How To Become A Visual Merchandising Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a visual merchandising specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a visual merchandising specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.91 an hour? That's $45,570 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 12,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreVisual Merchandising SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $45,570

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

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 74.59%

male 25.41%

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 visual merchandising specialist

Explore visual merchandising specialist education requirements

Most common visual merchandising specialist degrees

Bachelor's

61.8 %

Associate

23.3 %

High School Diploma

7.1 %

Start to develop specific visual merchandising specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Sales Floor	24.80%
Store Management	17.99%
Customer Satisfaction	16.41%
Visual Presentation	15.32%
Stock Room	11.60%

Complete relevant visual merchandising specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New visual merchandising specialists 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 visual merchandising specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real visual merchandising specialist resumes.

Research visual merchandising specialist duties and responsibilities

Work within OPEX budget to achieve company goals.
Conduct research using online federal regulations, review Medicare and Medicaid policy and guidelines to complete an accurate and well-support decision.
Secure and audit jewelry merchandise, and complete special jewelry orders.

Prepare your visual merchandising specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your visual merchandising specialist 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 visual merchandising specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable visual merchandising specialist resume templates

Build a professional visual merchandising specialist 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 visual merchandising specialist resume.

Apply for visual merchandising specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a visual merchandising specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do visual merchandising specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Visual merchandising specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Pros

The flexibility, the ability to travel, and getting to know people from all walks of life. I really enjoy setting up new displays and stocking merchandise!

Cons

When the work slows down and I cannot get any work.