May 28, 2025 •Lili Walker
When stepping into a store, customers may not immediately see retail displays. However, these seemingly hidden fixtures are, in fact, crucial in a retail landscape. Custom displays can be the face of a brand or product. They not only draw customer attention but can also be the thing that makes businesses stand out against today’s competitors. Retailers are always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to set themselves apart from the majority. This is where the strategic use of custom displays can truly shine, capturing the interest of potential buyers.
Custom displays offer a level of versatility and personalization that traditional displays simply can't match. Unlike traditional store fixtures, which are limited in capacity and product size, custom displays can be tailored to your target audience's specific needs and preferences. Continue reading to see the impact of custom displays on consumer behavior.
Understanding Consumer Behavior
Before we look into the influence of custom displays on purchase decisions, it's important to know and understand consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is a complex concept that encompasses how individuals make purchasing decisions. It also suggests that external factors, such as custom displays, can trigger customer responses, potentially leading to a purchase.1 Another important thing to note is the consumer decision-making process, which outlines the steps individuals go through when making a purchase.
Five important stages go into consumer-decision making:
- Recognition – Consumers initially think about what they need and how to get it.
- Search and Gather – At this point, a consumer knows what they need but doesn’t know too much about it. The buyer considers all the benefits and drawbacks of making this purchase and then gets more information about the product and brands to consider.
- Consider Alternatives—The buyer is now considering alternatives or substitutes on the market to get the best deal or option and often decides on what type based on the buyer’s style, income, preference, etc.
- Buying the Actual Product – This is where all the above stages come together, and the buyer is purchasing. This stage is often influenced by marketing campaigns, tips from friends or family, and recommendations or reviews.
Post-Purchase Decision – This is how the customer feels after buying the product. They can consider how helpful the product is and how satisfied they are with it. This can potentially create a repetitive shopper if their needs are met.
Knowing these steps can enlighten retailers and guide their strategies.
Perception, cognition, and emotion in shaping purchase decisions.
Perception, cognition, and emotion can shape the way we make purchasing decisions.2 Perception is how we interpret and understand the world around us, while cognition involves the mental processes we use to make decisions. Emotion, on the other hand, is a powerful motivator that can significantly influence our buying choices. Understanding and leveraging these psychological factors can be key to setting up a retailer's effective display and store layout. Each emotion a customer experiences can be a potential driver for a purchase.
Then there's sensory marketing. Sensory marketing is the practice of attracting customers by influencing their behavior and purchasing decisions. For instance, custom displays can do a good job in sensory marketing by creating a multisensory consumer experience. Think about those kiosks in Sam’s Club where they have you scan your member ID card to get a free sample. This plays into the sensory experience by using visual appeal, touch, and even sometimes smell to interact with the display and make you think differently overall than you did before you were introduced to the product.
The Science Behind Custom Displays
We've mentioned that visual stimuli can have a powerful impact on the brain and can sometimes elicit emotional responses. In this case, visual stimuli are custom displays. Studies3 have shown that certain colors, shapes, and images can evoke emotions in individuals and, more importantly, customers.
Display design is an important aspect of incorporating certain colors, shapes, and images into how you showcase products. This can effectively grab consumers' attention. When you're at a grocery store, see those intricate cardboard displays showcasing the latest chip or soda flavor. These types of displays tend to stop us in our tracks and make us investigate.
Personalization and Customization
One of the best parts about investing in custom displays and fixtures is that you can personalize all aspects of your store based on the brand image. In recent years, the importance of individuality has become increasingly popular as audiences feel like they can connect to a store more personally. This is where cohesive branding can play a huge role by using custom displays to reflect the brand's identity and connect with the audience on a deeper level. According to Forbes4, user-generated content is on the rise. There’s a new age of product marketing in retail, and the trend of being more personable seems to be working.
Personalizing your specific product displays can cater to individual preferences or trends. A good goal for a retailer is to create a unique and memorable shopping experience for all. This can be done by tailoring your displays or fixtures to form a deeper connection with your target audience. For example, if your primary audience is moms or parents of small children, your displays should attract that kind of consumer.
The Role of Technology in Custom Displays
Technology can be one of your best friends when combined with custom displays, such as interactive displays, augmented reality, and more. Technology can take your store to the next level by expanding how customers interact with your products. This can also provide a more immersive and engaging shopping experience.
Examination of Data
Data also plays a pivotal role in how you can approach display optimization. How often does a specific section get visited in your store? How many people stop by the cash register before they check out? These are good questions to ask yourself, and having data back them up to show how your customers shop based on behavior and preferences. You can gather this data in several ways, including surveys, foot traffic, retention rate, and more. Then, strategize how to improve these metrics through fixtures, displays, and overall store layout.
