<P> In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer . At a retail in - store level, merchandising refers to the variety of products available for sale and the display of those products in such a way that it stimulates interest and entices customers to make a purchase . </P> <P> In retail commerce, visual display merchandising means merchandise sales using product design, selection, packaging, pricing, and display that stimulates consumers to spend more . This includes disciplines and discounting, physical presentation of products and displays, and the decisions about which products should be presented to which customers at what time . </P> <P> Merchandising helps to understand the ordinary dating notation for the terms of payment of an invoice . Codified discounting solves pricing problems including markups and markdowns . It helps to find the net price of an item after single or multiple trade discounts and can calculate a single discount rate that is equivalent to a series of multiple discounts . Further, it helps to calculate the amount of cash discount for which a payment qualifies . </P>

The role of the visual merchandising department is primarily
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