Michael Hale, owner, founder and creative director for Los Angeles-based retail consulting firm Retail Rehab, has worked with many clients over the years, helping them improve visual merchandising within their stores. Hale presented on visual merchandising during the Coastal Connections Conference, which took place Oct. 22-24, 2023. He shared that the most common mistake he sees at retail shops is an overabundance of merchandise.
“There are a lot of times where stores think that more is more,” he said. “But when we try to make it [where] only have two feet [between aisles] and you’re trying to get people to shimmy through, they’re shimmying right past what you want them to look at. I would say eight out of 10 clients that come to me and request my help with merchandising, one of the biggest things I do is request that they look at their sales and find out what their top sellers are.”
Hale also explained that 20% of merchandise tends to produce 80% of a store’s sales.
He said, “If you look at your assortment and you get rid of the stuff that you maybe sell one or two of in a month, if you get rid of that and focus on the items that you sell most, that’s really the biggest thing — over-assortment and trying to fit 10 pounds into a 5-pound box. You can! But I don’t find it always being the most successful way of merchandising.”
