Summer Internship Report on

Study of Visual merchandising

Of FLF-CENTRAL Hyderabad
(A brand of future group)

Submitted
By

Swathi Sonth

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE POST GRADUATE DEGREE

"MASTER OF FASHION MANAGEMENT (MFM)"

Submitted
To

Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS)

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
IDCO Plot No-24, Opp. KIIT School of Management,
Chandaka Industrial Estate, Bhubaneswar- 751024,
Odisha.
Tel: +91-674-2305700, 701
Web: www.nift.ac.in
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Ms. Swathi sonth of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),
Bhubaneswar has successfully completed his/her Internship work titled – “Visual
merchandising” in partial fulfilment of requirement for the completion of 2 Years Post
Graduation in "Master of Fashion Management (MFM)" as prescribed by the Department of
Fashion Management Studies (FMS), National Institute of Fashion Technology.

This Internship report is the record of authentic work carried out by her during the period from
06/06/19 to 25/07/19 under my mentorship.

Signature

Dr. Santhosh Tarai

FACULTY MENTOR

Director
 DECLARATION

I Ms. SWATHI SONTH hereby declare that the Internship Report entitled “VISUAL
MERCHANDISING” is the result of my own research work carried out by me during the
period from 06/06/19 to 25/07/2019 except as cited in the references. This report has not been
submitted to any other University or Institution for award of any degree/diploma etc.

Signature

SWATHI SONTH

Roll number: MFM/18/990

Date:
 Table of Contents

S.no Topic Page number

CHAPTER 1

1.1 Introduction 5

1.2 About future retail 7

1.3 Future lifestyle 9

CHAPTER 2

2.1 About central 11

2.2 Operations of central mall 13

2.3 Various department of organization 13

2.4 Visual merchandise 14

2.5 Operations 14

2.6 Marketing 15

2.7 Human resource 15

2.8 Customer service executive 16

2.9 Cashing 16

2.10 Organizational structure 17

2.11 Ways of communication 18

CHAPTER 3

3.1 Visual merchandising 18

3.2 Importance of visual merchandising 18

3.3 Key responsibilities given 20

3.4 Floor view 21

3.5 Cluster display 26

3.6 Store exterior 28

3.7 Store layout 28

3.8 General interior 28

3.9 Interior displays 29

3.10 Routine of visual merchandiser 30

3.11 Merchandise presentation 31

3.12 Makeover of departments 31

3.13 EOSS 31

3.14 Making signage 33

CHAPTER 4

4.1 Learning 35

CHAPTER 5

5.1 Suggestions 37
 Contents for figures

S.no Topic Page number

Fig no 1 New stock display 22

Fig no 2 Levis brand display 22

Fig no 3 EOSS Display 23

Fig no 4 Color blocking Display 23

Fig no 5 EOSS Display 23

Fig no 6 Theme display 23

Fig no 7 New stock display 24

Fig no 8 Festival display 24

Fig no 9 Bags display 24

Fig no 10 Color blocking display 24

Fig no 11 Footwear display 25

Fig no 12 Promotion display 25

Fig no 13 EOSS display 26

Fig no 14 EOSS display 26

Fig no 15 Ramazan theme display 26

Fig no 16 Indo western display 26

Fig no 17 Theme display 27

Fig no 18 Mix and match brand display 27

Fig no 19 Hotspot display 27

Fig no 20 Indian cricket team jersey 28

Fig no 21 Jealous 21 brand theme 28

 CHAPTER 1

1.1 Introduction

Future Group is an Indian private conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The company is

known for having a significant prominence in Indian retail and fashion sectors, with popular
supermarket chains like Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores like Brand Factory, Central
etc and also for having a notable presence in integrated foods and FMCG manufacturing sectors.

Retail(initially Pantaloons Retail India Ltd (PRIL)) and future lifestyle fashion, two operating
companies of Future Group, are among the top retail companies listed in BSE with respect to
assets, and in NSE with respect to market capitalization.

Future Group understands the soul of Indian consumers. As one of India's retail pioneers with
multiple retail formats, they connect a diverse and passionate community of Indian buyers,
sellers and businesses. The collective impact on business is staggering: Almost 500 million
customers walk into their stores each year and choose products and services supplied by over
30,000 small, medium and large entrepreneurs and manufacturers from across India. And this
number is set to grow.

