Visual merchandising techniques Essay Example for Free

Visual merchandising techniques Essay Introduction In order to complete this task I will be identifying the visual merchandising and display techniques used for three retail outlets. The three organisations that I will be working on throughout this assignment are: 1. Hollister 2. Hamleys 3. The Body Shop Visual Merchandising This could be defined as the way in which retailers present and deliver their products to customers, in order to meet their needs, expectations and increase the profit and sales of the organisation. Visual Merchandising is the art and creativity of promoting the products a business sells in the most attractive way possible, with the intention of creating interest. 1. Hollister Brief history of the company: Hollister Co., sometimes advertised as Hollister or HCo, is an American lifestyle brand by Abercrombie Fitch Co. It was created in 2000 with its first store opening in July 2000 at the Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio. The concept was originally designed to attract consumers aged 14–18 through its SoCal inspired image and casual wear. Goods are available in store and through the companys online store. The stores are designed to simulate the feeling of being in a surf shop by having the exterior and interior based on a life guard house. It was ranked as the second most preferred clothing brand of US teens behind a long list of actual West Coast companies in 2008 by Piper Jaffray. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollister_Co. Techniques used to attract the consumer 1. Displays – The exterior of the store is the first thing that attracts the attention of the customer or the ‘window shopper’, who might become a potential consumer. This is one of the most important techniques that Hollister Co. uses to appeal to customers. Exterior design includes shuttered windows, and light and dark brown paten walls. The shuttered windows were meant to add to the atmosphere of the store and keep out customers that did not fit in, which shows that the brand is not easily accessible to everyone, like in five star boutiques, as well as really mysterious when you look at it from the outside; it makes you want to see what is inside. This is one of the things that differentiate Hollister from other fashion, clothing stores in malls and on the high street. Many teenagers and high school students wear Hollister products just because they want to become piece of the fashion and style, by showing a great fashion sense. 1. Price Hollister Co, keep the price points of their goods, affordable to its targeted group of customers, high school students aged 14-18. Hollister’s price points are about 20% lower than its parent Abercrombie Fitch, who mainly aim their products at consumers, aged 18 through 22. Again, this is another method by which Hollister Co shows they appreciate the customer group they are targeting, as they provide the best quality and unique products at a reasonable and affordable price for students. 2. Sales and promotion Hollister California pursues the technique of ‘walking self-marketing’, where in wearing an item of clothing from HCO results in direct advertising. This is particularly achieved through the large sewing or screen print of the brands name, initials, fictional date of establishment and the flying seagull logo on the vast majority of their merchandise. As a result, the company has not relied on media marketing to communicate its desired look and appeal. Hollister Co mainly advertises their product or whenever there is a special discount on some goods, they usually post it on the website. To maintain the SoCal theme, stores and merchandise are categorized within the divisions named ‘Dudes’ for men and ‘Bettys’ for women. 1. Environment Hollister Co. stores simulate the appearance of vintage beach shacks in an indoor shopping mall. The stores are designed to simulate the feeling of being in a surf shop by having the exterior and interior based on a life guard house. Another effective technique Hollister Co. uses is to play an eclectic selection of alternative rock and pop music in their stores. In addition, all the staff in Hollister is abide by a strict dress code. They must wear contemporary Hollister style clothing, normally abiding with their ‘beach vibe’ style clothing and everyone must wear the season’s colors. Again this is a great marketing technique used by the company, because by doing this, they are tempting and in a way encouraging the buyer to see and buy the latest styles, because they like the brand. From the pictures above, we can see how Hollister has used the front display of their store, as they made use of that space to position mannequins and show their latest trends to the customers that passes by. The picture also shows that certain mystique about shopping at Hollisters that make it a fun place to go. The storefronts look like beach huts; the interiors are dark and play trendy music. Customers cannot see into the store from the outside, but they can smell it from around the corner. The picture on the left shows that Hollister Co. set the mood of Christmas or other event to attract as well as thy sometimes have goods that are on sale. 2. Hamleys Brief history of the company: Hamleys is one of the worlds largest toy shops. Its flagship store is in Regent Street, London. Hamleys is named after William Hamley, who founded the first shop called ‘Noahs Ark’ at 231 High Holborn in London in 1760. A branch at 200 Regent Street was opened in 1881, and the Holborn branch was destroyed by fire in 1901 and was relocated from 231 to 86– 87 High Holborn. Arriving back in the present, we find Hamleys in its famous location at 188-196 Regent Street. To cope with the publics growing appetite for playthings, Hamleys added a further five floors of toys. The flagship store is considered one of Londons major tourist attractions, and receives about five million visitors a year. Unlike many companies using possessive names, Hamleys intentionally forgoes the use of an apostrophe in its name. In addition, the largest toy shop is famous for imported dolls, scientific sets, pedal cars and miniature toy trains. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamleys Techniques used to attract the consumer 1. Window Displays – Hamleys has really big store displays, which benefits them, as it creates a sense of excitement for the people that pass by. For instance when a customer approaches the store the first thing they see is the outside window display and they walk in with interest and really often adults enjoy the atmosphere, have family fun and play along with their children. The largest toy shop uses the front displays to set the mood of a particular event or sale they have. This mood often matches the season, for example during Christmas periods; they set the mood of Boxing Day, New Year, etc. 1. Price – The location of the shop is meant to attract middle class families, international shoppers and many tourists. As a result the prices of some products and services they provide might not be affordable to everyone. In this case higher prices stand for better quality of the products as well as the location of Hamleys allows them to have a bit higher prices on some toys. 2. Sales and Promotion – Hamleys frequently promotes their products in store, as they have point of sale advertisement, or usually the toys that are on sale are put next to the cashiers, so it is easily for shoppers to see it. As well as that they advertise on their original website, other internet sites, on TV around Christmas and Easter and some other special events, e.g. when they celebrated the 250th anniversary of the store. Hamleys mainly promote the new toys and games in store, by using sales representatives, for example doing puppet shows, staff dressed as super heroes, or demonstrating how to play with the toys. 3. Environment – The environment of Hamleys is very welcoming, there are people from the staff that entertain the customers once they enter the store and everyone can join in and have fun, play around and shop at the same time. Some customers do not even realise that they become buyers and even come back with their children regularly, very often customers walk in just to have a look around because of the environment. In addition, Hamleys organise birthday parties, which is another method they use to attract more customer by providing this type of service. 4. Online service – The company’s website is designed in a colorful theme and at the top of the page customer can find different tabs that will take them to various parts of the site. One feature that Home at Hamleys website offers is the search form that gives plenty of options to ensure that the customer finds the product that they need. Customers can search by brand, age range, gender, prices range as well as by the name of the toy. This makes it much easier for them to shop online if they do not have enough time to shop in store. Hamleys also deliver the products to customer’s door. The pictures above show that Hamleys has used the inside store space to put super heroes and doll houses to catch the attention of the customer. They also have similar pictures on the public display. The staffs at each shop floor are there to entertain people and they are also allowed to interact with the customers. This means that the store uses its employees to present the products and to attract more shoppers. 1. Location The store is located on the high street in central London and there are thousands of people that pass by every day. Hamleys has great travel links and is very near to the underground station. As I already said the store is visited by more than five million visitors each year, as is considered one of London’s tourist attractions. This benefits both – the business and the customer. It benefits the customer as is easy for them to find the location and get there and at the same, time benefits the business by bringing more clients and increasing the profit. 3. The Body Shop Brief history of the company: The Body Shop International Plc, known as The Body Shop, has 2,400 stores in 61 countries, and is the second largest cosmetic franchise in the world, following O Boticario, a Brazilian company. The Body Shop is headquartered in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England, was founded in 1976 by the late Dame Anita Roddick and is now part of the LOrà ©al corporate group. The Body Shop carries a wide range of products for the body, face, hair and home. The Body Shop does not claim its products are all-natural, but inspired by nature and they feature ingredients such as marula oil and sesame seed oil sourced through the Community Fair Trade program. The Body Shop is constantly producing innovative products and improving current products for customer safety and satisfaction. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Shop Techniques used to attract the consumer 1. Window Displays – The Body Shop regularly features posters on shop windows and sponsorship of local charity and community events. This is one of the techniques they use to attract customer, because they persuade the customer that by buying a product they will help someone in need somewhere in the world. 1. Price – The Body Shop’s prices are considered as reasonable for the quality of their products, even though some customers might think that they are overpricing. The company gives their products a fair price for natural ingredients or handcrafts they purchase from different countries. 