Buying House Merchandising

Posted on October 22, 2010 by vasantkothari

Buying House Merchandising

Buying house work as intermediateries the buyer & the vendor

60 -70% world wide buying routes through the buying houses

These are situated predominantly at the sourcing locations

Works on profit percentages / commissions / expense coverage

Role of Merchandiser (Buying House)

Bridges the gap between buyer & vendor

Analysis of market / vendor / order processing / QA

Group buying

Wholesale activities

Unit control services

Private brand programmes

Foreign buying

Sales promotion buyer / vendor & development of catalogues

Fashion divisions /offices

Role of Merchandiser
Posted on October 13, 2010 by vasantkothari

Merchandising development based on buyers objective

To interact with the Buyer

To interact with the various departments of manufacturing unit

To do the costing of Garments

To send the samples to buyers

Development of lab-dip / desk looms

To take the approval from buyers

Procurement of Fabrics/Trims

To carry out the final Inspection

To make sure that shipment goes on time

Traits of Merchandisers
Posted on October 17, 2010 by vasantkothari

In todays high tech, competitive, global apparel industry, a merchandiser must posses a
rare blend of traits, skills and experience
Merchandiser must be part..

Designer
Engineer

Computer Expert

Marketer

Entrepreneur

A merchandiser is involved in every stage of the process from design to sales they

advise designer on market trends,

collect specifications from buyers,

get the samples approved

and also negotiate the price.

even responsible for ensuring that consignments are delivered to the customers

in time

Knowledge Base Requirement

Posted on October 28, 2010 by vasantkothari

Trend and fashion movement; Forecast interpretation and range development

Product development and feasibility

Fabric or leather and other input appreciation

Processing and finishing

Market knowledge; Customer profile and behavioral change

Cost and price; Quality assurance and control

Delivery procedure; Supply chain and logistics management;

Government policy, procedures and operations (for Export and Import)

Buyer coordination, communication and feedback

Fashion Merchandising: Do You Have What It Takes?

By: James Goldstein

A career in fashion merchandising is challenging and rewarding. A fashion

Merchandiser is the person who makes all the final preparations to get new
fashions on the market. They not only look around for the best fashions, but
handle all of the media means for advertising these fashions. They are the final
word in putting fashion collections together, seeing to the production, advertising
and sales of the fashions. They need to be business minded as well as an expert
on fashion trends.

One of the most needed skills to be a Fashion Merchandiser is the ability to stay
up with the trends. Trends seem to come and go, and some return in a little
different way. A Fashion Merchandiser needs to be able to know what is on the
horizon for the next fashion trend. They will not only attend fashion shows, talk
to designers, look through all the latest magazines, or watch all the fashion news,
but may well end up traveling to other countries to see what the people are
buying and wearing there.

Fashion merchandising requires an ability to predict or forecast up and coming

fashion trends. By giving consumers a preview of a style or collection, the more

the consumer will anticipate the release and launch of the new fashion line. It is
one reason fashion weeks across the world, in locations such as London, LA,
Milan, Paris, and NYC are so important. They give us a preview and showcase of
the styles fashionistas and consumers are sure to love.

A Fashion Merchandiser will also need a sense of style, know about fabrics, know
about repeating fashion trends and know what the consumer wants, needs and
can afford. They watch the financial news, and know when the country may have
a financial downturn, and they will seek out fashions that are popular, but within
the budgets of the everyday person. These are essential skills that can be obtained
at a fashion graduate school.

There are many skills that are needed to be a Fashion Merchandiser.

Communication with buyers, designers and suppliers is always necessary, so
good communication skills are needed. A Fashion Merchandiser must also be
business savvy, as they will have business dealing with many different types of
businesses and people. They also need to know about fabrics, designs, colors and
accessories.

The Fashion world is a very busy place. It takes skills, energy and ambition to
earn a graduate fashion education and make a career in the fashion world. It
takes twice the amount of all of these and a lot of work to become an expert
Fashion Merchandiser. In addition to an advanced education in fashion retail,
merchandising, or advertising, experience in the fashion world will only help an
aspiring fashion merchandiser. A fashion merchandiser takes a sketch from the
designer, and turns it into an affordable and marketable reality.

Sarah has written numerous articles about art and fashion. Attending a fashion
design school for your fashion degree is the best way to begin your fashion
merchandising career.