Future Group employs around 60,000 people directly from every section of their society. They
source their supplies from enterprises across the country, creating fresh employment, impacting
livelihoods, empowering local communities and fostering mutual growth.

They believe in the 'Indian dream' and have aligned their business practices to their larger
objective of being a premier catalyst in India's consumption-led growth story. Working towards
this end, they are ushering positive socio-economic changes in communities to help the Indian
dream fly high and the 'Sone Ki Chidiya' soar once again. This approach remains embedded in
their ethos even as they rapidly expand their footprints deeper into India.

While retail forms their core business activity, their group’s subsidiaries are present in consumer,
insurance, brand development, real estate development, retail media and logistics. They have
aligned their business opportunities with the broad objective of being a catalyst in India’s
consumption-led growth. In line with leading retailers of the world, Future Group aspires to
capture a significant portion of India’s consumption and contribute to a significant proportion of
their GDP. As the Indian economy matures, it is upon us to lead India’s consumption story,
achieving inclusive and profitable growth with sustainable value creation.

Future Group's operating companies sorted by target markets

Future Retail Ltd

• Future Lifestyle Fashion Ltd

• Future Consumer Enterprise Limited

Financial Services

• Future Capital Holdings (for internal financial services)

• Future Generali Life Insurance

• Future Generali General Insurance

• Future Ventures

Other Services

• Future Innoversity

• Future Supply Chains

• Future Brands

• Future Learning

• Future Brands

Future Group retail services sorted by operating companies

• Food Bazaar
• FBB (Fashion @ Big Bazaar)

• Hometown

• E Zone

• Food hall

• FutureBazaar.com (e-retailing)

• Easy day

• Big Bazaar

Future Lifestyle Fashion Ltd

• Central

• Brand Factory

• Planet Sports

1.2 Future retail

• As India’s leading retailer, Future Retail inspires trust through innovative offerings, quality
products and affordable prices that help customers achieve a better quality of life every day.

• They serve customers in more than 240 cities across the country through over 11 million square
feet of retail space. Future Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, India’s retail pioneer
catering to the entire Indian consumption space.

• Through multiple retail formats, they connect a diverse and passionate community of Indian
buyers, sellers and businesses. The collective impact on business is staggering: Over 330 million
customers walk into our stores each year and choose products and services supplied by over
30,000 small, medium and large entrepreneurs and manufacturers from across India. This
number is set to grow.
• As modern retail drives fresh demand and consumption in new categories, our strategy is based
on a deep understanding of Indian consumers the products they want, and making these products
available in every city in every store format.

• They are in line with their broad objective of being a catalyst in India’s consumption-led
growth and being a positive agent of change in the communities we serve. The group’s flagship
company, Future Retail operates national hypermarket chain, Big Bazaar and supermarket chain,
Food Bazaar. It also operates home retailing format Home Town and consumer durables chain,
eZone.

• Future Group makes every effort to delight its customers, tailoring store formats to changing
Indian lifestyles and adapting products and services to their desires. The group is credited with
creating some of India's most popular retail chains, including Big Bazaar that is counted among
the Top 15 Most Trusted Brands in India in studies by The Nielsen Company and The Economic
Times Brand Equity.

• As modern retail drives fresh demand and consumption in new categories, our strategy is based
on a deep understanding of Indian consumers, the products they want, and making these products
available in every city, in every store format. Future Group offers innovative offerings at
affordable prices tailored to the needs of every Indian household.

• Pioneers in the India's retail space, our formats are household names in more than 250 cities
across the country.

• Our stores cover around 22 million square feet of retail space and attract around 500 million
customers footfalls each year

• Future Retail Limited focuses on the large sized, value department stores and small
neighbourhood store chains that include, Big Bazaar, Big Bazaar GenNext, HyperCity, fbb,
Easyday, Foodhall, eZone, Foodworld, WH Smith and Heritage.

• Future Lifestyle Fashions focuses on lifestyle fashion businesses with brands & retail formats
like Central, Brand Factory and all
• Future Consumer Ltd is the group's integrated food company with Food & FMCG brands like
KOSH, Desi Atta Company, Golden Harvest and Karmiq. It also has retail formats such as
Nilgiris and Aadhar. FCL also operates a 110 acre Food park in Tumkur.

• Future Enterprises Limited leads the infrastructure and backend services end of the Group.

