merchandising

Noun

merchandising (usually uncountable, plural merchandisings)

1. (also, archaic, attributive, usually) Trade in merchandise.
   • May not the miſerable ruine of Conſtantinople, their impregnable vvalles, riches, and pleaſures laſt taken by the Turke (vvhich are but a bit, in compariſon of their novv mightines) remember vs, of the effects of priuate couetouſneſs? […] His [the Byzantine emperor's] pouertie vvhen the Turke...1616, Iohn Smith [i.e., John Smith], A Description of New England: […], London: […] Humfrey Lownes, for Robert Clerke; […], →OCLC, page 34
   • The Diſcommodities of Vſury are: Firſt, that it makes fevver Merchants. For vvere it not, for this Lazie Trade of Vſury, Money vvould not lie ſtill, but vvould, in great Part, be Imployed vpon Merchandizing; VVhich is the Vena Porta of VVealth in a State.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Usurie. XLI.”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, page 240
2. (also, attributive, usually) The promotion of goods for sale in a store, especially through advertising, attractive displays, discounts, etc.; also (generally), the promotion of any goods or services for sale.
   • Now, these strikers: Honest, they're not such bad people. Just foolish. They don't understand the complications of merchandizing and profit, the way we businessmen do, but sometimes I think they're about like the rest of us, and no more hogs for wages than we are for profits.1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XXVII, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, section V, page 318
   • With the ubiquitous branding and expert merchandizing of museums today, it is easy to forget that graphic design was once a low priority for them.2009 February 27, Steven Heller, “Noel Martin, inventive catalog designer, dies at 86”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on...

   Synonyms:

   marketing

3. (also, attributive, specifically, usually) The promotion of a film, music group, theatre production, etc., through the sale of goods bearing motifs associated with the subject being promoted; also, such goods themselves collectively; merchandise.