SALESMANSHIP AND DISPLAY FIXTURES
The inside display case is the shoe store’s open picture book. Almost everyone enjoys looking at pictures, which is proved by the success of the moving-picture show. Were the salesman merely to say, in suggesting an additional purchase, that he has a pretty suede pump of a new model, he could not do more than arouse a mild interest. On the other hand, if, with the aid of the display case, he is able to bring the shoe directly to the customer’s notice he at once has interest and his statements then are not mere words, but facts.
Very often the tendency is to let the show case tell its own story; to take it for granted that if the customer sees what he wants he will say so and buy it. But that, generally, is not what happens. Most people are inclined to hold back in making a decision to spend money, even though they realize their need for the goods. A word from the salesman to bridge over the gap many times is all that is required to complete the sale. Display fixtures are mechanical and have their purpose to reduce the salesman’s physical effort in showing the goods. They do not take the place of the salesman but serve as his convenience to show more and to sell more goods. It does not take a great deal of extra effort to finish off the sale of a pair of shoes with an additional sale of shoe trees, hosiery, shoe dressing or some other findings, but the business amounts to a substantial figure in the course of a month.