1.3 Future Lifestyle

Future Lifestyle Fashions (FLF) brings together the four key components in the fashion industry
– a strong portfolio of owned and licensed brands, a well established retail presence, a Pan-India
reach for its brands through a strong distribution network and investments in fast growing
fashion brands – into a single entity. FLF is a unique player in the fashion industry that is primed
to gain leadership in building both fashion brands and fashion retailing in India. As an integrated
fashion company with presence across all key segments within the fashion industry, FLF benefits
from operating mature businesses that have built its presence and strengths for well over a
decade. Future Lifestyle Fashion is an integrated fashion company operating over 4 million
square feet of retail space and is backed by over two dozen domestic and global fashion brands
which also have their independent distribution network. It also holds substantial minority stakes
in fast growing fashion labels like Turtle & Mother Earth.

FLF APPROACH

 Live, Breathe & Think Fashion – Fashion is ever-evolving and we will be sensitive, agile
and open to the rapidly evolving fashion market.
 Consumers at our Core – We create exceptional brands and experiences that reflect the
various identities and aspirations of Indian consumers and their spoken and unspoken
needs, wants and desires.
 Design is our Soul – The spirit of our design-thinking lies not only in the brands and
experiences we create but also in building relationships, leading innovation, setting trends
and providing utmost fulfilment to consumers.
 Pursuit of Happiness – Above all, we will collaborate and strive to bring smiles on the
faces and happiness in the lives of our colleagues, customers, business partners and
communities we work in.
 CHAPTER 2

2.1 About central

Central is a retail hypermarket chain operated by Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd, Future Group. It
was founded in the year 2001 with the objective of giving access to a one stop-stop for the
customers who would prefer it as a weekend recreation venue for an ideal family outing. They
are large-format stores measuring anywhere between 60,000 square feet to 400,000 square feet
and offering over 500 Domestic & International brands across every category including men’s-
wear, casual wear, ethnic wear, women’s-wear, kids wear, footwear, accessories, home products,
health and beauty. The Company operates around 2.4 million square feet of retail space under
this brand.

The Company’s flagship retail format, Central is a chain of department stores located in central
areas of large Indian metropolises and cities. Central stores located in large cities like Mumbai,
Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Gurgaon, as well as smaller cities like Baroda,
Indore, Vizag and Surat. Central’s target audience was primarily family focussed. The original
belief was that, a family having an intention to purchase products based on different needs and
wants, would generate more revenue than single customers. Post 2011, Central witnessed a
reform with respect to its report to its brand slogan as it had been changed to “BRAND NEW”,
thereby changing the entire service offerings and marketing mechanics as compared to earlier.
The paradigm shift has led the retail outlet to focus on elements- ‘YOUTH’, ‘DIVERSITY’,
‘TRENDS’ and ‘FASHION’.

Mana Hyderabad Central:

Be it entertainment or shopping or spending time with family and friends, all your needs are
available under one roof! Hyderabad Central Mall is a huge shopping mall. It was launched in
November, 2004 by Pantaloons Retail (India) Limited. The shopping mall occupies an area of
400,000 sq.ft. It was the second large-scale mall in the country, the first being in Bangalore.
'Shop, Eat and Celebrate' is the slogan of the Mall.

Central Mall, Hyderabad initially had five floors. The ground floor consisted of cosmetics
accessories footwear. The first floor was dedicated to women merchandise . The second floor
was for youth men’s wear. The third floor consisted of formal men’s wear and kids wear and the
fourth floor was home accessories .The mall includes a range of retail shops and departments.
Watch movies, listen to the music, collect some books, sip a coffee at the coffee shops and have
a delicious meal at the food court. Decorate your home and upgrade your kitchen by shopping at
the supermarket. The mall also houses some famous restaurants. There is a game zone for adults
and kids.

The Hyderabad Central has become a famous landmark in Gachibowli locality. It has everything
that one looks for. It has a separate section for services such as travel, finance, investment,
insurance, cinema ticket booking, bill payments, foreign exchange and other miscellaneous
services. The fifth floor of the Mall houses PVR Cinemas. The cinemas hall has five screens. It
showcases Hollywood, Bollywood and regional movies. Every theatre hall has a capacity to
accommodate about 1,322 individuals. It screens latest movies every week. The theater is usually
crowded on weekends.

