The Important Role of Mannequins in the Store

If the whole store is a book, and the window is the cover of the book, then the mannequin is the pattern of the cover. We’ve combed through the history of mannequins. Its English world Mannequin comes from The Dutch “Mannekijin”, which means “little man”. It was originally a prop used by costume designers in the 19^th century to show the latest design to the royal family. It has no head, only a wooden upper body, and a metal stand. In the 20^th century, the industrial revolution of the textile machine was born, and department stores began to install large-scale glass windows. If the pedestrians coming and going on the street are the audience, the protagonists in the window are the mannequins. It began to be used on a large scale as part of “Visual Merchandising”, the most well-known example of which was Abrahan & Straus's New York flagship store in the mid-80s.

You may not know that L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz, was the editor in chief of the world’s first showcase-themed magazine in 1898. Writing about the importance of mannequins, he said: “If there is no such display, the goods will be ignored. ”

Many individual store owners also value the role of mannequins in store renovations and upgrades. Sara Jane Martini, the owner of a clothing store in the United States, did the math. “Assuming a mannequin costs $500, a large store may need 12 mannequins. This investment is second only to the cost of store firmware, but it is still worth it.” Store sales are very important. The main purpose of using mannequins in stores is to achieve related display.

Display & Matching of Mannequins

From the perspective of the display principle of clothing mannequins, there is no principle, because there is no right or wrong in the display design, as long as it can display the characteristics of the product and match the brand's cultural style. It can visually create a comfortable feeling for the guests. These are exquisite mannequins, you need to pay attention to their facial makeup effect, body muscle ratio, and color.

When placing clothing mannequins on the window, you need to pay attention to the overall aesthetics, the matching of various colors, and the integration of lighting and clothing, which can not only display the goods to stimulate sales but also save and beautify the space. Different store window mannequins show establish their own themes to show their own style and personality, Whether it can promote customers to pay, mainly depends on whether it can cater to customers’ aesthetics, which is often referred to as audience vision.

Let clothing mannequins become your loyal “shopping guide” in your store.

Classification of Mannequins

Mannequins are usually divided into a full mannequin, half mannequins, partial mannequins, and another special custom mannequin. Different mannequins have different emphases, different display methods, and different styles of clothing displayed.

Full Mannequin

This is the most common type of mannequin, and the most widely used. It is basically suitable for all clothing and styles. It can display the products more intuitively and completely.

It should be noted that all mannequins have different textures, colors, and postures, including sitting models, standing models, etc. In the selection process, you need to pay attention to whether the material and color of the model match the goods.

Half Mannequin

Half mannequins are generally used as a display for tops, coats, or dresses, and the overall texture is relatively good. Such half mannequins rarely wear trousers, because of the setting of the chassis and the struts, the display effect of wearing trousers is not ideal, and it is not enough to support the trousers. Of course, this is not absolute, only relative.

Partial Mannequin

Sometimes the half-mannequin and full-mannequin in the store can't meet the needs of our display goods. In order to better display the goods and reflect the characteristics and functions of the goods, some local display models are particularly important. Such as leg mold, head mold, hand mold, and so on. And this kind of mannequin is very common in hat shops, stocks shops, jewelry shops, and watches shops.

Special Custom Mannequin

What is a specially customized mannequin, such as a brand-specific model, a mannequin with an unusual posture, or that is no longer in proportion to the human body, etc. Generally, the use of special mannequins should be based on the positioning of the brand, as well as the style of clothing and the brand concept that you want to express.

Place of Mannequins

Array

The array type is to use multiple models with the same posture to pose with a single linear structure, which brings greater visual impact to customers.

Scene

A purely commercial display design will not attract consumers, but the scene style has a certain narrative and theme, creating a scene through a mannequin and props. The scene style requires the coordination of the pose of the mannequin and the matching of the look, as well as the creation of the prop's atmosphere.

Under normal circumstances, whether it is a window or a mannequin in the store, these two points need to be paid attention to. The orientation of the mannequins in the window is best to communicate with the customer with sight. To make the mannequin look like a living person instead of a bunch of lifeless props, so we can also get inspiration from life, imagine a life scene, and then place the personality display that gives each mannequin according to the scene.

Mannequins are the focal point of “visual merchandising” for offline brick-and-mortar stores. According to the NPD Group report, 42% of customers believe that mannequins influence their purchasing decisions, second only to friends and family. Judi Henderson Townsend, head of Mannequin Madness, the largest mannequin recycling company in the U.S., said in an interview: “The more online shopping becomes popular, the more brick-and-mortar stores need to find new ways to create a fun storefront atmosphere and engage customers with a better offline experience. Mannequins are visually appealing, and retailers see them as an extension of the brand.” So if you want to sell your store better and get more customers, we can try adding some mannequins. 

You can find all kinds of mannequins in Ant Display, if you can’t find the one you like, you can contact us and we can introduce you to more models.