EXAMPLES OF JOB TITLES
- Marketing/visual presentation coordinator
- Assistant marketing/visual presentation coordinator
- Window dresser, assistant window dresser
JOB DESCRIPTION – VISUAL PRESENTATION
Nothing is left up to chance in retail—from the placement of products in the department to the window displays, including lighting; everything is designed for the customer to move around in a pleasant and familiar space. These communication strategies are planned and implemented by the stores’ merchandising departments, whose role it is to create a true visual identity for their banner, while making the products for sale attractive to customers.
DUTIES
Marketing/visual presentation coordinator
- Work closely with the store manager to plan and execute store commercialization and marketing plans
- Measure the impact of merchandising action plans
- Plan the displays based on new products and seasonal merchandise
- Stay up to date with respect to competitors’ activities
- Supervise the work of window dressers
Window dresser
- Arrange the decorative scheme of the store and displays under the guidance of the visual presentation coordinator
- Construct décor elements
- Present the merchandise creatively and cost effectively
- Prepare the rough sketches
- Assess the material needs required to put up the displays and décor
- Put up the displays
- Ensure the regular maintenance of display cases
WHAT THE PROS SAY
THE JOB OF VISUAL MERCHANDISER, OR THE ART OF SEDUCING CUSTOMERS
Lee Shirley Dieudonné discovered retail sales almost by chance.
“When I was younger, I worked part time in a store to pay for my education. Thanks to this work in the food industry, I was in direct contact with the job of window dresser and fell in love with the world of merchandising in general.”
Very quickly, sales and retail business became a true passion. She then started a fashion marketing degree at LaSalle College. “During my studies, I learned to develop my sense of aesthetics, my creativity, and especially how to communicate my love for fashion to others.”
Today, Lee Shirley Dieudonné works in Montreal for a retail chain specializing in men’s underwear, “Caleçon vos goûts.” The banner’s 13 stores have the same basic visual, complemented by the personal touch of store managers as the people in charge of product presentation. “The main task of visual merchandisers is to sell all the products in their store. If a product is not as successful as expected, it’s up to us, as visual merchandisers, to present it in such a way as to make it attractive. What I like about my job is that it always pushes me to do better and to be more creative. Although our products are certainly good, our job is to convince buyers to fork out more than $50 for something you don’t see. That’s the challenge my salespeople and I face every day.”