Hyderabad Central Mall (gachibowli) includes fashion apparels, cosmetics, perfumes, consumer
and personal electronics, home appliances, furniture, time wear, eyewear, footwear and jewelry.
The mall consists of seven restaurants. One of the famous food brands housed by the mall is
Pizza Hut. The Mall houses 300 clothing brands. It includes renowned brands from all over the
world. It includes Pepe Jeans, Lee Cooper, Provogue, Lilliput, World of Titan, Levi’s, Police,
Giovani, Tuscan Verve, etc. It has a lot of stores where you will find almost all your needs.The
mall has a spacious parking lot. It can accommodate 300 cars and equal number of two-wheelers
at the same time.
2.2 Operations of CENTRAL Mall

 The mall is opened for public from 11 a.m. to 10:00 pm. Timings vary during occasions
like festivals, sales etc.
 Staff of 1st shift arrives at 10:30 a.m. They are known as “Store turnaround Team”. It
usually involves 4-5 brand staffs, department manager and visual merchandiser of every
category.
 The STT is responsible for the store setup in terms of stock, visual display according to
HD standards.
 Staff of 2nd shift arrives at 1:30. They usually consist of brand staff and a few
department managers.
 Meetings among VMs, DMs take place on regular basis where merchandise category
wise targets and various other issues are discussed.
 Visual merchandisers coordinate with brand staff and department managers and prepare
required signage’s.

2.3 Various departments of the organization

Category Management

• Track Dept Sales and Store sales.

• Responsible for increasing the Sales productivity of the department.

• Addresses Complaints/ query resolution for feedback received for store / dept through CSD or
customer physically.

• Prepare weekly staff roistering.

• Conduct grooming audit for the department.

• Conduct cleanliness audit for floor, washrooms, shelves, fixtures & products.

• Ensure proper facing of the merchandise

• Ensure Signage’s are put on floor as per the discount promotion sheet.

• Implementation of store level Promotion Plans at the department level

2.4 Visual merchandise

• Ensure consistently in branding, and freshness of the display/merchandise.

• VM plans are shared by the Store VM team with the Store Team and the displays are executed
as per the planned theme, timelines and budgets.

• The upkeep of the displays are ensured

• All stores adheres to the same procedures as per Merchandise Display guidelines available with
Store VM Team

• Store VM stall conducts daily checks & weekly checks as per the VM checklist and corrective
actions are taken as soon as the non-compliance is identified.

2.5 Operations

• Ensure House Keeping, Security & Other Contract Employees within the Budget

• Ensure Travel, Printing & Stationery, Guesthouse, Car, Hotel Booking and other Admin,
Expenses are within the Budget

• Improve Parking Management & Crowd Control

• Proper Monitoring of Customers Trolleys, Baskets, Wheel Chairs and Bags.

• Ensure Security, Housekeeping and contract employee registers are maintained and weekly
briefing done

• Ensure Fire Safety, First aid & Disaster Management are followed as per the SOP

• Ensure Key Management, Store opening & Closing as per SOP

• Reduce Internal Theft and Customer Shop lifting/PPC Reports

• Monitoring Cleanliness and pest Control Management and upkeep of the store

• Manage Store Scraps & Garbage {Wet & Dry}

• Ensure SOP check lists are regularly monitored related to Admin Function

2.6 Marketing

• They are responsible for Local Catchment / Customer connecting Marketing Initiatives/
Branding

• Plan and execute in store level excitement activities.

• Conduct market research, doing promotions in unique ways

• Take care of Print Advertisement/ Society branding.

• Execute and Focus on Category campaigns

• Innovate new ways of reaching the customers.

• Monthly tracking of competition incl. activities

• Event and promotions/ Activation of campaigns

• Make sure that promotions like gift vouchers, seasonal offers etc. are communicated to all the
potential customers

2.7 Human Resource:

• The HR department is responsible for hiring, firing and taking care of employees.

• They ensure that people cost within budget for store

• They are responsible for maintaining grooming standards and general discipline in a store
employee

• Implementation of Part time scheme. Engagement of PT resources in specified ratio, handling

complete life cycle. Hiring, briefing, salary processing and separation.
• Processing Resignations, Exit Interview, No due certificate, Joining formalities, Document
check list, Employee code generation, Bank accounts, Id card, shoes, uniforms, Medical check
up, Appointment letter, probation and confirmation ,employee files, uniforms and shoes. Ensure
100% accuracy of employee data including correct bank a/c nos.

