A story on NPR (@npr) explains the importance of mannequins in the retail environment.
"As online shopping grows and grows, it seems that people coming into the stores are even more and more interested in a tactile experience," says Craig Childress of Envirosell (@Envirosell), a New York City-based firm that studies consumer behavior. He says a well-designed mannequin will invite shoppers to interact with the merchandise.
"It's really amazing to us how static retail environments are," Childress says. "So anything that actually has perception of moving, or is actually moving, really gets attention very quickly."
While it may start with action, a successful mannequin has to ultimately reflect something that customers want to see in themselves, according to Fusion Specialties' Peter Huston. "A well-designed mannequin will always be far more aspirational than it is realistic. And so you walk a fine line there," Huston says.
Read and listen to the story in full.
Here’s a crazy question: Should bookstores incorporate mannequins into the shopping experience they give their customers?
