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During the past few decades, the fashion industry has become remarkably complex and competitive as a result of a number of factors, including consumers’ changing buying habits, lifestyles and needs, combined with the advent of technological advances which have affected the way in which fashion retailers connect with consumers. (Clark, 2015) As Clark (2015) pointed out, fashion buyers and merchandisers play a fundamental role in the fashion industry, as they help fashion companies to achieve their financial goals whilst meeting their creative requirements through effective range planning and trading.
As simple as these tasks may seem, planning and trading fashion ranges is a very delicate and challenging process which involves significant risk and requires professionals to be able to predict future trends, interpret industry data, analyse consumers’ buying behaviour and meet their increasingly diverse needs and expectations. (Shaw and Koumbis, 2014) Therefore, in view of the impact that effective range planning can have on fashion companies’ financial performance and competitiveness, it is crucial for fashion buyers and merchandisers to know how to manage and minimise risk in order to avoid making inaccurate decisions which may jeopardise their fashion companies’ profitability and reputation.
The fashion buying process is essential to any fashion company’s success as it allows them to meet their target customers’ needs and wants through highly targeted product ranges.
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As Shaw and Koumbis (2014) observed, fashion buyers’ responsibilities and duties include analysing trends, developing plans, creating seasonal product ranges and collaborating with both suppliers and designers in order to ensure that their retail companies have the right merchandise in the right place throughout the year.
In order to fully understand the factors that fashion buyers take into consideration when developing product ranges, it is important to mention that the buying process is strongly affected by fashion companies’ overall corporate strategy, buying strategy and structure. (Pradhan, 2010) For example, Spanish retailer Zara aims to have a positive impact on society and the environment by saving energy, minimising waste, reducing CO2 emissions, raising awareness among its employees and using ecological fabrics. (Zara, 2010) With regards to fashion buying and merchandising, the company’s main goal is to offer affordable fashion to customers, which has resulted in a highly responsive business model capable of transforming market demand into effective commercial propositions through fast range production cycles and efficient distribution networks. (Gallaugher, 2008; Grant, 2010)
Therefore, it can be inferred that buyers and merchandisers’ job relies heavily on the corporate strategy and buying policy developed by the fashion companies they work for, as these particular elements contribute greatly to shaping their approach to the buying cycle.
As Goworek (2007) noted, the buying cycle refers to the tasks and events involved in the planning and development of a product range for a retailer. This process is extremely delicate as this is when buyers and merchandisers decide what products they are going to buy and how much stock they are going to order from suppliers, which means that if they overstock, understock or fail to forecast future trends and shopping patterns, their fashion companies’ future profits may be jeopardised. (Bhatia, 2008) Furthermore, today’s customers tend to buy clothes on a daily basis, depending on their current needs and the weather, which means that their shopping habits are no longer based exclusively on seasonal factors. In fact, while the buying cycle has always been bi-seasonal (spring/summer and fall/winter), factors such as changing buying behaviour, the emergence of the fast fashion business model, the advent of e-commerce platforms and globalisation are quickly revolutionising the fashion industry, thus posing new challenges for buyers and merchandisers. (Granger, 2012; Entwistle, 2009; Choi, 2013, pp.-4)
Cochrane (2013) explained this phenomenon by pointing out that today’s fashion companies and designers must take into account the fact that global warming has led to warmer winters and cooler summers, whilst catering to the needs of consumers living in completely different climate zones. Rajan (2007) even argued that unpredictable weather has made seasonal fashion obsolete, to the extent that consumers will soon have to get used to buying warm clothes in July and summer clothes in December. As a result of that, buying cycles are becoming less dependent on seasonality, which has always defined the periods of time, or seasons, during which specific product ranges are made available to customers on the basis of the activities, lifestyles and needs associated with each “season”. (Jackson and Shaw, 2006)
In this regard, Bruce and Daly (2006) observed that traditionally, buyers and merchandisers have always managed buying cycles using historical data to make long-term predictions, which can result in financial losses as it is not easy to forecast future trends and sales on the basis of old data. However, with an ever-growing number of customers buying fashion products every day, retailers are starting to offer more product ranges, thus requiring buyers and merchandisers to create more product ranges and to buy more frequently in order to reduce excess stock and lost sales. (Bruce and Daly, 2006)
As Clark (2015) pointed out, since fashion buyers cannot possibly predict the exact number of items that will be purchased during a season, markdown pricing is one of the greatest risks that retailers must manage and minimise, as even though it can be used as a promotional tool, it actually represents a significant cost. (Clark, 2015)
Therefore, it is evident that the buying and merchandising process is based on ever-changing, dynamic factors which are difficult to control and predict, which is why accurate forecasting plays such an important role in fashion companies’ buying cycles. The following sections will analyse some of the skills and tools which are required in order to forecast future trends and meet customers’ future needs and wants in order to avoid overstock/understock conditions.
