Merchandising

Sourcing and marketing of the material of right quality at the right time for the right price.

What is Export Merchandising

 Merchandising is the function involving the co-ordination of all activities such as

sampling, sourcing, planning, purchasing, storing, marketing, finishing and shipping. To
ensure good quality of product in profit manner and also a merchandiser is responsible
for the communication of buyer regarding business and product status.

General Qualities of Merchandiser

1. A merchandiser should be able to express themselves easily through language fluency in

both oral and writing
2. A merchandiser should have the capacity of thinking in an analytical manner.
3. Merchandiser should get along well with their subordinates, superiors, vendors and
customers.
4. Merchandiser must have the following qualities which are very essential. They are
creativity, alertness, capable of remembering etc.,
5. The knowledge about fabric sourcing, fabric construction and quality methods are very
important for a merchandiser.
6. A merchandiser should have the complete knowledge of sampling specifications through
designs, sketches and spread sheet.
7. The knowledge of design, colour, style and sketching is important for a merchandiser
 8. One of the most important thing that a merchandiser must know is about the details of
costing, material programming in various stages and methods of costing.
9. A merchandiser should know about the trims and the quality of trims towards its
durability.
10. To predict the trend and fashion through forecasting is an important quality of a
merchandiser.
11. Keeping track of production including distribution, packing of material and all including
organizing inspections
12. To keep the Buyer informed about the status of the product of any particular order in an
ongoing basis.
13. To coordinate with the documentation department and shipping departments regarding
details of consignment , shipment and payments

Role of Fashion Merchandiser

RMGI – Ready Made Garment Industry
 A person who has the capability of dealing with the Buyer, Business, Purchase,
Production, Stores and cost management to promote the sale is called as fashion
merchandiser. By developing the personal qualities by experience one can achieve the
efficiency in Merchandising. As we are mainly dealing in export ready made garment
industry (RMGI) the nature of job of an merchandiser plays an important role in fashion
business.

Merchandising Concepts

Sourcing of material at right price and at right time with the right quality.

1) Right Quality

2) Right Time

3) Right Price
 Right Quality
 After sourcing the material from the market, the quality can be determined only
after sample testing. The merchandiser can then design on the material as suited for the
orders. If this not carefully analysed it might lead to rejection by the client causing heavy
losses to the exporter. The quality of the material as mentioned in the specification list
by the client particularly for special items are to be taken care.

Right Time
 For submission of orders on time, the merchandiser should plan the entire cycle of
manufacturing, inspecting, packing and transporting of goods to the designation. The
merchandiser should plan ahead inorder to tackle the emergency situation that might
delay the submission of finished goods and to save the company from loss.

Right Price
 It is the primary concern of an organization to produce the product for the right price.
Price can be kept low by proper planning and negotiations with the Buyer and vendors. It
starts right from the purchase of the raw material till the transport of goods. This can be
achieved through price analysis, discussion, interrogation and investigation
 By adopting the above important points the merchandiser and the organization can do
better in their business.

Primary responsibilities of Merchandising

The whole activities of several departments towards success depends on the following
factors
1. Planning
2. Sourcing right raw material
3. Sourcing from right Suppliers
4. Timely Purchasing
5. Samples and Approval
6. Production and Packing
7. Shipment in Time
8. To receive the Payment in proper Time
 Fashion

 Fashion is a style (or) style most, which is popular during a particular time in a particular
place. A style becomes fashion when it gains consumer acceptance.

Types (or) Classification of Fashion

1) Classic
2) Fad
3) Hi-Fashion
4) Mass (or) Volume Fashion

Classic
 A classic is a style that is continuous to a greater (or) lesser degree over an extended
period of time. Some styles never become completely declined and they stand for a
longer period of time. (eg) Sarees, dhoties

FAD
 Short lived fashions are called fad fashion. Fad can come and go in a single season. They
lack the design strength to gain the consumer attention for a longer period of time. Fad
fashion usually affects a narrow consumer goods (eg) Beach shirt

Hi-Fashion
 Designer wear dresses are called as high-fashion. They are worn by high and unique
wearers during great occasions. (eg) Designer sarees, decorative dresses

Volume (or) Mass fashion

 Fashion which is adopted by a group of people is known as mass (or) volume fashion.
The mass fashion garments are usually suitable for all groups of people in all aspects.(eg)
Men’s shirt, Salwar Kameez
 Design
 An arrangement of colour, texture, shape, parts and lines in proper proportion to get a
new style is called design.
1) structural design
2) Decorative design

