Sale signage: how to communicate value

Meadowhall last week was just recovering from the big freeze, which had seen it closing early on Tuesday, with a large number of its stores not opening owing to staff not managing to make it to work.

However, by Thursday it was up and running at full tilt and there were shoppers, in spite of the fact that there were large numbers of men in high-visibility jackets still trying to clear the lying snow from the huge roof of the two-storey car park that abuts the centre.

Fortunately, Meadowhall is astonishingly well-served by a tram and train public transport network that brings shoppers to its door from the heart of Sheffield in around six minutes.

January is always a bit of a worry if you’re a retailer. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been through it, once Christmas is out of the way, even given the inducement of the Sales, there are points at which it might seem that shoppers have disappeared for ever and it’s difficult not to wonder whether they will ever return.

That said, in Meadowhall, it was apparent that the majority of fashion retailers were putting their best feet forward and standards were generally high. A walk around the centre in the company of Jeanette Cheetham, senior brand consultant at Visual Thinking, did much to illustrate the highs and some of the visual merchandising lows that were on offer.

Cheetham was keen on the Zara approach to sales window. “The same posters have been used as in the last Sale and you do wonder, when you see new Sales treatments whether it’s entirely appropriate or whether it’s money well spent,” she said.

It is also worth remarking that while Meadowhall may be one of the UK’s older regional shopping schemes, it still continues to attract almost all of the major retail players.

It is in fact a good place in which to obtain a snapshot of current market conditions and the manner in which shoppers are reacting to the January Sales. Wallets may be thinner than they were a month back, but this does not mean that spending has ceased.

As a young fashion retailer, Bench is up against tough competition in the centre and like all others, is required to shine. “This is a store that says 100% Sale on everything inside, which is actually quite unusual,”

said Cheetham.

“A lot of stores at the moment have a 50/50 split in their windows between Sale and non-sale stock, so to see one that is just Sale is different. I think Bench may have been a little slow off the mark with their Sale and the posters that it has used are tacky and unprofessional.

“You have to ask why it couldn’t have got posters that would fit the windows. One of the challenges for any retailer is to make the store look appealing at Sale time.

“In this case, no attempt has been made to hide the fact that there’s a Sale going on. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it still looks the same in a week to 10 days time. The scrolling dot-matrix logo is a nice touch though.”

Bench

As a young fashion retailer, Bench is up against tough competition in the centre and like all others, is required to shine. “This is a store that says 100% Sale on everything inside, which is actually quite unusual,”

said Cheetham.

“A lot of stores at the moment have a 50/50 split in their windows between Sale and non-sale stock, so to see one that is just Sale is different. I think Bench may have been a little slow off the mark with their Sale and the posters that it has used are tacky and unprofessional.

“You have to ask why it couldn’t have got posters that would fit the windows. One of the challenges for any retailer is to make the store look appealing at Sale time.

“In this case, no attempt has been made to hide the fact that there’s a Sale going on. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it still looks the same in a week to 10 days time. The scrolling dot-matrix logo is a nice touch though.”

Ted Baker

This was one of the busiest stores in the centre, allowing for its size, and yet it had one of the most subtly promotional windows in the centre. A single decal had been applied to the window informing shoppers that there was a Sale in progress.

Cheetham commented: “This is about not devaluing the brand just because you happen to be on Sale. Anything where you move away from paper-led banner treatments automatically elevates the offer.

“The way in which the Sale windows have been created is not a real footfall driver, but draws the attention of those who would normally shop here anyway. What it says is: ‘Hey we’ve got a Sale on, but come and look at some of the other stuff as well’.”

In the event, a quick examination of the interior revealed the fact that the store was in full clearance mode and that shoppers were stripping the rails of discounted stock.

One of the more interesting elements of this store was the manner in which it succeeded in keeping the sense of this being a brand experience, even when the bulk of the store was awash with discounted rails of stock and new season was only really apparent around the perimeter.

