There’s an added variable when choosing a child mannequin. This is, that while the display needs to appeal to the kids, it also needs to sell their parents on the clothes too. It’s likely that the kids will want to look different to the way their parents think they should look. If you have children you’ve probably already encountered this : they have groups and friends who wear their clothes in distinctive ways, and it’s really important for them to fit in with their peers.

As with all marketing displays and activities, there are things that you should find out:

• What the clothes ranges are that the manufacturers and fashion companies have decided to push for the year or season.

• What the past sales performance is, of the clothes styles you’ve sold in your area previously.

• What’s the image that parents consider their children should be conveying &

• How do the kids themselves think they should look.

The latest statistics I’ve read are that about 80% of customers shop within 5 miles ( 8 kilometers ) of their home. So as a retailer, you need to get data from people in your area, so that you can present them with the image that they have told you they want. At this point you can decide on the mannequins to use in displays.

Mannequins can be created in any style at all, and contrary to some data you might have read, its not that expensive to have a custom range produced. Once you’ve done the research you’ll be better able to decide whether you want abstract mannequins, colorful shiny ones, conservative matt, white, or vintage. And you may even have found that your prospective customers have preferences in hair styles, in which case it would make sense to have you mannequin heads styled to match.

Promoting to ChildrenNow something that’s really important if you’re creating a display for kids, is that they are far more attracted to color and movement and action. If you’ve decided to target the kids, who will then make the sale for you with their parents, then make sure that the mannequins aren’t boring and can be associated with the things in the kids environment - the latest games and fads and movies.

You may have noticed that a LOT of sales to kids are don via joint-ventures, where for example, McDonald’s meals promote Pixar movies, because kids then associate the food with the cool movie.

You may not be able to market your products by using other band names, but you definitely can be aware of the colors, and images that are currently appealing to their age group.

Children grow fast and you’ll probably find that clothes displayed on mannequins that are the correct age representation will do a better job at holding attention.

There are lots of other choices to be made when you select mannequins - headless vs with heads, cast in one piece vs flexible, faces, hair, size, and so on. But the most important thing you can do when creating a mannequin display, is to survey your target audience. I write this a lot in my articles, because it is so important. You can only know what people want and consider to be desirable by asking them. And this is even more important when the customer is a child !