Introduction
• “Merchandising” is known to the persons specially involved in the garments trade. The term merchandising has been derived from merchandise. Merchandise means goods that are bought & sold.
•The term “Merchandiser” may be defined as a Person who merchandises goods, specifically for export purposes. Garments merchandising means buying raw materials & accessories, producing garments, maintaining the required quality level, and exporting the garments within the scheduled time.
•Merchandising is the business art of matching goods to the needs and preferences of customers to ensure shelf off-take. How a product is presented, how much is displayed, and in what form, size shape, color, etc. can determine the rate of speed at which a product is bought.
•, In other words, merchandising is the marketing activity responsible for ensuring a product’s “desirability”, both qualitatively and quantitatively. This means that at the store end, your product has to be perceived as “just right” by your market. It is a whole lot of psyche satisfaction. The person who acts the merchandising activities is called a “Merchandiser”.
What is Merchandising?
Merchandising is everything you do to promote and sell your products once the potential customer is in your/my store. When we talk about merchandise, we are talking about products available for sale, typically in a retail setting.
Merchandising Flowchart
Merchandiser
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Negotiation with buyer & Collect order
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Costing
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Sample making (according to buyer requirement)
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Get approval &Placement of order
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Getting started (In-house preparation of
accessories)
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Line balancing
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Commencing production
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Production Monitoring
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Inspection
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Buyer’s Inspection (After Finishing)
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Preparation of banking & documentation
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Shipment/delivery
Who is Merchandiser?
Merchandiser is the interface between Buyer & Exporter. He is responsible for order analysis for shipment. So Merchandising is a very valuable department in the Apparel Industry.
Qualities of a Merchandiser
1. Language skill
2. Computer skill
3. Marketing skill
4. Right consumption knowledge of various goods
5. Costing knowledge of raw materials
6. Order-getting ability (That is if the merchandiser is known by the actual rate of raw
materials so that he can negotiate perfectly with the buyer. In this way, the possibility of
getting an order is hundred percent.)
7. Sincere & Responsible
8. Hard worker
Role of merchandiser between buyer and seller:
Roles or tasks of merchandiser which take place between buyer and seller are pointed out below with brief description:
1. Database: Merchandisers like a database between buyer and seller.
2. Build up relationship: Merchandiser’s role is to build up a relationship with buyers and acts as a seller.
3. Order execution: He plays a vital role in his organization in the sense that he bears more responsibility than others in regard to order execution.
4. Factory representative: He represents the factory as a buyer.
5. Buyer representative: He represents the buyer as a seller.
6. Inspection: He inspects quality as a buyer.
7. Quality inspection: He inspects quality as a buyer from the buyer point‘s of view.
8. Price range: He negotiates a price for the sellers.
9. Seller’s point: He looks at the deal from the seller’s point of view.
10. Business development: He looks after the business so as to develop more in the future.
11. Deal the offer: He tries to offer the deal more competitively by not compromising the quality.
12. Satisfaction: His object is to satisfy the buyer to progress more in future business.
13. Mark up: How much should be added to the cost the retailer paid for the product to reach a final selling price? Original markup is the difference between the retailer’s original cost and initial selling price.
14. Mark down: This occurs when the product does not sell at the original price and an adjustment is necessary. Shrinkage everyday low pricing off-price retailing.
15. Gross margin: Mark up the difference between the final selling price and retailer cost and is also the gross margin.
16. Wheel of retailing: How new forms of retail outlets enter the market.
17. Cross-channel shopper: Online consumers are researches their required products online and then purchase them at a retail store.
18. Multichannel marketing: Blending of different communication and delivery channels that are mutually reinforcing retaining and building relationships with consumers who shop and buy in the traditional marketplace and marketplace.
19. Philosophy adoption: Merchandiser adopted and maintains the philosophy of buyer and seller.
20. Level of service: The degree of service provided to the customer. Self-services limited service vs. full service.
21. Channel design consideration:
Which channel/intermediaries will be providing the best coverage of the target market?
Which channel/intermediaries will best satisfy buying requirements of the target market?
Which channel/intermediaries will be the most profitable?
22. Reduce conflict: A merchandiser reduces the conflict between buyer and seller.
23. Aim: His aim is to impress the buyer by means of:
- Right product.
- Right quality.
- Right quantity.
- Right time.
- Undamaged condition.
At the time of conclusion, we can say that a merchandiser obviously plays a vital role between buyer and seller.
Merchandiser is The Responsible From Order Analyses for Shipment
•Order received From The Buyer with Details
•Sample Development
•Price Negotiation with the Buyer
•Confirmation of Order and Receive The Order Sheet
•Make Buyer Requirement Sample
•Make requisition for bulk fabric
•Make requisition for accessories
•Swatch board making and approval
•Raw material collection and also receive it in the factory
•Check and also listing
•Make PP (pre-production Sample) with all actual
• Pre-production meeting
•Start bulk production
•Collect daily production and quality report
•Make an online inspection
•Sample sent to the third-party testing center
•Make final inspection for bulk production
•Shipment
•Send all documents to the buyer
•Receive payment from Bank
Read More –
Apparel Merchandising & Management | Part I
Apparel Merchandising & Management | Part II
About Author
Words from Md Shariful Islam Sourav. A student from BUFT (BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology). He is from Apparel Merchandising & Management department.
