Page 199 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Visual Merchandising

Notes Labour Costs: A look at any major store’s organisational chart for the visual merchandising
department indicates that a significant amount is spent on the staff who create, construct, and
install the store’s visual presentations. In special situations such as storewide promotions, the
labour cost is further increased by overtime pay for the staff and by hiring temporary employees
to complete the project. In small stores where freelancers are generally used, expenses increase
when higher prices are charged by the freelancers.



Caselet Budget as a Dominance Factor

aced with imminent human resources cuts in just about every division and reductions
in budgeted expenditures for materials and supplies for the forthcoming year, the
Fdivisional managers at P.J. Marin, a Midwestern department store, are preparing
their recommendations for the new budget. The company had been a dominant force in
retailing but has fallen on hard times. The board of directors has instructed management
to cut expenses until profits improve. The company’s visual merchandising manager
believes that the way to become more profitable is through promotion, with visual
merchandising playing a key role. Mr. McCarthy, who heads visuals, has tried to convince
management of the dangers of curtailing his budget at this time, saying that an increase
would be in order to help alleviate the problem. Though he advocated a visual plan that
would require an increase in spending, or at least remain at the current budgetary level,
the powers at the top still directed a cut.
The budget for the visual area is divided into three parts: display fixturing, materials and
props, and labour. It was suggested by the assistant visual manager that several trimmers
be terminated and department managers be responsible for making interior changes.
Another suggestion was to reuse last year’s materials and props. Still another suggestion
was to cancel the order for action mannequins earmarked for the active sportswear
department.

The time has arrived when Mr. McCarthy must deliver a revised budget that not only will
reflect dollar reductions but will still make P.J. Marin a force in visual presentation.
Source: http://wps.pearsoncustom.com/wps/media/objects/7617/7800692/MCH140_Ch01.pdf

Many chains have reduced their labour costs by turning to a variety of graphics instead of the
traditionally used displays. In order to cut labour costs, some small retailers create their own
displays or at least make some changes in merchandise presentation themselves between
freelancer visits. By using seasonless props that are easy to change, retailers can reduce the
labour cost of trimming. Although the expense for visual presentations may be considerable,
most retailers agree that the visual impression is very important in attracting shoppers and that
any investment in creative display pays off in the end-of-the-year bottom line.

Lab Exercise Professionals in visual merchandising most often use the website
www.visualstore.com when they are researching a problem related to visual presentation
and store design. Being a visual merchandiser, log on to this website and choose from the
many areas of information, such as the retail designer list, associations, and VM, SD
magazine, to determine what they provide in the way of current information to the
professional in the field. Once you have chosen a particular area of interest, write a paper
summarising what you have learned about it.

194 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY