A window display is your store’s first impression.  A good one will grab the attention of passersby and excite interest in your store and your brand.  But a static, unchanging window display quickly loses its luster, and those day-one fireworks for your foot traffic will likely go up in smoke.  

To stay impactful, a retail window display needs to change regularly and keep active.  According to an urban developer’s article for Main Street News, you’ve only got 2.5 seconds to hook a shopper with your windows, so there’s no time to waste.  Those precious seconds need to offer a fresh experience immediately. Of course, switching merchandise in and out isn’t the only way for a display to feel dynamic and active in the eyes of onlookers (although it’s the most commonly recognized).

Through the Looking Glass

The secret ingredient to an arresting dynamic window display has been right in front of you all along, but it’s no wonder you haven’t spotted it yet: it’s completely transparent.  

That’s right—the glass.

Window displays are 3-dimensional works of art that are dressed up or filtered at every level by the lens through which we see them.  Your retail store’s windows are not only clear outer walls. They’re windows into your world. The markings, texture, opacity, light-transmission, and color of glass all offer you untold opportunities to control your store’s message.

The possibilities are endless, and include:

• The mysterious blur of frosted glass
• Color psychology with chromatic window films
• Aesthetic graphics and striking brand logos
• A crystalline glow from cleverly positioned lights

What’s most exciting is that window graphics and films are an incredibly cost-effective and easy way to completely transform your retail window displays without expanding the footprint of your props closet or investing in other expensive display dressings.

A Dynamic Experience

The above examples are a start, but to really ensure an eye-catching and animated experience you should try dynamic window films such as VisionControlFilm.  This specialized film can make your displays seem to shift and change depending on where you stand to view them.  As you walk by a window, the VCF makes the glass morph slowly from totally transparent to mysteriously frosted.

Applying the film vertically or horizontally can change the orientation of the blur effect, and different varieties can obscure the view from one or two uniquely chosen angles.  This way, it’s up to you whether the display is clear from the front, or encourages the curious to stop and look high, low, or around the window to see what’s within. For example, you could apply it in strips that each frost a different angle to tantalizingly reveal each layer of an outfit as the viewer moves from left to right.

Right away you’ve created an interactive experience that stops people in their tracks to explore your window display, and perhaps your store after that.

Display Your Uniqueness

When you harness the power of dynamic window films, you’ve made a compelling statement about your brand—it stands apart from the competition.  Your windows will act as magnets for attention and foot traffic by perpetually presenting optical illusions without any electricity or personnel to operate them.  It’s even possible to die-cut your brand logo from VCF so that it amazingly appears and disappears like frost flashing across the glass.

Clever, aesthetically alluring window treatments can elevate your retail store into the category of “experiential retail” that today’s customers increasingly seek out.  The one-of-a-kind encounter each shopper has with your window display brings your storefront to life with a unique touch that customers can’t get online.