Tips from a former Visual Merchandiser: I studied how people moved through space and where their attention landed. My basic premise: People like to look like they know what they are doing and where they are going.
I WAS NOT IN THE Scuba Industry. I was not a manufacturer, nor an apparel designer. I was a Visual Merchandiser and Conceptual Designer specializing in event décor, hard-to-find items for film and still photographers (before Photoshop and AI), and Commercial Holiday Décor. I studied how people moved through space and where their attention landed. My basic premise: People like to look like they know what they are doing and where they are going. People are also like parakeets and fish – curious and attracted to things that are shiny and moving.
I also loved everything Secret Agent (my brain just works that way). I was developing CoCo Cheznaynay, Secret Agent of Truth & Style, and making small products with hidden messages, secret compartments, and dual purposes until…
I started scuba lessons and experienced surprise performance-anxiety panic attacks. I knew I had to either abandon CoCo or get good at scuba. What I lacked in confidence, I overcompensated for with cool gear and an intense study of how resorts, stores, boats, and divers organized and what divers needed. Everything was black. And as a photo stylist, I wondered: where was the hair management?
After eight trips in 2000, I designed an accessory line and added products where I saw a need.
My focus on merchandising with solutions comes from my professional, personal, and Secret Agent bent – the Power of Observance in Planning and showing customers and employees they are seen and supported.
The Art of Impulse Item
By their mere presence, and while the credit card is out, impulse items have customers asking, “What if I need this? This could make my experience even better. And they have thought this out for me.”
Even if you do not carry everything a customer may need, you can still help. Offer a small handout, a QR code linked to a helpful document, or a framed display sign with suggestions they can photograph. Better yet, hold a chat or event where customers share favorite travel hacks, packing ideas, hair management, or how to build a compact waterproof travel survival/repair kit.
Be aware of fast-moving social media trends and beware of plastic packaging. Divers are some of the most passionate caretakers of the environment, so look for minimal packaging. The colors will pop without the plastic glare.
How Should Stores Display Colorful, Functional Products? Creatively!
Please be willing to explore merchandising other than just slatwall, grid, and rows of glaring plastic-packaged items.
People like to discover things. Sifting through a bin, bowl, or box creates a little treasure hunt. You do not know exactly what you will pull up next, and finding something unexpected can feel more rewarding than simply taking it from a neatly organized peg.
It is also tactile. Moving items aside, feeling textures, and discovering what is underneath engages customers in a way a standard wall display often does not.
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Where Should Impulse Items and Support Accessories Be Placed?
To keep them top of mind and combat overwhelm, place them near the zones where customers will need them.
At the register, try a clear fishbowl or Treasure Chest. Customers love the thrill of rummaging for hidden gems. One of the greatest sales opportunities happens while a customer is waiting at the cash register. They naturally look around and notice additional items. Ask any major retailer, or simply observe your own habits in a checkout line.
Near Selling Zones, use display chains, bamboo rods, curtain rods, slatwall hang rods, or other dimensional displays that put accessories next to the products they support.
Better yet, let the customer experience the solution.
In the wetsuit, bootie, and fin area, hand the customer a pair of socks. Make it part of the fitting process, much like putting on socks when trying on shoes. The dread of struggling to pull on fins may quickly turn into, “Wow, that made this easier.”
Now you may not even need to ask whether they would like to add a pair. They have already experienced why they need them, and there is a collection waiting in a small fishbowl at the cash register.
Every Major Gear Purchase Is an Opportunity
When someone buys a major piece of equipment, think about the small accessories that make that gear easier, safer, more organized, or simply more enjoyable to use.
A mask creates an opportunity for defog or a strap cover. Fins and booties lead naturally to fin socks or spring straps. A BCD may call for identification tags, clips, or carabiners. A computer brings up screen protection, wrist straps, batteries, or a case.
This is not about piling on another item. It is about improving the diver’s experience.
Organize Around Tasks, Not Just Products
If a store or brand offers products with a known need, make it easy for customers to solve that need in one place. Why should they go to another store or worry about an online shipment arriving on time?
Create product zones around tasks and gear. A mirror area can support hair management, hoods, hats, and sunglasses. A travel section can bring together packing items, dry bags, luggage tags, and small essentials. A Save-a-Dive area can make repairs and backup items feel like a logical kit rather than unrelated pieces scattered throughout the store.
Educate customers before a trip to try on their gear, think about how their kit becomes a functional, logical, cohesive unit, practice deployment, and learn the muscle memory of where their gear is located.
And use your vendors. A willing vendor may be able to educate you and your customers in-store, on Zoom, or by FaceTime on how products are designed to be worn and used.
Create an Experience
You can also turn merchandising into an event.
Host a packing night. Ask customers to bring their favorite travel hacks. Create a hair-management session. Build compact waterproof travel survival/repair kits together. Invite customers to share where they are traveling next, or add pins to a world map showing where they have been.
Continuity throughout the store and training rooms matters, too. If your customers love the Pirate Life, lean into it. Use themed displays, treasure chests, maps, compass graphics, or an “adventurer’s outpost” to fuel the spirit of exploration.
Make organization and convenience part of what you sell. It conveys trust in your experience and critical thinking.
You are not just selling another small accessory. You are demonstrating that you have thought through what the diver may need before they even realize they need it.
Think McGyver. Think Secret Agent.
You can find Suuz at DEMA Booth 2528 – ScubaDoRag: At The Corner of Fun & Fashion.
Stop by to discuss any visual merchandising. Missed Suuz’s first article on the accessory advantage? Check out our July issue.
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