• Maintaining funzone audit checklist and regulation of Fun zone committee & Employee
grievance committee.

2.8 Customer service executive

• Handle Promotion related procedures at the store

• Facilitate in reduction of Billing errors and maintaining the record for the same.

• Relationship Management with the customer

• Handle Exchanges of Merchandise

• Provide Alteration services at the store.

• Effectively resolve or track complains and feedback received from customers.

• Manage Free gifts issuance and keeping track of issuance

• Resolve any queries which are arising out of home delivery

2.9 Cashing

• Execute the day opening process and ensure float cash and Non saleable merchandise
available before starting the billing

• Ensure the cleanliness of the cash tills

• Ensure Cash till safety locking

• Bill the items within the benchmark timelines.

• Coordinate with back end cashiering for credit card related queries.
• Record details of mismatch of MRP or item not found and any offer /promotion Prices
mismatch in the Barcode Issuance sheet.

• For alteration requests of the customer guiding them to alteration desk, for home delivery &
gift wrapping requests guiding them to CSD desk.

• Inform the customer about the offers prevailing in the store.

2.10Organizational structure:

STORE
MANAGER

ASST STORE
MANGER

DEPARTMENT
VM OPERATIONS OTHERS
MANAGER

ASST.
DEPARTMENT Asst. VMs Maintainance SECURITY MARKETING
MANAGER

TEAM
Stylists HOUSE KEEPING HR
LEADER

BRAND
CSD
PERSONS

GRE

CASHING

LOGISTICS
2.11 Ways of Communication:

 Most of the communication among various departments would take place through
 Direct communication.
 Formal emails were used to communicate with the head office.
 Meetings were held on time to time basis to discuss targets, occasions, sales reports etc.
 For day to day communication, whatsapp groups were used.

CHAPTER 3

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1 Visual Merchandising

Introduction

Visual Merchandising is the art of displaying merchandise in a manner that is appealing to the
eyes of the customer. It sets the context of the merchandise in an aesthetically pleasing fashion,
presenting them in a way that would convert the window shoppers into prospects and ultimately
buyers of the product. A creative and talented retailer can use this upcoming art to breathe in new
life into his store products. Passion for design and creativity are essential to be a good visual
merchandiser. A perfect design process and the ability to create ideas that are different are
required. Awareness of happenings in fashion world is needed so as to keep up to-date with the
dynamics of the market constantly. Visual merchandising includes window displays, signs,
interior displays, cosmetic promotions and any other special sales promotions taking place.

3.2 Importance of Visual Merchandising

Visual merchandising today forms a critical element of retailing. Besides the façade and
windows, which are clearly done up with an objective to attract passer-by and induce walk-ins,
there is also in-store décor that is designed to enhance the customers’ comfort and convince
while shopping and overall, offer a superior shopping experience. Consumer behavior studies
have confirmed that the lure of beautifully done up show window and a tastefully decorated
façade, more often than not, prove irresistible as they walk in to check out what is on offer. It
also ensures exclusivity since no two stores should look alike. Besides, when the mood and
theme of such displays change at regular intervals, it makes certain that the store remains top of
mind. Loyal customers have often been known to anxiously wait for the next display.
‘Stickiness’ in retail formats is also ensured by the imaginative use of colors, lighting, space,
furniture and visual elements with regard to in store displays.

Once customers walk in, it is but imperative to ensure that they enjoy their first encounter with
the store. After all, all repeat visits will only happen if a customer’s first visit is a memorable
one. The logical arrangement of counters, with clear passageways allows for easy access to
merchandise.

Rather than getting lost in the maze that most large stores are, the customer feels more in control.
Space is allocated to various product categories taking into account the number of SKUs stocks
and shelves/counter space requirements are worked out accordingly. Provided for products,
which require touch and feel. All impulse purchase driven products are also clearly displayed so
that the customers can reach them without any hindrance. Also, it has been observed that when a
person enters a room, the human eye moves in a Z pattern, i.e. from rear left of the room to the
front right. Care should be taken to do up the rear left end of the room in an appealing manner so
as to guide the direction of vision and keep a shopper visually interested.

