Visual Merchandising is a marketing technique that serves as a selling point by presenting products in a visually appealing style and form. The visual merchandising industry has undergone substantial evolution over time, and the significance and demand for visual merchandisers have also increased. A visual merchandiser is an artist who creates eye-catching displays and enhances the aesthetic appeal of the product counters and in-store displays. With the rise in online shopping and e-commerce, the demand for visual merchandisers is expected to increase. If you are willing to pursue a career in this field, you should enroll in the best online visual merchandising courses. Many universities and eLearning platforms offer visual merchandiser courses online that can help improve your skills as a visual merchandiser.
The role of a visual merchandiser is now no longer confined to retail outlets. With the rapid growth in online shopping and e-commerce, visual merchandiser also contributes to enhancing the visual appeal of the products by creating appealing imagery and designs for websites and social media platforms to enhance online sales. Read more to learn about online Visual Design Courses and Certifications.
To become an effective visual merchandiser, you need to have certain skills such as creativity and commercial awareness. You can easily learn these skills by enrolling in online courses and certifications from top providers. Here we have compiled a list of some of the best visual merchandiser courses online with the essential skills required to become a good visual merchandiser.
Course | Duration | Platform |
7 weeks | edX | |
10 Months | DU SOL | |
Brand Identity and Strategy | 14 hours | Coursera |
Self-study | Udemy | |
Diploma in Interior Design | 10-15 hours | Alison |
Learn and Master Computer-Aided Design (CAD) With Tinkercad | 3.5 hours | Udemy |
Take Your English Communication Skills to the Next Level | 12 hours | Coursera |
Basic Skills / Getting Started with Drawing | 4 hours and 21 minutes | Skillshare |
Supervision and Management Skills | 3-4 hours | Alison |
Customer Service: Soft Skills Fundamentals | 39 minutes | Udemy |
1. Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success
The job profile of a visual merchandiser includes coming up with innovative ideas and concepts for creating eye-catching product displays. Thus, creativity is a must-have skill for a visual merchandiser. This is one of the best visual merchandiser courses online offered by Imperial College London via edX. In this course, you will learn techniques and behaviors to augment your inherent creativity. You will also master skills such as creativity, creative thinking, problem-solving, and brainstorming from these best online visual merchandising courses. The course curriculum includes an introduction to the Principles of Creativity, Creativity Tools, morphological analysis, TRIZ - the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, SCAMPER, and Using the Tools in Combination. You can access this course for free and the course duration is 7 weeks.
2. Interior Design and Architecture Planning
The course Interior Design & Architecture Planning shall help the learner explore and learn about the domain of interior designing and architecture planning. This is a creative domain that requires expertise and dedication. The sector of interior designing and architecture planning is booming and generates opportunities for learners who are skilled and hold the ability the develop an organisation. Interior Design and Architecture Planning offered by the Campus of Open Learning, Delhi University, and RK Academy of Arts and Design shall teach the candidates about interior designing and architecture planning.
3. Brand Awareness
A Visual Merchandiser develops strategies and designs to promote retail brands and products. He works on creating mesmerizing displays to attract more and more buyers. A visual merchandiser works towards building brand awareness. This is achieved by a combination of colors, textures, and shapes to showcase the brand. Therefore, a good visual merchandiser must be able to understand the brand and the basic brand management strategies. This one of the visual merchandising certificate courses offered by IE Business School via Coursera will help you will learn what a brand is and skills like Advertising, Logo, and Brand. The course curriculum includes topics such as what makes a brand and how they are built, how to attract consumers to the brand, build a brand house and brand marks, and visual projects.
4. Design Principles and Elements in Interiors
A good visual merchandiser must know about the various design elements, materials, and methods. Designing plays an important role in alluring customers, especially in the case of online shopping through visual designs and imagery. In this visual merchandising training course, you will learn about the various elements and principles for creating good visual designs. You will also get to know design theory, the basic elements of visual design, and the principles for good visual design, and ultimately become product designers. The course curriculum includes basic elements of design like lines, shapes, colors, and principles of visual designs, including Unity, Gestalt, Space, Hierarchy, Balance, Contrast, Scale, Dominance, and Similarity. You can access this one of the best visual merchandiser courses on Udemy for Rs 455. The duration of the course is 1 hour.
5. Diploma in Interior Design
A visual merchandiser must be good at interior design as he/ she has to design the store and counters to increase the aesthetic appeal of the retail outlet. Interior design is taught as a part of the visual merchandising program in various institutions. In this one of the online diploma courses to learn skills for visual merchandiser, you will be taught the basics of interior designing and how to work with textiles, accessories, etc. The course curriculum includes Project Planning and Client Communication, Planning Rooms and Spaces, Colour in Interior Design, Surface Materials and Textures, selecting furniture, Textiles and Accessories, Use of Lighting, etc. You can access this visual merchandising online course free on Alison.
