Week 3: What makes a successful retail display?

Homework: Retail display research: What makes a successful retail display? Visit your local supermarket and have a look at how products are displayed. Pay special attention to how supermarkets use temporary cardboard displays to give emphasis to specials or new products. Answer the following questions:How does the display of products in a supermarket vary?What does the display say about the products (ie. how are the vegetables displayed and how does this convey an idea about "freshness")?What visual clues are given in a supermarket display to make you feel something about a product (ie. excitement because the product is "new" or to give you an idea about the "quality" or "freshness" of a product)? 

Products in the supermarket are displayed with emphasis on the overwhelming amount of each product. Regular product displays are kept fairly compact displaying up to ten boxes of one product depending on the size, however if a new product arrived it is then displayed in abundance similar to the produce. By displaying the product in overwhelming amounts it portrays that the product is good enough to be ordered in such large amounts, meaning the product must be high quality. Bright lighting is also used to help emphasize the quality of the product, as the boxes tend to have a glossy texture which bounces the light off.Another way they promote new or supporting products is to display them in an area where they would not normally be found, however it relates to the products it sits around. For instance healthy crackers has a small stand near the produce section, as they help promote a healthy diet meaning it is suitable for that area as produce surrounds it. 


As for produce, they are all laid out in plastic crates, the crates can also have grooves shaped to the produce depending on what it is. The plastic crates that hold the produce are then covered by a cardboard box with a wooden texture. This wooden texture gives off the impression that the produce was just taken off the farm, and through stacking multiple boxes helps to confirm this image. Also a new addition is adding a fake bed of leaves to help cover the plastic crate that sits in the cardboard box, this helps to emphasis the freshness of the product due to the vivid green colour of the fake leafs. The colour green being associated with freshness commonly. Also the produce is always completely filled up, giving off the impression that they were just stocked which adds to the sense of freshness. As without the overwhelming amount of produce filling the crates, the customer no longer feels that the produce is new as it might be the leftovers.

The addition of cardboard boxes to help support the freshness of the produce is even used despite the produce already having its own personal packaging.

Now comparing how supermarkets display products to T2 Tea, the different is very noticeable. Supermarkets tend to be overwhelming the customer with the amount of products they offer, while displaying them in such abundance gives off the idea of freshness and good quality as they stocked a large amount of it. Whereas T2 displays their products minimally by only displaying small sections of their products, without the assistance of bright lighting or large price tags to support the sales of the product. However T2 has a different target audience, meaning the subtle displaying of products is effective towards their audience. Supermarkets approach to displaying products is effective to their audience, as they have to appeal to a much larger audience meaning they have to account to all different types of people.

Week 3: Mood Board for Potential Product

Week 2: T2 Tea vs Lipton Tea

Entering the T2 store is a soothing experience as the entire store is covered with black shelves filled with bright coloured products. The bright colours are not over the top as they are toned down by the low lighting of the store. The soft smell of tea surrounds the store and the music adds to the atmosphere, as your eyes adjust to the low light. The store then becomes a dark abundance of tea for customers to scan the multiple black rustic wooden shelving in search for their preferences.

T2 using a basic packaging with emphasis on the cube shape to package their tea. The bright colours of the cubes create a bold statement combined with an easy to read logo, while the rest of the products are black with the coloured logo. The minimalist style for the packaging allows the bright colour to stand out against the black shelving and low lighting. The cardboard used for the cubed packaging is slightly glossy and feels high quality. The resealable tea bags are made of a sturdy glossy plastic and the tins are made out of metal that is cool to when felt and has a weight to it.

On top of the high quality packaging, they give buyers a free bright orange bags with the logo for people that by the product. The bags are a good quality glossy paper bag with a cardboard string handle, the bright orange colour with the large logo is easily noticeable and acts as a fashion statement. Furthermore the store offers free gift wrapping with a Japanese red wrapping paper with a sticker belt, ribbon and a button to finish. The amount of consideration used to package and present tea gives off the impression that the tea sold in the store is of the highest quality. Combined with free tea samples and tea laid out in small boxes for customers to actually touch and smell the tea helps to confirm their image of quality.

Lipton tea does not come with any special experience as it just sits out in the open with a low price tag and bright yellow box to draw people in.

Lipton tea sold in the supermarket consists of a bright yellow box with a large red logo wrapped in a thin plastic sheet to seal the tea freshness inside. Lipton does stand out with the bright yellow box when walking through the supermarket, as no other tea uses this colour. Lipton is one of the rare tea brands that wraps their entire box with plastic sheeting giving the box extra glossiness. Also the box itself is made with a sturdy good quality cardboard. This gives off the impression of what is inside the box is very fresh and good quality due to the excessive packaging. The price of Lipton tea is slightly higher than its competition, however due to more emphasis on packaging, the price increase does effect its sales negatively.

Overall T2 treats their products with the utmost care as their high quality packaging lives up to the expectation of holding high quality tea. Despite high cost for example $14:00 for 40 cups compared to the $6:50 for 100 cups from Lipton Tea, the good quality packaging and the experience of the store itself, leads people to buy the product as the packaging is valued equally as important as the product, which shows throughout the store. Lipton does still get sales by offering high quality packaging for a cheap price, through standing out with the glossiness of the plastic sheet covering. Considering the cost of Lipton tea, the packaging quality is equal to T2, however the graphical side gives off a different feel to the product. The graphics and T2 suggest a modern fresh type of tea that is only exclusive to their brand, whereas Lipton seems like a more improved version of any other generic tea brand.

Week 1: Smiggle Analysis

1)What is the company's "brand story" and how does is this communicated in the design of the products and packaging?

Smiggle began developing in 2002, with an idea of fun, engaging and collectable stationary. The name is a combination of the words 'smile' and 'giggle', giving the product a light bubbly mood.  Every product has rounded edges and a soft feel which projects a playful childish image. The logo itself has a font that has rounded edges and looks hand drawn by a child, with the addition of a red scribble above the 'i' instead of a dot, which adds onto the playful mood of the brand. Each Smiggle store divides their products into colour sections, the sections being purple, blue, pink, green, white, black and orange. This creates an organized bright rainbow of colours, as well as allowing customers to browse their preferable colours with ease.

2)Who is the target market of the company? How do you think they address this target market (ie. use of colour, graphics, type of products)

Smiggle is aimed at 14 to 25 year group and is mainly focused at females. Smiggle attracts its target audience through vibrant colours and uniquely designed stationary, creating a bold fashion statement in terms of stationary. The stationary offered by Smiggle is styled differently with a childish theme to it, while still remaining practical. Also some exclusive stationary is offered such as pencil cases that is basically a zip that zips itself into a pencil case shape, allowing customers to stand out when it comes to stationary.

3)What type of packaging does the company use (branded carry bags, tissue paper, branded boxes etc.)? What does the packaging say/make you feel about the brand?

With every purchase the product is placed in a white paper bag with a rustic cardboard string-like handle, and the logo of Smiggle wraps around the bag. Also depending on the product purchased, either red or black tape is used to close the lid of the bag. Allowing Smiggle customers to stand out due to the unique bags. The packaging of majority of the products is branded with Smiggle and made with high quality material, an example being a pencil tube made out of cardboard with multiple colours of paper strips to cover the outside. The high quality packaging makes the customer think that inside is a good quality product, as the packaging is done with such detail. Other products such as markers are put into plastic cases with indents specifically made for that product. 

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