Most VM managers plan… and stretch budgets… but it is really the pushing of the boundaries that interests me. In nowadays tough environment, we should focus on “thinking out of the box”. In ItalVision, there has been much interests in developing Production Innovation, we formulate sets of tools and measures that not only sweeten the production procedure to save cost, but also create a higher level of intimacy with the VM managers and customers.

I’d challenge an exceptional VM manager to create a “need” in the customer experience. Great visual merchandising not only invokes an emotional connection, but drives the customer to see the product/service in their life and create desire. VM is every bit of the profit equation as Supply Chain or even sales figures.

Regardless of the product / service categories, customer should react with:

“I want that”
“I need that”
“I can see that in my life”
“That would improve my life”

This is the main challenge of today’s VM world. Too often we settle for ‘pretty’ merchandising. While visually interesting, we should opt for creating desire that allow customers see the product / services in their own eyes. We just need to intuitively take this extra step.

Today the customers are hesitating for making dispenses. We need to give them more appetite..motivate their shopping experience..

In striving to create profitable dialogue with the external customer, the “exceptional VM manager” also strengthens his network with his INTERNAL customers–the buyer, merchant, designer, marketer, and store sales force. By continuously understanding their strategies and integrating them into his work, the VM manager is assured of support from all these stakeholders, and also ensures that a common language communicates the message of the product and the brand across all channels.

Its time for you to re-consider, that only by considering all the external and internal factors thoughtfully does it make you an exceptional VM manager.