The Main Roles and Responsibilities of the Fashion Buyer - Assignment Example

Buy and Merchandizing 1- Describe and analyze the main roles and responsibilities of the fashion buyer and merchandiser The responsibilities of different personnel vary across every organization. However there are some key personnel which are responsible for the success of an organization. Such roles are sometimes taken as a key success factor and people working in these roles are invaluable. A very good example from financial sector is those of investment bankers. Similarly fashion buyers are invaluable to store chains that deal in dresses, coats, skirts, trousers and various other apparels. The job of fashion buyer include many different tasks such as taking notes of sales figures from different shops, analyzing trends for coming years, participating with designers in designs, assembling prototypes, determining price ranges etc. These buyers decide which products much be bought and at what prices. Therefore they play a major role in deciding both selling price and cost of buying. Buyers usually set up their buying teams. The merchandiser has an altogether different role from the fashion buyer. The merchandiser acts as a bridge between the buyer and seller. The merchandiser also however takes into account the financial perspective of things and ensures that a profit is generated. Relaying customer knowledge back to the designers is also an important aspect of a merchandizing job. This is done by analyzing sales figures and returns etc. The maintenance of stock according to seasonal demands is thus the job of merchandiser. They work in teams which forecast budgets and sales. Therefore merchandiser plays a key role in decision to buy. 2-   Net this Week Sales Plan this Variance Net Last Variance  Net this Variance Net last Variance   Mix % Week as %age year as %age week LFL as %age Week as %age DEPARTMENT     +/- Plan   +/- Last   +/-LFL for   +/- Last           year   Last year   Week                       Jersey Tops 324 19% 300 8% 296 9% 344 14% 328 -1% Knitwear 234 14% 250 -6% 229 2% 234 2% 230 2% Skirts 99 6% 110 -10% 102 -3% 114 11% 100 -1% Dresses 267 16% 250 7% 245 9% 285 14% 234 14% Denim 249 15% 260 -4% 243 2% 234 -4% 256 -3% Blouses 143 9% 135 6% 129 11% 140 8% 130 10% Trousers 186 11% 170 9% 168 11% 202 17% 167 11% Coats 167 10% 165 1% 125 34% 197 37% 203 -18%                       Total 1669 100% 1640 2% 1537 9% 1750 12% 1648 1% The best performance has been made by coats as can be seen from the figures. Last years the sales for were at 125,000 pounds. This year however the sales have increased to 197,000 pounds. This shows an increase of 37% year on year in sales of trousers which is the highest in all categories. The worst performance has been shown by denim which fallen from 243000 pounds to 234000 pounds a decrease of 4%. Plan for following weeks sales   Following   week sales DEPARTMENT         Jersey Tops 234 Knitwear 240 Skirts 150 Dresses 267 Denim 260 Blouses 150 Trousers 170 Coats 145   Total 1616 The sales targets should be moved up to create ambition and target higher performance. The past trend is an important factor in deciding sales forecast and trends and must be taken into account. For growing markets with aggressive promotions these sales trends can be misleading therefore they should only be used to calculate demand. The estimated impact of promotions and competition is integral in deciding sales forecasts. The area which is slacking i.e. Denim should be more focused. Moreover other areas are doing fine and sales targets should focus on incremental increase in all product sales. The data shown in table above helps establish some very important trends for managers. They help in estimating seasonal trends and thus plan ahead of high or low demand periods. This table would help establish first of all an expected sales benchmark. This will have a dual effect from a sales perspective. First of all the production department would have an estimate of how much production is needed for this period. Secondly the sales force will benchmark its performance and try to do better as compared to previous year. The mix of products would also help in determining the allocation and purchase of raw material. The products with higher demand would be given preference. If the production department estimates that it cannot fulfill demand for certain products, an outsourcing strategy would be established. An outsourcing partner which could provide similar quality in a much less expensive cost would be selected to produce goods. This type of historical trend analysis is mostly useful for good already tried and test in the market. For newer goods buyers and merchandisers can carry out market surveys etc to analyze trends and demands. There can be two broad categories of surveys. Surveys could either be targeted at the consumer directly or shops which distribute to consumers. 