Inspiration Magazine: Innovation

Useful tips and resources prepared by business, industry and design experts to help retailers grow their businesses!

Retail’s New Best Friend

As the heart and soul of retailing further evolves, stores and the essence of shopping will continue to morph in unimaginable ways. However, amidst the storm of change, there is one aspect of shopping that remains pure, constant and motivational – the aspirational moment. For some, an aspirational moment is walking through the ABC Carpet Emporium in New York City, where the…

Adding History to Your Story

by Martin M. Pegler When you do a display—or merchandise presentation—you tell a “story”. It can be about how the products being featured complement a particular lifestyle or enhance an upcoming holiday dinner, or a new look or trend in home or housewares. Whatever you are trying to promote will benefit if you can illustrate a story in your display, especially if you can…

Increasing Impulse Shopping

by Martin M. Pegler If visual merchandising or display is vital anywhere in the retail space, it must be where impulse items are being offered. The whole concept of “impulse shopping” is based on attracting the shopper to a product that she did not come into the store to buy. It means, “waving a flag” in front of her—making her stop, take notice of, maybe try or touch, and…

Guide to Effective Retail Store Design

by Martin M. Pegler If RETAILING is your chosen path of livelihood, here are some simple guidelines you might like to consider when planning your retail store. 1. Let There Be Light! Without the proper light the merchandise cannot be seen or judged, colors cannot be appreciated, coordinates cannot be assembled, nor buying decisions made. Let your light be the best you can…

Reimagined Stores: Why We Need Display

by Martin M. Pegler I recently received a copy of a popular trade magazine, Chain Store Age, that had these words blazoned across the cover: “REIMAGINED STORES.” Though I am not really that active in my chosen field—I am like the proverbial old-time fire horse, let out to pasture, who still responds to the fire alarm sound though the horse has been replaced by trucks—my…

The Fresh Face of Retail

by Michelle Hespe We speak to Anne Kong, expert juror from the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia), about fresh trends in sustainable retailing. When brands like Apple make big changes in their approach to retail and branding, you know there’s change a-foot. In Apple’s new stores, the products are still the main drawcard, but the clever place-making is what makes people…

The Emotional Retail Game

by Michelle Hespe There are many convoluted dimensions when it comes to creating a special retail experience, and while Wolfgang Gruschwitz believes that the emotional dimension is the key to enticing a consumer into purchasing products, today it’s also about understanding a customer’s lifestyle choices in order to create a strong story for your brand, and a #PerfectStore.…

Emotive Retailing

Retail is not just about selling things—it’s about emotionally engaging potential customers, bringing them into your story and helping to make their dreams come true, explains retail expert and gia judge, Wolfgang Gruschwitz. The point of sale is, of course, the aim of a retailer. However, just as the journey is often more important and fulfilling than the destination, the…

Put a Smile in Your Display

by Martin M. Pegler What is a smile? Is it the enigmatic look on the face of the Mona Lisa that is called the Da Vinci smile? OR, is it that sudden expression of relief or pleasure or satisfaction that turns a dark, frowning visage into a sunny, glowing face that exudes a sense of hope?? There have been hundreds of songs written about SMILES, from the sad but lovely one by…