Flow of Orders
Posted on October 21, 2010 by vasantkothari

Buyer

A Buyer is a Brand
For example: GAP, NIKE, Adidas etc are brands as well as buyers

Most of the brands in the world go for the outsourcing of their merchandise

All these buyers work through their local office known as Liaison Office

Further, all the Liaison Offices works under the Head Office of the Buyer/Brand

Role of Merchandiser (Buyer)

To select the vendor for the garment manufacturing

To work in between the Head Office and Factory

To take the samples on time

To give all the approvals on time

Planning of merchandise

Vendor management

On time shipment

To visit the factory time to time to check all the details regarding product, quality,
compliances as specified in the Manual.

Buyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For a name, see Bayer or Beyer or Beyers.
For the occupation in the fashion industry, see Buyer (fashion).

A buyer is any person who contracts to acquire an asset in return for some form of consideration.
When someone gets characterized by their role as buyer of certain assets, the term "buyer" gets
new meaning:
A "buyer" or merchandiser is a person who purchases finished goods, typically for resale, for a
firm, government, or organization. (A person who purchases material used to make goods is
sometimes called a purchasing agent.)
In product management, buyer is the entity that decides to obtain the product.
A buyer's primary responsibility is obtaining the highest quality goods at the lowest cost. This
usually requires research, writing requests for bids, proposals or quotes, and evaluation
information received.

Resolved Question
Show me another

Whats is the meaning of liasoning office.?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
A liaison office (also known as a representative office), by definition, acts as a
representative office/communication channel between the parent company and the
suppliers/customers in the country the liaison office is situated in; and it is not
permitted to carry out any commercial activity per se. If it carries on commercial
activity (buy and sell goods), it is taxable like a company.
In short, a liaison office acts as a postbox only.

The Buyer Role and Responsibilities in

Merchandising
by V S Rama Rao on February 4, 2010
Buyers play an important role in the retail industry. They select and order merchandise to be
sold. The skill within which they do this directly affects the sales volume of their store and its
share of the total retail market.
Buyers may be responsible for buying for a department, an entire store or a chain of stores. It is
important that buyers maintain a balanced inventory and a budget agreed upon between
themselves and the store or merchandising manager. Although computers help maintain
inventory records and analyze customer purchasing preferences and trends, buyers still have to
make key decisions concerning style, taste and customer motivations.
Central Buyers work for chain stores and mail order houses. They may be located in divisional
headquarters, the parent store of a chain, or in offices in wholesale market areas. Associate or
Junior Buyers usually buy specific items for a department or division of a firm which is too large
to be served by one buyer. The associate or Junior Buyer assumes responsibility for the specified
item purchases but coordinates with the Head Buyer.
Assistant Buyers are responsible for routine aspects of the work. They coordinate stores or
departments, supervise personnel and maintain sales and inventory records.
The responsibilities of a buyer are listed below:
1) Developing the merchandising strategies for the product line, store or organization that he /
she is responsible for.
2) Planning and selecting merchandise assortments. This requires a keen understanding of the
current market trends and economic developments. At the same time, it requires an
understanding of the needs and wants of the target consumers and locating a product to suit these
needs.
3) Vendor selection, development and management. Negotiations with vendors for favorable
terms and services are a delicate issue handled by the buyers.
4) Pricing the merchandise to achieve the required targets in terms of gross margins.
5) Inventory management allocation of merchandise to the various retail stores is also an
integral part of the functions of the buyer. Hence, a buyer needs to control inventory, which
includes not only procurement but also providing the goods as per the needs of the stores, so that
under ideal circumstances, there is never a situation when the product is not available in the retail
store. In case there is merchandise which is slow moving then mark downs or moving the
merchandise to other locations also needs to be finished.
The structure of the merchandise department largely depends on the organizations structure
adopted by that particular retail organization.

Many organizations may also have a position known as a Purchase Agent. Purchase agents and
buyers commonly focus on routine purchasing tasks, often specializing in a commodity or a
group of related commodities such as steel, cotton, grains, fabricated metal products or
petroleum products. Purchase agents usually track market conditions, price trends or futures
markets.
While job in merchandising or buying is very exciting, the working conditions are often
strenuous. Traveling frequently, to visit branch stores and domestic and sometimes foreign
market areas is often required.
An awareness of the general economic conditions is also required, which will enable anticipation
of consumer buying patterns. Anticipating consumer preferences and ensuring that goods are in
stock when they are needed requires resourcefulness, good judgment and self confidence. Buyers
must be able to make quick decisions and take risks. Marketing skills and the ability to identify
products that will sell are also very important.
In addition, they must keep abreast of style and manufacturing trends, read fashion and trade
magazines, follows ads in newspapers and other media, and check retail competitors sales
activities. The job of buying and merchandising can often call for long hours and tremendous
pressure to achieve targets.

