AI exposure: Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
Plan and erect commercial displays, such as those in windows and interiors of retail stores and at trade exhibitions.
Reading this score
computedAt 26.8% of weighted task load, Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers sits at the 49th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 60.8% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 24 tasks it averages 1.69 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Attend training sessions or corporate planning meetings to obtain new ideas for product launches, at 86.7%. The least is Install decorations, at 0.0%. A gap of 86.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 38.5% across the group's 40 roles, with 31 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 24 tasks, 13 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 11 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.60 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.69 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.06 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.23 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.44 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.65 | 0-3 |
Task by task
24 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attend training sessions or corporate planning meetings to obtain new ideas for product launches. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 3.74 | exposed |
| Plan commercial displays to entice and appeal to customers. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.36 | exposed |
| Store, pack, and maintain inventory records of props, products, or display items. | 52.5% | 22.5% | 25.0% | 3.83 | exposed |
| Consult with store managers, buyers, sales associates, housekeeping staff, or engineering staff to determine appropriate placement of displays or products. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.97 | exposed |
| Develop ideas or plans for merchandise displays or window decorations. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.93 | exposed |
| Consult with advertising or sales staff to determine type of merchandise to be featured and time and place for each display. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.74 | exposed |
| Collaborate with others to obtain products or other display items. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.60 | exposed |
| Obtain plans from display designers or display managers and discuss their implementation with clients or supervisors. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.41 | exposed |
| Select themes, lighting, colors, or props to be used. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.80 | exposed |
| Use computers to produce signage. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.79 | exposed |
| Maintain props, products, or mannequins, inspecting them for imperfections, doing touch-ups, cleaning up after customers, or applying preservative coatings as necessary. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.95 | exposed |
| Supervise or train staff members on daily tasks, such as visual merchandising. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Instruct sales staff in color coordination of clothing racks or counter displays. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.72 | exposed |
| Prepare sketches, floor plans, or models of proposed displays. | 25.0% | 12.5% | 62.5% | 3.77 | untouched |
| Take photographs of displays or signage. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.33 | untouched |
| Cut out designs on cardboard, hardboard, or plywood, according to motif of event. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.14 | untouched |
| Arrange properties, furniture, merchandise, backdrops, or other accessories, as shown in prepared sketches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Change or rotate window displays, interior display areas, or signage to reflect changes in inventory or promotion. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Place prices or descriptive signs on backdrops, fixtures, merchandise, or floor. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Assemble or set up displays, furniture, or products in store space, using colors, lights, pictures, or other accessories to display the product. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Install booths, exhibits, displays, carpets, or drapes, as guided by floor plan of building or specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.80 | untouched |
| Construct or assemble displays or display components from fabric, glass, paper, or plastic, using hand tools or woodworking power tools, according to specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.58 | untouched |
| Dress mannequins for displays. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.82 | untouched |
| Install decorations, such as flags, banners, festive lights, or bunting on or in building, street, exhibit hall, or booth. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.60 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.