As Jackson and Shaw (2001) pointed out, as glamorous as fashion buying may seem, those who are responsible for analysing trends and developing successful product ranges would not be able to do what they do were they not motivated, flexible, insightful, detail-oriented and capable of working under pressure. This is because fashion buyers operate in a remarkably dynamic industry which requires strong analytical skills and considerable “fashion wisdom” in order for fashion companies to be able to respond to customers’ needs and wants effectively, whilst forecasting new concepts for future product ranges. (Jackson and Shaw, 2001)
In light of the above considerations, the following sections analyse the skills that fashion buyers and merchandisers should either possess or develop in order to plan commercially viable product ranges, as well as various tools that can be used to forecast future trends and buying habits.
Besides being able to use a variety of forecasting tools and methods, fashion buyers need to either possess or develop a number of skills, without which they wouldn’t be able to develop successful product ranges for their fashion companies. As Jackson and Shaw (2001) observed, fashion awareness, flexibility, self-motivation, stamina, creativity and commercial awareness are only some of the skills around which fashion buying and merchandising revolve. Moreover, fashion buyers should be able to negotiate, plan, identify problems and solve them in a timely manner, respond to constantly-evolving circumstances and make creative decisions on the basis of financial and commercial data. (Jackson and Shaw, 2001)
With regards to the complexity of the fashion buying profession, fashion buyer Dena Stokes observed that retailers’ sales can be affected by a variety of factors, including competitors changing their strategy, the overall economic environment and unstable weather conditions, which must be constantly monitored by fashion buyers in order to make sure that their chosen product ranges sell well. (Cohn, 2009, p.12)
As Cohn (2009) pointed out, while many believe that all fashion buyers have to do is look stylish all the time and shop for clothes, their job actually entails both creative and business skills, as they are required to choose types of clothing, designs, styles, trims, colours, details, silhouettes and materials that will appeal to their fashion companies’ target audience, whilst ensuring that specific financial goals are met. In other words, even though fashion buyers and merchandisers may use their personal fashion wisdom to spot new trends and decide what products will be offered to customers, they still need to take into consideration different kinds of people’ needs and wants, which may not coincide with what they would normally buy for themselves.
Furthermore, whether they work for large or small companies, fashion buyers must often take risks in order to make sure that their fashion companies can promptly respond to current and future trends. (Cohn, 2009) In this regard, Dillon (2011) argued that all fashion buyers should possess strong analytical and financial skills, as even though their responsibilities may vary according to the retailer they work for, they all operate in a fast-changing environment which is affected by both haute couture and mass markets. (pp.54-55) Therefore, in order to be successful, fashion buyers should be always informed about both current and forthcoming trends coming from different fields in order to select profitable merchandise for different types of customers.
By acquiring all of the aforementioned skills, fashion buyers can reduce the risk of choosing inappropriate products, misinterpreting consumers’ needs and damaging their companies’ profitability.
