How To Become A Display Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a display associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Display associates work for retail establishments and are responsible for coming up with creative and visually attractive ways to arrange merchandise inside the store and in the shop windows. They create visual merchandising strategies and carry out floor plans, install promotional signs, and set up interiors accordingly.

Working in this position, you will have to come up with clear visual messages. You will work with assistant merchandisers to execute design ideas that match the identity and target audience of your organization. You will have to research design trends and the preferences of the customer demographic you are planning to attract. It will be your job to update or change displays on the arrival of new product families or upcoming promotion periods.

Visual skills will be your most important asset in this position. You might need a bachelor's degree in an art-related area, but you might also be able to win your prospective employer over with a strong portfolio. You will need to use visual design software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and the like. Creativity, a sense of fashion and style, and innovation will be what your employer is looking for as far as personal skills go. If you land the job, you can make around $55,361 on average per year.

ScoreDisplay AssociateUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,513

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

7.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 5.34%

Black or African American 8.50%

Hispanic or Latino 13.83%

Unknown 5.10%

White 66.75%

Gender

female 58.92%

male 41.08%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.0

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a display associate

Explore display associate education requirements

Most common display associate degrees

Bachelor's

56.6 %

Associate

18.9 %

High School Diploma

17.2 %

Start to develop specific display associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	39.85%
Sales Floor	21.59%
Store Management	12.42%
Display Merchandise	10.32%
Window Displays	8.05%

Complete relevant display associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New display associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a display associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real display associate resumes.

Research display associate duties and responsibilities

Coordinate material and equipment logistics for cross country multi-city marketing events.
Coordinate material and equipment logistics for cross country multi-city marketing events.

Prepare your display associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your display associate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a display associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable display associate resume templates

Build a professional display associate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your display associate resume.