Visual Merchandising
the Store of the Future
Apparel Guides
My current role at Walmart is instructing stores how to correctly display their outerwear and active apparel. I collaborate with merchants, product development and category advisors to provide guides for store associates.
An automated system generates either a blank image or one that is hard to interpret. I replace those images with graphics that provide better clarity.
Opportunity to Improve
Before my team was created, stores across the country received hard copy paper guides that were printed & shipped four times a year. Stores would receive either a large or small format based on their department size.
Walmart is currently in the process of revamping it’s apparel design through their Store of the Future program, my team was tasked to create a process to assist stores to become more efficient and effective with the execution of this new initiative.
Our objectives were:
1) Convert the process from paper to digital
2) Improve execution accuracy
Process Development
We learned that stores already use an app to set apparel and decided to utilize a page within that app that wasn’t currently used to house our apparel guides.
To make the transition easier, we took elements of the original paper guides and incorporated them into the new page design for familiarity.
Evolution
After we tested the new Guide pages with a few stores we received feedback that they wanted the ability to see all the product that would be dropping to their store at the beginning of the season, compared to the individual pages.