Profit improvement through Merchandise

planning
by V S Rama Rao on February 11, 2010
The primary objective of merchandise planning is profit improvement. As the buyer plans the
buying for each department, a better overview of the profitability is available for the retail
organization that it will be able to achieve. As the function of merchandising deals with the
actual procurement of products for the retailer, it has implications on other areas of the business.
The entire process of merchandise planning helps the buyer arrive at the quantities of the
products that need to be bought. It therefore has the following implications on other departments:
Finance:
At the end of the merchandise planning process, when the Purchase Order (PO) is raised on a
particular supplier; the finance department needs to be informed about it as they are finally the
ones who will be making the payments. Finance will also look into the evaluation of the
profitability off the merchandise purchased by the buyer.
Marketing:

The marketing department needs to be aware of the products that are being purchased as they
may want to create campaigns for advertising the products or for sales promotions.
Warehousing and Logistics:
In many retail organizations, these functions may be handled by one department. When orders
are placed for new merchandise this department needs to know as it is the one that will actually
receive the products and do the physical verification of the same. The quantities mentioned in the
Purchase Order need to be tallied with the accounts department and the quantities actually
received. Any discrepancies have to be informed to the accounts department and to the
merchandiser who has placed the order. This department also needs to know the dispatch details
of various products that are received i.e. it needs to know the quantities, sizes, colors, etc of
products to be sent to various stores.
Store Operations:
The information on the merchandise being purchased needs to be communicated to the retail
stores. In case the product is a new product, the features also need to be communicated.
Information on merchandise to be received in the stores also helps in space planning in the retail
store. In case the store has the authority to make purchases at a local level, it would help by
ensuring that duplication of products does not happen.
The person who is to take the buying decisions for a retail organization must be aware of the
consumer needs and wants. An understanding of the consumer buying process is necessary. Apart
form this, clear understanding of what products are actually selling and where, is also necessary.
Information on this can be obtained from sales records. An interaction with the sales staff is also
needed, as they can offer valuable insights into why a particular product is selling or not selling.
External sources of information like surveys conducted, magazines and trade publications and
trade associations are other sources of information. The information thus gathered needs to be
analyzed. This analysis forms the basis of the sales forecast, which is the first stage in
merchandise planning.
The process of Merchandise Planning:
Planning can be multi dimensional. The first dimension to be considered is the time span or the
time hierarchy. This could start with the forecast for the year and then go down to the season,
quarter, month, week and at times, even at transactional level. The second level of planning
would be at the location level, where the plan would first be created for all existing and new
stores, then perhaps at the regional level, and then it would move towards clustering of similar
stores. This would be a followed by planning for individual stores. Similarly the third dimension
of planning would be at the merchandise hierarchy level; starting with the overall department
level and then finally, coming down to the Stock Keeping Unit Level.

The Merchandiser Role and

Responsibilities
by V S Rama Rao on February 5, 2010
The merchandiser is responsible for particular lines of merchandise. For example, in a
department store, there may be merchandisers for menswear, womens wear, childrens wear etc.
the basic duties of the merchandiser can be divided into four areas: planning, directing, cocoordinating and controlling.
Planning:
Though the merchandisers may not be directly involved in the actual purchase of merchandise,
they formulate the policies for the areas in which they are responsible. Forecasting sales for the
forthcoming budget period is required and this involves estimating consumer demand and the
impact of changes in the retail environment. The sales forecasts are then translated into budgets
to help the buyers work within the financial guidelines.
Directing:
Guiding and training buyers as and when the need arises is also function of the merchandiser.
Many a times, the buyers have to be guided to take additional markdowns for products which
may not be doing to well in the stores. Inspiring commitment and performance in the part of the
buyers is necessary.
Coordinating:
Usually, merchandise managers supervise the work of more than one buyer, hence they need to
coordinate the buying effort in terms of how well it fits in with the store image and with the other
products being bought by other buyers.
Controlling:
Assessing not only the merchandise performance, but also the buyers performance is part of the
merchandise managers job. Buying performance may be evaluated on the basis of net sales
maintained mark up percentages, mark down percentages, gross margin percentages and stock
turn. This is necessary to provide control and maintain high performance results.
As a key aspect of merchandising involves selection of merchandise or products to be sold in the
retail store, the job of the merchandiser also involves visits to suppliers or manufacturers of
select goods. This is likely to involve working closely with retail buyers. They negotiate a price,

