A Picture vs. 1,000 Words in 500 Words

Last week, a personal internet shopping excursion combined with time spent improving Globe Imports’ wholesale product pictures got me curious. I did a little research and want to share with you what I learned about the importance of visual marketing strategy.

I recently went to a popular retail website as a buyer. This retailer sells colorful, quilted women’s accessories and I was interested in a particular piece for myself. I looked at the picture but could not make a decision because I wasn’t sure whether it had a pocket inside. What I did NOT do was look below the image, click on a tab labeled “details” and READ. My answer was right there in the product description.

I am the webmaster for www.globeimports.com and the person who writes the copy for those fantastic descriptions of each one of our many wholesale products. As the shopper, I did not take the time to read the text. This made me think about something I had already suspected – most people do not read – they look at images.

So, I investigated to see if this is indeed true. I found that our brains are wired to respond to visual messages because images are stored in our long-term memory and words are processed in our short-term memory. I hope YOU WILL read what I discovered:

• Your brain processes visuals at a speed 60,000 times faster than text
• 90% of all the information that is transmitted to our brains is visual
• 70% of your sensory receptors are located in your eyes
• 50% of the human brain is active in visual processing
• 40% of people respond better to visuals
• and only 16% of words on an average webpage are read by the user

In conclusion, we all look to (pun intended) pictures to tell us the story – it’s not laziness, it’s scientific fact.

As I mentioned, Globe Imports has been enhancing the visual appeal and quality of our merchandise pictures for the website and print flyers. We hired a professional photographer to help accomplish this goal. We are very pleased with the results. Our product images are now more attractive, super-clear, high-resolution pictures. We are happy to allow you savvy shopkeepers using digital to extend your storefronts and forward-thinking online marketers to use our product images for your retailing. We are showing multiple angles and perspectives on an uncluttered background with thumbnails that enlarge to show detail for each product. We have dramatic sliding photo galleries merchandising our goods on our home page.

While there is no replacement for holding or feeling a physical product on a store shelf, marketing has forever changed and with the right professional help your products can jump off the screen or printed page. Web design experts say product photography could very well be the single most important design aspect of any e-commerce website. We highly recommend www.astylephotography.com for fine product photography to help you obtain the sharp, vibrant images that will command your shopper’s attention and better your conversion rate.

Afterthoughts –

• It’s no why wonder emojis are so pervasive in our culture today.
• I would sincerely appreciate your stopping next time you are on our website and reading my product descriptions.
• Yes, I know what you’re wondering – this blog is exactly 500 words.

Home Sweet Home Décor

Home décor is all the personal touches that make a house a home: an elegant figurine gracing a classic bookcase, fabulous lamps symmetrically placed on end tables, dramatic wall décor as the focal point in the room. It’s colors, textures, patterns, all layered and tied together–a similarly hued room with a neutral palette or a bold eclectic space with pops of color. Home décor is what makes a house inviting. It’s a reflection of the personalities of the home’s occupants. Home décor is a representation of the homeowner’s life and likes.

The popularity of home decorating television shows has resulted in people’s desires to beautify their living spaces. These shows have sparked a creative spirit in your shoppers to dress up, flip around, swap out, and switch up their own home décor.

An individual shopping for home décor is looking for just those right pieces to suit their style whether they are redecorating or just searching for that one special must-have to add to their collection. Their tastes may run from cozy casual to regal glam. No matter what style, they want it to be quality and they want it at a reasonable price. You need a variety of accessories to appeal to a diverse audience.

You need home décor merchandise for every home from a sleek urban contemporary penthouse to a rustic French country farmhouse, from a shabby chic coastal bungalow to an old world inspired villa. Maybe your customers don’t really live in a penthouse or a villa or even anywhere near the ocean, but if that’s the style they want, we can help you capture that sale.

The Globe Imports, Inc., has a huge variety of home décor merchandise for you.