Structural Design
 These are based on fabric construction.(eg) Woven checked fabrics, yarn dyed stripes,
Rib, S/J, D/J etc.,

Decorative Designs
 These are based on surface additions on the fabric.(eg) Printing, Dyeing, embroidery etc.,

Elements of Garment Design

1) Colour
2) Texture
3) Lines
4) Shape and Parts

Colour
Colours are classified into two types. They are Primary and Secondary Colours

Red - Violet
Blue - Green
Yellow- Orange
Factors to be considered for the colour selection of a garment
1) Season
2) Age Group
3) Personality
4) Place
5) Trend
6) Life Style
Properties of Colour

1) Hue ( Colour Name )

2) Value ( Light & Dark )
3) Intensity ( Bright & Dull )

Hue
 It enables us to differentiate one colour from another colour, such as Red from Blue, Blue
from green etc., Here the name of the colour is called Hue.
Value
 Value refers to the Dark and Light Variations of colours
Intensity
 Intensity refers to the brightness and paleness of colours ie., bright colours are considered
as high intensity colours, pale colours are low intensity colours.

Colour Schemes
a) Complementary Colours
b) Split complementary Colours
c) Warm and Cool Colours
d) Tint & Tone
e) Analogous Colour Schemes

Complementary Colours
 Colours that are directly opposite to each other on the colour wheel are called
complementary colours
Split Complementary Colours
 The colour which is adjascent to the complementary colour in the colour wheel and the
colour itself are called split complementary colours.
Warm & Cool Colours
 Red, Yellow, Orange are called warm colours as they are associated with fire and sun
 Cool colours are those which are in contrast with the warm colours. They are Blue, Green
and purple as they are associated with sky and sea.
Tint & Tone
 The colours which goes towards dark ends are called tone
 The colours which goes towards light ends are called tint

Analogous Colours
 Colours which are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel is called as analogous
colours

Texture of the Fabric

 Texture refers to the feel (or) appearance of the fabric. The four components in which the
texture of the fabric is differentiated are
1) Fibre
2) Yarn
3) Construction
4) Finish

Selection of Texture for Garment

 The texture of the fabric for a particular garment should be selected based
on the following factors
1) Style
2) Age Group
3) Season
4) Place
5) Occasion
 In appearance point of view, shinny fabrics reflect light and make the
body to larger exposure whereas dull fabrics make the body to slim exposure
 Through feel, texture effects the sense of touch. It exposes cool effect
for the rough nature, light and hot effect for the smooth nature.
 Lines

Vertical Lines
 Vertical lines usually creates the illusion of height and slim nature

Horizontal lines
 Vertical lines usually creates the illusion of Short and Broad nature

Diagonal Lines
 It may contribute to height and width depending on the length and angle of the lines.
Long Diagonal lines creates the length, short diagonal lines cuts the length.

Curved Lines
 Curved lines tend to add roundness and appearance of fullness where it occurs in a
garment.

Parts and Shapes

 Parts of the fabric is considered as a technical factor for the garment design. To get a
fully constructed garment we should arrange the parts properly.
 The shape of the garment is directly related to the way in which the parts are aligned to
get the particular garment.
 Fashion Cycle

Fashion Acceptance is usually described as fashion cycle. The fashion cycle is a bell shaped
curve having stages
1. Introduction
2. Rise in Popularity
3. Peak of Popularity
4. Decline in Popularity
5. Rejection
The cycle can reflect the acceptance of a single style from one designer or for a General style.
Fashion Forecasting

Designers, Merchandisers and Buyers must learn to predict trends which are a new
direction of fashion as they must look ahead of the seasons to come for selling purposes.
The way by which the informations related to Fashion reaches to the Designers or
Merchandisers is known as Fashion forecasting.
Fashion forecasting is done on the basis of following information.

1) Market Research
The first principle is to establish the nature of the market in which the product is
to be sold. For whom is to be made ( local or international )
With what Label name the product has to carry
For which occasion and for what environment the garment is to be worn

2) Style of the People

The particular lifestyle of men, women and children should be observed through
surveys.

3) Store Analysis
Informal interviews inside the store helps to know the requirement of the people.
To study on customer’s likes and dislikes, and to visit shop to shop purchase for
further developments.

4) Sales Records
Every manufacturer and retailer should maintain the sales record inorder to refer
the level of sales of different styles.

5) Fashion Services
 Fashion professionals collect informations from Video services, magazines,
newspapers to follow the trends and also to get forecast on popular styles and
colours of future in a particular area or country.