Even though the skills illustrated in the previous section play a fundamental role in helping fashion buyers capture current trends and predict future ones, there are several tools and methods which can assist them in analysing a vast amount of fashion-related information in order to make more accurate predictions and minimise the risks associated with their profession (e.g. excess stock, insufficient stock, unwanted merchandise and so forth). As Dillon (2011) noted, fashion forecasting agencies predict future trends up to eighteen months ahead of a fashion season by examining current fashion, lifestyle and cultural movements. (p.44) The main reason why many retailers and fashion buyers consult with fashion forecasting agencies when developing product ranges is because their observations are not simply limited to the latest fashion trends, but also take into consideration demographic phenomena, technological advances, lifestyle trends and consumer behaviour. (Seivewright, 2012) Therefore, even though fashion buyers may use their personal knowledge and skills to forecast future trends, fashion forecasting agencies specialise in data collection and analysis, which means that unlike retailers and fashion buyers, they can afford to spend most of their budgets to conduct market research and obtain up-to-date data concerning current and future market trends. As a result of that, they are capable of offering early guidance about the global factors affecting fashion and how certain phenomena may impact on customers’ buying behaviour. (Hines and Bruce, 2012, p.127)
As Hines and Bruce (2007) noted, while most retailers rely on trend forecasting businesses for information about how trends will evolve, many organisations prefer conducting market research themselves through alternative tools and methods in order not to compromise their originality.
In fact, even though trend forecasting businesses offer valuable second-hand market data, their information can be accessed by numerous retailers at the same time, which may end up making similar strategic decisions, thus failing to distinguish themselves from other competing retailers.
As reported by Hines and Bruce (2012), Milou Ket Styling & Design, Trend Union, Promostyl and Nelly Rodi are among the world’s largest and most experienced trend forecasting agencies, to the extent that some of them are capable of providing their customers with catalogues, magazines and trend reports up to two years in advance. However, it is important that retailers do not rely exclusively on such agencies’ predictions, as even though historical data can certainly help to forecast future trends and patterns, the risk of making inaccurate observations increases as one forecasts further out. (Feigin, 2011)
The Internet is a convenient and cost-effective source of information which fashion buyers can use to maximise their chances of developing successful product ranges. As McKelvey and Munslow (2009) observed, the main advantage of the Internet is that it provides designers, retailers and buyers with instant access to recent information about important fashion events. With regards to the significant impact of the Internet on retailers’ ability to forecast future trends and reduce the risk of procuring unwanted and/or inappropriate merchandise, the former President of VF Playwear claimed that fashion guidance can be obtained from both traditional and innovative sources, including fashion forecasting services, magazines and WGSN (Worth Global Style Net), a popular Internet-based service which keeps subscribers informed about the global fashion industry. (Rosenau and Wilson, 2014, p.100)
WGSN is a London-based online trend forecasting business which has branches all over the world and employs journalists and designers who provide clients with up-to-date information about the latest catwalk trends, street fashion, colour and fabric-related guidance, vintage fashion and so forth. (Grose, 2011, pp.34-35) WGSN’s clients are usually large companies which pay a subscription fee in order to log into the website and obtain up-to-the-minute market data. (Grose, 2011, pp. 34-35)
One of the main advantages of WGSN is that it adopts a journalistic and analytical approach to fashion, combining various types of information, including directories of suppliers, market data and in-depth features about fashion designers’ latest collections, which can benefit buyers, designers, merchandisers, strategists and marketers. (WGSN, 2015) On the other hand, as the Head of Selfridges Fashion Office noted, WGSN requires subscribers to spend a long time researching information, which cannot really be used when developing ranges, as there are many other organisations and individuals drawing on the same information. (Entwistle, 2009, p.146)
