How to maximise your retail impact

06/06/2025

Emma Fletcher PGA is a Retail Consultant for TGI Golf Partnership. Here she discusses the importance of visual merchandising and offers some top tips from the Retail Services Group as to how to make sure you get it right

The importance of visual merchandising for any store cannot be underestimated. It can dictate many things, not just the experience of your customers. For example, it can influence purchasing decisions, the types of products bought and even the price you charge for them.

Take Harrods for example. You could take a £50 sweater, put it in a perfectly manicured shopping environment and charge double for it – the customer will pay it. Take that same sweater and pop it into a poorly merchandised, dirty store with product all over the place and you’d be lucky to get £20 for it.

Customer perception plays a huge part in the success – or not – of a retail venue, so let’s have a look at some top tips to ensure you are getting things spot on.

The Basics

If your shop is not clean then I’m afraid it is not appealing to anyone – who would want to buy products from a shop that is dirty? How would you feel if you walked into John Lewis to buy a television, and you watched them blow the dust off it before giving it to you? Or Next for a shirt and they had to wipe the dust off the collar before handing it over?

Check the dusting and make sure there are no dead flies on the windowsill. Run the vacuum and dusting cloth around at the end of every day.

While we’re talking about cleanliness, let’s discuss cardboard boxes, which should never be seen on the shop floor. There’s an old saying that we like and that is: ‘If you can’t sell it, it shouldn’t be on the shop floor.’

High-quality point-of-sale (POS) materials can significantly impact sales. A colourful, well-designed poster – like the one here created using TGI Golf’s free MyMarketing HUB – draws attention to products.

Make sure posters are kept up to date. Still displaying promotions for events that have already passed? It’s time to take them down.

Tired or damaged signage – dog-eared strut cards, cracked holders or weather-worn posters – needs to go. Anything that doesn’t look 100 per cent professional should not be on display.

Posters should always be in a frame or an acrylic holder. Paper taped to the wall is a big no-no. You won’t see that in any high street store.

If your shop is not clean, then I’m afraid it is not appealing to anyone

- Emma Fletcher

Take a Walk

How customers move through your store is key to maximising product visibility. Remember: eye line is buy line.

Shopping your shop is a great way to discover hot spots with the current traffic flow. Make it a habit that every time you open the shop you take a walk around it as if you were a customer.

Where is your eye drawn to as you walk around? Are you making the most of these hot spots? Research shows that more than 90 per cent of customers look up and right when entering a store. Did you? If so, what did you see?

Visualise your store balanced on a pin – if all the high-demand products are grouped in one area, the store ‘tips’. Distribute them evenly to keep everything in balance.

Utilise your till system to highlight any slow-moving product, then move that to one of your shop’s hotspots and see how it sells.

Emma’s Cheat Sheet

Here are five quick tips to help with your visual merchandising:

1. Fold It

Use a folding board - and folding paper for extra polish. If it’s not hanging, make sure it’s neatly folded.

2. Symmetry

Shoppers are drawn to symmetry. Avoid throwing every colour into a display—keep things coordinated and uniform.

3. Size It

Arrange clothing by size. Add size cubes to hangers and avoid cramming too much onto one rail.

4. Branded Areas

Group brands together—Ping in one section, Callaway in another, and so on. Don’t mix brands unless you’re creating a themed display (eg for the majors, Father’s Day or Christmas).

5. Don't Cram It

Resist the urge to put everything out at once. Adopt a replenishment system—sell one, replace one. Think high-end: spacious, minimalist layouts make products feel premium. Avoid the cluttered TK Maxx look. If you lack a storeroom, stagger your deliveries. Speak to your ASM and create a plan so your rails aren’t overcrowded – customers need to be able to see what’s on display.

About Emma

Emma Fletcher is a PGA Professional. She began her career at Morecambe Golf Club working in the pro shop and qualified as a PGA Professional in 2017, when her role changed to include coaching and custom fitting. She joined TGI Golf in March and now assists fellow PGA Members in every aspect of their business, passing on the group’s expertise to ensure they run successful and profitable businesses.