The Visual Merchandising. The Hangers for the Clothes Presentation.
Galun D., Ph.D.
Hangers
are used for effective presentation of products in the practice of visual merchandising. The hangers
can be divided into the waist and shoulder as well as all the clothes, similar to the names of the bearing surfaces of the human body. The waist hangers imitate lower
bearing surface of the human body
bounded above by waistline. The shoulder
ones simulate an upper seat
delimited above by junction lines of
torso with neck and
upper limbs. Suit hanger is a symbiosis of the shoulder and waist hangers
and it is intended for simultaneous posting the shoulder and waist products on the
same hanger.
The variety of the hangers
is determined by their design and
the materials used. Hanger design is an integral part of branded identity style. In terms of branding, clothes hangers can be divided into branded or not. A company does
not miss an opportunity to advertise themselves once again on
the sales site when using branded hangers. An approximate filling by 2000 units
sited on hangers per 100 square meters is characteristic at the average for the store of massmarket. Thus, an
attentive consumer can see the
trademark logo for at least 400 times (in the case of five
sizes in the range) while regarding each model that is in the trading hall. In such a way it is about 400 totally free
advertising visual repetitions
and its effectiveness can be compared with one of the techniques of trance induction - perseverance, as well as Internet banners and TV
advertising. Even if there is no logo
on the hanger, they can be an integral
part of the interior or may be done in the company colors brand.
Plastic
is widely used for massmarks as the basic material for hangers due to economic reasons, wood is used rarely.
Shoulder flocked hangers or hangers with hooks or slots for attaching
a textile or silicone
loops are used for
knitwear, dresses and blouses with a deep neckline. Wooden hangers are most prevalent among
the clothing shops of premium
class. The color and texture
of the wood can be quite diverse and it may draw attention to the
product or dissolve it in the interior. Today the world around is technologic and complex, overloaded with information, packed by glass and plastic office
furniture. Thereby wood is
a material, which creates an
atmosphere of psychological relaxation by its heat
«alive» in the interior. Neither synthetic material can fill
the store with such a great
natural power as wood. In addition, it is very durable material that allows you to exploit the hangers for a long time. However,
the problem of keeping merchantability
of articles made from lightweight fabric
and knitwear arise when using heavy wooden hangers. In
a case of falling, the hanger can deform the product
of fine fabric with
the impact against the floor.
If plastic hangers
are used for the product presentation,
they are covered with flock in some cases, and
feel like velour or velvet. Velvet is
a luxurious and noble material,
no wonder it is used for decoration,
curtains, furniture, etc. Plastic hangers with a woven cover dressed
on top can also be
used. These are two of a few
ways to make plastic noble. The construction of hangers
remains unchanged in spite of its design
and materials it was produced from. In most
cases it is necessary to use the hangers of different width for male and female
clothes presentation inasmuch as the width of the shoulders among women and men are different. Thus, the women's item of sizes from S
to M, which are
typical for the trading hall, will
be expanded in the shoulders and distorted as a result
on a men's hanger. For this reason,
standard width for
women's hanger is 35 - 37 cm. In
contrast, shoulders of men's
items will sag on
the standard women's hanger.
Talking about the size of
hangers, we should mention first its thickness. In practice, most luxury and premium brands
use the same thickness of the shoulder hangers. The thickness of 3 to 5 cm is the most
widespread. This thickness provides such a demonstration of products, which is closest to fitting of shoulder articles
on a figure. As we have noted, the construction of hanger is a constant, only
methods of product presentation can be changed. Let's consider how to apply these technologies at the example of waste items.
Placement of unfolded
product on a standard waist hanger is the
most common for waist products.
This method allows the customer assess the model of the product in full. The shoulder hanger is used to demonstrate the
waste items in stores of more expensive product category. A
product is fixed for the internal loop in this case. Such
a product presentation adds more "value"
in the eyes of the future owner. A
method of trousers presentation «by the crease» is used to make the waist products "respectable" even with the low price. This method has some flaws apart from its main advantages
considered above and in
comparison with the standard one, such as: difficult access to the price tag for the
buyer when it placed in a textile
label on the inside of the back half of
trousers; the difficulty
to determine the size of trousers
for the buyer if the inner size tab
is also on a textile label on the inside.
These problems are eliminated simply by placing
a hangtag with indicated
size and price on one of
the outside belt loops on the
front half of trousers. Besides the aesthetic one, the main
evaluation criteria of a product
presentation is statistics of sales.
An experiment was
conducted for this assessment, according to which, 8 models of trousers
with creases in two stores with comparable turnover and customer flow were placed by different methods (in the store B - by the crease, in
the shop E - on the open) for six
weeks. The price of trousers remained
unchanged within three weeks in
both stores and was reduced by
30% for other three weeks. The results of the
experiment are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Statistics on sales of
the trousers presented on hangers
by various methods.
|
Sales by weeks, units |
||||||
The store |
12.03.2012 - 18.03.2012 |
19.03.2012 -
25.03.2012 |
26.03.2012 -
01.04.2012 |
02.04.2012 -
08.04.2012 |
09.04.2012 - 15.04.2012 |
16.04.2012 -
22.04.2012 |
In total |
B |
10 |
12 |
12 |
6 |
7 |
24 |
71 |
E |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
5 |
17 |
59 |
As it evident from the results of the table,
the method of trousers presentation "by the crease"
not only does not obstruct its realization but also makes it more efficient.
About the author:
• Last name,
first name in full. Galun Dmitry
• Degree (if any). Ph.D.
• Name of educational institution. Moscow State University for Design and
Technology
• E-mail address. galund@mail.ru
• Mailing address (be sure to index). 107 113, Moscow, Russia, 3d Rybinskaya
1/40-41
• The category of
the article. Engineering
• The number of magazines you wish to receive. 1