1. Sales and promotion – In the past The Body Shop turned increasingly toward social and environmental campaigns to promote its business. The Body Shop proposed an alliance with Greenpeace in the UK to save the whale. As well as began launching other promotions tied to social causes, with much public and media interest. Back in the present The Body Shop is well known for its contribution to greener environment, products that contain community traded ingredients and products inspired by nature. It is very important for the customer to see what the business does to be ethical to the community and the environment and not just be existent to make profit. Poster frames are also supplied for use within the store to highlight various points of sale promotions and ethical messages throughout the store. Another way The Body Shop uses to offer and promote new products to their clients is by sending them email shots regularly, to update them on what is new or latest sales. 1. Environment – All Body Shop products are naturally scented, environmentally-minded and one of the campaigns that it supports is Against Animal Testing. Body Shop uses light boxes with energy efficient lighting combined with a sleek stylish look, which gives the store a modern look and an inviting glow. In addition, as they mainly sell cosmetics, body lotions and soaps, there is a special scent that in a way invites the passer by to enter the store. Another thing that benefits Body Shop is that they utilise all the space within the shop, making it as profitable as possible. 1. Online service – The high quality body, skin and beauty retailer also provides wide range of products on their online website. The website informs the consumers of latest offers and promotions. Customers will need to create an account in order to start using the services that it provides. Then they can start using The Body Shop website daily to get deals discount codes, free delivery, etc. and the purchase are always delivered straight to customers door. Window display shown is in Oxford Street, London. From the pictures we can see how The Body Shop has used its store window to display a campaign they are supporting. The campaign is to raise money to build a school in Cabra, Kosovo. This shows that their company is ethically responsible and when customers shop they raise money for charity and help someone in need. The picture below shows how Body Shops products are put down in the store. Everything is clear to the viewer, easy to find and there is a price and description underneath each product. The Body Shop also carries a theme throughout the display. Every seasonal promotion such as the Valentine’s Day, the poster conveys a message of what are the best products for that specific occasion. The window table at the bottom of the poster carries the products with A6 cards announcing discounts and promotions. Bibliography: http://hcohounds.tumblr.com/post/276422881 http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article6738947.ece http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8510000/8510277.stm http://www.hamleys.com/HAMLEYS_HISTORY_%7C_Hamleys_Toys/HAMLEYS_HISTORY,default,pg.html

Same Sex Marriage :: Gay Lesbian Marriage Argumentative Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gay and lesbian unions have been for a long time a subject that no one liked to discuss. For the last few decades, gays and lesbians have come out and expressed their sexuality preferences. Many believe that same sex marriage should not be legalized because it's against the moral. It's against the definition of marriage, which is considered as the union of a man and a woman as a husband and wife. Same sex marriage should be legalized because the way society views the union of lesbian and gays can a change. Another reason why same sex marriage should be legalized is that children that are issued from a gay or lesbian couple will be loved and raised in a family that is legally recognized under the law. Lesbians and gays also deserve to have the same rights as heterosexuals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The way society views same sex marriage can change. Throughout history, many beliefs have changed. In the past, black people were not considered as citizens in the constitution. It is not until the thirteenth amendment in 1865 that slavery was banned. Women were not considered equal to men and were not given the right to vote until 1920 when congress passed the fourteenth amendment. It takes time but opinions and beliefs can change and the past has shown us that is indeed possible! Same sex marriage are nothing more than the union of two humans being that care, love, and want to make commitments to each other. That commitment can not be recognized unless same sex marriage is legalized.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prohibiting same sex marriage is unconstitutional. "The act discriminates on the basis of the sex by making the ability to marry depend on one's gender" (American Civil Liberties Union, p 12). It also disregards the Faith Full and Credit Clause of the constitution. If a gay or lesbian couple gets married in a state where same sex marriage is legal, but then for some reasons decides to move to another state where same sex marriage is prohibited, it would mean that their union would not be recognized.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Same sex marriage should be legalized. Gays and lesbians deserve to have the same rights in their unions as heterosexuals have. It is important to legalize same sex marriage because: Civil marriage is the way our society defines one's most intimate, committed relationships; it is the only vehicle our society has for recognizing the existence of primary relationships not defined by blood.

