STUDIES ON THE VISUAL MERCHANDISING IN RETAIL STORES IN LUDHIANA

The study aims to find out how and to what extent retail apparel outlets incorporate visual merchandising in retail stores in Ludhiana. The survey method was followed to conduct the study and data were collected through Interview schedule and convenient sampling. Ludhiana was selected as locale of the study. The major findings showed that almost all the stores exhibits creative and interesting displays that incorporate aesthetic principles with basic merchandising techniques to inform and educate potential buyers about the products. Moreover displays are frequently changed to promote new product launches, merchandise assortment, brand names and reflect festive or season themes such as Christmas, New Year, Spring or Summer. All the stores allocate specific budget for their displays. It was further found that almost all the stores employed different elements such as mannequins, lightning, scents, music, layouts, props, fixtures for enhancing their store ambience and attracting customers into the store