Top Shelf Dispensers and design companies share their top tips for successfully displaying high-end frames. By Erinn Morgan So you've got the goods: a selection of high-end eyewear including the styles, designer names, and prices that are right for your customers. But today, this alone is not enough to entice consumers to stop, look, and try them on. The right merchandising and display are critical to the success of the high-end eyewear sale. From displaying frames in a special showcase to create an exclusive allure to highlighting product with special halogen lighting that clearly shows off the colors and details of the eyewear, there are many tactics that can enhance your in-store marketing of premium product. "You want to create focal points to draw attention to the high-end product by using spotlights and things like seasonal beams," says Dan Sloan, designer for Fashion Optical Displays. Here, dispensers experienced in showing off their high-end wares and experts from optical display and design companies tell their secrets for displaying these profitable, high-ticket items.
Display in a Special Showcase One of the most important criterion for creating a successful high-end business is to establish an exclusive allure for this group of products. Most agree that if you want the customer to invest a good deal of money in a frame, you should display the frames in a manner which shows the customer that they are worth it. "The showcases create an image," says John Cottam, optician and owner of The Spectacle in Salt Lake City. "If you have $400 frames out on frame boards, then what are they worth to the customer? Showcases really help create an image." Cottam also notes that while locked showcases indicate valuable contents, they also play a second role -- as protection against theft of this high-end item. "The higher end seems to end up getting pilfered more often, so you want to protect them," adds Justine Krefft, interior designer for Ennco. "It is always much better to have frames out in the open because people don't want to ask to get things out. But this can be dangerous. A good solution may be to have a couple of locking and a couple of non-locking showcases."
Sharon Sulecki at Eye Designs display company agrees that premium product should be displayed in special locking showcases. "Displaying designer and high-end frames in a specialty showcase, which calls for the assistance of the optician, sends the message that they are exclusive and special. You do not want to display the high-end product with the other brands on a frame board. Also, do not display them on a rotator." The cases themselves should also look high-end, whether that be a modern or an elegant theme. Says Sulecki, "The style of the display will depend on the design of the environment. If the interior of the optical is upscale, then the showcase should reflect that image. The specialty showcase should work with the interior design of the optical, but it needs to be merchandised differently than the other displays." Optical display cases can be given special placement in the dispensary to create a special, high-end area or they can be utilized throughout the space, say most experts. But one of the most important things, stresses Sandy Bright, president and owner of Bright Displays, is that "there has to be great lighting in the showcase." Spotlight with Halogen Whether they are positioned in a display case, on frame boards, or highlighted on special stands, premium frame products are best shown off with halogen lighting, which many say does not distort the colors or details that make the frame special and, therefore, worth its high price. Says Jeffrey Erber, owner of Jeffrey's Manhattan Eyeland in New York City, "I use halogen lightbulbs in my display cases so they have a jewelry lighting effect." And while this medium is more expensive than traditional lighting, dispensers agree that it is worth it. "It makes the colors jump out at you," explains Cottam. "Every frame deserves the best lighting," adds Bright. "If you spotlight something, understand that you can't have 15 frames in a spotlight because, by its very nature, a spotlight is usually too small for a large amount of product. I don't like track lights or spotlights particularly because you may end up having some frames spotlighted and some in the dark. "Spotlight one or a few frames from one designer as opposed to 15," Bright continues. " The best advice is to make it reverent. If you're not going for overkill, you're not reaching far enough." Standard halogen lighting is usually sufficient to create an allure; however, some recommend special "pendant" halogens. "Hanging pendant halogens over the showcase is a terrific way to highlight both the showcase and the frames," says Sulecki. Single Out Product While showcases highlight the specialness of a group of frames, some experts recommend singling out certain very expensive, exclusive frames. "Displaying a frame or two on top of a glass case on a pedestal shows the customer that this frame is very special," suggests Robbin Belzer, president of Design Concepts, a display and design company in Clearwater, Fla. Josef Zakheim, O.D., owner of Optometrix in Brentwood, Calif., agrees. "The most important thing we do is attempt to isolate special high-end products when we present them. The design concept here is such that one piece is a work of art, and three pieces is a garage sale. When you do your presentation, you