Also Read: 10 Online Courses to Boost Your Interior Design Career by Udemy
6. Learn and Master Computer-Aided Design (CAD) With Tinkercad
Computer-aided design or CAD is computer software used for the creation of designs and improving their quality. CAD is taught as a part of the syllabus in the visual merchandising program. Visual merchandisers must possess CAD skills to bag a lucrative job in a good organization. Learn and Master Computer-Aided Design (CAD) With Tinkercad. In this of the best visual merchandiser courses, you will learn to create custom 3D models, add basic shapes to the workspace, merge shapes, blend shapes, apply custom colors to custom 3D objects on the workspace, create mirror versions of a 3D model, object manipulation, and object management with the design menu.
7. Take Your English Communication Skills to the Next Level
Becoming a good visual merchandiser requires a candidate to have strong communication skills and must be able to communicate effectively with buyers and sellers. It is important when you understand the demands of the buyers and can come up with a plan and design to impress them. Thus, having good communication skills is a must for a visual merchandiser. This is one of the excellent visual merchandising certificate courses offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology. In this course, you will learn the art of communication, the accurate pronunciation of words, and also practice and demonstrate fluent English. The course curriculum includes the study and comparison of cultural influences, Email Excellence, presentation skills, persuasion, speaking strategies, and maximizing your English communication. You can access this visual merchandising online course free on Coursera and will take approximately 12 hours to complete.
8. Basic Skills / Getting Started with Drawing
This is an essential skill for visual merchandising. Fine art is visual art created for aesthetic purposes. A new creative space can be created using fine art and drawing skills to attract more customers and thereby increase sales. As the name suggests, this one of the visual merchandising courses online will let you learn basic drawing skills. You will understand how to use the pencil like artists, draw shapes, and analyze by drawing any subject by simplifying it into basic shapes. The course curriculum includes Introduction to Basic Drawing Skills, Circles & Ovals, Straight Lines & the Shapes They Make, Curved Lines, etc. The course duration is 4 hours and 21 minutes and can be accessed for free on Skillshare.
Also Read: Top 10 Online Certifications on Interior Designing in India
9. Supervision and Management Skills
Visual merchandisers should have good supervision and management skills as they set up the display and supervise the staff on how to execute the design. They work with retail managers and marketing executives to make sure that the right visual impact is achieved. Sometimes, a visual merchandiser also trains the sales associates on how to display and present the products. This visual merchandising online course free is offered by the Workforce Academy Partnership designed to teach you the skills required for supervising and managing others, team building, developing cohesion, and leadership practices. The course curriculum includes supervising others, conflict resolution, time management, implementing delegation, team building, vision and goals, leadership functions, directing the team, ethics, and social responsibility, organizational strategy, etc. This is one of the best visual merchandiser courses that can be accessed on Alsion for free. The duration of the course is 3-4 hours.
10. Customer Service: Soft Skills Fundamentals
A Visual merchandiser should have customer service abilities. Their work includes setting up displays and designs that will attract the customer. Thus, understanding the needs of the customer and what will trigger a customer to buy a product or service constitutes an important part of their work. Learning customer service abilities is an important part of visual merchandising training. A visual merchandiser must be able to understand the expectations and preferences of the customer. This is one of the highest-rated visual merchandiser courses formulated with the objective of teaching you the soft skills necessary for interacting with customers and understanding their demands. The course curriculum includes the Anatomy of good customer service, how to prepare yourself, Workspace Review, body language, how to deal with a customer, and self-preservation in customer service. The course comes with 39 minutes of on-demand video content and can be accessed on Udemy.
Popular Provider Offering Interior Designing Courses and Certifications
These are some of the best visual merchandiser courses that you can access in both paid and free modes. Working as a visual merchandiser is an interesting job option as it is very creative, and you get to interact with customers through your designs. If you are someone who is highly creative and innovative, then becoming a visual merchandiser is a smart career choice for you. There are plenty of online degree courses and certifications to learn and build skills for visual merchandisers. There is also a myriad of employment opportunities available in the market for visual merchandisers. You can work in Retail Establishments, museums, Theatre companies, Fashion Stores, marketing agencies, print media, book and publishing houses, and galleries, among others after pursuing a visual merchandiser course online.
Several leading companies like H&M, Puma, Penguin Random House, Marks and Spencer, Shoppers Stop, etc. hire visual merchandisers. You can start your career as a visual merchandiser by enrolling in the visual merchandiser certificate courses. You can even make an online course comparison to choose the best visual merchandiser courses.
The average visual merchandising course fees(diploma) are four lakhs, and the average fee for admission to the post-graduate program in visual merchandising is five lakhs.
Yes, many visual merchandiser courses online are available avail which can be learned for free.
Some of the best retail merchandising courses available online are 'Fast Track Retail Buying and Merchandising' and 'Visual Merchandising Course For Retailers and Students' offered by Udemy.
The top colleges in India to study visual merchandising are the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Navi Mumbai, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Arena Animation, Bangalore, National Institute of Design, Bangalore, VIDM Institute of Design and Management, Delhi, Footwear Design and Development Institute, Noida, and more.
The alternative career options available to a visual merchandiser are Retail Store Manager, Retail Merchandiser, Fashion Merchandiser, and Store Manager, etc.
Various visual merchandising programs are offered by different institutions all over the country. You can pursue a certificate course, diploma, degree, or post-graduation in visual merchandising. You ca also learn merchandising course online free of cost.
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