Visual Merchandising The Roles and Responsibilities By the

Visual Merchandising: The Roles and Responsibilities By the end of the lesson you will be able to… • Explain the roles and responsibilities of Visual Merchandising • Give examples of how certain brands use Visual Merchandising • Create a model how visual merchandising techniques can be used to effectively display merchandise in a retail setting

What is Visual Merchandising? Visual merchandising is the activity and profession of developing the floor plans and three -dimensional displays in order to maximise sales. The role of Visual Merchandiser is to have a managerial mind set as well as to be creative and fast-paced. You will train, motivate and coach your colleagues to constantly think commercially.

As a VM… • The role is to report to the Store Manager, that you will ensure that the brand identity and presentation standards in both windows and store achieved consistently and creatively. • You will train others on an ongoing basis on visual presentation. VM Video http: //career. hm. com/content/hmcareer/en_il/what-can-you-do-here/sales/visual-merchandiser. html • It is very important for the VM to have the awareness of ‘KYC’ - KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER!! Target Markets What is a Target Market? • A particular group of consumers at which a product or service is aimed. Fashion brands all have a target market and these are the customers that buy the products and service provided by the retailer.

Who are the TMs for the Following Brands? An extraordinary retail phenomenon, Topshop appeals to students, professionals, fashion taste makers and high profile A-List stars alike. United by their desire for the latest forward thinking trends, these shoppers enjoy both the store's exclusive cult status and accessibility simultaneously. With over one million customers visiting stores every week in pursuit of an up-to-the minute fashion fix, the average customer is a loyal follower of the brand. She cannot be defined by her age - which can range from early teens to fifty something's - but instead her attitude. Style conscious and independent, she is addicted to fashion but is not dictated to. Instead she throws away the rulebook and aims for a unique look. http: //www. topman. com/careers/about_brands/ts_customer. html Aiming towards a trendy, style aware niche with a target demographic of 18 - 35, All Saints have adopted a unique approach to their marketing, . “To create a brand that blends music and fashion into a potent formula of desirable clothing that expresses individuality and attitude” penetrates through their design decisions, social media strategy, store design and e-commerce. Retail design is the most recognized on the British High Street. Evoking a mood of decadent decay and distressed glamour with religious iconography and vintage details added to layer upon layer of carefully aged materials, their stores provide a mélange of inspiration, displayed with that ‘thrown together’ look emanating the idea that these are pieces one might find in an old junk shop. http: //www. stylelogue. co. uk/fashion/all-saints-brand-profile/ http: //www. urbn. com/profile/ UBRN offering an eclectic mix of merchandise. We stock our stores with what we love, calling on our - and our customer's - interest in contemporary art, music and fashion. From men's & women's apparel and accessories to items for the apartment, we offer a lifestyle-specific shopping experience for the educated, urban-minded individual in the 18 to 30 year-old range. In the retail brands we design innovative stores that resonate with the target audience; offer an eclectic mix of merchandise in which hard and soft goods are cross merchandised; and construct unique product displays that incorporate found objects into creative selling vignettes. The emphasis is on creativity. Our goal is to offer a product assortment and an environment so compelling and distinctive that the customer feels an empathetic connection to the brand is persuaded to buy.

Launching of Trends • The Fashion Forecaster will distribute the trends to the Head Office and then to the design team. • The garments are produced and then distributed to the stores. • A trend pack is produced at the Head Office by the VM team and then launched in the main signature store. The trend pack is then distributed to the area Visual Managers and the in store VM. • As a VM it is your responsibility to ‘floor walk’ with the Store Manger and Sales Manger. By doing this, you will be discussing the visual presentation and the methods to maximise sales.

This image is in the trend pack and shows the lay of How the store should look Shoes including hanging shoes i. e flat shoes Jersey including t-shirts, vests and leggings Denim jeans and jackets Promotion Petite section Clearance Main Trends

Areas to consider in the overview… Focal point is a place that people's eyes will Focal point - immediately focus on when they first look at the display Equipment Mannequins Graphics Floor Fixtures Prongs Arm Bars T-Bars Box Stands

VM Topshop clip… This video explains what Visual Merchandising is and how Topshop is always in season and visually focuses on the customer by advertising the trends. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=FYui. YMtvvm. A Task 2 As a collaborative designer, design a Capsule collection that you would advertise /style as a Visual Merchandiser from the trend provided Capsule Collection - A concept where a limited supply of desired products is released in the market to generate sales as well as promoting designers. • Quick sketches of the designs • One complete outfit of 2 or more garments • Quick developments of the designs i. e. trousers from long to cropped • Analyse your designs – quick notes http: //apparelresources. wordpress. com/retail/capsule-collections/ • Layering • S/S season 15 • Style/Styling • Colour Pallet

Task 3 Once your capsule collection is complete, the next step is to design a shop window to advertise your capsule collection. Areas to Consider • Equipment i. e. mannequins, posters, visual stands, focal point, etc… • Annotate/analyse why you have created your display in the way that you have i. e. is it affective? why does it meet the season? Who is your customer? • Add your colour pallet and think about styling accessories Including add-ons. • Evaluate your ideas and design http: //www. sfd. co. uk/Visual-Merchandising-and-Window-Displays

Responsibilities • Implement window/internal displays and promotional stances with maximum impact and minimum disruption to the store • Constantly ensures that the integrity of the BRAND is maintained using appropriate graphics, equipment and merchandising techniques • Liaise with Head Office visual teams on VM layout, implementation of merchandising guidelines and high fashion trends • Communicates with management/store team on a daily basis on all aspects of the role, merchandising, display concepts and trends • Deliver great customer services both personally and through the use of VM

Retail Jargon Add-On Sales - Add-on sales are the promotion of additional products or services to a customer at the time of purchase. Brand Awareness - A gauge of marketing effectiveness measured by the ability of a customer to recognize and/or recall a name, image or other mark associated with a particular brand. Cross-Sell - A sales technique in which the salesperson recognizes what a customer is purchasing and will make suggestions or recommendations of other related merchandise the shopper may also be interested in purchasing. Facings - The number of identical products (or same) facing out toward the customer. Facings are used in planograms and when zoning a retail store. Merchandise is the breadth and depth of the products carried by (or re-merchandising) - retailers. Also known as product assortment. POS - Point of Sale. POS can be used to describe physical promotional materials used within the store (e. g. displays, posters etc. ). This is also called point of purchase materials or POP. . VM - Visual merchandising is the art of implementing effective design ideas to increase store traffic and sales volume. http: //www. retailtoolbox. com. au/tools-and-calculators/retail-dictionary

My Personal Experiences as a VM