PALGRAVE MASTER SERIES R E A D I T • L E A R N I T • M A S T E R I T MASTERING fashion buying & merchandising management tim jackson and david shaw Mastering Fashion Buying and Merchandising Management Palgrave Master Series Accounting Globalization of Business Accounting Skills Human Resource Management Advanced English Language International Trade Advanced Pure Mathematics Internet Arabic Java Basic Management Language of Literature Biology Management Skills British Politics Marketing Management Business Communication Mathematics Business Environment Microsoft Office C Programming Microsoft Windows, Novell C++ Programming NetWare and UNIX Chemistry Modern British History COBOL Programming Modern German History Communication Modern European History Computing Modern United States History Counselling Skills Modern World History Counselling Theory Novels of Jane Austen Customer Relations Organisational Behaviour Database Design Pascal and Delphi Programming Delphi Programming Philosophy Desktop Publishing Physics e-Business Poetry Economic and Social History Practical Criticism Economics Psychology Electrical Engineering Public Relations Electronics Shakespeare Employee Development Social Welfare English Grammar Sociology English Language Spanish English Literature Statistics Fashion Buying and Merchandising Strategic Management Management Systems Analysis and Design Fashion Marketing Team Leadership Fashion Styling Theology Financial Management Twentieth-Century Russian History Geography Visual Basic Global Information Systems World Religions www.com Palgrave Master Series Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-69343-8 (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Mastering Fashion Buying and Merchandising Management Tim Jackson and David Shaw © Tim Jackson and David Shaw 2001 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P OLP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2001 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-80165-9 ISBN 978-0-230-36514-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-36514-8 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. 10 9 8 7 10 09 08 07 Contents Preface ix Acknowledgements x Introduction 1 A definition of fashion 2 The growth of fashion retailing 2 Fashion retailing and profit 3 Fashion retailing and marketing 4 Fashion retailers and society 4 Is fashion buying a glamorous job? 5 Buyers past and present 6 The development of the fashion buyer 6 Fashion buying and merchandise management – a warning! 8 1 The roles of the fashion buyer and garment technologist 9 Buying and merchandising 9 Terminology 9 Structures 10 The buying office structure model 10 The buying team 10 The role and responsibilities of a buyer 13 Negotiation skills 18 Garment technology 22 The need for integration between buying and technology 24 2 The role of merchandising 26 Definitions 26 A background to merchandising 26 The changing structures of merchandising 27 The merchandiser’s response to change 29 Main areas of merchandising management activity 29 The role and responsibilities of the merchandiser 30 The demand for merchandisers 34 The key merchandising competencies 34 Assistant merchandiser/assistant planner/senior allocator 36 Merchandising assistant/allocator/distributor 36 The future for merchandising 37 Applying for fashion buying and merchandising positions 37 Contents v 3 Fashion design 39 Definitions 39 The role of a fashion designer 39 The key tasks of a designer 42 What is a successful fashion design? 44 Defining the contribution of fashion design 45 Benefits for customers 45 Designing benefits into fashion garments 48 Fashion trends 51 Tapping into the changing external environment 51 Technological innovations in fibres and fabrics 53 Fashion forecasting 54 The importance of shows 57 Lead-times 57 The sequence of trade and fashion shows 58 4 Market planning for fashion retailing 61 The importance of marketing 61 The marketing mix 61 Marketing within fashion retailing 63 Defining customers 64 What is a season? 68 Fashion seasons and user occasions 68 Modern seasonal trading 69 Market positioning 70 What is a range? 72 Price points 73 Product options 74 Strategic development 76 5 Buying and the law 79 Contracts with suppliers 79 Copyright 84 Pricing 85 Labelling 86 Fitness for purpose and satisfactory quality 88 Refunds 88 6 Merchandise planning 90 The importance of planning 90 Planning and profitability 90 The problems of planning in detail 91 The importance of the merchandiser in planning 93 The importance of historic sales patterns 94 Creating the initial seasonal sales plan 95 The importance of growth and Like for Like (LFL) growth 95 vi Contents Sales planning and the fashion business 96 Some final thoughts on the WSSI 112 7 Sourcing and supply chain management 114 Sourcing defined 114 What needs to be sourced? 114 Different ways of buying a garment 115 An historical perspective 116 The buyer/supplier relationship 118 A move towards international sourcing 119 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) 120 General sourcing issues 121 Foreign buying 123 The changing supplier base 125 Supply chain management 127 Changes resulting from supply chain management 134 Measuring performance 137 The benefits of supply chain management 138 8 Stock management and distribution 139 Definitions 139 Fitting the number of lines to the business 139 The range plan and initial allocations 140 Rigid control versus flexibility – the dilemma of overall stock management 147 The delivery schedule 148 The importance of the DC 152 Final comments on stock management and distribution 155 9 Retail formats and visual merchandising 156 The ever-changing face of fashion retailing 156 The changing high street 161 A review of changing fashion retail formats 164 Mail order and Internet buying – a retail format or not? 168 Changing consumer expectations and the shopping experience 169 Fashion retailing – a fast-changing vista 171 10 Future trends in buying and merchandising 174 Background 174 The changing impact of IT on fashion retailing 174 The impact of new manufacturing techniques 175 The fashion buyer of the future 176 The fashion merchandiser of the future 178 Likely future technological impacts on the consumer 179 Other types of fashion retail competition 180 Glossary of terms 182 Further reading 199 Index 200 Contents vii Preface The idea behind this book emerged from the authors’ need for a suitable textbook on fashion buying and merchandising management to support their lecturing and course development at The London College of Fashion. With the increasing interest among students in higher education studying fashion-related subjects, the need for such a textbook became obvious.
