MARKET OVERVIEW
In-home leisure categories like arts and crafts thrived over the past two as people enjoyed the affordable in-home activity. During times of high stress, both emotional and financial, consumers enjoy activities that help them feel both relaxed and purposeful. This category looks to maintain the upward trend as the ongoing interest in crafts continues while the pandemic slowly continues.
MERCHANDISING STRATEGIES
The industry is very competitive, with traditional brick-and-mortar arts and crafts stores facing competition from big box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, as well as online players such as etsy.com and Amazon. The increased competition has caused many retailers to increase promotional activity to drive sales.
Creativity, organization, and messaging are essential for any in-store merchandising program, but especially for this category. Curated in-store experiences, along with innovation and enhanced value are necessary for brands to win sales and customer loyalty.
It is important to keep shoppers excited and inspired while shopping. Targeted messaging on signage, displays, and packaging help shoppers easily find the various products they need for their projects. Signage and displays throughout the store should be reflective of the different types of products available and thus merchandised accordingly. Different materials, shapes, sizes, and color schemes can help differentiate project areas within the store and add a
layer of excitement to the experience.
Vanguard’s digital printing capabilities can help as it allows for printing on a variety of materials. Due to its versatility, digital printing allows brand and retailers to easy target messaging towards the specific projects or store locations.
Cross merchandising strategies also work well in this category as shoppers like to be inspired with complementary products and vivid imagery. Vanguard Companies can provide occassion-based and multi-vendor options to help brands and retailers with these efforts. Research shows that a shopper contemplating a project or craft will be more inspired to consider and tackle the project if they see an engaging display that contains all the materials and tools needed for the project.
See more merchandising solutions at advancedlogisticsandfulfillment.com/gallery/