What You Need to Consider Before You Buy Shop Mannequins Merchandising, Mannequins

What You Need to Consider Before You Buy Shop Mannequins

Posted On: August 31, 2021 By: a.macdonald

There is a wide selection of shop mannequins on offer at The Retail Factory, which means there is something for every different type of shop and style. However, if you are new to creating shop displays, it can seem daunting. This post will help you navigate your way through the world of shop mannequins to make sure you find the right ones to help you create stunning, eye-catching displays.

Why You Need Shop Mannequins

Mannequins are an ideal way to show your customers how your products will look when they wear them. They break up the rows of clothes rails and shelves to keep your shop visually stimulating and can even help upsell when you match the perfect items together. A striking display of mannequins can tempt people into your shop to see the latest key trends you want to promote.

The right mannequin should fit in perfectly with your brand in order to best promote your products to shoppers. When all of the key elements come together, your dummies can convert browsers into buyers and that is one of the reasons they are sometimes referred to as ‘silent salespeople. Here’s how to make sure your dummies do the job for your store.

What to Consider When Buying Shop Mannequins

Think About the Image You Want

All mannequins are different and each helps give a shop a different feel. Picking solely standard black or white mannequins offers a consistent theme. A more realistic-looking skin tone style mannequin could give a more personable and human feel to the environment. For high-end stores, chrome or transparent mannequins feel chic and upmarket, whilst bright, colourful dummies send out a youthful message to your clientele. Your brand message can often dictate the dummies you use.

A mannequin display should tell a story to your customers. You might want to create some differences in height and position by grouping together standing mannequins with leaners and sitters. Alternatively, you may prefer mannequins to all stand at a uniform height. Either option gives off a very different message.

You know your brand, so make sure you carry that message through in the mannequins that you choose to display your clothes.

Who is Your Target Customer?

With any visual marketing campaign, you should always remember who you are talking to. There is no point filling a chic fashion boutique with sports mannequins. Similarly, a sports retailer wants dummies in an action stance to show off how their gear looks on the pitch, course, or court rather than sticking a rugby shirt on a mannequin frozen in a demure, supermodel pose.

If you target teenagers, make sure that you don’t pick a mannequin that is too staid or mature. There are plenty of vibrant and cool models to opt for instead.

Think about what your customer wants to see when they walk into your shop. Are they aspirational and looking for clothing that they hope will give them the image they wish to have? Alternatively, do they yearn for realism and practicality to help them choose their outfits? There is a range of plus size and pregnancy mannequins that would help with this, for example.

Full Body or Half Display Mannequins?

The advantages of full-body mannequins are that they are more noticeable and compelling to look at, as well as allowing you to display a whole outfit at the same time. However, using a torso dummy without the mannequin head and legs focuses the eye on specific products that you are trying to push. If your business is more concerned with lower body apparel, you can find leg mannequins with no upper body to distract from the jeans, trousers, leggings, or whatever you want to present to your customer.

Another bonus of torso and half display dummies is that they take up much less room in premises where space is at a premium. There is no point in having a grandiose display of full-body mannequins if your customers can’t navigate their way around or you have to sacrifice stock levels on the shop floor.

Half display and torso mannequins are also more lightweight, which is perfect if you need them to be mobile. You can more easily transport them to events, conventions, and pop-up shops to provide a stunning display away from home.

What Mannequin Materials, Finish, and Colour Do You Want?

Aside from how the mannequins look when clothed, there are some practical considerations to make too. The material from which the dummies are made is important not only for the way it looks but also for ease of movement. If your display remains in roughly the same place at all times this isn’t too much of an issue, but if you move the dummies around the floor or transport them to other venues then you might benefit from buying fibreglass or plastic dummies rather than wood or metal.

The finish of the mannequin is also important. Matt finish dummies reduce the glare from your lighting, but they also mark more easily than the gloss alternatives. You might also need to look at the finish on your other fittings and fixtures to ensure consistency in the design of your store.

When picking the colour of your mannequins, you need to think about the lighting in the shop. White dummies under a stark white light with a plain background can fade into obscurity and reduce their potential visual effect. Black mannequins in low light situations may suffer a similar fate too.

Ready to Buy Mannequins?

If you are ready now to buy mannequins and transform the look of your retail display, talk to The Retail Factory. We stock many types of mannequins for sale to appeal to all manner of different retail sectors.