Using Metalized Films for Store Graphics

Jim Hingst explains how using eye-catching metalized films for store graphics attracts attention and improves corporate images to  stimulate store traffic and improve impulse sales.

Slides of VinylEfx films used for store graphics.

Retailers face a multitude of challenges in competing for their fair share of the consumer’s mind. An attractive store graphics package utilizing metalized pressure sensitive films can cost effectively enhance the appearance of stores and can complement the retailer’s corporate identity. By giving their stores a new look, the identity package can help build store traffic, as well as help create a positive first impression that keeps shoppers in the store buying merchandise.

Dazzling metalized films  on the outside of the store windows attract attention and  help create those positive first impressions that are often lasting impressions.

An Attention-Getting Solution. The biggest challenge for store owners is being seen. A store site visually competes for shoppers’ attention with hundreds of other store locations. Located in a strip mall or on a busy city street, and sandwiched between other stores, it is easy for a business to get lost.  Colorful printed metalized films can help the retailer attract attention to product displays and build store traffic.

Window graphics and window displays that incorporate dazzling metalized films are a cost effective solution for retailers to remodel the appearance of an older store location and give the exterior of the store some “curb appeal”.

A Spanish retailer uses brilliant VinylEfx® metalized films to attract attention to his jewelry display. In retail sales, attracting attention is much more effective in stimulating sales than a persuasive sales pitch.

Attractive graphics on the outside of the store can help create those positive first impressions that are often lasting impressions.  Shoppers immediately form a judgment about a company based on the physical appearance of a store location.  If the store doesn’t look inviting on the outside, shoppers will not be enticed inside. Rehabbing the appearance of the store with window graphics is much less costly than traditional construction costs for remodeling.

Create a uniform look. A window graphics program will project a uniform corporate identity from one location to another, even if the stores are architecturally dissimilar. Mac Cosmetics in the UK used a window graphics program to create a uniform corporate identity among 44 of their stores which are architecturally dissimilar.

The Mac Cosmetics window graphics program used eye-catching RTape VinylEfx® Large Engine Turn Gold to project a new and inviting look for their chain of stores. 

Reinforce the corporate identity. Window treatments can complement and reinforce the corporate identity. Graphics should be consistent with the company’s corporate colors, logos, design motifs and advertising themes.  Over the years, McDonald’s has effectively used window graphics, such as the “Golden Arches” and Ronald McDonald, to strengthen their corporate identity and image.

Design Tip. I am frequently asked what part of the window is the best to decorate.  In most cases, I recommend a decorative band along the top of the window, called a valance. Here are my reasons:

In a strip mall, parking spaces are often located right in front of the stores.  Any decoration on the bottom portion of the windows is blocked by parked vehicles. By decorating the top of the windows, graphics are usually visible from the street. Make sure that any overhang, canopy or awning does not obscure the graphics.

The space at the top of window is usually unused dead space.  A decorative valance is also useful in concealing lighting fixtures above a window display.

 

Some store owners are concerned that youthful miscreants will vandalize their window graphics. Rarely are these fears realized.  Still, if this is a concern, applied graphics at the top a window are out of reach.

Window Displays. According to the Point Of Purchasing Advertising Institute (POPAI),  window displays account for about 25% of a store’s sales.  Depending on which industry report you read, the typical shopper spends  an average of 6 to 11 seconds looking at the merchandise in a store window.  

Window displays account for 25% of store traffic. Kids Foot Locker used Silver MultiLens to attract the shoppers' attention, stimulate interest in their products and entice shoppers to enter their stores. The results was higher sales and profits.

The big department stores have turned the decoration of their windows into an art. Often compared to theatrical productions, the primary purpose of window displays is to attract the attention of the shopper with interesting and creative product arrangements, then lure the shopper into the store with the latest and hottest selling products. 

That’s the toughest part, getting a new shopper into your store. Here’s why. People are creatures of habit.  They go to the same stores over and over again.  For the retailer to break their patterns of behavior, he has to do something dramatic.   Scenery, lighting, props and the stars of the production, the mannequins, can set the stage for an effective product display.

