Whenever Nisha visits her favourite outlets, the designing aspect of the stores always appeals to her. She loves to do window-shopping and get inspired seeing well-designed outlets. She felt she would, one day, be a part of a retail design team and play with ideas to conceptualise retail outlets of innovative and unique designs.

With every passing day, retail is getting bigger and bigger in various ways. Consumers’ behaviour has changed and, accordingly, retailers are witnessing a change in their way of shopping. Shopping is now more of an experience than a routine activity. Today, lots of efforts go into designing of stores and this has resulted in making retail design as a new career option. Retail design is designing the interior and exterior of a store. It incorporates various aspects of store design like displays, lighting, fixtures, music and ambiance. Retail design helps to build a bond with the consumer and weaves a story based on a season or festival. The store, which wears a new look and has innovative design, gets higher footfalls. And, to stay ahead of others in the competitive retail industry, retailers cannot afford not giving due attention to designing every square foot of space available to them. Today, there is a great demand for trained design professionals in the retail industry. Many institutes in India have started offering retail design courses to cater this demand.

Retail design in Indian context

Designing a store and increasing its visual appeal have always been there. For years, retailers have been designing their shops and highlighting their best products with whatever knowledge they had about design. But, over the years, retail design has developed and become more commercialised and specialised.  Mr Mihir Bholey, communication and media relation officer, National Institute of Design, says, “Designs play a major role. They add value by making retail into a pleasant, visual architectural, spatial experience.”  Supporting the latest trends in retail, Ms Archana Surana, Director, Arch Academy of fashion, Art and Design, says, “There has been increased emphasis on the kind of store layout, store building, fixtures and equipment, colour displays, window displays.” Though retail design as a career option is still anew in India, it is picking up the pace. Institutes have realised the importance of a course for the retail design and planning. Institutes like National Institute of Design, J.D. Institute of fashion technology, Wigan and Leigh College, Global Retail School, National Institute of Fashion Technology and Arch Academy of Fashion, Art and Design offer various courses that respond well to the need of retail design jobs. Either, these institutes have started a complete course in retail design and visual merchandising or they have incorporated the various areas of study of retail designing into their present curriculum.

Retail design as a career

Retail design is the best career option for those who have creative and artistic flair and an eye for detail. Drawing skills, knowledge about woodwork and ability to think visually about store layout and design are a few prerequisites. Mr Shantanu Saha, MD, Idiom Design and Consulting Ltd, says, “Any person who has an ability to understand consumer insights (both articulated and un – articulated) and is willing to roll up his or her sleeve to translate these insights into concepts.” Despite lack of awareness among the mass, there are many career opportunities in retail designing. With the coming of foreign players, the concept of getting the stores professionally done is gradually making its way in all the spheres of Indian retailers. Hence, retail design no longer remains a practice reserved for major players. The understanding of design is catching up in India with the shifting of  the retail industry from unorganised sector to the organised. Talking about the present scenario, Mr Saha says, “What we have are design outfits who churn out retail space concepts with elements of branding thrown in. It works, but to an extent only”. He believes, “There is an opportunity to grow fast in this industry, as there is dearth of designers with retail experience, and the starting packages are quite lucrative.” According to Mr Bholey, “The retail boom has created fierce competition among the retail chains. Survival depends on the cutting edge, which requires lot of value addition.”  Seeing the sudden need for retail expertise, retailers no longer consider it as an added expense. Retail designers are much in need today. Thanks to the booming retail industry and the retailers who are realising the impact and attention the store gets from the customers. “Retail design is one the most lucrative career options. Retail is one sector where a student can be absorbed anywhere as it has two diversifying sections like a front-end and a backend. Old retailers are reformatting their retail formats and new ones are entering into the Indian market and they require skilled manpower and hence offer ample opportunities,” says Ms Aditi Srivastava, CEO, Global Retail School.

Neha Gulati has plans to take up retail design as a career option. She says, “It’s a challenge and fun to design showrooms and the opportunities are tremendous because of the lack of retail professionals.” For her, the designing gives a lot pleasure and wants to transform her hobby into a full time career. Abhinav too wants to become a successful retail designer. He has already done designing for various parties and also projects for hotels and small stores. He plans to start his own designing firm, once he completes his education. A retail designer can choose to be self-employed or work as a freelancer. One can also choose to work with an established design firm. The equation between demand and supply pertaining to retail designers and upcoming outlets is quite variable. Retail jobs would always multiply with the adding of more malls and shopping complexes.

What future offers

This is one career option that allows an individual to be placed easily in the retail industry. Number of trained professionals is much lesser as compared to the number of malls and shopping formats which are on the rise and make this career option quite promising. Talking about the future of retail designers, Mr Bholey says, “The future prospect really seems to be bright and challenging in many ways. Customers would like to have new retail experiences every time. Socio-economic viability and environmental issues will become the design concerns in the days to come. This will keep the profession vibrant, stimulating and demanding. Therefore, a career in the field of retail design experience is surely going to be both satisfying and rewarding.” Agreeing on a bright future, Ms Malobika Sengupta, CEO, WLCI, says, “A career in retail offers a more diverse range of occupations than a career in most other industries. Over the next two years, India will see several Indian retail businesses attaining a critical mass as growth in the industry picks up momentum.” Ms Srivastava says, “Retail industry is a booming industry for today, tomorrow and times to come.” On the other hand, Mr R.C. Dalal, Executive Director, J.D. Institute of fashion technology, says, “A retail designer can have an opening in a boutique, design studio, apparel merchandising house, garment manufacturing unit, export house and in an event management company handling design related events. Demand for innovative and attractive designs over the years has increased tremendously among fashion conscious populace of the country, thereby turning the retail design into an illustrious career option leading upcoming designers to a brilliant destination.”

If you like designing, retail design can be the best option available for you. With a right start, your career can go up to better and better positions within short span of time. With international brands making their way in India, you can see yourself working with one of the most reputed brand. Be ready to get into a career, which is tough yet satisfying. No matter at whichever level in retail industry you are into or yet to begin your career journey or want to brush up your skills, theses institutes will help you in realising your dreams!