Visual Merchandisers

Overview » Industry Pathways » Visual Arts

What They Do

Visual merchandisers or merchandise displayers are sometimes called window dressers, because they dress up a shop window to attract your attention, and hope their work will get you to buy something! If you have ever visited New York City or seen Times Square in a movie, you will often notice the major window decorations and all the amazing lights and scenery, especially during the holidays. Workers in this field love to make things stand out and capture people’s attention.

These workers plan and set up commercial displays, such as those in windows and interiors of retail stores or at trade exhibitions. Those who work on building exteriors create major store decorations, including building and window displays and lights. Those who design store interiors outfit store departments, arrange table displays, and dress mannequins.

In large retail chains, store layouts typically are designed corporately, through a central design department. To retain the chain’s visual identity and make sure that a particular image or theme is promoted in each store, designs are distributed to individual stores by email, downloaded to computers equipped with the appropriate design software, and adapted to meet the size and dimension requirements of each individual store.

Employment

Designers held about 87,000 jobs in 2006.

Salaried designers worked in a number of different industries, depending on their design specialty. Merchandise displayers and window dressers worked across a variety of retailers and wholesalers.

Job Outlook

The majority of new jobs for merchandise displayers and window dressers will result from the need to replace workers who retire, transfer to other occupations, or leave the labor force for other reasons. Overall employment of designers in general is average for all occupations through the year 2016 as the economy expands and consumers, businesses, and manufacturers continue to rely on the services provided by designers.

Education and Earnings

Creativity is crucial in all design occupations. People in this field must have a strong sense of the esthetic—an eye for color and detail, a sense of balance and proportion, and an appreciation of beauty. Designers also need excellent communication and problem-solving skills. A good portfolio—a collection of examples of a person’s best work—often is the deciding factor in getting a job.

Esthetic ability is important in visual merchandising, but formal preparation typically is not necessary.

Beginning designers usually receive on-the-job training and normally need one to three years of training before they can advance to higher-level positions. Typical annual earnings of merchandise displayers and window dressers were $24,830 in 2007.

If you are interested in this occupation or are wondering about related occupations, use the links below to continue your exploration. Always remember, the more effort you put into exploring possible careers, the easier it will be for you to discover the best career choices for you!

Sources of Additional Information

For career information and links to employment resources contact:

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: http://www.bls.gov/oco/

Occupational Information Network, O*NET Online: http://online.onetcenter.org/

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