have to make sure you isolate the piece so that's what stands out above and beyond its surroundings." Don't go overboard, he warns. "When there's too much stuff out there you can't really see it," he says. "When it comes to displaying high-end eyewear, the truth is that less is more." To isolate an item successfully, many suggest pedestal stands that hold one or two frames. Some say that tiered displays work well for this purpose. Again, the best way to put the finishing touches on a pedestal display is with halogen spotlights. "When you isolate something in a case, it doesn't get touched, and that works against you," says Zakheim. "It really comes down to touching and feeling the merchandise. So we have pedestals with one to three frames and then use halogen spotlights." Ennco recently came out with a special display called the "Lens Lifter" that individualizes the frame like a pedestal stand. Says Jan Ennis, Ennco president, "You don't put a $700 frame in with $40 frames; if you do, no one will want to pay $700 for that frame. If you put a beam of halogen lighting on a pedestal, however, then people say, 'Wow, that frame must be really special.' That's just good visual merchandising. That's what they do in the jewelry store -- highlight the big diamond in the window." In addition to highlighting the special high-end frames in-store, many also choose to bring attention to them in the storefront windows. "In the windows, we just show one or two pieces with halogen lighting," says Erber. Cottam notes, "We highlight special items in a little bay window that people can see from outside. We highlight three to five pieces at the same time using good lighting." Go Vertical for Elegance Displaying your high-end eyewear on frame boards isn't advisable. But if special glass cases are just not an option for you (perhaps due to space limitations), experts recommend utilizing vertical displays for the best effect. "In design, vertical is elegant," says Bright. "When you think about pillars in design, this is clear." This up-and-down display method should be clean-looking and have a high-end appeal to it. "The display the frames sit on should be elegant and simple," she says. "I try to balance the presentation and divide the visual space vertically in half," says Sloan of Fashion Optical Display. "The biggest impact will be achieved from placing the darker colors on bottom of the display and the lighter colored products on top." Use P-O-P and Props While some dispensers choose to forego point-of-purchase materials to keep the high-end area clean and simple, many of the experts recommend designer-specific merchandising displays and materials as well as items that help create a theme for the dispensary's high-end area. "A specialty showcase display will bring attention to the high-end product, but effective merchandising will make the frames and showcase even more eye-catching," says Sulecki. "Merchandising with sleek frame stands and designer signage will enhance the visibility of the product." At The Spectacle, Cottam tries to use fun items and images as a background or a backdrop. "We use bricks or gravel as well as wine corks and old barn wood. This sets a theme for the store, and it's fun to look at. Sometimes we try to use the company-supplied P-O-P, but some of it is bulky and overdemanding." Propping with materials to create a theme can be effective, as can using designer merchandise to emphasize the philosophy of that designer. Says Bright, "If you are showing off Gucci frames, for example, you can use a Gucci perfume bottle. That shows elegance and a sense of direction." Bright also suggests shopping other "elegant" stores, such as Nordstrom, to gather ideas for displaying.
Angle Fixtures If you must display your high-end eyewear on frame boards or out-of-case displays, make sure the products are angled back to present them attractively. "Customers have to be able to see the eyewear really well, and some displays angle them back a little bit," says Bright. "Then you can see the color and the fine details really well. Putting the frame on a nice, good-quality fixture, angling it back, and putting some really good light on it gives the eyewear gives the respect that it's due." Keep It Clean While keeping the entire dispensary clean is a very important function, the high-end eyewear section should be kept in pristine condition. Dirty, smudged frames suggest a low value, which is generally not the message you want to send to customers. "There should be no smudged and dirty lenses," says Bright. "And the temples need to be tight. If something starts to look bad, just get rid of it. You don't want to have dirty or smudged high-end eyewear." Streamline Displays One final suggestion made in lieu of using P-O-P and other items to merchandise and highlight the high-end area is to keep the area simple. "We don't advertise the brand of the frame," says Erber. "We just present the frame itself. We don't want to clutter the high-end area and detract from the products themselves." While many dispensers feel that designer signage and merchandise will help them market high-end eyewear better, Erber takes a different tack. "People ask for brand names, but in the end they buy what looks good. That's it." EB
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Top Shelf
Dispensers and design companies share their top tips for successfully displaying high-end frames.
Eyecare Business
February 1, 2000