Visual merchandiser

As a visual merchandiser, you'll promote retail brands, products, and services in store, in catalogues or across digital platforms through creative and visually appealing displays that increase customer engagement. You may also work with museums and galleries or create concepts for events. Keeping up with and predicting future trends will be an important part of your role.

If you work from a head office, you'll most likely collaborate with other departments to create annual strategies and promotional events to order to attract and entertain a target market. It's also possible to work on a freelance or consultancy basis, creating visual concepts for clients or training retail teams.

Visual merchandisers (also known as VMs) work closely with retail merchandisers, whose focus is the volume, allocation, location, price, and physical arrangement of stock on the shop floor.

Responsibilities

As a visual merchandiser, you'll need to:

• use your creativity and awareness of trends to develop ways of promoting brands and sales
• liaise with teams about buying, designing and marketing to create themes and plans, often months in advance, including window and in-store displays, signage, and pricing concepts
• conduct research on trends in design and lifestyle and associated target market features
• meet with businesses, sales managers and retail managers to discuss strategies
• identify and source props, fabrics, hardware and lighting
• maintain a budget and negotiate with suppliers of visual materials
• work with architectural features of stores to maximise available spaces
• use artistic skills or computer-aided design (CAD) software, such as AutoCAD, MockShop or Adobe Creative Cloud to create plans
• create visual merchandising packs to communicate guidelines, including layout principles, dressings and signage - usually applies to those based in a head office
• visit branches and train sales teams in merchandising techniques and concepts
• assemble and dismantle visual displays in windows or in-store
• carry out 'comp (comparison) shops' to maintain awareness of other retailers' concepts
• lead and motivate teams to complete displays to tight deadlines
• seek feedback from colleagues and customers on the impact of displays and of the changes implemented.

Salary

• Assistant visual merchandisers typically start on salaries of £20,000, rising to £29,000 with experience, and according to whether their role is as an in-store or field (working across multiple stores) merchandiser.
• Experienced visual merchandisers generally earn between £26,000 and £35,000.
• At senior level, in a management or director role, higher earnings of up to £55,000 may be possible.

Bonuses are common, and some field or regional roles may attract benefits such as a company car, fuel allowances, and a mobile phone.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours for visual merchandisers are typically 35 to 40 hours a week and sometimes require flexibility as to which days hours are spread across.

Early morning starts or late night finishes are common, as work must generally take place before businesses open for trade. If conducting a complete store redesign you may need to work overtime or even overnight shifts.

Many roles are full-time, but part-time hours are available.

What to expect

• Most major retailers will have teams based at their head office (as well as having merchandisers in store or in a field role. These teams work on concepts for retail shops, as well as catalogues and websites and head office designers may visit stores to convey design ideas to in-store/field merchandisers.
• Freelance or consultancy work is common and usually involves working with a client base of smaller or independent retailers. There may also be opportunities within specialist merchandising installation and prop-making companies, to which large organisations often outsource projects.
• Depending on the employer, the role may be multifunctional, with responsibility for store layout, design, or buying, and sometimes, on a lower level, selling.
• Good levels of stamina and manual dexterity are useful, as the job can involve lots of lifting and carrying, climbing ladders, as well as the use of power tools.
• There may be opportunities for overseas travel with international chains to ensure consistency in the brand.

Qualifications

A degree or other formal qualification is not essential for becoming a visual merchandiser, but some higher education institutions offer specific courses, including:

• fashion buying and merchandising at the London College of Fashion
• fashion, visual merchandising and branding at the University of Arts London
• fashion styling and visual merchandising at Istituto Marangoni London

Other useful degree subjects include:

• fashion design
• fine art
• interior design
• surface pattern design
• textiles
• marketing
• 3D design.

Some further education colleges offer relevant subjects, including Hugh Baird College in Liverpool, which runs a course in visual merchandising and promotional design.

Major retailers sometimes run graduate schemes in visual merchandising, but these are not very common. Many higher-level merchandisers gain experience by working their way up from the shop floor.

