Retail designers
A retail designer (also referred to as a visual marketing specialist or merchandising designer) ensures that a store's merchandising plan fits the space available in a profitable way. Retail and visual merchandisers are specialists in determining the needs of the store's clients. They will catch the consumer's eye and create new desires along the way. All of this can be done by someone with a keen eye who does a lot of research.
Visual merchandisers create the lure to get customers into the store. This often starts with the window displays. Mannequins and lighting designs can help to draw in customers. Once inside, customers should see products arranged in a logical fashion so they can easily make their way around the store.
Showcases should be strategically placed to guide customers deeper and deeper into the store. Impulse buy displays should finish out the design. They are generally located in areas where customers will be passing once they've decided to leave the store. Near the register and near the door are good places to make that last ditch effort in selling a few more items.
For small retail spaces, the design team may suggest using the walls to maximise possible display areas. Gridwalls and slatwalls can help to display merchandise in small areas. These displays face the merchandise outward, so it can be more easily seen, even from outside the store.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Level 6 Design, Construction and Management BSc
CIOB launches first-ever degree programme to develop the next generation of construction leaders.
Open for business as of April, with its 2026 prospectus and new pipeline of housing schemes.
The operational value of workforce health
Keeping projects moving. ECA on better incorporation of unplanned absence and the importance of health in operations.
A carbon case for indigenous slate
UK slate can offer clear embodied carbon advantages.
Costs and insolvencies mount for SMEs, despite growth
Construction sector under insolvency and wage bill pressure in part linked to National Insurance, says report.
The place for vitrified clay pipes in modern infrastructure
Why vitrified clay pipes are reclaiming their role in built projects.
Research by construction PR consultancy LMC published.
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Fire door compliance in UK commercial buildings
Architect and manufacturer gives their low down.
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.