Zurich store fronts - the good, the bad and the ugly

Last week I visited Zurich and had a good wander around the city and its stores. Here is a view of some windows and entrances I discovered.

1. Call to action.

Windows and entrances are tasked with many jobs. A call to action is often overlooked, even when the primary objective is to get shoppers to enter the store. Lululemon has a call to action, but in this instance, it's focused on product application rather than store entry.

Struuss, a denim store has a different challenge. Being located at the rear of a narrow alleyway, their call to action is about awareness and navigation to the store. The yellow arrows were enough to make me take a look - despite the additional obstacle of roadworks at the point of access.

2. Use of props

I found three interesting use of props. Scheerer the opticians, use apples to emphasise that not all eyewear (or apples) is good quality.

Rituals have positioned a cycle tuk tuk outside their store, although the relevance passed me by.

Burberry is currently using scaffold poles to create a window feature for stores. The contrast between premium fashion and construction creates great stand out.

3. Single message.

A single message in windows, provides great focus, so shoppers can understand and respond more easily.

Sun Catcher has an Oakley window at the airport, promoting their Prizm lens technology. A large lightbox is framed by 4 plinths.

St. Peter Pharmacy has an essential oils window, combining a hanging banner and plinth with bottles. Visibility into store is still possible with this restrained design - in an industry that often feels compelled to cram a window full of hundreds of small products.

Dyson has used a window to promote their supersonic hairdryer - with a typically stylish and focused lightbox display, supported by 3 freestanding hairdryers.

4. Lack of engagement.

This Tui window was very underwhelming. For a company that sells escapism and dreams, this display did nothing to excite or engage.

5. Clutter.

Having shown some great windows with a single strong message, here we have the other extreme. The Franz Carl Weber toy window is a mass of products, poorly laid out, making it hard to isolate anything.

Swiss Time Arts has filled their window with hundreds of watches, making differentiation impossible.

Likewise, Pump It Up has a monotonous, repetitive selection of shoes that provide no distinction for shoppers.

6. Movement.

Movement is a great way to draw attention and encourage footfall. IWC made clever use of edge lit etched acrylic, with several layers of technical detail from a watch, individually illuminated in sequence.

Louis Vuitton employs rotating glass frames with sand that cascades across the frame, which is very subtle but strangely hypnotic once you start watching...although maybe I should be focusing on the product next to it...

PKZ Women has a 6 x 6 metre led screen in window, with a simple but impactful black and white animation of walking people, simulating a catwalk. I did notice shoppers stopping to look at it as the passed, although none chose to enter the store as a result.

7. External displays.

I discovered a number of stores that have placed product outside to supplement the window display. I can only assume that theft isn't an issue in Zurich, because none of these products would last five minutes where I live...

Die Macherei utilises window sucker clamps for a bag display. The novelty of the feature made me stop to take a closer look, along with several other people.

Galerie Helvetia has two acrylic boxes full of prints to encourage interaction and footfall into the store.

And finally, British brand Lush has a shelf below their window with 3 products on display. This was at child interaction height, as evidenced by the toddlers who enjoyed lifting the covers to take a closer look - and sniff - at the soaps while I was there.

Summary

I was unable to observe much shopper interaction with any of the windows, so this is merely a subjective observation of one city and its windows. Whilst the vast majority of Zurich's stores are fresh and stylish, there was a diverse selection of window displays.