This month would like to thank Ami Rabheru for inviting me to join the retail panel at her amazing event Retail Huddle Live 2025 in London, supporting independent businesses, retailers and new start ups. 

It was a pleasure to be part of the panel – Bricks & Mortar, Strategies to elevate your retail game – with the brilliant Laura Harrison from LH Retail Development, Laura Harris from High Street Positives, Hannah Connell from Splitfigs & Isobel Perl from Perl Cosmetics. 

Together we explored what it means to build a multi channel brand today. Giving the audience practical advice to support them with achieving effective product placement & visual merchandising instore and online. I enjoyed show casing to the attendees. best practice on how to maximise their link selling possibilities using the Visual Merchandising principles. These principles can support you with your business, whether you have a physical or digital store. 🤩 

I also loved heading up the product showcase, meeting the businesses & retailers and sharing my Visual Merchandising tips to effectively showcase the amazing brands on show.🤩
Please click on the full blog article to read more about Retail Huddle …..

This month I visited NIF Global, New York Institute of Fashion in India, representing The London School of Trends whom I teach the Visual Merchandising Short Courses for here in London. My visit included running 10 Visual Merchandising workshops in 10 NIF Global’s Centre’s across India, including cities Mumbai, Indore, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Gandhinagar & Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

I was so grateful for this amazing opportunity to visit the brilliant students and teachers at the NIF Global Centre’s and was so impressed by the talented work being produced by their students, which included block printing, tailoring, embroidery and furniture design.♥️ I was overwhelmed by the positive response and welcome I received from both students and staff and it was fantastic to see so much interest in Visual Merchandising – a subject not widely taught in India but an industry which is rapidly growing with the increase of retail openings across India.

Many students are planning on launching their own Fashion or Interior brands, so the subjects covered on my  workshop on Digital Visual Merchandising were very helpful to them with assisting them with launching their own websites and social channels.
Please click on the full blog article to read more about my visit to NIF Global Fashion Institutes in India…..

In 2024 VMC partnered with IGDS – Intercontinental Group of Department Stores, to create two recorded online Visual Merchandising Self-Paced Courses for their Department Store Members.

Our Beginners and Advanced Self-Paced Courses are now available to access by all VMC students and customers.

Our self paced courses will teach you the effective Visual Merchandising techniques to enhance your physical and digital stores. Covering the following subjects with a mixture of theory and the option of carrying out practical exercises which are set around the techniques just learnt ;

Introduction to the key VM principles, Window dressing techniques & display compositions, Promotional & hot spot spaces, Product presentation and placement in store, Link selling techniques, Customer flow & store layout, Creating effective store planograms and Digital visual merchandising for effective e-commerce retail.

Self Paced Visual Merchandising Courses are hosted on our Member Vault platform and bookable via our online booking system, which can be accessed via the booking page link below. Simply select the day on our booking system you would like your course access to start from, make payment via the secure platform and one of the VMC team will be in contact within 24 hours with your login details to assist you with accessing your chosen course.

Students have the flexibility to learn at their own pace, with access to the Member Vault platform for 12 months, where you will be able to access video tutorials and presentations. Courses have up to 45 hours of learning.

Optional coursework is set throughout each course, to help you practice the Visual Merchandising skills taught throughout the modules. Interactive coursework feedback and support is given and supported by Sarah Manning via email.

Course certificates are awarded to all students upon competition of your course.

Individual courses are priced at £99.00 and our two course ( Beginners & Advanced) package price at £150 which gives students 24 months access.

Any queries or for a demonstration of the course platform before you book your course access, please contact us using the details below;

Email info@visualmerchandisingcourses.co.uk

 Mobile UK 00 44 7976 575847 

Web Booking Page https://visualmerchandisingcourses.co.uk/book-a-course-online/

This month it was great to be teaching at Central Saint Martins,Kings Cross, tutoring a bespoke Visual Merchandising 1 day workshop for a group of retailers visiting London from Brazil. This 1 day bespoke workshop was taught on behalf of UAL Short Courses and was tailored to the retailers specific requirements.

During the workshop we explored  how fashion retail spaces can be designed and arranged in order to attract customers, maximise their engagement with products, and motivate them to buy. Giving the retailers an overview of Visual Merchandising, where they learnt the fundamental principles, inspiration and techniques involved in visual merchandising for fashion retailers. 

Please click on the full blog article to find out more about the bespoke Visual Merchandising Courses at UAL London …..

Welcome to my first blog post of 2025 !

Kicking off the year with a bespoke Visual Merchandising Course held on site for the brilliant team at Cheddar Gorge & Caves in Somerset. My bespoke courses are tailored to meet your businesses specific learning requirements and are usually held on site in your store or at your location.

Bespoke Visual Merchandising Courses typically cover the following subjects ;

⭐️ The four key principles of Visual Merchandising and how to effectively use these commercially and creatively.

⭐️How to create windows that reflect current consumer trends.

⭐️Create effective in store hot spot or promotional spaces which connect directly to your window displays.

⭐️Implement Visual Merchandising principles to enhance product presentation and facilitate link selling.

⭐️ Apply customer flow strategies and store layout techniques to improve our customers shopping experience. 

Please click on the full blog article to find out more about the benefits of booking a bespoke in person Visual Merchandising Course …..

Wishing all our blog readers a Very Happy New Year ! Thank you for all your custom and support this year, it is always very much appreciated !

For the final blog post of 2024, I wanted to talk about the Fashion Visual Merchandising Module which I have just finished teaching to the level 5 students at The University of West London. As part of the module’s final assessment, students were asked to design their own Pop Up Shop concept which could be installed within Selfridges Corner Shop space. Students needed to apply their window dressing, visual merchandising and store layout skills which they had learnt over the module’s 12 week duration to create an immersive and interactive Pop Up concept for a luxury fashion brand of their choice. We had a great opportunity as a class to visit the Selfridges Corner Shop and see Alessandro Michele’s debut collection for Valentino Garavani preview in their London store. The debut collection titled ” Avant Les Debuts ” ( Before the beginnings) combines Valentino’s refinement and elegance with Alessandro Michele’s love for eccentricity and references to Valentino’s archive pieces.

Retail Pop Up Shops have gained immense popularity among customers due to their unique blend of novelty, exclusivity, and experiential value over the past few years. Here are the key reasons which we discussed during the module, why customers are drawn to Pop Up Shops:

Please click on the full blog article to find out more….