A Day In The Life Of A Visual Merchandiser

A lot of people are using fashion merchandising to evolve their business network and bring new customers into their fold. Merchandisers are the ones who assist fashion outlets in driving their sales. Merchandisers can be classified into different categories depending on their job profile, such as Product merchandising, visual merchandising, digital merchandising, and omnichannel merchandising.  Visual merchandising is a method employed by a visual merchandiser to assist a fashion merchandiser in presenting the product designed by them more effectively in front of the customers, preferably in a manner that convinces them to buy the product. 

What Is Visual Merchandising?

Visual merchandising is the process of reorganizing and displaying products in a shop. This method is used by businesses to highlight their products and services to attract customers and make them feel engaged and comfortable in their shop. A visual merchandiser uses several components to create a brand image. Some are as follows - 

• Color: A visual merchandiser uses colors to reflect various moods and tones that the brand wants to put forth in front of their customers. After setting the color scheme of the store, a visual merchandiser advises a fashion merchandiser in which color they should be designing the clothes to attract more buyers. 
• Sound: One must have noticed that several retail shops use soft music in their outlets to create a vibe. A visual merchandiser often decides this sound effect. 
• Fragrance: A visual merchandiser typically uses certain fragrances to set the mood inside a shop, making customers feel more comfortable and welcoming inside the shop. 
• Lighting: The type of lighting used at a place in a store can play a major role in attracting a customer towards a particular product. 

Need For Visual Merchandisers

A lot of people have this question about why a company requires to have a visual merchandiser because unlike a fashion merchandiser they are not actively involved in organizing the business, and they can be called only at the time of renovation or reorganization of stores. Here are a few reasons why every retail outlet needs a visual merchandiser. 

• A fashion merchandiser creates a display that reflects a brand’s overall image. By designing shops in such a way, they help create brand identity and consistency. 

• Daily product arrangement in a particular manner ensures that customers feel engaged and can quickly locate the products that they need. Thus, they help in creating a positive shopping experience. 
• They also help increase the sales of a business by directing the customers towards the products that they need. Also, the way a product is displayed profoundly impacts a customer’s mind. 

A Day In The Life Of A Visual Merchandiser

A role that emerged in the 19th century, visual merchandisers have now become the soul of several retail and fashion outlets. 

Brand Analysis 

The day of Visual merchandisers starts by analyzing the sale of various brand’s products based on the sales report of the previous week. They highlight key facts and pass on the data to a fashion merchandiser to help them in deciding how the clothes should look to attract more customers. 

Planning, Curation & Management 

Visual merchandisers create an accurate blend of several elements by planning and curating beautiful displays in stores. This involves managing lights, placement of products in a certain fashion, and finally creating an aura that reflects the theme of the business. After managing the displays, they communicate with all the key persons in a retail business, such as inventory managers, buyers, suppliers, and most importantly the staff responsible for organizing products in a shop, to ensure that the display they had suggested is managed accurately. 

Competitor Analysis 

It is also important to analyze what one’s competitors are doing and how feasible their idea is. This is done to ensure that the brand for which they are working always remains on top.

Brand Outreach 

Visual merchandisers also engage other companies by sending mails, as part of their responsibility associated with formulating effective marketing strategies for the brand. 

Inventory Inspection

They inspect the inventory to ensure that the products they are displaying are in stock for their customers.

How Does Visual Merchandiser Improve A Business

Several people are under the impression that only a fashion merchandiser can drive sales and build a successful business. There are several ways in which a visual merchandiser improves a business. Some of them are - 

Market Research

By conducting effective marketing research, a visual merchandiser identifies what visual aspects appeals to the target audience of the company. Using this analysis, they can design an effective display in the stores that will appeal to the customers. For instance, if the product is a baby product, visual merchandisers hand posters of mother and child, cherishing the mother’s love for her child, thus establishing a connection between the product and the customer. 

Ensuring Safety

They ensure that the displays that are put in the stores are safe and do not fall. To execute these effectively, visual merchandisers hire professionals who can perform installation projects seamlessly. The electric components that are installed in a shop are also double-checked by professionals, and hence they ensure the safety of customers. 

Link Offline and Online

Visual merchandisers use techniques in which they try to connect a shop’s online image on social media to its shop’s outlook. In this way, all the customers that are visiting the store will also be curious to explore the online pages of the store. Moreover, they use interactive tools, such as QR codes, to direct customers towards online pages, where they can learn about the offerings of the store and can have an attractive catalog at their disposal. 

Adapting To Trends 

A fashion merchandiser always tries to keep up with the trends in the offerings of a particular brand. Similarly, a visual merchandiser seeks to modify the display of a particular store to match the trend. For instance, if multicolor dresses are becoming increasingly popular, they tend to design stores with a lot of colorful elements that reflect the trend. In this way, they attract more and more new customers to the stores, increasing the sales. 

Offer Consultation

Visual merchandisers advise businesses on how they can effectively design their stores. By suggesting best practices to businesses and suggesting ways in which they can better present their brand using interior designing techniques, increasing their sales, and attracting new customers. 

Formulating Marketing Strategy

A lot of visual merchandisers take an active part in the formulation of a brand’s marketing strategy. They give inputs on how brands should display their product to drive more sales. Furthermore, they also help brands design their spaces to make them more inclusive and suggest changes in the marketing strategy that the company was following in the last quarter. 

Analyzing Sales 

The job of a visual merchandiser doesn’t end after reorganizing a shop. It also includes analyzing the results of those strategies and judging how far the strategy that they formulated was effective. For this analysis, they study the sales reports and compare them with records to see the rise in sales. If there is a visible result in the data due to a variation in the placement of products or the change in color and layout, they continue to do so. If not, they move towards another strategy. 

Updating The Store 

It is the job of a visual merchandiser to analyze the market trends daily and update the catalogs and displays accordingly. They also ensure that the displays are not too appealing and that it takes customers' attention away from the product. Therefore, it’s their job to maintain a balance between the product and the displays. To do this effectively, they scan the store every day and update it based on earlier responses from the visiting customers. 

Selecting Theme

Every big brand follows a particular theme in their stores. And these themes tend to change with seasons or any festivals. For instance, diyas and lights are put in the stores during Diwali, and Christmas trees are placed all around the store during Christmas. Visual merchandisers are the people who are behind all these modifications, and it’s their job to update the theme of the shop for every occasion. 

Moreover, it is also their job to incorporate the theme of the clothes into the shop and ensure that the shops reflect the brand’s identity. In this process, they also take the help of a fashion merchandiser who can better understand the brand’s fashion. 

Maintaining Consistency

The toughest part of the job of a visual merchandiser is that they need to ensure that both the digital and physical shops are consistent and are in sync. The tonality and color schemes or both of these spaces must reflect the same idea. In this way, the customers will also be aware of the brand’s identity. Moreover, this synchronization also helps businesses tap into their target audience effectively. 

Conclusion

These were some of the key roles that every visual merchandiser plays daily. For companies, who are looking to establish a brand identity, the visual merchandiser is the only solution. However, if a company is facing any issue in sourcing clothes for their business, they can get in touch with Fashinza.