Visual Merchandising Checklist

1. Store name sign fully lit, complete with no dead letters, free of loose wiring and spotting.Field
2. Street number legible to a driver and a pedestrian, not just the brand mark.Field
3. Opening hours displayed and current, including temporary changes.Field
4. Facade free of chipped paint, scuffs, graffiti, cracked walkway, debris.OSHA 1910.22
5. Any A-frame or sandwich board current, in repair, and not narrowing the accessible route below 36 inches.ADA
6. Exterior lighting complete, including over the entry.OSHA 3153

The page's headline conflict lives here: OSHA's retail guidance says window signs go low or high so the register stays visible from the street, and most brand packs say the opposite. Pick a side knowingly; the safety guidance has the government behind it.

1. Glass, frames, and sills clean inside and out, no fingerprints at child height.Field
2. Window graphics are the current campaign, sized and positioned per the brand pack.Field
3. Graphics show no fading, tearing, wrinkling, bubbling, or lifted corners.Bubbling reads clearly in a raking-light photo and is easy to rationalize away in person.Field
4. Window signage placed low or high, not at standing sightline height; register and service area visible from the street.The test photo is taken from the sidewalk looking in.OSHA 3153
5. Window display lighting working, aimed at the feature product, no dark corner in the box.Field
6. Windows lit after close, for visibility and security.Field
7. Mannequins the correct set, complete, unchipped, unyellowed, styled to the current docket.Mannequin condition is a chain-wide brand problem nobody escalates because no single store owns it.Field
8. Props support the feature product rather than competing: someone outside can name the product being sold within five seconds.The five-second test runs better on the photo than in person, because the photo strips the context the installer carries in their head.Field
9. Window decor is not explosive or highly flammable; fire-retardant treatments on fabric and paper elements are current.1910.37(c): retardant treatments must be renewed as often as necessary to stay effective. Almost nobody in retail knows this provision exists.OSHA 1910.37
10. High-value merchandise removed from the window overnight per policy.Field

1. Entry mat clean, flat, no curled edges.OSHA 1910.22
2. The first 5 to 15 feet open and uncluttered; no display where the customer has not yet adjusted.Fixed frame from just inside the door, same shot every audit.Field
3. Nothing in the entry zone reduces the accessible route below 36 inches.ADA
4. Customer service and register area visible from the entrance and the street.OSHA 3153

The two numbers that legally cap aisle merchandising, printed on no other VM checklist: 36 inches of clear route, and 4 inches of maximum protrusion into it between 27 and 80 inches height. Under 28 CFR 36.211, keeping those routes clear is a maintenance duty, which makes last night's floor stack a compliance failure, not a design choice.

1. Every main aisle holds at least 36 inches clear along its full length, measured at the narrowest point, including added floor stacks.ADA
2. No shelf-edge sign, wobbler, bracket, or wall arm protrudes more than 4 inches into the path between 27 and 80 inches height.Shot in profile.ADA
3. An accessible route connects the entrance to every merchandised area, the fitting rooms, and checkout.ADA
4. Aisle spacing accommodates a stroller and a wheelchair without reversing out.Field
5. No display or floor stack in an exit route; sight of every exit sign unobstructed by hanging signage or tall gondola ends.OSHA 1910.37
6. Floor fixtures sit on the current approved layout; nothing has crept since the last reset.Creep is only detectable by comparison to the prior frame, which is the whole argument for photo history.Field
7. Bulk stacks and pyramid displays stable, blocked or interlocked, height-limited.OSHA 1910.176
8. Power leads to lit displays routed clear of customer paths.OSHA 1910.22
9. Staff at the main counter have a clear view of the floor; known blind spots mirrored or covered.Shot from the counter position.OSHA 3153

Shelf-by-shelf planogram detail lives on the companion planogram compliance page; these are the VM-level rows.

1. Shelves match the current planogram including authorized substitutions.Field
2. Every facing fronted; the shelf reads as a continuous face, not a set of gaps.Field
3. No product holes at eye or reach level.Field
4. Stocked but not overfilled: a customer can lift a unit out.Field
5. Heavy and bulky items on lower shelves.OSHA 1910.176
6. Everything a customer is expected to buy is physically reachable.Field
7. Fixtures clean, undamaged, level: no rusted arm, chipped laminate, broken clip.Field
8. Packaging on display undamaged and in date.Field
9. The cash counter clean and uncluttered, with its accessible portion (36 inches long, 36 high) not buried under impulse product.ADA
10. Counter-top displays proportionate, not blocking the sightline to the door.Field

The VM team physically installs the store's price claims. Whether a was/now claim is lawful is a merchandising and legal question; whether the sign on the floor matches what was authorized is a VM audit question, and it photographs.

1. Every promotional sign corresponds to a promotion live today; expired material removed, including fitting rooms and the counter.Field
2. Shelf tags are one generation only; no superseded tag behind an active one.Field
3. A weighted sample of shelf tags verified against the register; 98 percent agreement is the enforcement threshold, not a target.NIST EPPV
4. Every was/now, compare-at, or percentage-off sign matches exactly what merchandising authorized; no store-created comparison claims.The FTC treats a former-price claim as legitimate only if that price was actually, openly offered for a substantial period.16 CFR 233.1
5. No handwritten price or promo sign unless the standard explicitly permits it, and then legible and dated.Field
6. Food retail: every advertised item in stock and on display, or a rain check or substitute authorized and known to staff.16 CFR 424
7. Wayfinding and category signage present, current, readable from the aisle entrance.Field
8. Fitting room and in-store brand communications installed and undamaged.Field

1. Sales floor lighting complete: no dead lamp over a feature display, fitting room, or the counter.Field
2. Track heads aimed at the current feature positions, not the previous reset's; no dark spots on the floor.Dark spots are where shrink concentrates and product stops selling, and they appear whenever a fixture moves without its track head.Field
3. Music playing from the licensed source at standard volume, matched to the brand.Photos cannot hear.Field
4. If scent is used: the approved scent at the approved intensity.Photos cannot smell.Field
5. Sales floor temperature at target.Field
6. Interactive and digital displays powered, on the correct content, and responsive.A photo shows the screen state; only interaction shows responsiveness.Field

The most revealing field in any published VM checklist is a competitor's: the date of the last head-office VM visit. It records how long the store has been merchandising unsupervised.

1. Date of the last visit by a head-office or regional VM specialist recorded.Field
2. Any fixture, lamp, or component the store needs and cannot source locally recorded, so the audit generates a supply request, not only a corrective action.Field
3. Every deviation carries a named owner and a due date, or it is not logged.Field