In previous blog posts I talked about the importance of stamping your mark on Christmas and your window backgrounds.  Let's now complete your display by looking at your Mid and Fore Grounds.

Mid Ground

This is the main body of the window display and generally provides the main opportunity to promote your products/message.
The mid ground consists of your window kit (basis to build your displays on) and the products you want to dress/promote.
A key component in the mid ground is to ensure you group the basic kit correctly first.  It is vital that the whole window has a theme so that the display has maximum impact. This theme could be colour, lifestyle, brand, material/pattern, story.

Lets talk Backgrounds on your Christmas window displays. This could be the back wall of your window or a back drop that you install.

The purpose of the background is to focus your eye on the display rather than the busy environment of the shop behind.
If you have a back wall this can be painted into seasonal colour to provide interest or you can attach graphics|decals to create the right mood.

Alternatively you can create an effective background to your display by hanging a decorative garland or suspending decorative items from the ceiling.

Festive Cheer

If you can’t get a little creative at Christmas, when can you? While your store window displays shouldn’t all be about Christmas trees and faux snow (so unrealistic here in Oz), you shouldn’t forego the festive cheer.

Customers will expect – and love – to see your take on Christmas window dressing, so you shouldn’t be afraid to think outside the box.For retailers across all sectors, there are a lot of ways you can spread a little Christmas cheer with your windows.

The Christmas retailing period can represent up to 40% of a retailers annual sales. Christmas 2016 generated $48.1billion in sales. And, yes, these are Australian figures.

In order to stand out in crowded shopping centres and shopping strips this festive season, retailers are going to have to think outside the (beautifully wrapped) box. So kiss goodbye to Rudolf and tinsel. Here is my first Visual Merchandising tip for the season. (By no means am I suggesting to put up your first full Christmas window, but I am suggesting you give thought as to what you're going to do and give consideration to my suggestion below...)

Dress for the “Christmas Customer”

Before you start, it’s important to remember that your “Christmas Customer” is different from a regular shopper in shop.

While we might all be filled with a little more festive cheer at this time of year, our stress levels are up, we’re busier than ever, and we’re rushing around at 120 kilometres per hour. But perhaps the biggest difference to note is the customer journey. Your
“Christmas Customer” is a gift-giver, not an end user.

This means they need to be told something different by your window displays. Check out this Christmas Windows display board on Pinterest for ideas on how to be different and consider using mannequins in your window. Mannequins are silent, yet persuasive, sales staff.

Festive visual merchandising needs to interrupt the customer journey and display the perfect gift for a loved one (or not so loved one). By remembering this subtle shift in shopping behaviour, you can instantly create windows that drive foot traffic.

According to Retail Biz online magazine, data from the world’s largest job site, Indeed, reveals that Australian job seekers started looking for casual Christmas work in August, a month earlier than the historical pattern of searching in late September and peaking in November. This is significantly ahead of company recruiting schedules this year, with many companies not having listed their Christmas casual roles yet.

Over the Australian summer period, the economy benefits from a 170 per cent increase in casual roles, with the biggest booms coming from retail, representing 87 per cent of the Christmas casual roles listed on Indeed. The retail brands attracting the most interest from job seekers this year are Cotton On, Dusk, Smiggle, Myer and DFO.

Currently Christmas casual job searches outweigh open roles by nearly 140 to 1, meaning that employers can have their pick of the bunch this year. There are more job seekers this year, with searches increasing 257% over last year. Currently there are 5% more casual Christmas roles on the market than 2014, although this is likely to increase further in the run up to Christmas.