INTRODUCTION

Tourism is currently developing rapidly, reaffirming itself as one of the most dynamic industries in the world; for many countries, it is the primary source of income, which becomes a development incentive that strengthens traditional economic activities and increases their value (^{Mackay et al., 2022}).

According to ^{Pérez and Sarmiento (2016)}, destinations are forced to identify all their attractions to create and offer competitive and sustainable products capable of meeting their expectations, considering that consumers have been transformed as a result of changes in their living patterns, becoming increasingly demanding and selective (^{Mackay et al., 2022}).

Because of the above, it is essential to emphasize that the evolution of tourism cannot be separated from commercial movements and, more specifically, from trade, which constitutes "the fundamental link between production and consumption" (^{Vázquez, 2010}, p. 277). The relationship between commerce and tourism is materialized in the modality of shopping tourism. ^{Bulnes (2021)} points out that shopping, besides acting as a leisure activity, also becomes an infallible opportunity to show the culture to the host and expand the knowledge of the tourist destination.

In this sense, visual merchandising is a fundamental tool for retailers because it captures customers' attention and influences their purchasing behavior. This research will improve the Management of visual merchandising in Caracol points of sale by including customer perceptions, thus becoming a valuable tool for researchers and managers of shopping tourism.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The presence of shops in tourist destinations is essential. Shopping malls and specialized stores are generally located in areas connected to the city's busiest areas, and their scope is adapted to the tourist population staying in the destination and to the flow of visitors in transit (^{Escobar, 2013}).

The products sold in these shops should reflect the most attractive features of a tourist destination. ^{Escobar (2013)} specifies that they should be characterized by a wide range of nationally produced items, competitive and reasonable prices, personalized attention, and adequate Management of the point of sale.

According to ^{Roggeveen and others (2021)}, retailers should focus on creating unique and original products. Using local products to reflect local characteristics can be very attractive to consumers. If someone can also make products like art, it can create a high perceived value in them. Incorporating sustainable products is a growing trend that can differentiate a company from the competition and appeal to environmentally conscious consumers. Moreover, for consumers interested in fashion, offering high fashion products in the assortment can be an effective strategy to attract them.

Regarding the Management of the point of sale, ^{Cant and Hefer (2013)} explain that in the physical space or point of sale, strategies such as visual merchandising are known that aim to promote the purchase intention, as it is a process that is oriented towards the effective marketing of products at the point of sale. In addition, ^{Premchandran and Sahay (2015)} add that it influences the store's merchandising and leads customers to spend more time in the retail store.

Visual merchandising refers to how merchandise is presented in the store, both inside and outside, to create a positive and distinctive image of the retail establishment that attracts attention and arouses consumer interest, desire, and action (^{Bist & Mehta, 2022}). This merchandise presentation is coordinated with other elements such as advertising, fashion, special events, and merchandising departments to provide the customer with an appropriate shopping experience (^{Dash et al., 2018}).

By the above, the analysis of the influence of visual merchandising on impulse buying behavior is a pillar to attract customers' attention. From the conceptualization of the elements that make it up, it is possible to assess how it influences buying behavior (^{Gudonavičienė & Alijošienė, 2015}). An example of this is the proper organization of the point of sale, which influences the consumer's expectations so that the message that the company wants to give and encourages the purchase of products is captured (^{Pantano et al., 2021}).

Studies related to visual merchandising show the importance of promotional signage. ^{Karunarathne (2021)} states that this provides the consumer with more information about the product offered, so it becomes a guide for customers to visualize the most relevant products within the point of sale. ^{Kaldeen and Mufeeth (2020)} emphasize the role of window displays as they increase the desire to buy a product that was not planned, either because of the offer or because of the impulse to observe an eye-catching window display.

^{Palomares (2011)} considers the interior and exterior architecture of the store, ambiance, presentation time, and point-of-sale marketing as fundamental elements of visual merchandising. In convergence with this criterion, ^{Basu and others (2022)} analyze how visual merchandising variables related to retail atmosphere, such as store design, window display, color, and lighting, influence consumer attention.

Studies of retail atmosphere aim to understand how it affects purchase decisions, consumers' emotional responses, and their post-purchase behavior, such as word-of-mouth. Although music has been the primary focus of researchers, in recent years, the importance of a more holistic view of the atmosphere as a critical dimension of the retail experience has been increasingly recognized ^{Basu, Paul, and Singh (2022)}. This research is considered valuable for visual merchandising management, which requires more holistic approaches and contextualization in different destinations where the customer perspective is known.

Considering the elements analyzed a priori, it can be said that visual merchandising plays a decisive role at the time of purchase since the consumer has the impulse to purchase the product or service due to the stimuli generated at the point of sale (^{Prieto et al., 2022}). In this sense, retailers base a large part of their decisions on visual merchandising, so they try to organize their points of sale properly to offer consumers a better experience for their senses. To apply a visual merchandising strategy, choosing the right place and carrying out prior planning consistent with the objectives (^{Kpossa & Lick, 2020}).