Tim Jackson and David Shaw, having both been previously employed in the fashion business, were surprised to find a dearth of European literature on the area of fashion buying and merchandising management. This book will be of practical interest to all types of fashion and business students, especially those undertaking fashion design, fashion retailing, fashion management or fashion product-related courses. For those already employed in the fashion business, it is envisaged that it will widen and deepen their knowledge base, as well as support both individual and corporate career development programmes. It will also give the general fashion-interested reader a clear insight into these most important aspects of the fashion industry.
Using their own original teaching materials, and with the support of many current practitioners within the fashion trade, the authors set out to write this first clearly structured textbook on the subject. All material contained within this text, other than where specifically referenced, comes from original research conducted by the authors in conjunction with major fashion retailing organisations based in the United Kingdom. Significant primary research has been undertaken with middle and senior management across a wide spectrum of fashion businesses. In-depth interviews and documentary evidence provided the substantive details.
A great deal of information contained in this book is not accessible within the public domain. The unique and mainly uncharted subject matter of this book has meant that most of the material used in the text is original. Unlike most textbooks, there has been little cross-referencing to other academic texts. The authors felt that this is a rather unique approach to the writing of a text book, and therefore must take full responsibility for any omissions that may exist.
This work makes an original contribution to the field of knowledge in this area by presenting and synthesising many hitherto unpublished conceptual frameworks. We would like personally to thank all those people who have helped make the writing of this book possible. The majority we have listed below in alphabetical order, although there are some contributors who requested to remain unnamed. Many are current practitioners in the trade who gave up their valuable spare time to help with the project.
We would also thank all our lifelong associates within the industry for helping us along the fashion pathway. To all readers, we hope that you find this book both interesting and helpful. A glossary of terms has been included at the back of this book for quick reference. Preface ix Acknowledgements We acknowledge the following for helping us with material for the book: Helen Anstey (London College of Fashion) David Beattie (Retail Systems and Services) Clare Boulton (London College of Fashion) Maurice Bennett (Oasis) John Bovill (Oasis) Joanna Bowring (Courtaulds) Andrew Brundle (Jaeger) Sarah Crawford (Warehouse) Exposure (PR) Tim Gulbride (London College of Fashion) Kate Hardy (Hermès) Ros Hibbert (Line) Tony Hines (London College of Fashion) Nick Hollingworth (Arcadia) Matthew Jeatt (Promostyl) Kim Mannino (Promostyl) Virginia McKeown Bridget Miles (Marks & Spencer) Claire Morgan Colin Porter (House of Fraser) David Riddiford (Selfridges) Michael Talboys (London College of Fashion) Catherine Thomas Alison Thorn (B&Q) Chris Webb (Jaeger) Special thanks also go to Karen Jackson and Lynn Levy for helping us in the final production and proof-reading of this book.
x Acknowledgements Introduction Many people have a perception of what the job of a fashion buyer is like and believe that it is predominantly concerned with selecting designer labels and attending glamorous catwalk shows. This may be true of some boutique buying and it may reflect the experience of buyers for certain department stores and catalogues stocking Designer ready-to-wear items. However, it is not true for most fashion which is bought and sold through well known high street fashion retail brands. The job of a buyer in most high street fashion retailers is more hard work than glamour and requires strong commercial ability as much as it does knowledge of fashion design.
Given the wide assortment of literature about fashion design and the deficit of material concerning fashion buying, the authors believe the job of this book is to explain the diversity of issues surrounding the subject. A major aim of the book is to prepare those wishing to enter or develop careers in fashion retail buying and merchandising for the tough commercial reality of the job. This book has been written to explain the business of buying and merchandising in fashion retailing and consequently takes a very vocational perspective about what is a frequently discussed but often misunderstood subject. Another key aim of this book is to explain the vital role of marketing in the process of designing and buying a range of products.