A great deal of research has been undertaken on the impact of lighting on a customer’s purchase
behavior. Results clearly indicate that in general, stores that are brightly lit, with the lights
clearly blending with interiors lead to higher customer comfort, and as such, more sales.
Different types of lighting and interiors are used on different floors, the change reflecting the
various products that are on display on particular floor, the proposed target audience and the time
of the year. The ladies floor, for instance, is most often subtly it with soft lights or then again, in
summers, cool bluish lights are used to impact an impression of coolness and comfort.

The careful use of spotlights helps add to the appeal of products such as crystal and jewelry.
Signage related to various products sections are put up clearly to demarcate areas, allowing
customers a clear understanding of what is stocked where. With various brands having their own
pull, brand signage are also put up within the product sections so that the customers can find
their favorite brands easily. Additionally, within the product section, signage helps to publicize
the various promotional schemes that might be running in the store. Stores also make use of
signage to indicate the facilities/services available at the store, such as washroom, café etc.

Most stores have an in-house team of visual merchandisers who coordinate with marketing team
as well as the in-house merchandisers and suppliers. Each time any major changes in décor are
contemplated, they present the visual display concepts to the group for analysis and selection.
Subsequently, the same is executed. The visual merchandising team also makes projection vis-à-
vis returns per sq. ft. each section and each brand stocked. On promotions related visual
merchandising, in the inputs of the advertising agency are also sought so that the in-shop
communication is in line with the tactical promotions advertising. With cost of visual
merchandising generally amounting to 1% of sales, this is one communication tool that clearly
has an edge over other terms of drawing in shoppers, increasing flow of traffic and increasing
sales.

3.3 Key Responsibilities given:

1. The floor allotted to me contained of ethnic wear and youth men’s wear, handbags, and
accessories.

2. A docket was sent from the head office weekly and a similar display had to be executed on the
floor.

3. Signage’s had to be designed and printed on the allotted template according to offers list
provided by the department managers

4. Floor cleaning had to be taken care of.

5. Also all the stock was to be set according to the defined protocol.
6. Weekly twice the dresses on mannequins were changed according to the orders and most of
them were from the new collections.

7. Analysis of sales of new arrivals( which are put on mannequins) and if the sales of those
dresses were not upto the mark then they were changed.

8. Mix-and-match of brands while dressing the mannequins.

9.Assisting the on floor staff in arranging the merchandise size wise and colour wise.

10.Promoting the non-moving stock by putting up signages sent by the head office.

3.4 Floor view

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4

FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6
 FIGURE 7 FIGURE 8

FIGURE 9 FIGURE 10
FIGURE 11

FIGURE 12
3.5 Cluster Display

FIGURE 15

FIGURE 16
FIGURE 17 FIGURE 18

FIGURE 19
 FIGURE 20

FIGURE 21
3.6 Store Exterior

The exterior of any store is known as a facade or a storefront. It encompasses a store's sign or its
logo, marquee, banners, awnings, windows and the exterior designs ambiance and landscaping.
Considering target stores, which are typically large building with bold red logos and banner, a
convenient location and a large well-lit parking to attract a large number of customers, provide
safety and security. Storefront projects the brand's identity and distinguishes itself from other
competitors and surrounding stores.

FIGURE 22

3.7 Store Layout

Since Central is an MBO, the layout is decided on the basis of various factors such as
consideration from the brand, ownership of the brand, sale of a brand , discounts offered by the
brand etc.

3.8 General interior (Ambience Of The Store)

General interior display refers to the design of an environment visa visual communication,
lighting, colors, music to stimulate customers perceptual and emotional responses and ultimately
to affect their purchasing behavior.
At Central, music was played from Central Radio which was handled by the head office.
Announcements were done in between by the local staff of the store.

3.9 Interior Displays

This refers to the visual aspects of the floor only in terms of display. Main components of this
element are the types of fixtures used, types of props used, types of mannequins used etc. Many
retailers have discovered the subtle benefits of developing atmospherics of interior displays that
complement other aspects of design and merchandise.

Some important displays

3.10 Routine of a Visual Merchandiser in Central:

• 9:30 am: reporting time

• Dress code: Casual wear

• Floor round before morning meeting, make sure that the housekeeping has cleaned the floor
and all the fixtures are back in their place.

