Fshion Mrketing and Merachandising

What is Fashion Marketing?

What makes someone spend $400 on a pair of shoes, or $150 on a simple t-shirt? What makes someone feel an uncontrollable urge to own uncomfortably baggy pants or killer 6-inch stiletto heels?

Well, if they're really good at what they do, it's fashion marketers.

After designers come up with the latest trends and send them strutting down the runway, it's up to fashion merchandisers and marketers to figure out how to get people to buy the stuff. Their goal is to move clothing out of designers' showrooms and into customers' closets.

Consumers have to be intrigued by the clothing designers create. It has to fulfill their fantasies, not just their basic needs. Consumers want fashion that will project an image--make them feel younger, or more sophisticated, or more glamorous.

Fashion marketers know this very well, and their job is to help create a fantasy to sell clothing to customers, either by savvy advertising and visual marketing campaigns, or by simply selecting clothing from designers that they think will be a hit with customers. Part of their job involves moving trendy items into stores at the time that they are actually a trend. Not moving fast enough can be a fatal error in this occupation. But good fashion marketers and merchandisers also have the power to make trends by heavily promoting certain looks at the right time. In order to be successful at creating trends year after year, these fashion professionals must also have a profound understanding of consumer psychology and social trends.

Fashion marketing and merchandising isn't just one job, but actually a number of jobs. (Fashion marketers generally work to get consumers interested in a fashion, while fashion merchandisers work on presenting clothing in stores.) People in this field can work in both retail and wholesale sales. Some work as buyers, merchandise managers and purchasing agents, selecting and purchasing apparel and accessories from designers, manufacturers or wholesalers for retail sale. Some work on the other side, as manufacturers' representatives, negotiating on behalf of manufacturers with retail stores. Others work as fashion coordinators with the mission of creating a unified look in a retail store, design house or fashion magazine. Still others work as visual merchandisers, designing splashy store displays that will attract customers and help convey a mood. (See the brief on merchandise display artists). Some people who get degrees in fashion marketing/merchandising become managers of retail stores, or opt to open up their own specialized boutique where they can serve a very specific clientele while promoting their own individual style. Others become fashion consultants and fashion forecasters.

Wherever people in this field work, they straddle a line between art and commerce. On the business side they analyze and implement sales strategies, do inventory control and cost analysis, while keeping a steady eye on profits and losses. But on the art side of things, they are creative, stylish, and innovative, recognizing good clothing when they see it with the ability to sell it to the masses.

Specific tasks in this field depend on the exact job. Some duties might include:
Arranging for the receiving, storage and display of merchandise
Attending fashion shows and visiting designer showrooms
Placing orders for clothing and estimating the amount of inventory needed

• Pricing clothes.
  Designing visual displays and ad campaigns and promotions.
  Consulting with fashion designers and fashion consumers.
  Keeping tabs on profits, losses and other financial details.
  Maintaining the physical appearance of a store.
  Hiring and training new employees.

Studying Fashion Merchandising
In the fashion merchandising major, students learn how to manufacture fashions consumers want, and effectively sell those fashions.

Students learn to sell fashions in fashion merchandising programs that are most often found in departments of home economics/human ecology or of textiles and clothing, and occasionally in schools of business. Wherever the program is housed, students usually begin the major with classes in writing, speech, mathematics, history, social science, and natural science.

During the freshman or sophomore year, they take courses such as fashion analysis and textiles, which introduce them to the terms they need to communicate with others in the fashion industry and build their knowledge of fashion products. In advanced courses students learn to organize and operate a clothing retail business; to plan, promote, and manage merchandise inventories; and to calculate retail figures for a profitable business.

Merchandising students may also study historical and multicultural costumes, a field they later draw on to develop special promotions or store events that feature a particular line of merchandise.

Many programs offer internships or field experiences for college credit. Some also offer study tours of major U.S. fashion markets such as New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles, or of European fashion centers. Fashion merchandising students also gain experience using spreadsheets and data base programs on personal computers, which are important tools on the job. Group projects are assigned in advanced courses to help students become effective team players.

The major prepares students for managerial positions in fashion retailing and manufacturing. Through course work, they can prepare to manage a retail firm, to buy goods for a firm, or to work with designers in planning the overall fashion message for an apparel manufacturer. Fashion retailing is a highly competitive industry, and the pace is fast.

Potential Careers
Graduates of fashion merchandising programs have numerous opportunities for careers with department stores, specialty stores, and catalogs. Top students can land positions in executive training programs with major retailers; after the one- or two-year training program, trainees are promoted to buyer. Some typical entry-level jobs are: merchandiser for store or catalog; store manager; personnel manager; operations manager; fashion coordinator; journalist; information director for a fashion-related company or trade association; public relations director.

Fashion Retail Buyer Job Profile

Are you interested in fashion and love a fast-paced working environment? Retail merchandising may be for you! A retail buyer (merchandiser) is responsible for the process that allows the final clothing line to appear in a store. Buyers work with designers to ensure that their brand will represent the most recent trends, negotiate costs with vendors, work with technical designers to ensure the garment fits the customer perfectly, and makes sure the vendors meet the delivery deadline.
Buyers' decisions can directly impact a store's reputation and profits. Buyers are usually under a lot of pressure because they are responsible for buying the merchandise that will keep customers shopping at their store.
Buyers, unlike typical shoppers, must analyze inventory and sales reports, meet with consultants and vendors, attend trade and fashion shows, follow advertisements for competitors, negotiate prices, payment and delivery, and much more. A buyer often works long hours and must travel frequently.
A small store may only have one buyer who is responsible for all the merchandise. However, larger stores usually have assistant or associate buyers who work under the head buyer to purchase items for individual departments. Buyers often start out as assistants or associates in order to learn the trade. Many retailers hire college graduates into a management training programs, and individuals interested in becoming buyers can progress from there.
Buyers should have a good eye for fashions and trends, however this is not the only skill important in a buyer's career. Retail buyers should also have a keen sense of how a business operates, analytical skills, and a willingness to work long hours and bear the weight of the responsibility buying entails.