UNIT IV. ACTIVITY B. TIME MARKERS

A History of Visual Merchandising in Retail Stores
By Sarah Marie

In our current, consumer-oriented culture, people do not shop merely to obtain items they need, but also to satisfy their wants. Frequently, shopping does not even involve making a purchase. For consumers, window-shopping has become a popular pastime. Visual merchandisers create "miniature worlds" for merchandise in an effort to attract the attention of consumers, draw them into the store and keep them coming back in the future. Despite the advanced techniques seen in visual displays, visual merchandising is not a new concept or art. As early as the 18th century, merchandise was staged in interesting and unique arrangements to attract consumers.

The Early Stores

Prior to the late 18th century, when the contemporary methods of visual merchandising began to evolve, store owners and managers cared little for the appearance of their stores and the presentation of merchandise. Very little merchandise was displayed within the store. Rather, a customer would enter the store and speak with the retailer, who would then present merchandise that was kept in a back room. "Sales talk" and an ability to persuade were very important in convincing a customer of the quality of a product and making a sale. The evolution in store design brought about a new "process" of shopping. It was not longer a verbal engagement between retailers and customers, but now a "sensory experience". The first step in the evolution of store design occurred when small stores began to display their merchandise openly to the public, instead of keeping it stored in back rooms. Eventually, the deliberate displaying of goods became an important tool for retailers. What was once unattractive stores that were not meant to visually appeal to consumers, slowly became exciting shopping venues.

B. Seleccione otro texto relacionado con su área de experticia y extraiga las palabras claves, diga si son de instrucciones, o de secuencia u ordenamiento del tiempo. ·

Marcadores de Tiempo
current,
new,
early,
18th century,
prior,
late,
18th century,
when,
began,
new,
longer,
now,
first,
when,
began,
eventually,
became,
was,
slowly became.

Tipo de texto

Descriptive, time sequency

Idea general del párrafo

The text is about the history of a marketing technique called visual merchandising and how this technique has evolved. This part of the text just covers the first years of the technique`s evolution, in the 18th century.

Source and Images:
http://hubpages.com/hub/A-History-of-Visual-Merchandising-in-Retail-Stores