Trainers and Visual Merchandising

During our visit at Manchester, we visited shoe stores such as Size? and Office that stocked New Balance trainers, and too be honest, we were disappointed with their in store presence. We found that in all stores that stocked New Balance, the most that was available were four styles- all of which browns and blacks- definitely aimed for males only. The shoes were always displayed below hip level, and the only branded point of sale was a wooden block with the New Balance printed on. To be honest, this made the brand merge into the background with its bolder competitors stood out. This is because they displayed bright coloured designs, were at higher levels and often had tags or point of sale items that were eye catching and attention grabbing. Visual Merchandising in a store that stocks your competitor is extremely important, New Balance cannot continue to fade into the background at let its competitors have all the glory.

We found this You Tube video of Adidas' new interactive shop wall, which really stood out to us as an innovative visual merchandising feature that would certainly grab the attention of the consumer and the media.

The wall is ridiculously clever, with features such as online reviews available as well as basic information. This would be crazily expensive however, and although I do think that it is very clever and very cool, would it really be suitable for a tier 2 high street environment?


In terms of practicality, it is not very practical at all. Only one person could use the wall at a time, and it does seem a bit long winded with the need to use the interactive tablet to actually pay for the shoes, and the fact that you do not see the physical product until the purchase has been made. For a PR stunt however, as Adidas has done with this, it is a very effective and memorable feature.


Below are some images of Visual Merchandising that we found in Berlin. These are all more affordable but still interesting!


Doc Martins created mood boards to be hung above their shoes. These were effective as they show the consumer which celebrities have been wearing the brand, and what looks good with the shoes, which can help to aid the purchasing decision. 

Doc Martins also covered a wall in hanging boots

Converse's display was more simple with the shoes laid out on a table in the middle of the room. The space between each shoe helps the consumer to appreciate each design.

Doc Martins invaded other space in the store subtly, this glass jar containing one shoe was found by the stairs, the consumer is constantly reminded of the brand throughout the shop.

BK: Simply placing shoes in the street created a heightened sense of street style with this brand. The consumer can not easily pass the shop without looking at some product.

Converse at Bread and Butter, Berlin, reflected their American brand personality by creating this US flag out of converse boots. Very artistic and simple!

3D glasses were used by a clothes store for an interactive window display. The consumer had to wear the 3D glasses hanging outside the window, to see the display properly. This was very fun and a great talking point.

Arrow released sucker pad arrows onto the street. We walked past them completely covering a store window as seen in the image, then we went into a shop and as we left, the arrows had dispersed to different places across the road, within an hour, the arrows had popped up in a variety of places, spreading the brand awareness.