• 10:45 am: morning mall meeting where the marketing team announces all the prevailing offers
and their particulars.

a.t11:00 am: work starts in the back office by reviewing offers for the day and designing the
required signages

• 12:00 am: Updating all signages day to day targets and sales report is discussed.

• 1:30 pm: Meeting with the store manager where

• Pictures of the stores are clicked department wise, the pictures are compressed and a
presentation is made on weekly basis to send to the head office.

• Clusters are styled according to the decided theme.

• Regular floor walks on time to time basis to maintain the floor.

• 6:30 pm: Departing time

Key Deliverables of a Visual Merchandiser

• Merchandise presentation

• Makeover of departments

• Making signage’s

• Adaptation and implementation

3.11 Merchandise Presentation

The science of arranging merchandise in order to enhance the viewer's perception and create a
sense of added value. Central adopts an intelligent approach to fixture placement and
merchandise presentation that will effectively help move the merchandise off the shelves and
provide a greater level of customer service. Merchandise presentation varies from product to
product. It is different for apparel and non-apparel departments. Merchandise displays are special
presentations of a store's products used to attract and entice the buying public. The nature of
these displays may vary somewhat from industry to industry, but all merchandise displays are
predicated on basic principles designed to increase product purchases. Indeed, merchandise
displays are an integral element of the overall merchandising concept, which seeks to promote
product sales by coordinating marketing, advertising, and Sales strategies

Merchandising presentation has to adopt the following pattern

• Brand Wise, Color Wise, and Styles wise.

3.12 Makeover of Departments

This function of the visual merchandiser is to change the arrangement of merchandise,

accommodate shelf space, stocking the slow-moving goods, increasing sales by changing in the
arrangement of products with the help of colour blocking, synchronizing the elements of design
and changing the overall look of the department weekly.

Color Blocking: Color blocking is using color as a tool to merchandise products for sale.
Example using all products on a fixture or wall section then focusing on another color for the
next fixture. One common way to color block is to use light to dark from left to right. Usually,
we follow light to dark in summers and dark to light in winters. Color blocking is used to make it
easier to shop and more visually coherent. Color blocking also is an effective visual tool to
separate and differentiate products that may be part of a larger comprehensive product category
but where certain subsets of products families exist and exhibits subtle differences. These
differences may be product size, application, durability, quality or some other functional
differences that warrants separation from other related products. In this manner, color blocking
can easily convey to the shopper where to focus their purchasing decisions by helping them
focus in a particular area or on similar products within a set area. It can also help facilitate easier
‘compare and contrast’ efforts between products in the same category but with different features
and benefits.

In Central, the docket comes to the visual merchandiser from the head office at the start of every
month, which has to be implemented date wise, prescribed in the mail. So, my industry mentor
appointed me for all the makeovers for two months of the internship.

3.13 EOSS:

• Since during most of the period of our internship, we had End of Season Sale going on; the
floor had to feature more quantity of merchandise for display than usual definitions.

• During EOSS, display of the store was changed from HD standards to color wise or size wise
display.

• Most of the display clusters were removed and extra fixtures were added on the floor

• Also, the tables used for displaying mannequins were reused merchandise display.

• Here is the view of the floor during EOSS:

3.14 Making Signage

• Any visual representation which gives information to the customers about any products in the
store and the new offers provided by the store is called signage.

• In order to create excitement among the customers, terms like “Central Celebrates” , “Seasons
greetings” , “only for today” , “Store’s best offer” , “Weekend Special” , “last 2 days” , “Last
day” etc. were mentioned on the signages

Types of signage used in Central: Mostly signage’s of two sizes were used:

1. A4:A4 measures 210 × 297 millimeters or 8.27 × 11.69 inches. This size was majorly used
size for signage’s in all categories. These were used in frames or acrylics and majorly on wall
fixtures and floor fixtures.

2. A5: A5 measures 148× 210 millimeters or 5.80 × 8.30 inches. Mainly used in the apparel
section of ladies’ western wear, casual wear, ethnic wear, kids wear and men’s wear. These were
used in acrylics attached to the browsers.

Font style used: Art work and font style of every signage was decided by the VMs at head
office. A docket with all the particulars was received for every new promotional offer on time to
time basis.

