NEW YORK—In many cities and towns around the country this month, customers are finding their way back to stores again, heading to local main streets and shopping districts. You’ll want to make sure that if they’re not familiar with your business that your displays, product merchandising and window ideas are as intriguing as they can be. A great blog at Vend is one such source of inspiration on this topic. In the blog’s Retail Tips & Trends section, a recent piece by writer Francesca Nicasio offers 15 Window Display Tips to Captivate Shoppers and Drive In-Store Traffic.

Among these with accompanying visuals are: to understand your target audience, placing things at eye level, tell stories, avoid clutter and stay away from clichés. She also points to other sources of inspiration and ideas including Vend’s own Pinterest page and Nicasio’s own suggestions for inspiring window and retail displays to follow on Instagram.

Vend’s Retail Tips & Trends Archive goes beyond displays to offer a range of useful info for all types of independent and multi-location retailers, which you can find here.

Vend by Lightspeed is a well-known robust e-commerce software and platform geared to retailers of all sizes. It’s a great source of supportive information that offers a host of resources for independents. 

The site’s Blog, guides and e-books, insights, webinars and more are loaded with visual info and advice on a range of topics from merchandising and display, HR and people issues. Many feature success stories which can inspire, while others are more hands on about making the right decisions for certain operations and location matter. Vend offers a 14-day free trial membership but several of its resources are available at no charge.