Cuba has many stores located in key points of its tourist destinations. Not exempt from this is the destination Holguin, which has a network of stores belonging to the Caracol Holguin Branch, which sells a range of products divided into clothing, underwear, shirts, handbags and accessories, footwear, beverages, perfumery, tobacco, cigarettes, coffee, glassware, among others; it also has a highly qualified staff with a positive attitude towards customer service. This research will focus on how the defining elements of visual merchandising behave in these points of sale from the consumer's point of view.

The present study defines the objective of analyzing the perception of national and international customers who visit Caracol points of sale in the destination of Holguín on the determining elements of visual merchandising, which is necessary due to its notable influence on the purchasing behavior of consumers.

METHODOLOGY

This research is conducted using a quantitative and descriptive approach. For the field research, the survey was selected as the data collection instrument to evaluate the essential aspects of interest to the researchers. The questionnaire is made up of 19 closed questions, including a series of informative questions related to age, gender, education level, occupation, and country of origin, in addition to the section related to the topic of the research, which has 15 aspects distributed in four dimensions: Exterior Architecture, Interior Architecture, Ambience and Presentation Times, with response categories on Likert-type scales: 1 strongly disagree, two disagree, three neither agree nor disagree, four agree and five strongly agree, which together made it possible to measure customer perception.

To test the reliability and validity of this instrument, the IBM SPSS Statics 26.0 statistical software was used, where Cronbach's Alpha is the index used to prove the reliability of internal consistency and the KMO coefficient (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) in the case of validity. According to the SPSS outputs, the Cronbach's Alpha of the survey applied to external customers is 0.729 (α = 0.729), a value between 0.61 and 0.80, so the survey is reliable according to ^{Hair and others (2004)}.

In the case of determining the validity of the instrument, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was calculated; the result was a value of KMO = 0.777, which determines that the survey has an average validity between 0.8 ≥ KMO > 0.7, according to the criteria of ^{Hair and others (2004)}.

Therefore, the designed instrument represents an effective tool for managing primary information and knowing customers' perceptions of the determining elements of visual merchandising in Caracol points of sale. For the application of this survey, the sample size or number of customers to be surveyed was determined by simple random sampling.

The expression applied to statistical sampling for finite populations, taking as a population the customers who visit the Caracol points of sale located both in the hotels and the city of Holguin destination between December 1, 2022, and January 19, 2023, obtaining a sample of 159 external customers to which the survey was applied.

The data was processed, and the information was presented in tables using IBM SPSS Statics 26.0. The mean values were used as the analysis value for each dimension studied. They are evaluated on a five-point Likert scale, where 1 indicates a very negative perception, and 5 indicates a very positive perception.

By calculating the average of the participants' responses, a value is obtained that represents the general perception of the respondents on each evaluated aspect of each dimension of visual merchandising analyzed in the Caracol points of sale. In addition, the standard deviation was included as a parameter to evaluate the degree of variability of the participants' answers on each evaluated aspect. In this sense, a high standard deviation indicates a more significant variability in the participants' responses, suggesting a greater diversity in the respondents' perceptions of a particular aspect.

Therefore, a high standard deviation may indicate an area for improvement, as it suggests a more significant opportunity to reach consensus and improve customers' overall perception of the visual merchandising elements of the store being studied.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 159 clients, of whom 93 (58.49%) were female and 66 (41.51%) were male. The ages of the participants ranged from 16 to 29 years 29 (18.24%), 30 to 39 years 54 (33.96%), 40 to 49 years 46 (28.93%), 50 to 59 years 25 (15.72%) and 60 years or more 5 (3.15%). As for the level of education, 12 (7.55%) have the category of technician, 72 (45.28%) have higher secondary education, and 75 (47.17%) have higher education.

Regarding the occupation of the clients interviewed, 24 (15.09%) are students, 81 (50.94%) are employees, 14 (8.81%) are self-employed and 40 (25.16%) are professionals. In terms of country of origin, 43 (27.04%) come from Canada, 75 (47.17%) from the Cuban community abroad, 21 (13.21%) from the United States of America, and 20 (12.58%) from France. The following results demonstrate customers' perceptions of the dimensions studied:

DISCUSSION

The Caracol points of sale in Holguín, cataloged as tourist and non-tourist shops, are a resource for income generation, so it is appropriate to look for ways to motivate customers to visit these facilities and positively influence their purchasing behavior.

Visual merchandising is an effective tool to capture customers' attention and induce them to make unplanned purchases through the art of creatively presenting products and effectively instructing consumers, facilitating a successful sales process, displaying products in a realistic environment, creating a pleasant environment for merchandising an item, attracting customers' attention, and helping them to satisfy their desires.

