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Make sure to fill up the walls in your storefront to maximize your bottom line,” says Karen Olney of Sweet Gumball. Pleasingly arranged artwork will inspire customers and will complete your store’s look, just as it does in a home setting.
Consider a gallery wall to encourage multiple sales. Olney recommends balancing size and color to create a successful wall.
Art of selling art
Artwork is a deeply personal choice, but interior designers and retailers can help their customers and clients find pieces that resonate with them simply by
how selections are curated and displayed.
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“I’ve realized that the most effective way to choose art
for a project is for the designer to go with what he or she is passionate about and would want to own,” says Gillian Bryce of Gillian Bryce Fine Art. “Passion is contagious; I use my
own eye and preferences to choose what I curate for my gallery and ultimately my designer clients are able to recognize that. The same applies to the designer’s clients. They will respond
to the excitement and discernment with which the pieces
were chosen.”
Lighting is important. “A well-lit piece of art will make a customer’s eye go straight to it,” says Olney. And designers can work with their clients to ensure that once the artwork is installed in their home, it is just as well lit.
Through his analysis of different patterns of displaying wall art
at retail, Ricardo Neumann of Sectis Design says he’s found
that works best is for retailers to dedicate a wall in their store to wall décor, and to collect the décor in an arrangement of several pieces—at least five—of similar style. “The effect is much stronger and straightforward,” he notes. “If not, it might be misinterpreted as decoration of the store rather than pieces for sale.”
Establish relationships with key vendors. Kelly O’Neal
of Design Legacy, notes that vendors are more likely to help source or customize works to meet a specific project need for their clients who place regular and sizeable orders with them. And once you have that relationship in place, it might even be possible for interior designers to send their mood boards to suppliers for input and recommendations on the best pieces to meet a certain need.
Be sure to offer a range. Experts at Design Legacy recommend buying larger statement pieces (smaller venders are often a good, up-and-coming source for this), then filling in with mass-produced lines that can be sold at a more affordable price. Carrying a wide price range ensures you can appeal to a broader customer base, but bear in mind that it takes as much time to process a $10 item as a $100 item, so don’t shy away from pricier pieces.
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Images courtesy of dinnerpARTy, Southern Bit, Sweet Gumball, Austin James, Sectis Design, Design Legacy and Gillian Bryce Fine Art
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