What is Apparel Merchandising ?

The Line Starts Here is a comprehensive approach to apparel merchandising from the perspective of the apparel producer. Rosenau and Wilson draw on their extensive backgrounds in the industry covering mens tailored clothing, mens and womens sportswear and activewear and childrens wear, in both domestic and international markets. This text follows the evolution of the merchandising function with emphasis on production efficiency. This entails a focus on product development and the philosophies and perspectives of industry executives. The authors capture the interface of merchandising with the marketing and manufacturing departments and the way these functions integrate in an effective team concept.
About the Authors/Editors
Jeremy A. Rosenau is Assistant Professor at Philadelphia University, where he is coordinator of Fashion Apparel Management Program and a freshman advisor. He has served as president and board member of Childrenswear Manufacturers Association and as a board member for the Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industry.

David L. Wilson is a former Assistant Professor and Director of Fashion and Apparel Programmes at Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. His business experience has included positions in the fashion apparel industry ranging from corporate engineering director to president and CEO of several apparel companies.
Contents

* Merchandising: The Concept
- Evolution of Merchandising in the Apparel Industry
- Modern Merchandising

* Merchandising: The Planning
- Market Knowledge
- Planning and Control

* Merchandising: The Execution
- Line Development: Principles and Technologies
- Line Development: The Process
- Costing and Pricing Strategies
- Quality
- Supply Chain Management
- Sourcing Strategies
- The Sourcing Process

* Merchandising: The Future
- Future Direction

What Is Merchandising?

• Merchandising is the process of increasing visibility and appeal of products to increase sale ability
• It includes product packaging, placement, promotion and "special pricing"
• One other form of merchandising is using the brand power of one organization to sell products of another.(sports personalities and entertainment cos lending their brand names to various products)
• Mostly merchandising focuses on presentation of products including displays and special in store storage and packaging(gift bags, racks, trays), posters, danglers, special cards/brochures
• It also features discount schemes along with the pricing and packaging features
• Outdoor signage and on shop and in shop signage could also feature as part of merchandising
Planning and evaluation
• Some aspects like signage should be considered as longer term and should feature as investment
• Others including displays and special packaging and pricing initiatives would be shorter term and should be expended
• All expenditure should be justified in terms of real sales increase(not changing the timing of purchase by customer as in most festival sales)
• Test marketing and post purchase surveys of customers should be the basis of evaluation
• One tip is that all merchandising should keep the customer in mind. Need to avoid feeding the creative instincts or egos of marketing personnel in the company
• Merchandising should be the joint responsibility of Marketing and Sales sub functions of the larger Marketing function

10 Tips to Becoming a Good Fashion Merchandiser

Fashion merchandising is about finance as well as clothes.
The world of fashion merchandising is more about hard work than about glamour. The main focus of the job is ensuring that stores deliver the right clothes to customers. Fashion merchandisers are involved in predicting trends and managing stock with the overall goal of getting the most profit for their company. Becoming a good fashion merchandiser encompasses the skills you acquire as you train for the profession.

• Multifaceted Education

Training from a fashion merchandising school can give you the edge over rivals. You should ensure that your education encompasses business learning as well as skills such as computer software use and financial analysis.

• Make a Plan

You’ll need to create a business plan in detail before you look to purchase stock, since you need to evaluate current trends and predict future ones. Once you have a business plan in place, you can make purchases.

• Get Design Experience

You’re not alone in your job: you’ll need to work with designers and sometimes buyers as part of a team. To get experience that may help when working on a fashion line, try accumulating knowledge of fashion design through work placements or simply by talking to designers in your company.
Help Customers Find What They Need

You’ll increase profit if you get customers what they want in a way that’s straightforward for them. One way to implement this is to ensure that a store’s stock contains items that pair well with other garments, so customers are drawn into multiple sales.

• Get Retail Experience

Your job involves delivering plans to the retail environment and liaising with staff in this area, so get some experience of retail at a ground level. This will allow you to make more informed merchandising decisions.
Think Layout

Merchandising can involve creating a store layout plan to allocate stock. Remember in this process that visual appeal and access can influence customers. For example, customers typically search clothes from left to right on a display, according to the Careers in Fashion website.

• Key Skills

Key skills for those entering into the sector include an ability to put in the hours and a willingness to travel all over. A creative sense helps when looking at stock, as does an ability to communicate.

• Tailor to Target Consumer

When creating a merchandising plan, you need to identify who your target customer is before you can get anywhere. The merchandising strategy should then be tailored around that customer. If your merchandising strategy is vague or tries to encompass too much, you won’t have the necessary stock.

• Prepare to Multitask

Good fashion merchandisers need to be ready to quickly shift gear to deal with whatever the job throws at them next. You should prepare to multitask and work across various parts of the company at once.

• Managing Stock

Accumulating too much stock of an item isn’t the end of the world. You can suggest featuring the garment in window displays or in other areas of the retail space to increase customer interest. Stock can also be rotated to other stores if the company owns a chain.

How We Calculate The Zipper Length

The rules of zipper measurement is very simple but some time it becomes a matter of big trouble for us. Actually it depends on the fabric & zipper properties. So, at first we must need an idea about the shrinkage of body fabric & zipper tape. Some zipper measurements are not very complicated such as pocket, leg opening etc. Here, we only discuss about the front long zipper of sweat shirt or Jacket or as like that.

