Many shoppers have a hard time finding just the right product. Because these shoppers don't have specific products in mind, they need help visualizing how the products before them can meet their needs. Many times, merchandising involves displaying groups of products rather than just individual products to create complete solutions.
Retail stores implement merchandising techniques in their window and in-store displays.
Catalogers apply merchandising by creating groups of products that convey a lifestyle or usage category. When The Sharper Image catalog arrived in the mail recently, I decided it was time to put down the keyboard and do some offline browsing to check out its current products. It's clear that The Sharper Image knows how to merchandise products. The Sharper Image and other traditional catalogers apply these proven merchandising techniques to their web sites. After surfing the sites of several companies known for having successful retail and catalog operations, here's what I found.