Planning Seasonal Windows: Your Guide to Holiday Retail Displays

Creating captivating seasonal window displays that align with your brand and retail strategy takes a combination of careful planning and execution. In this guide, we'll lead you through the essential stages of planning your seasonal windows (with examples!), ensuring that you effectively meet your timeline and wow your audience.

1. Lay the Groundwork

Especially in the retail world, effective planning starts well in advance to set the foundation for a successful window display. To get started, consider the following:

• Know your audience: Where is your audience in the sales funnel and customer journey? Decide whether your goal is to increase brand awareness among new customers or to reinforce your brand loyalty among existing ones.
  
  
• Brand story and messaging: A good window display has a clear story to tell. Are you launching a new product or launching a short-term holiday campaign? Or focusing on more evergreen content? This is a good time to reflect on your company values and messaging to resonate with your target audience.
  
  
• Digital integration: Connect your window display to your online presence to further enhance the customer experience! Your audience might see your brand in-person after seeing it online, making them ready to purchase. Or they might see the display in-person, then follow up by searching online. Make sure your in-store experience seamlessly integrates with your digital content by including coordinating graphics and QR codes.
  
  
• Surroundings: Understand your retail locations and their unique requirements. A window display located on a street in NYC with a lot of pedestrian foot traffic will require a different approach than a window display located in a suburban area with mostly driving traffic or inside a mall.

Holiday planning, especially for large brands, often starts over a year in advance depending on the complexity of their campaign. Developing a detailed timeline is crucial to avoid last-minute setbacks like replacing an out-of-stock material or paying more for expedited shipping because an item wasn’t sent on time. Our team can expertly guide your holiday planning, no matter how large or small the project. These are some important things to consider:

• Timeline: Start planning your holiday window displays 8-12 weeks in advance to allow for design and execution. (We’re ready to help!)
  
  
• Budget: Start with your budget and allow that to inform your design choices. Don’t forget to consider how many signs and individual pieces you’ll need to fill in the window space. Using unique materials and effects like metallics will catch attention but come with extra costs, so make sure you factor these in as well.
  
  
• Installation: Consider the complexity and scale of your design. Large window graphics will require professional installation, while hanging banners using an existing track system can be installed by someone in store. And don’t forget to account for weather! Window graphics need to be installed when the windows aren’t too cold.

The design stage is where everything starts to come to life. Consider these elements when brainstorming and creating your window display:

• Consider different applications: Consider a combination of window graphics (applied on the glass) and window displays (behind the glass) to add depth to your holiday display. We suggest keeping the window graphics more evergreen because they require professional installation, while hanging signage can be easily changed throughout the holiday season.
  
  
• Add dimension: Maximize your window display space by layering hanging signage and window graphics. Or add custom cut outs, 3D standees, or oversize boxes to look like gifts to add interest.
  
  
• Play with texture: The holiday season is all about the glitz and glam, and that includes window displays! Add metallic elements to reflect the lights or add textural elements to mimic fake snow to fit the holiday theme.
  
  
• Make it photo-worthy: Make your window display a visual treat to encourage passersby to share on social media. Consider incorporating a selfie spot or element of interactivity that will make people want to stop and take a photo with your display.
  
  

4. Material Selection

Choosing the right materials is essential for both the visual impact and durability of your window display.

• Short-term vs. long-term: What is the intended lifespan of your seasonal window display? Short-term graphics like clings and changeable signs don’t need the same durability as graphics that will need to last an entire holiday season.
• Coverage: Using perforated films allows for a full coverage graphic on the outside of your windows while allowing visibility for the customers inside the store looking out.
• Sustainability: Consider using 100% recyclable materials or materials produced with post-consumer waste (PCW) for your short-term retail signage. Work with your C2 Imaging rep to determine the best options.
• Unique finishes: Add a touch of flair to your window display by incorporating materials with unique qualities like holographic, reflective, or gradated effects.

Our team at C2 Imaging is ready to help you level up your holiday and seasonal window display graphics this year. Contact us to get started!