Product Knowledge and Visual Merchandising
Domain 5 tests product knowledge and visual merchandising: how product attributes, categories, display principles and signage influence discoverability and sales. It expects practical display reasoning tied to customer path and stock reality.
Merchandising rules
- Know product attributes: composition, size, care, warranty, season, price band, substitutes and complements.
- VM principles include focal point, balance, colour blocking, repetition, contrast, hierarchy and sightlines. Displays should be shoppable, priced and replenished.
- Window displays create the first impression; they need a clear story, current stock and safe access. Mannequins and props support the story but must not block entry.
- Planograms implement category space; VM implements the look and customer path. Signage must be accurate, legible and compliant with price and offer rules.
- Place complementary items together and keep high-margin impulse lines near decision points, not in dead corners.
Worked example
A winter-wear section has woollen sweaters in mixed colours and no prices. Re-merchandise by colour blocking: neutrals together, brights as a focal block. Place a mannequin with sweater, scarf and cap at the aisle entrance, add a shelf-strip price and a 3-for-₹2,499 sign only if the offer is live. Reasoning: colour blocking aids scanning, the mannequin shows coordination, price reduces friction, and the sign meets accuracy rules.
Traps
Displaying unpriced stock; using expired offer signs; overloading fixtures until they look discounted; treating VM as decoration rather than a sales and navigation tool; ignoring planogram compliance.