Postgraduate qualifications are not essential, but some professional training courses at this level are available.

Entry with an HND or A-level is possible with art, fashion, or design-based courses being useful. Starting as an assistant on the shop floor is a common way to enter this career.

It may be possible to find an apprenticeship in visual merchandising, such as those offered by the Fashion Retail Academy.

Membership of the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) gives you lots of benefits, including connecting you with other merchandising professionals and offering you an opportunity to become a chartered member.

Skills

You will need to have:

• a talent for design, colour and style
• creative flair and imagination
• a strong interest in current and future design trends
• visual and spatial awareness and manual dexterity
• effective communication and negotiation skills
• the ability to work well with different teams
• the capacity to work with constructive criticism
• a driving licence, for field roles where you're visiting different stores.

Work experience

Gaining work experience in the retail sector can be helpful, especially if it involves creating displays and arranging products.

If you have no visual merchandising experience, you may find it easier to step into this role by working as a retail sales assistant first and getting involved in merchandising at the shop itself.

It's also beneficial to showcase examples of any previous work you've done that relates to visual merchandising and/or demonstrate knowledge and skills in design software, such as AutoCAD.

Employers

Most visual merchandising personnel are employed in retail stores.

The retail industry employs almost three million people, which equates to just over 8% of the total workforce. As such, it's the UK's largest private employer.

The types of employers most likely to recruit visual merchandisers include:

• fashion retailers
• department stores
• multiple high-street chain stores
• larger independent high-street retailers
• mail order companies
• internet shopping providers.

Museums, galleries, and theme parks tend to outsource their visual merchandising requirements, but may employ some entry-level staff.

Those at higher levels tend to work in head offices, many of which are based in London and the South East or in other large cities. Senior-level merchandisers can also be field-based, working in stores across a particular region or based within stores themselves.

Employers appreciate candidates who have a strong portfolio of relevant work that displays their abilities and potential.

Look for job vacancies at:

• Drapers Jobs
• JobsRetail
• Professional association websites, such as Association for Cultural Enterprises (ACE)
• Retail Choice
• Retail Week - offers insights and data-driven analysis of the retail sector.

You can also check retail company websites for job openings.

Fashion and retail recruitment agencies frequently handle visual merchandising vacancies, including:

• Fashion and Retail Personnel
• Retail Human Resources (RHR)
• Success Talent
• Talisman Fashion

Professional development

A variety of training is available, which is suitable for preparing for a career in visual merchandising and for further developing your skills and knowledge.

The London College of Fashion provides a mixture of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, as well as short courses, including online qualifications.

The Fashion Retail Academy offers a range of courses, from degrees and diplomas to short courses and apprenticeships.

Some further education colleges offer practical courses that focus on retail display and visual merchandising. These include Hugh Baird College and Hertford Regional College.

Many retailers have their own in-house training when it comes to brand styles and design. These are available to employees for continuing professional development (CPD). It's also possible to source training through a visual merchandising consultant.

The Association for Cultural Enterprises (ACE)' promotes 'commercial best practice in the cultural and heritage sector by providing training and networking opportunities. The organisation also runs study days and masterclasses in visual merchandising.

Career prospects

Visual merchandisers who started on the shop floor and gained experience may be able to progress to the position of a team leader or possibly go into management.

Those seeking to work at higher levels may need to have drawing skills, with desirable computer-aided design (CAD) know-how. The ability to communicate ideas and convey complex information in a way that can be easily understood is also vital. Planning and organisation skills with the ability to lead projects from design to completion - and within tight deadlines - are also essential.

Promotion to head office creative and visual merchandising teams may be a possibility. Head office career structures will vary from employer to employer, but could include senior, director, or international roles if the company is multinational.

With enough experience, you could become self-employed and either work in a freelance capacity or in a training or consultancy capacity with other retailers. It's also possible to find freelance project work within the events or cultural sectors.

Another possibility is to transfer your talents to other connected areas, such as styling, prop-making, interior design, exhibition design, or work within the television and film industry.