pieces around the entrance that make your store feel newer.”
Kalalou can help you meet the function in a quality and value-entrenched way that provides a beautiful aesthetic at the same time. Customers won’t feel merchandise changes as quickly as they’d feel the impact of changed fixtures. With Kalalou, changing out fixtures is easy and affordable, and can breathe fresh life into a store. “If you’re looking for growth, let’s create an environment that fosters and encourages that growth,” says McKay.
