Two articles about retailing caught my attention today. Each addresses the importance of visual merchandising to ensure repeat customers. One is about frequently redesigning your store, the other is about frequently changing your window displays.

In my experience, each approach is vital for keeping customers interested in your place of business. I’m not sure you need to change the inside layout almost daily, like the home-furnishing store does. Nor do you need to come up with a new window display every three weeks, like the clothing stores do.

A lot of storeowners tell me they’re so busy with inventory, pricing and buying that it’s hard to devote time to interior and exterior merchandising. I tell them they don’t have to. Plenty of full- and part-time interior designers and window dressers are willing to help out at reasonable rates. You can even consider students at local art or design schools. Put an ad on Craigslist.com that says you’re looking for talented people and I think you’ll be overwhelmed by the response. Or search the Resumes section to find potential candidates.

Keeping your store fresh-looking signals that you’re giving customers a new experience every time they shop. They’ll keep coming back not just for the merchandise, but also to feel like they’re buying from someone who’s dialed in to retail.

Go ahead. Be a trendsetter. Your customers will reward you for it. The home-furnishings guy has a great outlook: “We never followed trends. We like to create our own.”