You are the guys that make things look good, so it goes without saying that you have lashings of creative flair, but in this field, artistic talent is of limited value unless you can also analyse the impact of your work.
Employers want professionals who have the confidence to take charge of display and promotions to maximise the sales potential of products. You work with the buyers and make sure everything is laid out attractively with the right point-of-sale materials, such as price-tickets, product information, money-off coupons, promotional posters and so on.
You'll go far if you can prove to your employer that you can make things happen and can deal quickly with complexity and change. You'll be in even greater demand if you possess excellent all-round general management and business skills.
This is a store-based role so hours can be antisocial. The ideal time to build new displays is when the store closes. It's also challenging, for instance devising cunning ways to sell slow-selling products and rewarding, for instance designing fabulous window and in-store displays that draw the public.
Those of you who are power-hungry will hope to rise to a regional visual merchandiser role at a retail chain. It's an invigorating role where you will be overseeing new stock packages, pulling together themes and implementing seasonal changes. As the main liaison between stores and head office, you need to have an understanding of best-sellers and trends across a number of products and customer bases.
Clearly, visual merchandising is one of the more glamorous sides of retailing and so retailers receive a lot of applications. Bear in mind, therefore, that you won't be considered without the right credentials.
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