Salon Window Display Ideas

Window displays, are you making the most of yours?

Today I wanted to look at how important your salon window display is to your marketing efforts, as well as sharing some tips and ideas to try.

First impressions count so invest some time and effort into planning your display and reap the rewards.

There are so many options out there, you can pay someone to build your display, go it alone, or get your team involved. Make sure you fully utilise this area of prime real estate to market your salon by picking your ideal client to pitch your efforts.

Grabbing attention is what you need your window display to do for your salon premises. You need it to do the talking for you, drive business inside and attract customers. It is the first thing they see even before entering your salon. So you want it to convey the right message to entice them inside. It is a key area in branding and retail, and many salons pass up on this ‘window of opportunity’!

Boost your retail sales

By displaying what you have to offer in a way of retail items, you can outreach further than your existing clientele.

By this I mean, anyone passing by can see you are stockists of X, Y and Z and therefore purchase as a result, which could increase your footfall through the door. This means extra income for your salon by simply exhibiting your stock.

It also piques interest of passers by enticing them inside to enquire if you display a number of interesting and current brands.

Watch it have a positive impact on your business today!

Do your market research

Having an understanding of what people want is the basic rule of thumb when it comes to marketing. So applying this to your window display ensemble will help you better understand your ideal customer and who you want to sell to.

Do you want to attract the high end customers, who will buy whatever the latest product is, irrespective of the price? Or do you want to sell to a more middle of the road crowd? Or maybe bargain hunters, where an offer in the window might be more apt?

A combination of both may do the trick? Although, you may wish to be careful as with most things, trying to please all often results in not pleasing any!

Be mindful of it looking like a strange amalgam of products, that send a mixed message about your salon and what’s inside. Keep it fluid and in keeping with your branding.

Decide on what type of display

Next, you will need to decide what type of window display you want. Will it tell a story? Be whimsical or a little off the wall? All these need to be factored in before deciding which angle you will come in at.

Remember, be consistent. You are building a brand so you need to keep it relevant and in correspondence with all areas of your salon. And you may want to reign in the amount of products you display too. Too few and it looks a little sad but too many and people will struggle to see what you do sell.

You are a hair salon after all, not the discount store!

Choose a theme

Choose a theme, and keep it harmonious with your salon.

Picking a theme is the fun part, get your creative juices flowing!

Changing with the seasons is a great one, as used by many retail establishments. Here, you can switch your products up in accordance to the time of year.

Think, summer time – leave in conditioners and colour protection and at Christmas time you could go down the gift set route. Each season offers great potential to sell, sell, sell!

Obviously Christmas is our major money maker in the hair industry, as we are well aware, but why stop here? Easter, Thanksgiving, Autumn, New Year (Spring) to mind…

Now more than ever, people are clued up on their hair needs at various stages throughout the year. So why not capitalise on this by being one step ahead on knowing what they want at any given time? Stores like Macy’s and Saks fifth Avenue are renowned for their window displays. Take a page from their book and get creative!

What grabs your attention when walking past store fronts? Is it the colour scheme, theme, or the items themselves? Have a think and tailor the space to your requirements and preference.

Which products make the cut?

Now here is where you need to think carefully about which products you wish to display.

Again this depends invariably on what theme you have chosen. For example, if you have gone for a specific colour scheme, your chosen products need to compliment said theme.

Will you focus on your best sellers? Or do you attempt to promote your less popular items in the hope they will sell within the right environment?

Everyone loves to make a saving right?! So why not appeal to the majority and display some sale items too, these appeal to peoples bank balance and in turn your profits.

Hone in on your prospective clients wants and needs

Now by this I mean, people will generally buy what they need anyway.

Your aim is to hone in on peoples ‘need’ to be up to date and current. This is why adverts are so prevalent in today’s society, they turns our ‘needs’ into wants and we play right into their hands by buying these products put in front of us.

We are constantly being sold to, whether or not we realise or want it.

Have you ever watched an advert for something you have never previously seen or heard of? Then suddenly, you need this item, despite never having heard of it before and immediately rush out to purchase it.

It is this exact scenario you need to recreate for your passers by, the need to know…“what is that product? I must inquire inside because I want it now”!

Regularly update your window displays

This is vitally important to ensure people take notice of your salon and see it as innovative.

Don’t get pigeonholed as ‘behind the times’ – by leaving the same display for too long. It starts to lose impact. The idea gets stale and this will be generally perceived as a reflection inside your salon as well.

You don’t have to change up your display weekly – unless of course you want to!

It can be as simple as modifying a few select products and their placement within the window. Keep it fresh and it will outwardly appear your salon is contemporary and keeping up appearances.

Another obvious pointer is keep it clean! Having old faded products sat gathering dust does not give a good first impression and as mentioned above, will imply you are uncommitted to the well being of your salon. Which for all the potential client knows, extends inside too.

Don't overlook your salon exterior

On a side note, it is also essential to keep the exterior of your salon looking nice.

Before people even see your window display, they will notice the shop front. If that happens to be: peeling paint work with weeds growing up the sides and a dirty fascia you will turn people away, before they even enter your salon.

Keep on top of this area to ensure it looks approachable, clean and well maintained to ensure you grab the attention of passers by for the right reasons.

So to wrap up, if you could take away one point from this article it should be this;

Make the most of this area, whether it is big or small.

Take advantage of this key area for potential and existing customers plus the free promotion opportunity for product sales!

Don’t neglect this prime position fronting your salon and get ready to make way for some free advertising.