We have all the things that encompass home décor—both decorative and functional: wall art, candleholders, shelving, plaques, centerpieces, statuary, lamps, figurines, accent tables, clocks, storage chests, cabinets, pillows and wine racks. We have accessories made of all kinds of material: metal, glass, resin, wood, canvas, polystone, ceramic, leather, aluminum, cloth, brass and iron. We have products for every room in the house and outside, too: living room, bedroom, bath, man cave, kitchen, wine cellar, patio and the garden.

Visit our “Home Décor” category online.

This is what will happen…

Because you are a savvy business owner and shopped and stocked our merchandise, you will have a fantastic assortment of home décor accessories to offer your customers. You will be able to price those items fairly because we have such great values to offer you. Of course, you will display your selections well, making a statement, grouping things that look good together based on color and design. Then your shopper sees those well-displayed, fairly-priced home décor items and finds just what they wanted–or didn’t even know they wanted.

That’s when they become a buyer and take home a purchase that will make their home even sweeter.

Hot Off the Press

Merriam Webster dictionary defines the word “new” as: “having recently come into existence – recent, modern” and “having been seen, used, or known for a short time – unfamiliar“. And our new website is b-i-g news.

In fact, September of 2016 is a newsworthy month for The Globe Imports, Inc.

We are excited to report that September 15th was a red-letter day for Globe. We finally launched our new and improved website. We hope that you find it modern and you will make it familiar. Please explore our site and see all we have to offer. In the coming months, you will be seeing more features to make the task of shopping and buying easier for you and you definitely will be seeing more products.

We renewed our lease for our warehouse and office space that has been home to us for the last 24 years. We plan on making our showroom nicer to bring you a trade show experience right here whenever you stop by to visit.

We’ve taken in more shipments, added more new merchandise than other month in our long history. We are ready for a busy holiday season with lots of products on hand for quick delivery to you.

We are also fortunate and happy to add more staff to be able to serve your needs faster and more efficiently.

All this is thanks the support of you…our loyal customers.

You know how to display your merchandise so it looks stupendous in your store and your customers see that it will look just as fabulous when they purchase it and place it in their own home. But, it may not be enough anymore for an object of home decor just to look pretty. For your customers to want to buy something nowadays and take it home with them… that something needs to earn its place in their home… it needs to do something.

That product needs to: tell the time of day; make a sound; hold books in place on the shelf; store wine bottles up and out of the way on the wall; signify their hobby; represent their interest; remind them of places they’ve been; allow them to imagine places they’d rather be; and capture their heart.

• Colorful tropical canvas pictures on round wooden backing with battery operated clocks on top of the graphic designs
• A whimsical fat chef to grace the kitchen counter that also holds a wine bottle in his arms
• A wall-hanging metal bicycle shape that has hooks for inside the front door of a cycling enthusiast’s home to place keys when he enters
• A brass porthole or boat silhouette for the wall that is also a mirror to bring in light and make a nautical-themed room look bigger
• A ship’s bell that’s classic nautical décor to place above the bar in a man cave to ring when the home team scores
• Replicas of turn-of-the century candlestick telephones that hold pillar candles in vintage style
• A storage chest with a nautical design for a beach bungalow that can be used to tuck away unsightly clutter before guests arrive
• An antique reproduction lock to serve as a desk paperweight that doesn’t just sit there, it also locks and opens with a working key
• A practical wooden cabinet with drawers that also has a painted seashore picture on the front for a decorative and functional coastal furniture piece

The same applies to gift merchandise. For the giftware item on your shelf to sell, it truly needs to be that something special for someone special. Stock those products that have that special and specific appeal.

• A figurine of a frog doing yoga to add a unique piece to a frog collector’s menagerie or give a yoga practitioner on her birthday
• A keepsake of that cute dolphin they saw on vacation to take back to the folks at home that also fits in hand and is a bottle opener
• A turtle with a magnifying glass in his back, because everyone needs a handy magnifying glass now and then
• A fine pocket compass that could be engraved and shows direction the old-fashioned way–without a wi-fi connection
• A gift packaged shamrock bookmark or fleur-de-lis wine bottle stopper for an Irish friend or French neighbor

We wanted to share with you this current trend we are seeing from serving our many customers all over the country, that is: decorative accents and gifts that serve double duty sell quicker than objects d’art or knick-knacks. Hopefully this tip will help you steer your business towards making the right profit and in the direction of faster sales.