All Saints

Cheetham liked what was being done by the fashion retailer: “This store is very low-key in terms of the way in which the Sale has been approached. Like Zara, All Saints has taken some of the posters that it used earlier in the year and that’s a good thing because it does help to establish a look for the brand.

“It does keep things simple and as this is a niche brand, it’s important that people know what you stand for. There is an element of agelessness about

All Saints, you can wear it whether you’re in your early 20s or mid-40s, even although it is predominantly a younger proposition.

“It does appear to have cornered the market in used Singer sewing machines for the windows and if you were going to be critical, the in-store equipment that it has created for its stores will undoubtedly have been expensive, but is in danger of becoming dated.

“It also happens to be a store design that’s very copyable. Nevertheless, this is a very understated Sale message and one that’s right for All Saints.”

All Saints price structure is at the better end of the mid-market and therefore substantial reductions were in evidence in the store. Shoppers

were responding.

Russell & Bromley

The purveyor of upscale shoes had opted for a distinctly date-stamped approach towards telling shoppers that it was on Sale.

“You could criticise Russell & Bromley for the choice of font, but at least it has used banners, rather than plastering the windows. But the treatment is old-fashioned, whichever way you look at it.

“This is a ‘classic’ store and the trouble with that, these days, is that classic actually means old. It’s a brand that’s in need of a new store design.

“Given that there are fewer players around these days in the shoe market, you have to be even sharper with prices and the way you promote

Topshop

The best Sale window of the day for Cheetham, and probably the simplest. “It’s big, it’s bold and it’s unequivocal,” she said.

“It has really not tried to overcomplicate the message and inside the shop there’s a very clever segmentation by size for the Sale merchandise, which makes it easy to shop.

“It has also gone for the single, large Sale banner in one window and then given the other window over to promoting full-price stock. And it has made sure that the new stock, rather than the Sale merchandise, is what’s at the front of the shop.

“In doing this, Topshop gets faster recognition for their new fashion and maintains its position as a fashion leader. It’s almost like giving the stock an early trial. The Sale poster is not the most well-hung I’ve ever seen, but it does do the job.”

A vote of confidence therefore for Sir Philip’s flagship fascia - which went a long way towards showing how a Sale should be handled. New

GIVe

The fledgling retailer has a store in Meadowhall and in spite of lingering for some time in front of it, shoppers were not being tempted by its siren call. However, Cheetham approved of what had been done for the Sale.

“This is a better use of mannequins than in River Island. The GIVe sashes that

are wrapped around the mannequins look good and it is impressive the way in which it has taken the word ‘SALe’ and made it marry up with the logo treatment.

“It also looks quite stylish inside and doesn’t feel too much like a Sale.

Perhaps GIVe should have had bigger Sale posters and maybe making the mannequins sashes say Sale would have been good, but the whole thing does

feel as if it’s been well thought through.”

Jane Norman

“This looks like it is trying too hard,” said Cheetham. “There’s so much going on with the posters that the impact of the 70%-off poster is almost entirely lost.

“I would have done away with the imagery and just gone with the Sale message. The repetition of the poster does nothing to reinforce what is happening. And then you take a look inside and the first thing you see is a high rail running the width of the store that acts as a barrier to seeing into the store.

“This feels like a Sale treatment from a brand with a lower style level. It could have been done better.”

River Island

The young fashion chain had adopted its usual Sale approach, consisting of

red “Sale” T-shirted mannequins with posters stuck across the windows.

Cheetham was quick to point out some of the shortcomings of the approach.

“It has gone for a vinyl treatment in the windows, but I have to say, given there’s a big River Island logo above the window, does it really need to have red posters saying ‘River Island Sale’? It has overcomplicated the message and obviously hasn’t got enough half-price stock, which is why it has gone for the smaller poster, in green and white, which tells you about this. The problem is that it’s almost impossible to read.

“And then mannequins in Sale T-shirts - is that really needed? It’s a case of overkill. There’s just too much going on. It’s a little bit disappointing really.”