5 Captivating shopfitting examples

In this piece, we spoke with David Anthony, looking at examples of 5 captivating shopfitting examples. We explore the various techniques and ideas that retailers have used to encourage footfall and tempt people instore.

Best visual merchandising and shopfitting examples

Being able to see shopfitting examples is a great way to get inspiration and find ideas that you could implement within your own retail store. While some of these retailers spend significant sums of money, very similar types of display can created on more of a budget.

Independent Brighton: Beach Lifestyle

“If you’ve got space for a canopy like Burts, you can use this with a logo and branding, bringing brand colours into it to tell more of a story about who they are. They’ve created a nice market feeling at Berts, bringing their stock onto the street to tell a story about who they are, combining well with their heritage-style buildings. Lavender Room has a corner angle in their shopfront which they’ve used well, placing a few items outside to use this space and add interest. They’ve created more of an entrance – like putting plants outside your front door.”

Shopfitting examples key takeaways

• Bringing stock outside the shop can gather interest
• Adding props to the exterior can create an exciting entrance

Scoop International: SS’23 Preview

“This is a well-curated and really well done independent trade show. The first thing you see is mannequins sitting down on chairs either side, with eye-catching graphics throughout the entrance. Throughout the whole show, they had hanging lampshades and a uniform colour scheme, using a green background with rails to create a department store look for all the little boutiques. They also placed flowers and fragrance stick pots throughout, tying it together perfectly with a wild, tropical theme. The graphic is vibrant, bright, colourful and this carries through with the use or floral items. They have dressed this blank exhibition space so well that it doesn’t feel like that at all, working well with the space and lights. With the knowledge of how to do this and the motivation and budget, it can be done by anybody.”

Shopfitting examples key takeaways

• Carrying a theme throughout a space works to take shoppers on a journey
• Tropical themes create a positive feel
• Using natural lighting effectively can help to create a bright space

Harvey Nichols: Merchant of Venice

“Harvey Nichols are always creative and a bit different, as well as being willing to push the envelope and tell a good story. They have a ‘merchant of Venice’ fragrance and they’ve taken this to inspire their window scheme. It’s very white and artistic, as well as being creative. The box tree, pearly, feathers and rose china sculpture are pieces of art alone, adding this to a nice marble floor and background that creates a blank canvas and story within itself. They’ve put mannequins and stock into the space, which is unusual in retail as the fashion seems almost secondary. They have used texture to benefit this retail display, creating moods for each shape. They really make you think, creating a tree from small boxes, which makes you think. The whole theme derives from nature and it’s so attractive, it could fit straight into an art gallery. With displays that you put behind windows, you can often cut back on cost a little and use cheaper materials within reason. They have also used texture to create a point of difference, adding interest by not using usual plinths or flat surfaces.”

Shopfitting examples key takeaways

• Simple colour schemes can be incredibly effective
• Not all displays have to be functional; they can be used to capture interest
• There are many alternatives to traditional window display props

Harrods: Beauty Adventure

“The first thing I see here is the crystals, so the fact someone has had the idea to create a display around crystal shards is fantastic. Their products are beauty creams and bottles of perfume, so they are quite small. It has worked well to choose something so big and bold for the backdrop of these products. The masking helps your eye to hone in on the centre of each space and see the products. Without the masking, you’d have a huge space to fill, so this works well. They’ve used simply vinyl on the inside of the window from what I can see. They’ve turned it into a beauty adventure that utilises repetition. At Harrods, they have this bar running through the window and they’ve used it well by breaking the window into two spaces around the bar, using what they have. This all adds charm to the heritage store.”

Shopfitting examples key takeaways

• Masking focuses the eye and creates a focal point
• Repetition works to tie a theme together
• Even the smallest products can be displayed with bold backgrounds

Sloane Street: Belgravia Luxury

“This uses a lot of old-school window dressing techniques, including height. There’s a lot of simplicity, so Versace have used some mannequins and plinths, but you can see into the shop. Height is so important, using props like plinths to respect the product and give it a little more gravitas. Imagine everything was just on the floor – it’s so simple but smart at the same time. For a normal retailer, a plinth is relatively inexpensive, you have it for 5-10 years and it will pay for itself. It can be easily moved, you can display whatever you want on it, using it as it is, or covering it in material for a versatile look to fit any theme. You can even lie them on their side, so you get a different height and larger surface space. Another effective technique is to put one on its side and have a taller one behind it to create a pyramid formation, or triangle shape, which is another common VM technique. This pyramid shape helps the eye to focus on a certain point, creating a central point, like this mannequin. By doing this, the eye draws to each point of the triangle and makes it easy to see everything at once. These brands do whatever they want and it makes people stop and look.”

Shopfitting examples key takeaways

• Plinths are a versatile prop for retailers with any budget
• Triangle formations make it easy to highlight products
• Getting creative is an effective part of visual merchandising

To update your instore design, read our Ultimate Guide to Visual Merchandising.