The Globe Imports, Inc., has been in business for over 25 years in Orlando, Florida, as a wholesaler supplying home décor and gifts to retailers all over the country. Right now all businesses are going through tough economic times. It is as though we all–wholesalers and retailers–are driving in a rain storm so it becomes important to keep our focus on the road and keep moving ahead. We have to be very careful we do all the right things and can’t afford any wrong steps or distractions. We would like to offer you the benefit of our years of experience and pass along these tips to help you, as the retailer, get where you want to go.

1. Restock what’s selling. It sounds simple, but some shopkeepers need to be reminded to do this basic thing. You can’t let yourself be so busy driving that you forget to put fuel in the car. If decorative metal wall suns are selling well for you, then, most definitely, restock them. Check out our wholesale garden accents and all our metal wall art. But now, instead of buying 12 of the same metal wall sun, buy 6 and save some of your buying budget for the next most important thing…number 2 on our list.

2. Try something new. Visit our website frequently and click on the “New” category. See what just arrived. Add a couple fresh and related items with each order. If you are currently doing well with turtles-then add a couple different style pelicans or even some pirates or other wholesale coastal figurines or wholesale tropical decorations. There’s a reason we are constantly adding new merchandise all the time to our already huge inventory of everything from wholesale nautical to Egyptian and from wholesale gifts to decorations to furniture.

3. Know what’s the trends are. We will be glad to pass along what we are seeing on a national scale or regional level. Right now, owls and owl-themed products seem to be the “in” thing all over the country. Wholesale antique reproduction pieces are also popular with everyone interested in repurposing and appreciating “the good ol’ days”. Also, anything for wine and about wine is hot. In fact, all our wholesale kitchen and wine accessories are selling. Just like clothing, home décor styles change. Make sure you have merchandise that’s in fashion. After all, the fashions and the trends are really set by the end-consumers-your customers. It’s what they want-what they are buying. Don’t you want to have that!

4. Display it well. If the product looks great in your store, then the buyer knows it will look great in their home. Have proper lighting. Create vignettes using theme, color, texture, and height. Make that customer wants to take the product off your shelf. For example, if you are selling new age merchandise, offer interesting bits of information about the symbolism, history, culture or anything else you can research on product, be it a Hindu statue of Ganesh or an oriental Buddha figurine. It’s termed “romancing the product”. Product that is well displayed and has meaning translates to a better price for you. This is just and important, if not more so, when you are a web-based business or an e-commerce business, for example, a seller on Amazon or E-bay. Many of our wholesale customers are very successful marketing our wholesale decorations and wholesale gifts by showing fantastic images of the piece and giving in-depth information on the item and why the buyer or bidder deserves that for himself.

5. Sell value. People want value. They want quality at a fair price. In fact, they are doing their homework to ensure they get it, especially before making a sizeable purchase. Be certain that what you are offering your customers is real value. Those businesses offering real value are the ones that will make it through this economic rainstorm. It does not matter the material, whether it’s polyresin, polystone, metal, brass, ceramic, crystal, wood or leather, our products are well-made and well packaged. We have worked hard to assemble an assortment of wholesale gifts and home décor accessories that will be a value to you and a value to your shoppers by keeping our prices as low as possible.

6. Give service. Make sure you take care of your customers. Greet them, make them feel special, treat them with respect, teach your staff how important all of those things are. Every customer should want to come back to you. What’s more, they should want to refer their friends. The adage is: a happy customer will tell 3 other people, but an unhappy one will tell 30. And, what with all the social networking out there today, both those numbers could potentially be much, much higher.

If you follow these tips, we are confident that not only will you weather the storm, you’ll see the rainbow at the end.