Shelving Display Options

By: Jason Petrina



If you own, or you are planning to open a retail store, one of the most critical factors in the success of your business may well relate to the quality of your shelving and displays. Failure to appropriately display your retail products on attractive and sturdy shelving and displays can not only present potential dangers to your products but may also affect your sales numbers.

When choosing the type of shelving solution that is best for your business, it’s a good idea to keep in mind the type of product or products that you need to display for your business. Many stores frequently choose to carry either glass of metal display shelves. The advantage of glass shelves is that they present a nice, clean, modern image. The disadvantages can be numerous; however. One of the major disadvantages is that these shelves can be more expensive than other styles. In addition, they can be harder to maintain and may be more susceptible to damage to regular metal shelves. Keep in mind that these shelves require frequent dusting to look their best.

While metal shelves may not be quite as attractive as glass shelves, they are usually cheaper and are far easier to maintain and less susceptible to damage than glass shelves. If you have a limited cleaning staff or time for such matters, metal shelves can be a good solution.

If you business happens to involve a lot of frequent traveling to trade shows, you may wish to invest in portable shelving that will make it easier to display your products at shows. Portable units provide a wonderfully attractive way to display your items without worrying about shelves that can be difficult to transport and set-up. Many such units are also manufactured in a such a way that allow them to fold-up for easy transportation and travel. Most can even be checked on airlines. If necessary, they can also be transported using ground transportation. While the initial cost of such shelving units may be a bit more expensive than other types of shelving displays, the savings that one will achieve from no longer needing to hire professional movers will more than justify the added expense.

Two of the most common types of travel style shelving display units include pop-up units and panel displays. You have probably seen pop-up display units if you have attended any conventions or trade shows. This type of display unit gives you the ability to display promotional and educational items easily. You may not be able to display items that are particularly heavy; however. In addition, these types of displays are not good for adjusting to different size settings.

Panel configuration displays provide the flexibility of being able to set up into different size and shape configurations. Although this type of display requires more time, and sometimes more than one person to set-up, many people feel that the flexibility is worth the trade-off.

When choosing shelves, be sure to consider whether your best option would be to buy new, lease or buy refurbished shelving. If you’re working on a budget, refurbished shelving units can provide an economical solution. In many cases you may not even be able to tell much difference between new shelving units and less expensive refurbished shelving units. The one disadvantage to leasing or purchasing refurbished units is that you may find you have fewer options in terms of style and color.



Jason Petrina is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com