A) If the garments is hooded sweat shirt and the zipper goes up to front neck drop from bottom then the rules will as under -

Say,

Body length (From HPS) – 73 cm
Front Neck drop (CB) – 8 cm
Back Neck drop – 2 cm

(Use the below rule if the body length measure from HPS)
Rules : Body length - (Front neck drop + Back neck drop) – 2% to 3%

= ( 73 – (8 + 2)) -2%
= ( 73 – 10 ) – 2%
= 63 – 2%
= 61.5 cm

OR

Body length (From CB) – 71 cm
Front Neck drop(CB) – 8 cm

(Use the below rule if the body length measure from CB)
Rules : (Body length - Front neck drop ) – 2% to 3%

= ( 71 – 8 ) -2%
= ( 71 – 8 ) – 2%
= 63 – 2%
= 61.5 cm

B) If the garments is high neck and the zipper goes up to to of high neck drop from bottom then the rules will as under -

Say,

Body length (From CB) – 65 cm
Front Neck drop – 6 cm
Height of high neck – 6 cm

Rules : (Body length - Front neck drop) – 2% to 3% + Height of high neck

= ( 65 – 6) -2% + 6
= ( 59 ) – 2% + 6
= 57.82 + 6
= 63.82 cm = 64 cm

Moreover, the rules is not always remain fixed, its may vary depends on practical situations.

However, I always advise that you must confirm the zipper measurement with your cutting master & production manager before place an order.

What is AQL (Acceptable Quality Level)

The “AQL tables” are statistical tools at the disposal of buyers (for product inspections). They help determine two key elements:

How many samples should be inspected?
Where is the limit between acceptability and refusal, when it comes to defective products?
The need for an objective measurement of quality
In virtually every production batch, there will be defective products. It is true even after the manufacturer has checked each individual product and has repaired the defective ones.

Thus, in a supplier/buyer relationship, the supplier cannot be expected to deliver defect-free goods. However, the buyer wants to control the quality of purchased goods, since he does not want too many defects. But what does “too many” mean?

How to set the limit between acceptability and refusal in a way that can be agreed upon and measured?
Definition and application of ‘AQL’
The limit, as described above, is called the ‘AQL’. It stands for ‘Acceptance Quality Limit’, and is defined as the “quality level that is the worst tolerable” (ISO 2859 standard).

For example: “I want no more than 1.5% defective items in the whole order quantity” means the AQL is 1.5%.

Fabric Cnsumption Calculation Formula For Pant

There are two ways to calculate the fabric consumption:
1. Mathematical
2. By using Marker planning (Its best for accurate calculation).
I am explaining here the Mathematical one:

To do this you have to have sample in your hand. I have one in my hand now and
That has below sizes:

Waist = 32″
Hip = 44″
Thigh = 26″
Bottom = 18″
Length = 42″

We have to add sewing allowance with that and it should be 2″

Here goes the general formula:

Width =(Waist+Hip)/2 + (Thigh+Bottom)/2
=(32″+44″)/2 + (26″+18″)/2
=60″

Length = 42″

So total requirement is = Length X Width
= 42″ X 60″
= 2520 sqr inch
Let’s assume the width of the fabric role is 56″

so, 2520″/56″ = 45″
= 45″/36″
= 1.25 yrds ( 1 Yrd= 36″)

So per doz. it will take = (1.25 X 12)+ 3% = 15.45 Yrds.

Fabric Consumption Calculation of a Basic Shirt

Back Part
30.5”” (Body Length) X 27.5” (1/2 Chest) / 36”X 44” ( Fabric Width) 0.529 YDS
26” (Yoke Length) X 7” (Yoke Width) X 2 (Double Part) / 36” X 44” 0.229 YDS
32” (Body Length) X 16.5” (1/2 Chest) X 2 (Double Part / 36” X 44” 0.666 YDS

Front Part
32” (Body Length) X 16.5” (1/2 Chest) X 2 (Double Part) / 36” X 44” 0.666 YDS

Sleeve
23.5” (Sleeve Length) X 25” (Arm Hole) X 2 (Double Part) 36” X 44” 0.741YDS
12” (Cuff Length) X 3” ( Cuff Width) X 4 ( 2 X2 Parts) / 36” X 44” 0.99 YDS

Collar
21.5” ( Collar Band Length) X 2” ( Band Width) X 2 ( Double Part) / 36” X 44” 0.067 YDS
21.5” ( Collar Band Length ) X 2” ( Band Width) X 2 ( Double) / 36” X 44” 0.054 YDS

Pocket
8” ( Pocket Length) X 6” ( Pocket Width) / 36” X 44” 0.03 YDS
Total Fabric Consumption 2.406 YDS

Fabric Consumption Calculation of a Knit T-Shirt

Back Part
75 cm ( length) x 50 cm ( Chest width) 3750 scm

Front Part
75 cm ( Front length) x 50 cm ( Front chest width) 3750 scm

Sleeve
24 cm ( Sleeve length) x 40 cm ( Armhole width) x 2 ( 2 sleeves) 1920 scm
Total Fabrics Consumption 9420 scm

Let us make the 9420 scm into Meters than Kg:
9420 scm divided by 10000 scm ( 100 x 100 = 10000 scm) 0.942 m

Let us say 1 square meter fabric weight 140 gm
140 gm divided by 1000 0.14 kg
0.942 m fabric weight ( 0.942 x 0.14) 0.13188 kg

1 Pc Knit T Shirt Weight 0.13188 Kg
Therefore, 12 Pcs Knit T Shirt Weight (0.13188 X 12) 1.59 Kg

Cost Calculation System

During the fixation of price following notes are to be followed carefully:

Cost of fabric Cost of accessories /Doz. garments.
C. M (Cost of manufacturing)/Doz. Garments
Cost of transportation from factory to sea port or airport.
Clearing & forwarding cost
Overhead Cost.
Commission/Profit.