 

VinylEfx® Chrome Cherry Red was used as a decorative, eye-catching accent for the window displays of Armani Exchange during the 2004 Holiday Season.

Design Tips. Whether you are designing graphics for window or walls, keep your design modular by dividing the overall layout into smaller sections.  The modular components will allow you to more easily improvise and adapt the design from one location to the next. Typical modules might include various striping sections, the company logo, company name, product or service offerings and slogans, store hours and a pictorial.

In designing window graphics, lighter colors are much more visible on glass than darker colors.  If you must use a dark color, because it is part of the corporate color scheme, outline it with a white border.

There’s another reason to avoid dark colors, such as black and chocolate brown. Dark colors can absorb the sun’s heat, causing vinyl-covered glass to rapidly expand while cooler areas stay rigid. With part of the window expanding and other areas contracting, glass breakage is possible. Large areas of dark color next to regions of very light, reflective tones can also cause heat gain and glass expansion. Films with extreme gray-scale differences can result in glass fatigue and early failures.

Many communities in the US and Canada have restricted the amount of coverage on windows. New Look Fashion stores in the UK, used VinylEfx® behind the mannequins and product displays to attract shoppers’ attention. According to the Point-Of-Purchase Industry Association (POPIA) window displays are viewed for an average of 11 seconds and account for 25% of store traffic.

Getting the passer by to open a store’s doors is only half of the battle.  Once in the store, the shopper forms an impression about the business within the first fourteen seconds.  A modern environmental graphics program that includes wall graphics and tasteful store signage can help create an inviting atmosphere that keeps them in the store.

The cleanliness of the store, the decor and the professionalism of the in-store signage and displays influence the opinions of the consumer that ultimately determine whether he or she buys or doesn’t buy.  In fact, remodeling the appearance with colorful window and wall graphics and in-store signage is a much better investment for a retailer than traditional advertising in newspapers, trade magazine, radio and TV, because the return is higher sales and profits.

Wall graphics opportunities are not limited to store graphics. Museums, health clubs, schools, public buildings, day care centers and offices are also candidates for programs. Printed wall graphics can give an old location a new look overnight. By remodeling an environment it can also transform the attitudes of employees, students and visitors, giving them a new outlook on life.

Design Tip. One of the most important steps in any graphics program is conducting a site survey. Too often this step is conducted haphazardly or not at all. Before designing a graphic package, choosing materials or deciding on the most effective manufacturing methods, take the time to visit the store location or representative locations, if a large chain of stores is involved. By conducting a thorough investigation, you will better understand the requirements of the job.

In addition to recording basic information, such as the type of wall surface (concrete block, brick, industrial stucco and tile), the survey can also reveal any potential problems. The information that you or your sales people collect is critical in designing, estimating and production planning.

As you survey the site, inspect the condition of the walls, carefully looking at the condition of the paint, areas requiring special cleaning and wall damage, such as nail pops and gouges. Wall damage as well as glaring imperfections in the coating of the taping compound over the seams, corners and nails will require the drywall contractor to apply a skim coat over these problem areas. Applied graphics over these imperfections will be very noticeable.

Stimulating Sales. Eye-catching displays attract the shopper’s attention to products which otherwise would be lost among the array of competing brands. According to a POPAI study, in-store decisions have increased from 70% in 1995 to 76% in 2012. With such a high percentage of buying decisions being made after the shopper arrives at a store, P-O-P marketing has gained a more prominent role in the retail marketing mix. VinylEfx® films attract attention to displays, reinforce the corporate identity and image and stimulate sales and profits.

Many shoppers buy the brands with which they are most familiar. The header of this Disney display in the photograph below complements the well know images of the company’s brand identity. Their design incorporates the VinylEfx® Metal Flake sequins pattern. The design also reinforces the Disney corporate image and identity.

Conclusion. As an alternative to plain white print media, eye-catching metalized vinyl films can give retailers that WOW factor that is their competitive edge. Glittering films can  attract new shoppers and create a refreshingly new look that enhances the retailer’s corporate image and stimulates sales.

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About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.

Slides of Jim's Artwork

© 2015 Jim Hingst