Elements and Performance Criteria
- Analyse visual merchandising trends.
- Consult with buyers to identify emerging seasonal trends and new product ranges.
- Research visual merchandising trends in local and overseas markets.
- Critique the visual merchandising strategies of competitors, identifying their creativity, strengths and weaknesses.
- Consult with colleagues and conduct research to identify macro community trends that may influence customer perceptions and preferences.
- Develop the visual merchandising concept and strategy.
- Audit current visual merchandising performance in all stores to identify capacities of stores to implement new concepts and strategies.
- Work with internal or external designers to interpret the emerging visual merchandising trends and new season product ranges to create an overarching concept for the strategy.
- Share and test concepts with relevant stakeholders to gain input to finalise concept.
- Identify, cost and budget the resources required to support the implementation of the visual merchandising strategy.
- Develop and document a detailed visual merchandising strategy to deliver the agreed concept.
- Gain authorisation as required for the visual merchandising strategy in line with standard organisational policies and procedures.
- Develop and manage implementation of visual merchandising strategy.
- Document and communicate the visual merchandising strategy and its detailed implementation requirements to store managers and appropriate staff.
- Ensure strategies are tailored to respond to customer demographics and preferences of individual stores, while maintaining overall consistency of the concept and strategy.
- Ensure work health and safety (WHS) and public safety issues have been addressed in the design, implementation and operation of the strategy.
- Specify, cost and commission the development of props and store fittings and fixtures.
- Liaise with marketing experts to ensure congruence between marketing, promotional and visual merchandising strategies.
- Establish and undertake a schedule of visits to stores to oversee and support implementation of strategy.
- Establish and maintain effective communication and feedback mechanisms to manage the roll-out of strategy and inform adjustments to it based on changing circumstances.
- Provide effective and actionable advice to store staff to ensure high quality and consistent merchandising of stock.
- Evaluate outcomes of visual merchandising strategy.
- Establish and analyse the regular collection of data to enable monitoring of store and regional performance during operation of the visual merchandising strategy.
- Use performance data to identify departments, stores or regions that have under-performed during the roll-out of strategy.
- Canvass options and solutions to address under-performance by departments, stores or regions during the roll-out of strategy.
- Report to management regarding the outcomes achieved by strategy.