In this sense, visual merchandising is a marketing technique that effectively uses visual elements. Start outside the store, such as window displays and lighting, and continue inside to improve the store's image and increase sales (^{Bist & Mehta, 2022}). According to ^{Gusó (2016)}, a store must use visual merchandising for the expected first impression, which is the one that counts the most and stimulates customers to make a purchase decision.

^{Dadras and others (2017)} define visual merchandising as the technique or aesthetic display of merchandise to attract potential buyers and incite them to buy, and that commonly occurs in retail spaces such as stores; likewise, many retailers use visual merchandising as a way to capture attention by making the brand visually appealing to the target audience (^{Roggeveen et al., 2021}); therefore, the purpose of visual merchandising is to capture the attention of the customer in the store to purchase the product, taking into account exciting and attractive presentations that enhance the image and display of the merchandise (^{Ajithk et al., 2018}).

It was known that the Caracol points of sale, in terms of exterior architecture, have a modern and suggestive structure that enhances the entrance of the stores, positively influencing the decision to enter these establishments. Also, it has a visually attractive image and compatibility with the company's identity, offering consumers a pleasant and striking visual experience, genuinely generating the desire to visit and buy.

These elements that make up the exterior architecture of the establishment make it possible to reveal the identity and personality of the store, thus contributing to the transmission of its corporate image, which it externalizes on a physical and psychological level (^{Palomares, 2001}).

Using these tools at the point of sale should be as attractive and aesthetic as possible because this is the hook and the invitation to the public to visit the point of sale (^{Alvarado, 2020}). In this regard, ^{Morgan (2014)} points out that the external image of the establishment is of great importance when it comes to positioning, as it reflects the personality and style of the store. Therefore, careful planning of the external elements of the point of sale is necessary.

On the other hand, it is essential to mention that most of the stores studied do not have window displays as an attraction resource due to their absence in the design of points of sale, caused by the ignorance of their positive influence on purchasing behavior as a primary piece of visual merchandising, denying customers the opportunity to perceive at first glance a pleasant impression of what is marketed from a creative and seductive perspective.

Therefore, under these specific circumstances, it is known that window displays are cataloged as a genuinely defining element because they recreate, encourage, and inspire consumers, collaborating for the construction of an association between what is observed and what people want to make known of the store, with this agrees ^{Llovet (2021)}, who states that it is crucial to stimulate the imagination of the consumer, the idea that the garment shown is theirs, and also associate this idea with a state of happiness.

In convergence with the above is stated by ^{Mendizabal (2018)}, who states that the window display is the fundamental channel of communication between the customer and the establishment; this must be informative and persuasive to attract the attention of the customer in a short time; likewise, a promise of price, fashion, variety, design, quality, sophistication, must be delivered to the consumer.

In terms of interior architecture, the results show that the stores have aisles with an appropriate design, with a logic that favors the circulation and orientation of customers in the search for a particular product. These are presented in racks, gondolas, displays, tables, and shelves, organized strategically, rationally, and orderly.

However, in some cases, the most expensive products are not at eye level, which reduces the possibility of selling them due to the lack of knowledge of the personnel in charge of the stores about the use of this type of techniques, and because in some cases, the furniture they have is not the most appropriate.

In this regard, ^{Palomares (2001)} states that the distribution of goods at eye level is considered the hottest area and, theoretically, the one that sells the most because it is where most of the viewers' eyes are always directed, located at the horizontal level of the eyes, between 1.40 and 1.70 meters.

^{Quintanilla and Zúñiga (2016)} agree with this position raised by the author, explaining that the level and area of the presentation should be considered because influences sales, it is easier to sell items that are at eye level and within reach of the customer's hands.

In turn, the aspects considered harmful according to this study should be considered since interior design, as ^{Morgan (2014)} explained, guides shoppers through an establishment in a logical sequence and encourages them to stop at specific points and finally buy an item. This underlines that good visual merchandising in the store should be oriented to make every inch of the establishment profitable around the merchandise and the logical circulation of the consumer.

According to the above, the interior design of the store creates the space and the way the products are displayed so that the customer can shop spontaneously (^{Sindhu, 2020}); it also affects the visual experience of the shopper and, accordingly, the time spent in the store, the movement through the aisles, the allocation of attention and money among departments and categories (^{Mowrey et al., 2019}); in addition, it involves several things in store planning, such as the selection of materials, furniture, fixtures, and product placement to make the store more attractive and eye-catching to potential consumers (^{Putra, 2020}).

In terms of atmosphere and ambiance, the colors that persist in most stores are black, gray, and white, shades that make the presentation of the products more attractive. Other cases also use various brown and yellow colors aligned with the company's theme. In this regard, color is qualified by ^{Medina and others (2020)} as one of the most relevant aspects in the field of visual merchandising, not only because it inspires consumers in their purchase but also because it is the most economical tool that can be exploited.