Ethical Considerations
There are things to consider as a retailer you wouldn’t have thought of initially, and that’s how sometimes persuasive retail tactics can be regarded as consumer manipulation. For example, many beauty brands are infamous for pushing their customers to buy their products by sending a marketing message like “You’re not pretty enough unless you use our product.”
You don’t want to cross this line because it can negatively affect your store and customers’ perception of your brand. You want to relate to your customers in a friendly, non-invasive way, so make sure to find that balance.
Custom Display Challenges
Consider implementing custom displays in your store. Once you’ve weighed the pros and cons, there can be challenges and difficulties to consider. The cost of technology and installation can sometimes be beyond budget for some retailers, so know whatever you’re investing in is something you deem profitable rather than cost-consuming.
Also, the quality of displays can matter, especially if you intend to use them for a long time. The last thing you want is for these fixtures to break down or wear over a short amount of time. In this case, less is more, and it may be more bang for your buck to invest in more costly displays so that they’ll last longer than cheaper ones.
Custom Displays Showcasing Unique Product Displays
Another great reason to get custom display fixtures within your retail space is the ability to showcase unique products. Product displays are now more than just the traditional shelves and racks. Things like holograms and projection mapping can now utilize products in an entirely different way. From high-end fashion to fast-moving goods, these types of displays are great for versatility.
Displays and fixtures that are deemed as “visually unremarkable” can create a noisy retail landscape. Stick to displays that are easy to install, durable, and, most importantly, safe to use. The uniqueness of custom displays helps define your brand identity, generate more sales, and create retail spaces that resonate with today’s shoppers.
The Different Types of Custom Displays
Custom displays aren’t just shelves you can put apparel on. Retail displays come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Popular custom displays can be:
- Retail Display Cases—These are typically used to display jewelry or upscale products with a security feature so people don’t grab or steal the items.
- Cash wraps—These are usually around the register or check-out area and are used more by staff than customers. They can house your cash register and are also known to showcase impulse purchases.
- Endcaps – These tend to be at the end of the aisles so that when customers turn the corner to go into the next aisle, they’re showing more products.
- Display Racks—These types of racks are mainly used to draw attention to new products, seasonal items, or sales.
- Banner Displays—These are primarily used for advertising, trade shows, or a simple sales floor. They’re great for when you want to showcase a product but don’t have much of the actual product to show.
- Shelf Talkers—These are small displays in which the products stick out perpendicular to the shelves to stand out. They’re great for making a specific product shine over other similar merchandise.
- And So Much More!
Future Trends and Opportunities
Being in the know is beneficial for retailers and store owners alike. Using trends, display technology, and consumer behavior research to better your store is a great way to get ahead of your competitors. Current trends could move towards more sustainable and eco-friendly practices, impacting display design. So, listen to what customers like and don’t like online and in real life, and then adjust your store accordingly. Google Trends and popular social media platforms are a great way to see what’s trending or commonly talked about.
With retail landscapes, it’s sometimes hard to gauge what shoppers prefer now compared to then. Try simply asking your shoppers what they like. This face-to-face communication not only gathers data but can also give you a closer relationship with your customers that you may not have had before.
What Can I Actually Customize with My Display Fixtures?
Companies like S-Cube Fixtures have custom store fixture fabrication capabilities, where we can take any material you like and have it in every combination of other materials. The common list of materials we work with are:
- Hardwood
- Laminate
- Metal
- Acrylic
- Glass
- Mixed Medium
We have the ability to create fixtures based on your exact specifications with all their unique details and custom finishes.
Conclusion
Overall, consumer behavior can be impacted by custom displays. It’s important to remember how displays and fixtures can impact retail environments and provide insights, including data, shopper preferences, behavior, and more. Ultimately, if retailers want to enhance customer engagement, take into account technology evolving and use custom displays to play a role in retail marketing. Then, there will undoubtedly be an increase in customer loyalty, sales, and more!
Retail store displays can increase sales
Create a better customer experience, are customizable, work with technology, and are easy to do. Implementing store displays will only improve your business. S-CUBE is a team of experts that specializes in creating store fixtures that will increase your profits. We have been servicing the needs of the retail industry for over 30 years. Our custom fixture solutions will help you create a better retail environment for every customer that comes your way. Reach out to us today to bring your business to the next level.
1 https://learn.saylor.org/mod/book/view.php?id=53920&chapterid=38584
3 https://appliedpsychologydegree.usc.edu/blog/thinking-vs-feeling-the-psychology-of-advertising