6) Evaluating Collections
Traditionally foreign manufacturers retailers visit place to place to refer the
designers creations, season samples and developed samples for design and
product developments.

7) Segmentations
Within a particular market there are various customers depending on age groups
New born - 0- 3 months
Infants - 4 – 12 months
Toddlers - 1–3 years
Children - 4–6 years
Pre Teen - 7 – 12 years
Teens - 13 – 19 years
Adult - 20 – 30 years
Middle age - 31 – 50 years
Old age - above 50 years

Fashion Merchandising Terminology

1) Fashion Accessories
 All articles ranking from shoes, bags, glouses, caps, belts Tie, jewellery etc., which are
worn to complete the outfit of the costume, are called as fashion accessories
2) Apparel
 The term that appeals to men’s, women’s and children clothing including all fashion
accessories is called Apparel.
3) Boutique
It is a French word, means little shop. A free standing shop which is devoted to
specialized and needed materials for the costume.
4) Branch
 An extension of the parent body or Organisation which is operated under the same name
and ownership.
5) Brand
 A trade name (or) symbol that expose a product of a particular manufacturer (or)
distributor is called as Brand
6) Buyer
 An executive who is responsible for the selection and purchase of merchandise
7) Collections
 It is the group of styles (or) designs of goods and service of the manufacturers (or)
designers

8) Consumer
 The ultimate user of the goods (or) service
9) Design
Arrangement of colours, texture, style, lines and shapes in proper proportion is called as
design.
10) Applique
Applying a cloth on the surface of the base fabric and providing stitches on the additional
fabric is called appliqué. It is also called as Patch work.

11) PRET-A-PORTER
 A French word which means “ Ready To Wear “ shop. A retail show room in French
term.
12) Fashion Forecast
 A prediction on the type of fashion (or) style which may become popular in the future
period.
13) Fashion Trend
  The direction in which the fashion is moving.
14) Sample
 The modal (or) the trial garment to be used for the trade is called a Sample
15) Silhouette
 The overall outline of a garment (or) costume is called silhouette. It is directly involved
with the shape of the garment and the fit of a costume.
16) Empire Line
 High waist line garments are known as empire line garments.
17) Princess Line
 A seam which is introduced either in the front or at the back of a garment in lengthwise
direction.
19) Style Number
 A particular number given to a particular style of garment (or) season, which is
mentioned by the buyer.
20) Seam
 Joining of two or more parts of a garment by a row of stitches is called Seam
21) Seam Allowance
 The extra fabric which is allowed for the seam purpose is called seam allowance.
22) Trims
 The attachments used along with the garment to fulfill the construction are called Trims
23) Grease Line- (Pressing the Fold )
 A line (or) mark made by folding the fabric and by pressing the fold is called grease line
24) Drape
 The property of the fabric to fall easily into grace full folds
25) Yardage ( Amount of fabric )
 The amount of fabric needed for a particular garment is called Yards.
26) Casual Wear ( Comfortability )
 Costumes like Formals are preferred for their comfortability without any conditions are
called Casual Wears
27) Formal Wear
  Costumes which are worn according to the profession and with some conditions are
called Formal wear
28) Grain Line ( Direction of fabric )
 The direction in which the lengthwise and crosswise yarns runs

Export Marketing

 It is concerned with planning, promoting, distributing, pricing & service of goods as

desired by the customers in overseas
 Export marketing is the managing process by identifying, anticipating & satisfying the
customers in overseas
 It is very important to find out the suitable market because an exporter cannot spread in
the entire market of the world. To select the market the following factors are to be
considered
1) Socio Culture Environment
2) Economic Culture Environment
3) Political Culture Environment
4) Legal Culture Environment

1) Socio Culture Environment

 Socio culture is defined to mean a group of people sharing a distant
heritage ( type of food, type of style )

2) Economic Culture Environment

 The standard of living, that is the average quantity and quality of
goods they consume.
 An exporter will get benefited if the rate of exchange is high.
 Trade barriers and restrictions come under quota’s, license, LC etc.
  International Organisations help to control and improve the export
market and trade

3) Political Culture Environment

Stability of Government
 Unstable environment policy changes frequently which creates a lot of problem in
payment terms, future plans and programs

Feeling of Nationalism
 It sometimes creates problem whether they will import goods from
particular (or) particular product
Administration & Justice
 The effectiveness and efficiency with which legal cases are
disposed. It differs from country to country.