3- Range For skirts Formal Wear Casual Wear 4- 5- The decision of choosing the garments and quantities are usually made with respect to demands and trends. Another very important factor in these choices is target market. The product chosen is skirts. There are two broad categories in target market that is casual and formal. The target market for both products differs. In the formal category the demand is much higher for woman in the ages of 25 and onwards. These are working ladies who wear skirts as an office dress. The sizes are larger and color schemes are much duller as compared to casual wear. The demand for casual skirts is much less as compared to formal wear. This is because the target market is shifted mostly to younger teens that prefer jeans over skirts. Therefore the formal wear should be the one most stock as more importantly it has a longer product life cycle. Stocking goods with a short product life cycle can be highly risky. This is because they come in and out of demand very quickly and retailer can lose a lot of money out of date goods. When it comes to pricing there are many different mechanisms that be selected. A fixed percentage can be charged on the total cost of the material. This is usually not a good pricing mechanism in the fashion industry because competitors are very important. A retailer has to place his goods in a pricing category according to the entire market. This does not only help keep competitive according to the market but also earn a profit. The margin would thus be decided on this pricing strategy. A minimum margin in accordance with profitability target would be considered. This is the pricing mechanism chosen for our products. 6- There are many different issues that must be considered when selecting a country for producing the goods being mentioned. First of all the country they are produced must have low wage rates. This is because the major cost in garments manufacturing is labor cost. Secondly the country must be a renowned outsourcer of garments. This is because the trust factor is very important when it comes to quality. There are many different countries which are famous as out sourcing hubs for garments such as China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The recent economic development in China has increased the wages and thus eliminated it as an ideal out sourcing location for labor intensive goods. India and Pakistan have recently shown a global trend of falling exports in garments because of poor quality. The feasible option here would be Bangladesh. The country has proved itself globally for its high quality of garment products. Moreover high education rates coupled with low wage rates are high in terms of both quality and cost. Recently the new policies implemented by Bangladeshi government have wiped out unethical practices such as child labor from their society. Moreover the country is rich in cotton and has a developed garments sector. Therefore Area 51 will not have to train people in order to complete the goods in high quality. The total government support towards this sector would smooth any legal issues as well, thus reducing the cost of doing business. The transport issues and lead time would have to be considered. As the good would be travelling through ships, lead times would be months. Moreover the transportation costs would increase overall price of goods but it would still be less costly than locally manufactured goods. 7- The ideal product to be displayed would be the skirt. The product selected for this choice is the skirt number 6 from the formal wear. There are a number of reasons for this choice. First of all as mentioned this range is the one in most quantity, therefore from a promotional point of view it should be given priority. Furthermore as this is the winter season, the grey color would be much in demand. The product should be placed in windows right beside the entrance so that it gets most attention. This would ensure that all customers entering the store get a good look at it. If there was an option to get two spots for the product or if the spot in the outside window are not available, the best spot would be right in front of the welcome door. This would also be in direct gaze of all entering customers and ensure maximum visibility for our product. As mentioned the lead times for the products would be large because of out sourcing strategy. Therefore the samples for display would have to made way in advance. Moreover the demand analysis will have to pinpoint. On the estimates of first few weeks the stores must analyze if their demand analysis are on target. If however there are some discrepancies with demand targets the store should order right away. Moreover the display design and layout must be analyzed keeping the target market and product in mind. 8- TYRNOVER/SIZE OF STORE 8 10 12 14 16 TOTAL VERY LARGE 4 6 4 3 1 18 GARMENT QUANTITY 44 67 44 33 11 200 30% FOR REPLENISHMENT 13 20 13 10 3 60 ALLOCATED 31 47 31 23 8 140 % AGE 22% 33% 22% 17% 6% 100% TYRNOVER/SIZE OF STORE 8 10 12 14 16 TOTAL Large 3 4 3 2 1 13 GARMENT QUANTITY 46 62 46 31 15 200 30% FOR REPLENISHMENT 14 18 14 9 5 60 ALLOCATED 32 43 32 22 11 140 % AGE 23% 31% 23% 15% 8% 100% TYRNOVER/SIZE OF STORE 8 10 12 14 16 TOTAL Medium 2 3 2 1 0 8 GARMENT QUANTITY 50 75 50 25 0 200 30% FOR REPLENISHMENT 15 23 15 8 0 60 ALLOCATED 35 53 35 18 0 140 % AGE 25% 38% 25% 13% 0% 100% TYRNOVER/SIZE OF STORE 8 10 12 14 16 TOTAL Small 1 2 1 1 0 5 GARMENT QUANTITY 40 80 40 40 0 200 30% FOR REPLENISHMENT 12 24 12 12 0 60 ALLOCATED 28 56 28 28 0 140 % AGE 20% 40% 20% 20% 0% 100% *The initial quantity has been kept to 200 in all sizes. 9- Option with yearly compounding PV = 500,000 FV = 501,000 I=8% N=2x4=8 Effective rate= 8.24%+ 0.09% =8.33% Option with monthly compounding PV = 500,000 FV = 500,000 I=8% N=2x 12=24 Effective rate= 8.6% The yearly option is still much cheaper as it has a lower effective rate. 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