Three ways to increase perceived value using glass display cabinets

Cleanliness

Any car salesman will tell you one of the most fundamental things for attracting customers is to keep the car windows clean! Dirt and dust in any type of display, especially window displays and products encased in glass, lowers the perceived value of products, and indeed the reputation of the retail outlet and its staff.

So instead of spoiling the ship for a penny of tar, make it a daily routine to dust and polish your glass display cabinets, and pay careful attention to any edgings.

Quantitative easing

No, this is not something from the Bank of England, but the same principle applies. Just as more money is printed, and the money already in circulation then decreases in value, the same can be true with a cluttered display cabinet. It can be a tricky decision figuring out how many products to show that once. A strategy that has been used in sales and marketing for centuries however, is that the more customer involvement needed for a purchasing decision of a particular item, the fewer of those items should be on display.

This helps focus attention on valuable pieces which require the customer to weigh up the pros and cons of shelling out a considerable amount of money. In contrast to this, are items of low monetary value, that are bought very frequently and require little engagement on the part of the customer. An example of this would be regularly bought food items such as potatoes, which require little display enhancement and can be happily bundled together in a huge pile.

Elevation

Think back to any films you've seen where people try to steal something of great value, such as jewels or ancient artefacts. Nine times out of 10 the item will be positioned on a pedestal of some type, whether in an Art gallery or in an ancient temple. Placing valuable items higher than their surroundings makes them the centre of attention, adds to a sense of mystique and heightens perceived value.

So if you really want to make something feel special, then try to use this principle inside your display cabinets themselves. Rather than just place items on the glass itself, you could be creative and use small velvet covered boxes, small columns or something similar to place the items on.

If you have several pieces all in the same glass cabinet, you can break up the linear nature of the display by placing certain items at different heights. This is more interesting and visually pleasing to the eye. They can also highlight a centrepiece item by surrounding it with less valuable items or associated pieces at lower levels.