Product and merchandising

• Merchandising


  Involves planning, presenting, and promoting products for sale
• Visual Merchandising


  Specifically focuses on the visual presentation of products and the overall aesthetics of a retail space
• Role of merchandising manager


  • In control of the sourcing, purchasing and delivery of products within a retail environment
  • Responsible for all of the tasks involved with getting products from the supplier into the retail locations
  • Objective is to get the correct balance between the expectations of the customer and the objectives of the company's financial strategy
• Regional/Branch merchandising (buyer)


  Getting the right merchandise, in the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities at the right price
• Right merchandise


  Styles, brands, colors, sizes
• Right place


  Which store, channel, depending on their budget or location (segmentation)
• Right time

  Having merchandise in stores at the right time in the seasons (i.e. ready for Christmas or back to school)
• Right quantities

  Enough for the stores to make their budgets but not have to markdown stock at the end of the reason (DE-RISK: de risking refers to the process of optimizing sales performance and minimizing stock risk)
• The right place


  Those that will attract customers in spite of competition yet generate a reasonable return on investment both for the brand and for the retailers
• Global/Central/Collection merchandising


  Planning and developing a strategy to enable a company to sell a range of products that delivers sales and profit targets
• Collection Merchandising manager


  The CEO of his/her collection
• Central Merchandising role


  1. Analyzing past sales figures/trends to anticipate future product needs, and adjust product offer accordingly

  2. Devising a merchandise plan (collection briefing) using the above techniques

  3. Involvement in setting selling prices to regulate profit (pricing)

  4. Relaying the merchandise plan to the local / regional buyer who can decide on what products, styles, colours etc to purchase

  5. Decisions on when the stocks should be delivered into the business throughout the season (product roll-out)

  6. Develop and implement visual merchandising strategy

  7. Monitor stock movement, consider markdowns, inter-branch transfers, promotions or clear outs etc

  8. Train employees on product knowledge

  9. Develop and maintain key accounts relationships

  10. Instrumental in all marketing decisions such as how much money should be spent and where, how many different lines should be pushed and when (brand marketing calendar)
• Merchandising


  Must be able to speak different languages, and must be able to coordinate people, make decision and direct the process
• Style


  The first rule in fashion is to safeguard creativity, inspiration, brand values
• Production


  A good merchandiser is supposed to manage the development of the range, to be able to negotiate with the suppliers and product managers
• Marketing


  The job requires an innate ability to spot trends