Contribución del visual merchandising a la comunicación de la identidad de marcas de moda en el retail

Abstract

The world of stores is changing. The strong arrival of ecommerce through mobile devices, proliferation of shopping centers linked to leisure, internationalization of companies in countries whose cultures are different than their place of origin, presence of international brands in national shopping centers, the spread of renowned firms¿ outlets, and awareness for sustainability are some of the factors that drive the efforts of traditional establishments to improve their image ¿ because image is what connects to the customer. It is in this environment that businesses want to make clear how brands physically attract consumers into the stores through their emotions. Visual merchandising, in particular, is shown to be the most effective strategy to communicate brand identity in the store place, that is, a location where a brand says who it is. Or, for some industries, as is fashion, it is the stage with equal or more effectiveness than other strategies (advertising, packaging) which reinforces a coherent brand message in an integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach. Fashion, specifically, has evolved extraordinarily during the last decades in Spain with one of every two enterprises increasing its staff in 2012. Moreover, 2013 saw the international expansion of retailers like Zara, Mango, Camper and Desigual, although it was also affected by consequences of the unprecedented crisis. For all of these reasons this investigator is in accordance with Lea-Greenwood defining VM as ¿the first and most important element for retailer¿. Based on the interviews performed, it can be said that, in the textile sector in Spain, if there appears to be a strategy of VM linked to business strategy, then the finding implies that VM must be considered from the Communication Department as a main source for maintaining coherence. To comprehend VM as a communication tool of brand identity in fashion sector implies an understanding that: a. Product change requires changing VM. b. If VM were strategic for companies, more budget and personnel would be authorized. c. Brands that neglect brand identity in retail also overlook the intangibles so much appreciated in aspirational sectors, such as fashion, and lose control of brand distributed through multichannel systems. The research evaluates the ability of VM to transmit emotions in a sector where visual representation of brands is especially significant. VM does it as other marketing tools (such as advertising or graphics) but through the store¿s personality endowed with the brand and though sensorial experience at the point of sale. Besides the beneficial effects of the ¿retail branding¿, it is necessary to emphasize that we cannot attribute to VM an exclusive relationship of cause - effect with the personality of the emotional brand, since they influence other variables at the moment of creating the customers¿ perception of the marks, for example, price, advertising, events, websites and even e-tailers. What can be concluded is that the variation of VM¿s emotional capacity in fashion retail depends on four criteria: season, distribution system type, consumer motivation and usage context and consumer situation. There are buyers that enjoy shopping for clothes and others don¿t; there are those who are conscious of the fashion sector and others who are not interested enough in VM¿s work. Retail¿s bases are established with this work assuming that offline behavior is the strongest predictor of online shopping. This phenomenon can be explained because competitive advantage based on design atmospheres is not possible for retailers that only sell on the Internet. A website cannot reach consumer¿s senses as an atmosphere when the consumer is physically inside the store. Reaction to store atmosphere is a very strong influence on consumer¿s perceptions about merchandise quality.