Training

“Visual and merchandising standards are extremely important to us. We educate our staff on an ongoing basis, including seasonal styling seminars and store visits, to ensure there is consistency on a national level. To ensure consistent merchandising standards, we supply visual staff nationally with a ‘bible’ that outlines the company’s visual standards and guide-lines for all areas and departments. Visually, we develop extremely detailed directives that are sent out on a monthly basis to all stores. At the end of each season, we conduct a post-mortem exercise across the country for each installation, providing an individual critique.”

John Gerhardt, Creative Services Director, Holt Renfrew

Those wishing to enter the profession will usually take a specific visual merchandising course at a college or university and then seek work experience in-store, or they can apply directly to a store for work experience.

There are several visual merchandising courses available. Students are likely to learn how to place products together, create and install windows, and merchandise shop floors. Many courses will also give an insight into the advantages of the use of color, lighting, and branding. By using many practical exercises together with theory, these two-year courses give a good insight into the world of visual merchandising and provide the student with a useful and recognized qualification.

Short courses are also offered to would-be store owners who prefer a fast-track education and may want to learn specific aspects of visual merchandising.

As in many other careers, work experience can be a valuable asset. And in this industry it is common to rely heavily on work-experience students to fill many positions. As Mark Briggs, creative director from London’s Harrods, explains, “Students doing their work placement at Harrods get to cover all aspects of visual merchandising. They get to handle every category of product so that they not only get an understanding of the items but also so they can decide which area they would like to excel in: home, fashion, food, or beauty.” Briggs develops experts for every product category in the store; a fashion dresser may not necessarily be confident at grouping kitchenware, for example.

Young, eager students on work experience—depending on the time of year and the schedule of the visual merchandising team—can find themselves working on a window or sent to clean the stockroom. Either way, their efforts are often recognized, and in a career where visual merchandisers hop from one store to another, positions often become available for those in the right place at the right time. The visual merchandising teams will rely on a full head count to fulfill their hectic programs.