Introducing ‘Less is More’.
Taking a typical H&B store as a trial, each category, from Beauty to Sports to Vitamins, was analysed through both a visual merchandising and commercial lens: looking at a range of quantitative and qualitive metrics from sales data to customer insights and everything in-between.
Stock was reduced significantly overall and shelving reduced by almost a third, meaning that inventory management, but ultimately customer experience, was simplified and streamlined. Some of the newly released-space was then used for brand and product messaging to help customers easily find what they need and to introduce them to some of the hero products at Holland & Barrett.
Whilst applying the Visual Merchandising principles developed for our 2022 VM project with H&B, a visual consistency was also created by using standardised shelf heights where possible throughout the store, alongside a specific colour and material palette for each category. OSP worked in partnership with Retail Development InStore Limited to ensure the new visual merchandising aids for on-shelf product highlights were aligned to the Holland & Barrett brand and that the new elements were delivered within the project deadlines.
Jennifer Beagent, Senior VM at OSP says:
‘It’s not often you get to experience a range review across all categories in one go – but by doing so we were able to create a consistency of VM vision that would have been very difficult to achieve by working on each area in silo. And the best part is this is something that could be implemented across all stores – we really were thinking of every H&B format, and with over 800 stores in the UK alone there are a lot of variations to consider! It was a real challenge, and a real pleasure to see Less is More come to life in-store. I’m excited to see how this evolves across the rest of the H&B estate, I think it could be a game-changer!’