White color is considered correct because it is a neutral tone that gives the sensation of purity and cleanliness. It is considered the preferred color in the backgrounds, as it does not create any exorbitant reaction (^{Medina et al., 2020}). It is also convenient to use the corporate colors implemented in some of the facilities since it is crucial to consider the company's identity to which they belong and with which they identify (^{Romero, 2021}).

As for the lighting, it is adequate, favoring a good observation of the products displayed, giving greater visibility power to the customers, and complementing the design of the stores in terms of visual exposure. In this regard, ^{Romero (2021)} defines light as an element of spatial guidance that guides the customer in a way that is oriented to the intended route, thus enhancing the stay experience.

^{Aspfors (2010)} considers it essential to have adequate lighting in the store, considering that brighter lights attract more attention than stores with low lights. It is due to the simple fact that consumers can quickly identify their desired product in bright light compared to low light. Even minute details about the product, such as the ingredients used in its manufacture and any labels, are essential to consumers and can only be observed if customers are provided with proper lighting.

In addition to the above, it is imperative to emphasize that it is the responsibility of the store management to ensure that the lighting is such that it creates a pleasant and calm environment for the customers since sight is one of the senses that facilitates the buying process and is therefore extremely important in the visual merchandising technique (^{Aspfors, 2010}).

Although the components analyzed were positive, there is a factor considered unfavorable: the stores are not set with musical themes, and the products that are sold, not in tune with the cultural and identity values of the destination, are factors that become a disadvantage in attracting consumers; ^{Morgan (2014)} explains that music is a component of visual merchandising that enhances the overall atmosphere of the store and should be adapted to the style of the items sold, as well as to the clientele that frequents the establishment, in a way that helps promote the brand image.

Also, research by ^{Baker and others (1992)} shows how a combination of classical music and soft lighting signals to consumers that they should expect to pay higher prices. It should be added that it is essential to consider the type of music, its variety, and volume to make the customer feel comfortable at the point of sale (^{Sanz, 2016}). Music is a crucial factor for impulse sales; silence in a store is unacceptable. It can increase or decrease the time spent in the store (^{Bohórquez, 2020}), although the effects may vary depending on the gender and age of the customers, as well as the music itself.

Finally, regarding the presentation time, seasonal products should be highlighted attractively, and the seasonal time should be respected regarding the duration of promotions. However, they are made for special dates such as "Valentine's Day," "Mother's Day" and other representative occasions. They are not considered as a whole. On the other hand, they do not focus on the national image and brands, lacking dates linked to cultural and identity values that show the soul of Cuba represented in its products.

Considering the aspects mentioned a priori is helpful because according to ^{Farzana and others (2022)}. However, advertising may not fully influence the qualities and standards of consumers and the possibility of changing the negative mood towards an increasingly positive product vision. ^{Palomares (2001)} agrees with this and considers that there should be a strategic procedure appropriate to the time, promotion, and seasonality of each product, which integrates the attraction of the offer to attract the customer to the establishment, to implant the products in the mind of the consumer, as an alternative closer to the purchase.

CONCLUSIONS

As conclusions of the present research, it is affirmed that for creating pleasant and attractive environments for the customers in commercial establishments, such as stores, it is imperative to apply visual merchandising. Visual merchandising aims to influence the customers to create a positive image of the stores in their minds, to contribute to the promotion of the stores, and to stimulate the intention to buy.

According to the evaluation of the visual merchandising components (exterior architecture, interior architecture, ambiance, presentation times), the highest-rated and best-valued dimensions are exterior architecture, interior architecture, and ambiance when it comes to driving purchases at the point of sale. In this sense, exterior architecture, interior architecture, and ambiance are vital variables that can significantly affect the customer's shopping experience at the point of sale.

Exterior architecture can capture the customer's attention and create a positive impression before entering the store. On the other hand, interior architecture can influence how customers perceive and navigate the store and their shopping behavior. Ambiance can create a pleasant and inviting environment that engages the customer's senses and makes them feel comfortable and relaxed. These variables can be critical in creating a sensory shopping experience that encourages purchase and builds customer loyalty.

Retailers must understand the importance of these variables and use them effectively to create an engaging and memorable shopping experience. Doing so can improve customer satisfaction and increase customers' likelihood of returning to their store.

The questionnaire results determined weaknesses in some of the determining factors of Visual Merchandising, such as the ambiance of the stores with music, the relevance of promotions, seasonality, and product distribution.

Finally, it must be said that the points of sale of the Caracol store network. However, the application of Visual Merchandising is not unfavorable, and it is advisable to use novel techniques to solve the aspects that were negatively evaluated from the perception of customers, favoring the motivation of consumers at the time of purchase and, consequently, greater commercialization of the products sold.