Visual Merchandising

Visual Merchandising is the art of presenting or displaying objects, products or services creatively to the client in order to make them visually desirable and appealing. It helps in enhancing and boosting sales. The objective of visual merchandising is to grab the attention of the client by depicting artistic and creative products. It uses art as it includes lighting, colours, lines, spacing and proportions appropriate to create a balanced and beautiful presentation. Visual merchandising is also a bit of science. It plays with the psychology of the client and uses logics/concepts to influence the mind of the client.

With the growth of malls, boutiques and retail outlets across the country, visual merchandising is becoming overly popular among students. It is a lucrative field with numerous career opportunities and a bright future.

Candidates wishing to pursue a career in visual merchandising can go for degree/ diploma/ postgraduation/ certificate programmes. Many top colleges and universities offer Visual Merchandising course to students. Each college has a different set of conditions that are called as minimum eligibility criteria. Candidates are required to satisfy the parameters of the college in order to get through the admission process. Check out the eligibility criteria, admission process, syllabus and career prospectus of Visual Merchandising ahead.

Visual Merchandising Highlights

A few important details are tabulated here in the highlight section:

Presently, with the rise of people opting for a visual merchandising course, candidates are getting inclined towards it. Multiple colleges are offering Visual Merchandising courses to the aspirants. Each college has a different set of eligibility criteria. Enlisted below are the parameters set by the colleges/universities that candidates must follow before applying for admission.

• For undertaking admission in a diploma or graduation courses, it is essential for the candidate to qualify intermediate or class 12 from a recognised board of education.
• For postgraduate courses, it is required for the candidates to clear or pass graduation or an equivalent examination from a recognised university.
• Candidates can be from any discipline in order to pursue a visual merchandising course.
• Each college has a separate set of eligibility conditions. Applicants need to meet the conditions laid down by the chosen college in order to be applicable for the admission in the college.

Visual Merchandising Skills Required

To pursue Visual Merchandising Courses, candidates should have some basic skills which would further be improved during the study of the course. Mentioned below are certain skills that must consider for this course:

Visual Merchandising Admission Process 

The admission process of Visual Merchandising varies from college to college or university to university. A candidate needs to surpass the admission and selection process of the college in order to get through. Check out the pointers below explaining in detail the admission process of Visual Merchandising.

• Colleges generally enrol applicants for admission on the basis of the marks obtained in the common entrance examination.

• Certain colleges grant admission to the candidates as per their separate entrance examination and processes like group discussion and personal interview.

• Some colleges often shortlist students as per the merit. They lookout for the performance of the applicant in the qualifying examination and shortlist them for admission.

Visual Merchandising Entrance Exam 

Majority of the institutes/universities accept the national level entrance examination including FDDI AIST, NIFT Entrance Exam etc. Some colleges have their separate entrance examination in order enrol students to the Visual Merchandising course. Other colleges offer direct admission to the candidates for Visual Merchandising course.

Visual Merchandising Top Colleges

Vivid top-notch colleges offer a visual merchandising course. Mentioned below are few of them that candidates can consider for admission.

• NIFT, Delhi

• NIFT, Mumbai

• Pearl Academy, Rajouri Garden

• JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore

• NIFT, Gandhinagar

• FIDA The Design School, Kilpauk

• MSU - The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara

The syllabus of Visual Merchandising is designed differently in different colleges. Captured below are certain subjects that students might encounter while studying the course of visual merchandising.

With the growth in the Visual Merchandising industry, the requirements for suitable professionals are also rapidly increasing. Candidates have a wide range of options to pick out from and they have a humongous scope in visual merchandising. Enlisted below are possibilities that candidates can choose from in order to grow fiercely in the field.

• Store Manager
• Visual Merchandiser
• Brand Manager
• Merchandising Consultant

Visual Merchandising professionals are recruited in different job sectors. Listed below are a few of them:

• Different Retail Outlets
• Marketing Agencies
• Online shopping stores
• Department Stores
• Fashion Retailers
• Jewellery Houses

Visual Merchandising Scope

In the field of visual merchandising, opportunities are large in number. Most importantly, in India, the scopes in this field are increasing with time. There are opportunities to begin a career as a Visual Merchandiser or Brand Manager. Job roles like Store Manager, Business Development Manager, and Showroom Assistant are also there. Candidates can join any of them as per their interests and salary expectations. The annual average salary for Visual Merchandising professionals ranges from INR 1.5 Lakhs to INR 15 Lakhs.

Candidates who wish to gain more knowledge in the field of Visual Merchandising can opt for Post Graduate Diploma, Masters’ Degree, and Doctorate courses. There are different fields like Advertising, Marketing, and Sales. Combined with Visual Merchandising, these fields can also create great career opportunities for learners. Some top brands like Amul, Future Group, Myntra, etc. will have great scopes for the Visual Merchandiser.  

Visual Merchandising Job Profiles

Plenty of job profiles are there for successful Visual Merchandising candidates. Most of the Visual Merchandising jobs of this field offer decent remuneration. Top job profiles of visual merchandising are mentioned below:

Visual Merchandiser- A Visual Merchandiser plans and creates displays and various visual elements. Apart from that, an array of jobs is performed by these professionals. Moving equipment, creating poster art, displays for stores, seasonal decorations, and giving an aesthetic look to everything a retail store has are the responsibilities of a Visual Merchandiser.

Brand Manager- A Brand Manager creates brand strategies, applies different plans, and promote the brand to generate new customer lead and increase profitability. A Brand Manager aims to meet the target objectives set for the brand.

Merchandising Consultant- A Merchandising Consultant assesses customers’ feedback, sales figures, and market trends to bring betterment in sales.

Showroom Assistant- The job responsibilities of a Showroom Assistant are to assist the customers and to resolve their queries related to products and services.  

Store Manager- A store manager creates business strategies, trains new staff, and manages every activity that is performed in a store.

Visual Merchandising Salary in India

Tabulated below are the Visual Merchandising jobs and their respective salaries:

 Visual Merchandising Top Recruiters

The professionals working in the industry of Visual Merchandising are mostly hired in retail stores and other large companies. Mentioned below are some of the top companies that recruit visual merchandisers:

• First Cry
• Marks and Spencer
• Lifestyle
• Aditya Birla Group
• Pantaloons
• Future Group
• Lenskart
• Shoppers’ Stop
• Mahindra
• Reliance Industries