Rev up the place

A well-planned retail store layout allows a retailer to maximise the sales for each square foot of the allocated selling space within the store. The very reason these retail giants are recognised today is for the way they market themselves.

The attractive display makes all the difference. These days, every person wants everything to be well organised and the stores need to be designed in such a way that customers identify brands and products of their choice easily.

Career prospects: Career prospects in the field of retail design are vast. There is a growing consciousness for designing in people all over the world.

After pursuing a course in retail design, one can opt for any of the following posts - store managers, retail managers, retail buyers, retail designers/ visual merchandisers, merchandise planning and product developers. This field is getting prominent because of the growing demands of consumers in all aspects. Their tastes and preferences have changed with the due course of time.

Taking up retail design as a career has good scope. This field also offers people a chance to showcase their innovativeness and creativity. A designer’s basic role is to understand the business requirements and design a solution that will meet the business needs.
Job prospects: Job prospects in retail design are exceptionally bright for talented professionals who have the necessary drive. 

A retail designer can revive the entire ambience of a place by his work. He needs to work very actively, keeping in mind the business as well as the marketing strategy being executed. India has a huge scope for retail designers as the country is booming in the retail market.

The retail sector in India is dominated by companies like Future Group, Tata Group, Reliance India, RPG Group, Raymond’s, Barista, Café Coffee Day, Bata, Crossword, etc. They offer huge employment opportunities for qualified retail management professionals.

Vacancies in the retail sector are available from entry to senior management levels. Multinational companies like Pizza Hut, Adidas, Nike, Dominos, Kodak, Benetton, Sony, Sharp and Levis are also recruiting skilled professionals, making a career in retail sector lucrative.

The presence and growth of luxury retail has also brought higher standards of store design and visual merchandising, leading to higher requirement of trained manpower in retail designing.

Remuneration: Retail design is a fast-growing field as more companies and businesses open or change their existing space. It is a highly remunerative field as the demand is quiet high for designers. The basic average salary offered to a fresher ranges from Rs 18,000 to Rs 20, 000 per month. An experienced retail designer can earn in lakhs.

Growth in this filed depends purely on the abilities of the respective candidate. One has to be very creative and competitive to beat the challenge. With some years of experience and extraordinary talent, one can easily earn up to Rs 50,000 - 60,000 per month.

Eligibility: In India, many colleges, institutes and universities offer degree, diploma and certificate courses in retail design and for this, the minimum eligibility criteria is 10+2 pass in any stream. Some institutions may also ask for an entrance test for admission into the course.

You can also get admission into this course even if you do not have a regular higher secondary degree, but have some practical experience in designing. If a candidate wants to do a post-graduate diploma, then he or she has to be a graduate in any discipline.
Institutes offering this course are:

*Indian Retail School, A-21/12, Phase-II, Naraina Industrial Area, New Delhi - 110028; Ph: [phone]

*NIFT Campus, Hauz Khas, Near Gulmohar Park, New Delhi - 110 016; Ph: [phone]

*National Institute of Design, Core 6A, 3rd Floor, India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi - 110003; Ph: [phone]