Why do full display stands sell more toys?

Visual merchandising is a fascinating science that every retailer needs to explore and experiment with.

Your store layout, displays, shelving design and product placements all have a significant impact on sales volume. Especially for selling premium products at higher prices.

One of the key factors for effective visual merchandising is having well-stocked shelves. Let’s explore why!

Well-stocked shelves create visual appeal and drive impulse purchases

It’s quite simple - a poorly stocked shelf is bland and uninteresting to shoppers.

Displays that are fully stocked with a range of toys are infinitely more attractive and enticing. They draw people towards them to peruse the range of available items. And crucially, they help boost impulse buying, which is predominantly driven by stimulating environments and displays.

Research shows that over 70% of impulse purchases happen as a result of browsing rather than searching for a particular item. So be sure to give your customers an interesting range of products that they can’t resist having a quick look at, even if they didn’t leave the house to buy a toy!

This is especially important for the front of your store, or in the first shelves in a toy section. Prominently display your best-selling and newest products to draw customers in.

You can also use colour to catch the eye. Try making ribbons of colour by vertically lining up products of the same colour. Or compliment your products with colourful display stands and signage. Get creative!

Get the display balance right

Make sure to get the balance right between well-stocked shelves with plenty of visual interest versus overcrowded displays.

Customers want to have enough product range to choose from without becoming indecisive because of too much choice, or being unable to see all the available choices.

Your customers shouldn’t have to worry about dismantling your display, picking up products that have spilled onto the floor, or digging around in an unsorted pile of toys!

Make everything as easy for the customer as possible — from seeing the product to picking it up and interacting with it.

What to do if you run out of stock?

Retailers have been struggling with stock shortages recently due to a global stock crunch. Read more about the top 5 challenges retailers are facing right now, and how retailers are beating the 2021 stock crunch.

If unexpected demand has temporarily left you without enough toy stock to fill your fixed shelf space, you can work it in your favour to some extent.

Scarcity helps drive sales by encouraging customers to buy while stock lasts. People are heavily influenced by the behaviour of others. If many other people like a product, shoppers assume that they will too. By extension, similar products will also be seen as more desirable. Shoppers will be more likely to buy a toy if a similar product has already sold out.

Be sure to let customers know that the reason for an empty shelf is high demand for a product, and capitalise by providing any similar alternatives you have right beside it.

However, we don’t recommend deliberately under-stocking products and leaving shelves empty. The best thing to do is replace out-of-stock products with something similar or something new as soon as possible.

Avoid empty shelves with Keycraft

Here at Keycraft, our diligent stock management and global supply network means we’ve maintained a normal level of stock availability despite the stock crisis.

Our warehouses are strategically placed in the UK, US and Australia, and our speedy delivery times come with low carriage costs. See the large selection of wholesale toys and gifts we have in stock.

As a perfect example of these strategies in action, discover how Keycraft's visual merchandising team helped Frosts Garden Centres implement better product displays to drive more sales. Our visual display recommendations saw their toy sales more than double YOY!

We care about our clients’ long-term success, and we’re always here to help.