Christmas is one of the busiest times for retailers all over the world, and for customers, it’s the best time of year to stroll through high streets to view the lavishly decorated festive windows on display.
Following a 118% increase in interest for the search term “Christmas window display” from October to November 2021, we looked into the most popular Christmas window displays among department stores worldwide and spoke to experts to find out how retailers can create the best Christmas window displays.
The top 10 Christmas Window Displays around the world
1. Harrods, UK – Image Credit: Retail Gazette
The new research indicates that Harrods, a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, has the best Christmas window display across the globe, with the average search volume for terms relating to its display reaching over 1,700 monthly searches. The UK department store is famed for selling luxury goods, with the most expensive item ever sold being a pair of shoes worth 1.6 million.
Worth over 2.2 billion, Harrods unquestionably has a large budget to spend on their festive displays. With this in mind, it’s clear how Harrods can curate one of the world’s most desirable Christmas window displays. This year’s theme is “Witness a Spectacle”, centred on a feasting table that stretches across its storefront. Each window includes a QR code, which visitors can scan and watch the table displays come to life.
2. Saks Fifth Avenue, NYC – Image Credit: NBC
Taking second place is Saks Fifth Avenue, an American luxury department store located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Over the Christmas period, NYC will see millions of tourists heading to the city to soak up the festive atmosphere, and it’s also an excellent opportunity to see the outstanding Christmas window displays Fifth Avenue offers. This year’s theme is “reconnecting with family and loved ones during the holiday season”. Saks asked children in New York to draw and describe what they dream of doing with loved ones at Christmas to bring this theme to life³.
3. Tiffanys
An iconic luxury retailer known for its fine jewellery, and desirable wedding registry, the Tiffany store in NYC comes third on the list for the best Christmas window displays in the world. The Fifth Avenue store is famed for its extravagant Christmas decorations and has previously wowed passersby with whimsical tributes to important Tiffany figures, such as artistic director Gene Moore. This year, Tiffany NYC has opened a temporary pop up store to celebrate the Christmas season⁴. With gold stars and theatrical lighting, the store is a festive fan’s dream.
4. Selfridges, UK – Image credit: Retail Gazette
Fourth on the list is Selfridges. The retailer launched ‘Christmas of Dreams’ across stores in London, Birmingham and Manchester, and on selfridges.com, with a digital campaign starring actress Jane Horrocks⁵. This year’s theme presents an enchanted dream world, blending creative references, from the golden age of Hollywood to classic 1950’s technicolour film musicals.
5. Bergdorf Goodman, NYC – Image credit: Yahoo!
Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer, based in NYC, makes the top five list for the best Christmas window displays. According to Bergdorf’s senior director of visual presentation, it can take up to ten months to design the Christmas display and 17 days to install⁶. This year’s theme is “The Present Moment”, which depicts joyous moments frozen in time where whimsical characters are seen “in the moment”⁷.
6. Harvey Nichols, UK – Image credit: The Industry Fashion
One of the UK’s favourite department stores, Harvey Nichols, places sixth in the top ten list. This year the department store focuses on “spreading joy and happiness with bright colours and beaming lights”⁸, the windows feature modern stained glass panels, flooded with light to reflect a glorious pattern of Christmas-coloured hues inside and outside the windows.
7. Bloomingdales, NYC – Image credit: Tom Silbey
In early November, Bloomingdales, one of the most well-known department stores in the US, unveiled its Christmas window display at its flagship store in NYC. This year’s theme is “give happy”, which encourages those celebrating Christmas to focus on creating happiness through their gifting⁹.
8. Cartier, NYC – Image credit: Stephan Laquerre
One of the most iconic stores in the world, Cartier, takes the eighth spot in the top ten list for the best Christmas window display. This year, the department store takes glitz and glam to a whole new level and has decorated the full building as a Christmas present, wrapped in gold lighting and red ribbon¹⁰.
9. Macy’s
Another luxury department retail store in NYC, Macy’s, sits ninth among the best Christmas window displays worldwide. This year’s theme focuses on “Tiptoe the reindeer”, a reindeer who is desperate to join Santas flock of reindeers. This campaign aims to remind everyone “to believe in their dreams”¹¹.
10. Ogilvy’s
Ogilvy’s Christmas windows complete the top ten for the most searched for around the world, and the department store is famed for bringing the most magical and mechanical displays to Montreal. However, Ogilvys no longer produces their Christmas windows; instead, past displays were donated to the McCord Museum in March 2018 by Holt Renfrew to preserve and ensure the continuation of the iconic Montreal displays¹².
Creating the perfect Christmas window display
We spoke to Senior account manager at Kolorcraft, Emma Ramsey, on how retailers can create the most memorable Christmas displays.
“Many medium to large UK retailers start planning their Christmas window displays in January (some even earlier!), whilst smaller or independent retailers tend to begin their preparations closer to Autumn.
“Budgets will differ from retailer to retailer, but Christmas window displays are recognised as an important way to attract customers. In addition to drawing customers into their store, retailers will also aim to develop and reinforce their wider brand image due to their Christmas window display and Christmas marketing.
“In terms of what retailers should include in their display, it’s important to take your customers on a journey. Many retailers use nostalgia or emotion to draw customers’ attention and current trends, text, and layers; for example, vinyl on the window, central items and a backdrop or even 3D display. The best windows often incorporate storytelling and keep this theme running through the rest of the retailer’s shop and messaging (even if this is only done with colour choices, it will still add to the customer’s experience).”
Choosing the best glass for a Christmas window display
When retailers have chosen what their Christmas display will involve and what story it will tell, retailers must determine the right glass for their Christmas window, so their displays can be seen in the best possible quality.
The type of glass that would ensure a clear view and no reflection in the windows is ‘Clearsight’. Clearsight has an anti-reflective coating that minimises glare and significantly reduces any light reflection to less than 1%, which is a massive difference compared to the 8% on conventional glass. Due to Clearsight glass having no reflection, any Christmas display objects placed behind it will be crystal clear.
In terms of the style of windows used, it depends on what the retailer sells. For example, for a jewellery store where the product would be considered a high consideration purchase, the store would benefit from windows leading customers through the front door. However, clothing retailers looking to depict a Christmas scene in their windows may benefit from a bay window so that customers can see the Christmas scene and products clearly.
To encourage foot traffic through the door, retailers should ensure that their Christmas display tells a story rather than creating a ‘salesy’ display. Usually, people are drawn in when a display takes you on a journey, and as long as the glass used is clear and non-reflective, retailers should be on to a winner!
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