Adaptation and Implementation of Events

This function of visual merchandiser is to receive an ideation from the head V.M in the head
office in Bangalore. To make an adaptation is a task of the visual merchandiser, which needed
CorelDraw and Photoshop skills.
Examples: Various signage’s, tags and shelf talkers used during the period of internship are as
follows: [All the signage’s used in the below mentioned events are attached as annexures]

1. Denim festival.

2. Basic Central Signage

3. Customized Signage featuring the new name “Mana Hyderabad Central”

4. Customized redesigned signage featuring prominent architectural buildings of Hyderabad.

5. Inaugural offers exclusive to Hyderabad Central

6. ICICI Bank’s Wednesday delight offer

7. Central’s Payback Offer

8. Basic main offer (50% off of purchase of 2nd unit in the same brand)

9. Customized version of the above mentioned offer

10. Basic Artwork of Happiness sale (only for offers of discount below 50%)

11. A5 artwork of Happiness sale (for offers of discount above 50%)

12. Pre-printed happiness sale (50% off)

13. Ramzan special: Future pay offer of 20% cash back (season’s greetings)

14. Preview sale highlighting Google home mini offer

15. A4 pre-printed signage of ladies day out (Buy1Get1)

16. A5 pre-printed signage of ladies day out (Buy1Get1)

17. Art work featuring special offers on in house brands (50% cash back in future pay)

18. Pre-printed weekend special signage’s

19. Art work of the weekend special signage’s

20. Redesigned art work featuring special offers on in house brands (50% cash back in future
pay)

21. A5 signage of Red Haute Saturday Sale

22. A5 signage of final countdown of happiness sale

23. A4 signage of final countdown of happiness sale

24. Fashion Icon wildcard entry

25. Happiness sale tag (20% off)

26. Redesigned Happiness sale tag (30% off)

27. Happiness sale tag (offers of discount above 50% off)

28. Red Haute Saturday tag

 CHAPTER 4

LEARNINGS

• Visual merchandising plays a vital role in communicating with the customer.

• Store can be given a different look and ambience by just rearranging merchandise and changing
clusters and customer touch point displays.

• Definitions in terms of display and services play a major role in differentiating a high definition
store from a normal one.

• Same offer can be communicated in different ways by changing the font and design of the
signage

• As the sale period begins, it is important to assort the merchandise discount wise, color wise or
size wise to make it easy for the customer to choose.

• It is important to differentiate the new arrivals from the old ones and display signage’s only
near the discounted merchandise

• Sale in one category can influence the sale of another category at the same location. Hence it is
important to highlight non discounted stock as well during the time of sale.

• Signage’s should be placed at touch points mainly.

• Highest offer should have larger font when communicating 2-3 offers in the same brand. It is
also okay to exclude other small offers and display the largest offer of a brand

• Every art work comes with specific font which is mandatory to use.

• Tags play an important role in highlighting merchandise with different offers among the same
brand.

• It is important to display majority of the merchandise of any particular brand during sale period
even if the merchandise is repetitive.
• It is important for the VM to know the offers prevailing in every brand, most selling or not
selling merchandise and stock on floor, stock in back office and stock in warehouse of any
particular brand.

• Styling of clusters should be done according to the dockets released from the head office.

• While styling clusters during EOSS, merchandise which is on sale should be given preference.

• Signage’s should mandatorily be present at Cash counters and Customer Service Desks.

• Additional fixtures can be added on the floor during EOSS with the permission of the
Department manager.

• Merchandise offering higher discount should be given more importance while setting up the
display.

• With change in marketing event, the arch, window display and signages related to the
discounted merchandise should be changed.

All the signage’s should be replaced with the latest art work as and when released even when the
offer remains the same
 CHAPTER 5

SUGGESTIONS

• The VM team should work in coordination with all other departments and vice versa. More
focus can be given to merchandise placement depending on the sales report.

• The quality of frames used should be improved as there was a lot of loss due to breakage.

• A portal should be developed so that offers are communicated to the VMs directly to enable
faster communication.

• Instead of having an assistant visual merchandiser for each floor, brand staff should trained in
basic floor display and colour blocking.

• VM calendar should be more planned and static rather than dynamic.

• Information regarding marketing campaigns, events etc. should be given well in advance to the
team.

• Since the job is more on a creative end, timings should be flexible according to work.

• VM room needs to be equipped with printer rather than the back office.

• Job of the Visual merchandisers should be made limited to their job profile.

• HD standards should be maintained even during sale time.