order the goods, agree on a delivery date, complete all the necessary paperwork, and keep in
touch with suppliers to make sure that the goods arrive on time.
Merchandisers work closely with the visual display staff and department managers to decide how
goods should be displayed to best attract customers attention. This might involve planning and
setting up sales promotions and advertising campaign. In some organizations, this is a separate
role carried out by a visual merchandiser.
Merchandiser may also travel to different stores to actually check the response to various items
in the merchandise. To enjoy working as a merchandiser, it is essential that the individual has a
mathematical ability to work out budgets and understand sales figures. He/she should be able to
understand what the customer wants and translate that into specific products. The ability to work
in a team is also essential, as the merchandiser would have a team of buyers reporting to him /
her.
Many retail organizations also have a Divisional Merchandise Manager (DMM) or similar
position, wherein the person would be responsible for merchandising activities for particular
liens of merchandise. For example, the childrens wear DMM supervises those buyers who
purchase merchandise such as baby clothes, clothes for new born, clothes for boys, clothes for
girls and accessories.
Typically, the role of a divisional merchandise manager, immaterial of the size of the retail
organization, would involve the following functions:
1) Forecasting sales for the forthcoming budget period: This involves estimating consumer
demand and the impact of changes in the retail environment.
2) Translating the sales forecast into inventory levels in terms of rupees. To do this effectively,
the DMM needs to understands and provide for the inventory levels that would be needed to
achieve of sales
3) Inspiring commitment and performance on the part of the merchandisers and buyers:
Typically, as divisional merchandise managers are senior within the organization, it is believed
that they can guide the merchandisers in terms of vendor selection, merchandise lines that can be
developed and future trends.
4) Assessing not only the merchandise performance but also the buyers performance in order to
provide control and maintain high performance results.
The DMM may not get involved in many day to day merchandise management problems and is
more likely to be involved with quarterly, seasonal or annual planning, budgeting and controlling
of merchandising activities.

Merchandising: A lucrative business in textile sector

Nazmut Tarek:
Merchandising is a lucrative business today. In garment and textile industry it is
known as a 'white-collar' job. The field of merchandising is now expanding with the
expansion of textile and garment sectors in Bangladesh.
World renowned buyers are now more interested in Bangladesh then in any other
garment exporting countries. Due to political violence in Pakistan and Nepal; wage
hike of workers in Vietnam and increased production costs in China and Turkey, the
international buyers are losing interest with those countries. These developments
have paved the way for creating scope for merchandisers in Bangladesh.
German brand Hugo Boss and Adidas is expected to begin buying from Bangladesh
from next year. A number of world class buyers are now closing business with China
and turning to the buyers in Bangladesh. European and American world class
brands are now expanding their business in Bangladesh. Besides, Europe and
America, Japan will be a big market for Bangladesh within a few years time. All this
good news will create a huge opportunity for the merchandisers.
What is merchandising? The term applies to people involved in buying and selling
goods in garment trade. Garment merchandising concepts complies with all
procedures to execute and dispatch the shipment on time, considering quality, cost
and time. Merchandisers are really important in the success of any garment retail
business. They are the one that plan, design and make merchandising process
work. They provide the right products at the right time, enabling a company to match
with the latest market trends and meet the market demands. In the merchandising
concept, time management is of crucial importance for focusing on value addition
actions.
Merchandising is a mix of everything-fun, pride, challenge, acting dumb, and stress.
"It is a job full of stress and responsibilities, but at the same time it is exciting and
enjoyable. The performance of a garment factory depends on the merchandiser's
creativity and efficiency. A merchandiser must be creative to handle any situation.
The tasks of a merchandiser starts with order collection and ends after the
completion of shipment," says a senior merchandiser.
Merchandising can be from various positions - Buyer, Buying House, Trading House
and Factory.
Some common tasks of the merchandiser are: i) costing; ii) determination of fabric
requirements; iii) determination of accessories requirements; iv) sourcing of fabrics;
v) sourcing of accessories; vi) probable dates of the arrival of fabrics and
accessories in the garment factory; vii) garment production planning; and viii)
inspection schedule.
Procurement of export orders: The most critical job of a merchandiser is
procurement of garment export orders. Normally, export orders are available with
garment buyers. Convincing the buyers of on time production, quality, costing and
delivery/shipment on schedule, a merchandiser can get export orders. Visiting the
buyer's overseas offices with product samples, company profiles and inviting buyers
to visit production facilities at home can also help raise buyers' confidence in our
garment export abilities.
Execution of export orders: When an export order come from buyer for certain
amount of garment items, the personnel in merchandising section reply by fax/e-mail