Lord of the Flies Homework Essay

Piggy is clearly a clever boy, but he is a victim too? How does the writer use him in the novel? Lord of the Flies is about a group of schoolboys stranded on an island. The boys have to fend for themselves and try to get rescued. One of the main characters in the book is Piggy. The second person we find out about on the island is Piggy. We never find out his real name because he was always called Piggy and at the beginning Piggy also says â€Å"They used to call me â€Å"Piggy†Ã¢â‚¬ . He said this to Ralph because he trusted him and wanted to build friendship with him. Ralph makes fun of him, which shows the first sign that he is a victim. When Golding first introduces Piggy, he is described as â€Å"the fat boy†, whereas Ralph is described as â€Å"the fair boy† and as an athletic person. This contrast between the two characters makes Piggy seem inadequate in comparison to Ralph. This consequently makes him a likely victim too. It also makes Piggy the most physically vulnerable character because he is overweight and has asthma. Golding uses Piggy as a representative of an adult on the island. Even though at the start he repeatedly talks about his aunt, â€Å"My auntie told me not to run†, which sounds very childish, but as the rules of civilisation fall away from the island, he does not mention his auntie any more. On several places throughout the novel Piggy wonders about what grownups would say. He longs for the order and structure that adults impose. On times when Ralph thinks about what will happen next Piggy says they just have to carry on because that is what grownups would do. When the boys go rushing off to light the fire on the mountain, Piggy describes them as â€Å"crowd of kids† and follows them with the â€Å"martyred expression of a parent†. These examples clearly show that Golding uses Piggy to replace the grownup world. Another example of his maturity is when he wants the shelters to be built, â€Å"The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach†¦ Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn’t no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire†. This shows also that Piggy had common sense by wanting to build the shelters on the beach first, which might be boring, but better than the doing exciting things first like the other boys think. The writer also uses Piggy as a symbol of intelligence and civilisation. This however did not benefit the rest of the boys directly. If this was the case, he probably would not have been victimised at the end. The main reason for this might be that he did not have any leadership qualities, as an obese person, having asthma and wearing glasses would not be able to do certain things. His look did not fit into the profile of a powerful leader and he did not have the charisma a leader needs. Instead of this Piggy’s intelligence was used and published by Ralph, which left him with nothing to tell the group that they would recognise. This made Piggy even more of a victim because nobody apart from Ralph really noticed Piggy’s intelligence. Ralph needed Piggy and that is why he was able to notice his intelligence. Piggy was someone who reminded Ralph back to civilisation when his thoughts began to drift away. Piggy knows all sorts of things like at the beginning he finds and also tells Ralph how to use the conch and that it would make a noise, which would then call all the boys together. This also shows his intelligence. The physical appearance of Piggy is his biggest fallback of his ideas he puts into the assemblies. Often his ideas are completely ignored, because nobody recognises how important they might be. Because Piggy is very sensitive too and Jack continuously bullies him, he does not get any respect from the other boys. The fact that Jack is successful in doing this to Piggy, other boys get frustrated and choose to ignore him and follow Jack’s influence. Once rules are established, in Piggy’s eyes, breaking them is unthinkable because he stays civilised throughout the whole novel. On several places in the book he says â€Å"I’ve got the Conch. Let me speak† and a lot of referring to the conch because he sees the conch as an important symbol unlike the other boys. Whereas the other boys on the island do not care about rules at all Piggy cares a lot about them. He is unable to adapt the living without law and order and does not comprehend why the other boys can. Piggy gets killed in the end because Jack’s tribe gets fed up with Piggy and his importance of the conch and rules. By the treatment of Jack’s tribe towards Piggy Golding wants to show that a society also needs a scapegoat. The boys choose Piggy because of his physical appearance and because they do not understand his intelligence and the need of it. By picking Piggy as the scapegoat they make themselves feel better. Jack, who bullies him most, also slaps him on the mountain because he knows that Piggy will not be able to take revenge on him as Piggy is a fat boy having asthma. This makes Piggy a victim too, because it shows that everyone on the island could do anything to Piggy without worrying that he might not revenge. Even the name ‘Piggy’ makes him a victim. I think Golding called him so because he is the victim of the island. His name is used as he is the prey of the island just like the pigs that are killed for food. This is done to show how society victimises people. In conclusion Piggy’s character is the symbol of civilisation and intelligence. He mainly becomes a victim because of his physical appearance and his inability to do certain things because of his asthma. I think Golding chose to victimise Piggy because he wanted to make the reader feel sympathy towards a civilised, kind and intelligent character, no matter how his physical appearance is.