4) Legal Culture Environment

Effects on Products
 This is a restriction import certain product from a particular country to another
country
Effects on Packing
 The law stipulates the type of packing and instructions to be followed.
Effect on Price
 Many countries regulate the price of the products to safeguard the local industrial
sectors.
Effect on Distribution
 In many countries, exporters are not allowed to distribute materials freely.
Effect on Promotions
 Government laws in various countries restrict the promotional activities like
advertisements on certain products like alcoholic drink.
Technological & competitive environment
  The technological environment has the capacity to alter the competitive position of
the firm but it is the most dynamic, faster means of improving the quality of the
product in export marketing

Channels of Distribution
A distribution channel consist of set of people and firms involved in the transfer of
products from producer to ultimate customer
A channel of distribution always includes both the producer and the final customer for the
product in its present form and middlemen such as retailers and wholesalers
The channel for the product extends till the last person or organization that buys it
without making any significant change in its form. When their form is altered, another product is
developed and a new channel is started. Eg. phenyl

Distribution Channels Chart

Distribution Channels
 There are 5 channels which are widely used in marketing products to the ultimate
customers. They are as follows

1) Producer- Consumer
  The shortest, simplest distribution channel for consumer goods involving no middle man.
The producer may sell from door to door by mail (or) by own retail showroom. For eg. a
US company and south western groups uses college students to market its books from
door to door

2) Producer- Retailer-Consumer
 Many large retailers buy directly from manufacturers and
producers of consumer goods. In this, various channels of wholesaling and agents are
eliminated. For eg. Wallmart, a departmental chain stores as increased its direct dealing
with producers and manufacturers
3) Producer-Wholesaler- Retailer- Consumer
 It is the traditional channel for consumer goods. Small retailers and manufacturers are not
able to link business directly. So they need wholesalers for economically fusible choice.
4) Producer- Agent- Retailer- Consumer
 Instead of using the wholesalers, many producers prefer to use
agents as middle man to reach the retail market, especially the large scale retailers.

5) Producer- Agent-Wholesalers- Retailer- Consumer

 To reach small retailers, producers often use agents as middle man
and wholesalers inorder to sell to large retail chains and to small retail stores.

Selection of channels of Distribution

An export marketing firm should select proper channel of distribution or the combination
of channels so that the firm exports the materials with little effort and better cost.

1. Characteristics of Firm
 Its financial position, experience and way of dealing with the product.
1. Product
 Product features, unit volume, standard , repair and maintenance facilities
3. Consumer & Market
 The size of the market and the area it covers.
4. Middlemen
  Choice of channel depends upon middlemen, their financial position and their
ability to deal with the product.
5. Competition
 Choice of channel depends upon the competitors and strategies. Particular
attention is important to adopt proper method for distributing products, the range
of products, distinct strength and weakness in the area of distribution

Fashion Marketing Mix

Four P’s of marketing

1) Product Planning
2) Product Design
3) Product Promotion
4) Product Pricing

Fashion Marketing Mix

 The marketing mix is the range of variables that can be controlled by the
fashion marketer to meet the needs of the buyer profitably.
 The market mix is to get the right product, to choose the market at the
right time in the proper place with right price.
Product Planning
 The product is the heart of export market. If the product fails to satisfy the consumer, no
additional expenditure can improve the product performance.
 Consumer gets interested with the product only if they are satisfied
Planning is done
1) To evaluate the performance of the product
2) To modify the product as per the needs and to extend its longevity.
3) To develop and market the new products
Product Design
 It is very important to design the product as per the needs of the customer. The needs of
the customer differs from culture to culture, language, religion, legal systems, and socio
economic conditions.

Factors Influencing Product design

1) Legal Provisions
 Legal system differs for every product and they are based on the quality of
product. Eg. (laws of pollution in France, if the emitting pollutants of the car is
beyond the prescribed limits they are not allowed to import )
2) Standards
 The material should satisfy the standard of the country for import

3) Climatic Condition
 It modifies the adoption of product

4) Buyer’s Requirement
 It differs from country to country and Buyer to Buyer

5) Buying Practice
 It changes from country to country based on people needs on different colours and
styles and it indicates the frequency of wardrobe
6) Shape & Size
 Some people like to purchase goods of small size, some of large sizes. For eg.
Japanese needs Compact wears, Americans needs Huge sized garments

Product promotion
 It is to crate a positive image that customer have for a company or for a
product in relation to other companies and products. When markets become highly
competitive it becomes more for important for product promotion. It depends on the
following aspects
1. Product feature
2. Performance
3. Durability
4. Reliability
5. Quality
6. Price
7. Service
8. Guarantee
9. Design
10. Brand image