messages on the same day. After receiving the inquiry, first they check the sketch,
details sheet, delivery date and sample if any. They work out price of these and then
offer and confirm the price to the buyers soon. After confirmation of price and
delivery, they request buyers to issue purchase order sheet with full order details.
After receiving and reviewing the purchase orders, they request the buyers to open
L/Cs. After receiving the L/Cs, they transfer it to the related factories. After the
factories receive the export L/Cs, they ask the factories to open back to back L/Cs
for fabrics and accessories.
The merchandisers monitor the fabrics and accessories from booking, production
and shipment to the factories. They take all the necessary approval of fabrics,
accessories, and garment sample from the buyers. After receiving the fabrics,
accessories, they make pre-production and size set samples for approval to start
production. After the production starts they go for inspection to ensure quality, and
after the final inspection they ship the goods. They follow up vessel booking,
expected arrival and departure dates, and update the buyer accordingly. They followup shipping documents from factories submitted to the banks on time, so that the
buyers can receive the documents in time and prepare clearing formalities of the
goods.
Quality control and inspection: At first the team leader of a merchandising unit hands
over the order to two of their merchandisers and two QC people. This team is
responsible for executing the order. Every morning, they discuss their status in the
daily meeting with the CEO.
Garment consumption calculation: The quantity of fabric which is required to produce
a garment is called consumption. How much fabric is required to produce garment,
can be determined through marker planning and mathematical calculations. Marker
planning system is mostly used in our country. In this system six pieces of six sizes
can be sorted out from size range - XS, S, ML, XL, and XXL.
Cost estimation: Before execution of order, costing is a very important task for a
merchandiser. He or she must know the cost of different processes and products.
After calculating the cost of different processes, the merchandiser can negotiate with
the buyer for the best possible prices. There are two types of costs - direct
cost/material cost and indirect cost/overhead cost:
Direct cost: Fabric cost (yarn, knit and dyeing cost), accessories cost,
print/embroidery/washing cost, CM (cost of making) L/C.
Indirect cost: Salary, wages, rent, transportation, machine depreciation, sample cost
and utilities. Costing or pricing of a sample garment is made by adding- direct,
indirect costs and profit. This cost estimation can be done easily by programming in
excel sheet.
Swatch card making: When all items are attached to a card for a particular style of
garment, then the card is known as swatch card. It may contain different colour
fabric sample, sewing threads, buttons, different types of labels, tags, stickers,
linings, interlinings etc. The merchandiser make swatch card for sending to the buyer
for approval, if the fabric and accessories are not supplied by the buyer. Comparing
with the main swatch card or sample, approval is given by quality manager/general
manager or related buying house. Then production starts. Swatch card is hung in
front of the production line during process of production. If it is used, then there is
less possibility of making mistakes by workers for selecting inventories.
Scheduling: It is the planning regarding time to fulfil the target as per buyer

requirements/deadlines. For a merchandiser scheduling is very important for

shipping goods within a fixed time. Before production, senior merchandiser,
production manager, QC manager and junior merchandiser meet to set-up a target.
Then the junior merchandiser supply order slips to individual production units. They
monitor production and report to the senior merchandiser.
Inventory report: Merchandiser in store section makes inventory report for a garment
factory. When the buyer gives approval to a product, then the merchandiser
determines the required quantity of fabrics, accessories (button, elastic, zipper etc.)
and yarn for production. They collect those raw materials from suppliers or
importers. After, buying or collecting those raw materials, inventory report insures
quantity of raw materials individually in the store section as per order and received
quantity.
Quality of a good merchandiser: A merchandiser must possess the following
qualities:
i) Good command over English and adequate knowledge of technical terms for
accurate and efficient communication; ii) good knowledge of fibre, yarn, fabric,
dyeing, printing, finishing, dyes, colourfastness, garment production, etc; iii) clear
conception of the usual potential quality problems in the garment manufacturing; iv)
good knowledge of the usual raw materials inspection systems and garment
inspection systems; v) knowledge of the quota system used in each of the producing
countries, duty rates, customs regulations, shipping and banking documentations
etc.
A merchandiser is he/she who builds up relationship with the buyers and acts as a
seller. Represent a buyer in the factory, represent a seller to the buyers, inspect
product quality for the buyers, look into business expansion, offer competitive deals
without compromising quality, satisfy the buyers to ensure future business and
impress the buyers with i) right products; ii) right quality; iii) right quantities, and iv)
time schedule.
The writer can be reached at email: tarek_tex32@yahoo.com