Teach your team to create engaging in-store experiences that capture your customers’ attention and encourage them to buy. Explore this curated list of the top 10 visual merchandising courses online for a thoughtful layout, design, and arrangement of products in your retail business.
Make the most out of the product displays in your store with this visual merchandising course from SC Training (formerly EdApp). It snatches the top spot on this list with a comprehensive overview of what visual merchandising is. It also delves into its key types and the techniques and elements one can use to set up visual imagery.
After taking this course, your teams can develop a deeper understanding of the importance of visual design. They can also discover ways to make brand imagery more desirable. Lastly, this training will also discuss methods to boost sales through store design and layout.
The course ends with a final assessment that’s powered by gamification elements. With gamification, your teams can retain information better while becoming more engaged and invested in training. You can also award them with banners and badges to let them know that their efforts are well appreciated.
Created by: SC Training
Length: 5-10 minutes per lesson (self-paced)
Certificate: Available
Cost: Free (up to 10 users)
Designed for teams in fashion retail, this next course goes into detail about the fundamentals of visual merchandising and how to strategically arrange clothing, accessories, and store displays to highlight key pieces and tell a cohesive brand story.
The course also explores visual merchandising as an art and science by discussing its different types, elements, and techniques. As an established LMS for retail training, SC Training enhances this course with interactive images and drag-and-drop elements that simulate the real-world process of arranging displays in fashion retail environments.
Created by: SC Training
Length: 5-10 minutes per lesson (self-paced)
Certificate: Available
Cost: Free (up to 10 users)
Alison’s free online course talks about the core features of visual merchandising and outlines the essentials of store layout and the responsibilities of a store planner. It takes a deep dive into little details like lighting, color, and scent, and how these can transform your store.
The course also discusses the importance of store-front and interior design, the use of mannequins, and how these impact customers. This Continuing Professional Development (CPD)-accredited course ends with a final assessment of everything your teams have learned.
Up next, this micro-certificate course can train your teams to create a showroom pleasing to the eye. It also delves into how they can maximize the storefront layout to improve customer experience.
Designed and taught by experts in the retail industry, this visual merchandising online course discusses effective visual branding and marketing, as well as the latest trends in fashion merchandising. This course has a total of 13 credits, with each credit hour priced at 495 USD.
Created by: Johnson & Wales University
Length: 7 or 15 weeks
Certificate: Available
Cost: 495 USD per credit hour
This one’s a more advanced course that goes into detail about store design and types of layout. Specifically, it covers product positioning, customer flow, link selling, hot spots, and more. It can help your teams create their own retail designs and visual merchandising planograms.
In this course, designs can be developed in your team’s medium of choice, whether Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, 3D models, or sketching. The only downside is that these are live online lessons, so employees may not get the same flexibility that the other courses on this list have. But lesson recordings are available for review.
This visual merchandising training course explores shopper psychology, store design, and retail aesthetics. It can teach them how to maximize customer flow and product visibility using effective spatial arrangement.
It also talks about the power of color psychology and strategic lighting. Plus, it includes lessons on visual merchandising tools, trends, and best practices. Your teams will get a certificate of completion upon accomplishing this course.
This introductory course delves into the fundamentals of visual merchandising. The founders of Kiosco Creativo, a boutique design and publishing company, teach the course. They give a step-by-step discussion of how they prepare briefs, develop concepts, and deliver the final design specifications.
This course includes 20 video lessons ranging from less than 1 minute to 7 minutes. The lessons are taught in Spanish, but there are translated captions available in English, German, French, Dutch, and more.
Next is another CPD-certified visual merchandising training course. This is a comprehensive certification with 25 courses included in its bundle. Some of the courses covered are strategic planning and implementation, styling and staging, mastering color, and more.
Your teams can get one-to-one assistance from certified professionals when needed, and exams are given after each course to test their knowledge. The course costs 279 GBP which includes unlimited lifetime access to all the courses, as well as a digital certificate, transcript, and student ID.
This online visual merchandising course explains what visual merchandising is and its importance in retail. It will also introduce your teams to the different kinds of internal and external displays. Plus, it covers the pressing issues that retailers are facing today and how that impacts visual merchandising.
This course mainly targets entry-level assistant merchandising roles, equipping them with the fundamental principles of modern retail displays. After completing all 10 modules, a multiple-choice test will be given to test your team’s retention of knowledge.
Lastly, this National Retail Association course will train your retail staff on preparing and maintaining merchandise displays to build good customer impressions. It delves into how to create a store layout and design that matches your target market.
This training also tackles the basics of display elements, including symmetry, asymmetrical displays, height, and more. Keep in mind, however, that this course falls a bit on the expensive side starting at 1,650 USD for the half-day option.
Created by: National Retail Association
Length: Half-day or full-day
Certificate: Available
Cost: 2,200 USD for full day, 1,650 USD for half day
There’s more to the visual story of a good store design and layout. Hiring skilled visual merchandisers can generate a return on investment (ROI) as high as 300%, according to Retail TouchPoints.
Visual merchandising holds influence over customer decisions and brand recognition. When done effectively, it can also build trust and loyalty while bumping up your sales by encouraging purchases. Investing in high-quality merchandising training programs is one way to develop the competencies of your teams and reap three times the rewards of your investment.
Visual merchandising courses equip your teams with the skills and knowledge to create impactful product displays and store layouts that drive sales and improve customer experiences. These courses cover a variety of topics, including:
Creating engaging displays that capture customers’ attention is no easy feat. It requires a diverse set of skills to be an effective visual merchandiser. Here are the essential skills that your teams should have:
No retail training is complete without training your teams on visual merchandising. Tell your store’s story with sights, displays, and colors. Spark your shopper’s curiosity with a layout that guides them through the space and encourages them to purchase your products.
Deliver the right courses to your teams with SC Training. Watch visual merchandising at work with Practical Assessments to see how their digital training translates into their day-to-day tasks. You can also track your visual merchandising course and team’s performance with its built-in reporting and analytics.
Unlock the power of visual merchandising with SC Training. Sign up today!