As Sherman and Perlman (2014) observed, it is important for fashion buyers to subscribe to leading specialist magazines and trade publications which cover current industry changes and relevant market information, inclusive of comparisons, expert opinions and statistics. Therefore, depending on their fashion companies’ target markets, fashion buyers may subscribe to magazines, publications and journals which are suitable for their particular needs. For example, Sportswear International focuses on street fashion, jeans and sportswear, examining trends from all over the world, whereas Textile Outlook International provides a global perspective on textiles, fibres and garments in general. (Textile Exchange, 2015)
The main advantage of specialist magazines is that they are usually published on a monthly basis and offer in-depth information about fabrics, colours, styles and other elements. (Harder, 2004; (Hoffmann and Coste-Manière, 2013; Jones, 2005)
On the other hand, forecasting packages are published up to eighteen months ahead of retail and provide detailed data (in the form of sketches, trend boards etc.) about key styles, fabrics and silhouettes, to name but a few. (Dillon, 2011) Even though packages are certainly more detailed than magazines, they are usually more expensive and are published semi-annually. (McKelvie and Munslow, 2009; Dillon, 2011)
In order to be always informed about the latest fashion trends, fashion buyers should use various sources of information, as each tool presents particular advantages and merits. As Rosenau and Wilson (2014) observed, trade shows represent an excellent and effective source of direction which complements market data offered by other channels.
At trade shows, fashion buyers can meet suppliers and manufacturers of various fashion components, including fabrics and finished products. (Jackson and Shaw, 2006).
National and international trade shows are held in both major and smaller cities and are usually sponsored by the apparel industry, local representatives and/or promoters. (Sherman and Perlman, 2014, p.100) The main benefit of trade shows is that they are a constant and reliable source of inspiration, as while major events (e.g. Pitti Immagine Filatti, Première Vision, Expofil etc.) only occur twice a year, “minor” ones are held all year round so that fashion buyers can always conduct business somewhere around the world. In fact, besides world-renowned international shows, there are local market weeks that fashion buyers and merchandisers can attend to get ideas and to place orders, whilst asking questions in order to keep themselves informed about the ongoing market direction. (Rosenau and Wilson, 2014; Kim, Fiore and Kim, 2013)
The facts and considerations illustrated in the previous sections clearly indicate that fashion buying is a complex process which is subject to numerous dynamic factors. As a result of that, the fashion industry has been evolving significantly during the past few decades, especially owing to consumers’ changing buying habits, the advent of new technologies, global warming and globalisation, which has certainly made competition within the fashion sector remarkably fierce. (Granger, 2012; Entwistle, 2009) In order to provide fashion companies with desirable and profitable merchandise, fashion buyers must use a range of creative and analytical skills when developing product ranges. This is because product ranges must be planned and created in such a way to respond to customers’ future needs and wants in order to generate profits, which requires fashion buyers to be able to interpret current and future trends as accurately as possible. In fact, should fashion buyers fail to capture the latest trends or ignore their target customers’ viewpoints, they may end up ordering inappropriate merchandise or picking inaccurate quantities, thus causing their fashion companies to incur losses as a result of excess and/or insufficient stock. (Bruce and Daly, 2006) Therefore, in order to minimise the risk of overstocking/understocking and damaging their retailers’ reputation, it is crucial for buyers to either possess or develop a number of skills, including self-motivation, stamina, fashion awareness, flexibility, creativity and commercial awareness. (Jackson and Shaw, 2001) However, considering that trend forecasting is an essential component of fashion buying, there are various tools which fashion buyers can use to analyse current trends and predict future ones on the basis of reliable market data. These tools include fashion forecasting agencies, which conduct in-depth market research for their clients, online-based trend forecasting services (one the most popular ones being WGSN), magazines, packages and trade shows. Since each one of these tools presents both advantages and disadvantages, fashion buyers should use more than one when developing product ranges, in order to always be informed about the current and future industry direction and minimise the risk of making inaccurate procurement.
Fashion Industry And Buying Cycle. (2024, Feb 10). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/fashion-industry-and-buying-cycle-essay
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