A day in the life of a VISUAL MERCHANDISER

They plan and build store displays in a visually pleasing way to increase sales and make the clothing/accessories seem desirable. Visual merchandisers are in charge of window displays, models, arrangements of walls and the general display of products across a store Their role is to create an experience and journey for the customers to encourage sales, perhaps making them buy things they didn’t even think they needed “The best visual merchandisers can turn their shop's window space into an intriguing art installation” (Drapers Jobs, 22/11/2013)

Visual merchandising is a very competitive field, a secondary level of education is required by most retailers (i e GCSES, A levels, Diploma, BTECH) however having a university degree can prove very useful and more desirable for employers

Certain skills are required to be a successful visual merchandiser like being creative, an eye for trends and confidence in decision making Having an critical understanding of the brand is vital for VM's as they need to be able to display collections exactly how the designers planned it to be portrayed Communication and leadership is highly necessary for this job role as without it a visual merchandiser wouldn’t be able communicate with their team to organise plan or carry out store displays

They design the customers experience using Micro and Macro overviews Micro overviews focus on the factors that make up a retail space by dividing it into levels High level overview involves the ceilings, architecture, lighting and anything else overhead; eye level is what a customer sees the most so this is where best selling products should be placed as well as the mannequins and countertop installations. Micro overview also involves placement of windows, poor placement of windows can influence the natural lighting of the store, however this can be used to a visual merchandisers advantage as they may have to display new collections that would benefit from having harsh stage lighting For example designer brands like ‘Fendi’ like to spotlight pieces in their collection (like the Fendi Baguette bag at NY fashion week) therefore their visual merchandiser wouldn’t place that in natural lighting along with the rest of the release, instead use a darker gloomy section of a store with perfectly positioned lighting to show the customer it is the star of the collection

Macro overview is the overall layout of the store for example if a VM uses a luxury minimal approach or if the store finds value from volume stocking. For example designer stores like Selfridges benefit from displaying a singular item of the product. “Museum-like product displays trigger connotations of luxury for the consumer, indicating authenticity, individuality and quality ” (Swales, K, 25/11/2019) Whereas, stores like Primark find value in having all their stock on display as it is easy and affective for both the customers and retail assistants