History of Computer Printers

The history of computer printers began in 1938 when  Seattle inventor Chester Carlson (1906–1968)  invented a dry printing process called electrophotography—commonly called a Xerox— which was to be the foundation technology for decades of laser printers to come. Technology In 1953, the first high-speed printer was developed by Remington-Rand for use on the  Univac  computer.  The original laser printer called EARS was developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center beginning in 1969 and completed in November  1971. Xerox Engineer Gary Starkweather (born 1938) adapted Carlsons Xerox copier technology, adding a laser beam to it to come up with the laser printer. According to the Xerox Corporation, The Xerox 9700 Electronic Printing System, the first xerographic laser printer product, was released in 1977. The 9700, a direct descendant from the original PARC EARS printer which pioneered in laser scanning optics, character generation electronics, and page formatting software, was the first product on the market to be enabled by PARC research. Computing Printers According to IBM, the very first IBM 3800 was installed in the central accounting office at F. W. Woolworth’s North American data center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1976. The IBM 3800 Printing System was the industry’s first high-speed, laser printer. It was a laser printer that operated at speeds of more than 100 impressions-per-minute. It was the first printer to combine laser technology and electrophotography. In 1976, the inkjet printer was invented, but it took until 1988 for the inkjet to become a home consumer item with Hewlett-Packards release of the DeskJet inkjet printer, priced at a whopping $1000.  In 1992, Hewlett-Packard released the popular LaserJet 4, the first 600 by 600 dots per inch resolution laser printer.   The History of Printing Printing is, of course, far older than the computer. The earliest dated printed book known is the Diamond Sutra, printed in China in 868 CE. However, it is suspected that book printing may have occurred long before this date.   Before Johannes Gutenberg (ca 1400–1468), printing was limited in the number of editions made and nearly exclusively decorative, used for pictures and designs. The material to be printed was carved into wood, stone, and metal, rolled with ink or paint and transferred by pressure to parchment or vellum.  Books were hand copied mostly by members of religious orders. Gutenberg  was a German craftsman and inventor, and he is best known for the Gutenberg press, an innovative printing press machine that used movable type. It remained the standard until the 20th century. Gutenberg made printing cheap. Linotypes and Typesetters German born Ottmar Mergenthalers (1854–1899) invention of the linotype composing the machine  in 1886 is regarded as the greatest advance in printing since Gutenbergs development of movable type 400 years earlier, allowing people to quickly set and breakdown an entire line of text at once. In 1907, Samuel Simon of Manchester England was awarded a patent for the process of using silk fabric as a printing screen. Using materials other than silk for screen printing has a long history that begins with the ancient art of stenciling used by the Egyptians and Greeks as early as 2500 B.C. Walter W. Morey of East Orange, New Jersey, conceived the idea of a teletypesetter, a device for setting type by  telegraph using coded paper tape. He demonstrated his invention in 1928, and Frank E. Gannett (1876–1957) of Gannett newspapers supported the process and aided in the development. The earliest phototypesetting machine was patented in 1925 by the Massachusetts inventor R. J. Smothers. In the early 1940s, Louis Marius Moyroud (1914–2010) and Rene Alphonse Higonnet (1902–1983) developed the first practical phototypesetting  machine. Their phototypesetter used a strobe light and a series of optics to project characters from a spinning disk onto photographic paper. Sources and Further Reading Consuegra, David. Classic Typefaces: American Type and Type Designers. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2011.  Lorraine, Ferguson, and Scott Douglass. A Time Line of American Typography. Design Quarterly148 (1990): 23–54. Ngeow, Evelyn, ed. Inventors and Inventions, Volume 1. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2008.