A perfectly placed necklace or vase in a window can be eye catching enough to draw you into a store but what many people don't realise is that every piece has been carefully selected.

Visual merchandising plays a large part in people's shopping experience and some retail companies have teams ensuring windows and stores are laid out to maximise sales.

Visual merchandiser Alex Carter has worked for high end fashion companies and now works for a specialty food and homewares retailer.

'Windows should be show-stopping,” she says.

'They're like a gallery show, you select the best pieces and put that foot forward. The ideal is to stop traffic.”

Alex says windows are a store's biggest asset so retailers need to make the most of them.

Windows are like a painting so it needs to be balanced and have as much product as possible without being cluttered, she says.

A theme to tie it all together is important as well - it can be a colour or specific products, says Alex.

'Less is more so very carefully curated pieces that exemplify what you want to make sales (of) or represent in that week and then to also be true and specific to the look of your overall store or brand.”

Windows should be changed at least once a week and tidied daily especially if things are removed or sold, she says.

'I do think people need to treat visual merchandising like an art form because it is. A good visual merchandiser is a creative, it's not just about making money.”

The hard part of visual merchandising is getting the balance right between being aesthetically pleasing and making the most sales, says Alex.

Centrepoint Opportunity Shop manager Kate Hesleden has shown her merchandising prowess by winning the Greerton Village Cherry Blossom Window Dressing competition.

She created a Japanese inspired window complete with petals from a faux cherry tree sprinkled on the ground and says it is the little details that make a difference.

'I do think it's the detail, getting things just in the right spot.”

The store has won a $750 advertising package from Sun Media and Kate says it will give their business exposure and create awareness about what they do.

About 90 per cent of their profits go straight back to the community which a lot of people don't realise, she says.