Tips On Creating a Back-To-School Merchandising Display

Summer vacation is now over for most children living in the U.S., which means a new school year is right around the corner. In fact, numerous counties have already begun their 2013 school year. As a retailer, you can use this to your advantage by creating back-to-school merchandising displays containing all of the necessary supplies students need for their upcoming school year.

Acquire School Supply Lists

The first step in creating a back-to-school merchandising display is to call around to the various schools to you'll know exactly what supplies their students needs. Because this varies from school to school, you'll likely need to make several calls. Nine out of ten times, however, the school system will post their supplies online for parents and students to access. When you are calling the different school systems, ask them whether or not their supplies are posted online.

So, what's the point of accessing supply lists for the schools around your area? Well, you can create an effective merchandising display based around the supplies that students actually need. This is a win-win scenario, as students can easily locate all of their necessary supplies. You can even make copies of the school supply lists and hand them out to customers in your store. Customers will be more than grateful to find their school supply list available at your store.

Think Outside of The Box

In addition to carrying all of the items on the school supply lists, you should think of other items that students will need throughout the school year. Lunchboxes, for instances, are an essential item that students will need. Offering a large selection of lunchboxes for boy and girls of all ages will prove to be a smart business strategy that pays off in the long run.

Gridwall and Slatwall

Both gridwall and slatwall are two highly effective forms of merchandising displays for school supplies. Most basic school supplies are fairly lightweight; therefore, retail store owners can hand them on a hooked panel of gridwall or slatwall.

It's important for retail store owners to properly maintain their back-to-school merchandising displays. When a flood of eager customers come in to shop, some of your product will likely end up in the wrong location. Allowing your merchandising display to turn into a cluttered mess will send the wrong impression to customers about your store. Try to get into the habit of organizing your back-to-school display at least once every other hour if not more.