Who is a merchandiser?
A merchandiser is considered to be the bridge between a consumer and an industry. He has to take care of many job responsibilities, such as buying all the necessary raw materials to produce the finished product, monitoring all the activities and progress of making the garment, finishing the garment. He also prepares all the documents that are necessary for the shipment of the product and also makes sure that the shipment is done within time. A merchandiser can be considered as the heart of the apparel production system.
There are several types of merchandisers. Each of them has different job responsibilities.
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| Types of merchandiser |
But all of them have to take care of 7 R’s.
They are-
1. Right time: Make sure that the product has been delivered within the lead time.
2. Right product: The product is exactly the ordered produced.
3. Right quality: The product has fulfilled all the quality requirements.
4. Right quantity: Make sure that the delivered quantity is equal to the ordered quantity.
5. Right place: Make sure that the delivery has been done to the right place.
6. Right price: Make sure that the product is not overpriced.
7. Right promotion: Make sure that the promotion of the products is done correctly to maximize conversion.
But still, each type of merchandiser has some specific responsibilities. Those responsibilities have been discussed below:
Duties and responsibilities of factory merchandiser:
Communication:
One of the core requirements of a factory merchandiser is, he/she must have very good communication skills. Because merchandiser has to communicate with the buying office, with the suppliers, and he/she also has to maintain internal communication with different sections within the garments factory.
Preparing samples:
After getting the tech pack, the merchandiser has to prepare a development sample before getting the order. After getting the order, he/she has to prepare several other samples, like- fit sample, pp sample, red tag sample, proto sample etc. along with 3 programs.
Getting approval for all the programs:
The merchandiser has to make sure that he/she is getting approval for all the programs before the mass production takes place.
Preparing purchase order:
The merchandiser has to prepare the purchase order for different raw materials, like – fabric, sewing thread, button, zipper etc. and send them to the supplier.
Preparing order document:
In order to do the costing and consumption calculation properly, the merchandiser has to prepare all the necessary documents. He also has to maintain a proper record of all the purchases that he/she is making.
Raw material in-house:
The merchandiser has to make sure that the material is reaching the factory within the lead time. When the material reaches the factory, he/she also must check the material to make sure that they meet the required quality standard.
Leading the pre-production meeting:
The merchandiser calls and leads the pre-production meeting. All the employees who are responsible for the production attend the meeting and the merchandiser has to provide them with proper information.
Monitoring production and quality activities:
The merchandiser has to monitor the progress of mass production and the quality of the produced product. So that the requirement of the buyer can be met.
Taking care of final inspection:
The merchandiser has to organize the final inspection that will be conducted by the buyer or third party quality inspector.
Giving proper shipping instruction and monitor shipment:
The merchandiser has to check all the shipping papers and make sure that they are all ready. Also, he/she has to make sure the on-time shipment of the merchandise.
Also read: Pre-production meeting (pp meeting) in garment factory and in the buying office
Fashion merchandiser:
The fashion merchandiser analyzes the needs and wants of the customer and then prepares the fashion forecast report and development of the design accordingly. Fashion designer acts as a bridge between the customer and the company. The fashion brands come up with the latest fashionable products due to the research work done by fashion merchandiser.
Duties and responsibilities of a fashion merchandiser:
Fashion forecasting:
As mentioned earlier, fashion forecasting is one of the major responsibilities of fashion merchandisers. Fashion merchandiser does a lot of market research, conduct surveys, and analyze them. In this way, he/she finds out the needs and wants of the customer.
Developing design:
Based on the market research and the forecasting that the merchandiser has done, a set of design is developed for the upcoming season. He/she must have a very good idea about color, texture, rhythm, balance, emphasis etc. to come up with the new catalog.
Developing sample:
A sample is developed which is monitored and supervised by the fashion merchandiser. This sample is very important to get approval.
Properly specify the product:
For mass production, the tech pack of the product has to be handed over to the factory. Each aspect of the product needs to be properly mentioned and specified so that the factory can produce the exact same product.
Marketing plan:
Based on the market research, fashion merchandiser has to come up with a proper marketing plan to maximize the sales of the product.
Review:
After each season, the fashion merchandiser reviews the performance of the products of the previous season. It is done along with the retail merchandiser. This information is helpful to make plans for the next season.
Apparel export merchandiser/ buying house merchandiser:
The buying house merchandiser acts as a bridge between the buyer and the factory. He/ she makes sure that the product produces and shipped by the factory has met all the requirements of the buyer.
Duties and responsibilities of an export/buying house merchandiser:
Participating in the negotiation meeting:
The export merchandiser has to participate in the negotiation meeting along with others and set the price and parameters of the product.
Pricing:
The export merchandiser makes an estimated cost of production and sets the price of the product. In the negotiation meeting, the final price of the garment is set.
Communication:
It is one of the major skills of an export merchandiser. He/she needs to communicate with the factory merchandiser and the buying office continuously to make sure smooth production.
Initial planning visit:
Before the mass production starts, the export merchandiser visits the factory to make sure that they have the capability and expertise to fulfill the order quality within the scheduled time maintaining the required quality.
Issue forecasting:
In the initial visit, the export merchandiser monitors the production process of the factory and prepares a list of issues that may arise during the production process. The factory people need to be extra careful about those issues.
Choosing supplier:
Sometimes the raw material suppliers are nominated by the buyer and this job is done by the export merchandiser. He/she checks the performance of different suppliers and nominates one of them.
Follow up visit:
During the time of mass production, the export merchandiser has to make frequent visits to the factory to make sure that the product is fulfilling all the quality requirements. Also, he/she needs to make sure that the factory is not harming the environment and following all the labor rules.
Final inspection:
The export merchandiser has to be present at the time of final inspection and check the quality of the product.
Coordination:
In case of any issue, the export merchandiser will coordinate the factory merchandiser to come up with a solution.
Shipment:
The export merchandiser has to make sure that the shipment of the product is done correctly and the product will reach the stores within the lead time.
Retail merchandiser:
The word “Retail” has originated from the French word “retailen” which means to cut again. The retailer breaks the bilk into a small portion and sells them to the consumer for their final non-business use. They act as a bridge between the buyer and consumers.
Duties and responsibilities of a retail merchandiser:
Offer service to the customer:
The retail merchandiser offer all the customer care service in case of any problem in the final product.
Acting as a bridge:
The retail merchandiser acts as a bridge between the customer and the buyer. Through the retail merchandiser, the buyer gets all the information about the performance of their products.
Choosing the appropriate product to match the image:
Every store has its own image while selling and promoting a product, retail merchandiser has to make sure that the product matches their image. This is very important for creating a loyal customer base.
The decision of setting up and organizing goods:
All the decisions regarding the setup of the store and the organization of the goods in the store are taken by them. This decision is taken by analyzing the behavior of that particular area.
Mixing:
They combine the goods of different companies (except for the dedicated stores). So the customer can get a variety of options to choose from.
Prepare sales report:
The retail merchandiser prepares a sells report of various goods that were displayed in the store. From this report, the companies get an idea about the performance of their goods in a particular season.
Promoting the product:
The retail merchandiser adopts many tactics to promote the product. Billboard, advertisements, promotion campaigns, discount, clearance sale, bundle pack, buy one get one free- these are some popular selling and promoting tools.
Taking risk:
A retail merchandiser takes a major risk of selling the product. The retail store is not certain about the performance of a particular product and they have to bear the loss if the product fails to perform as expected.
Visual merchandiser:
The job of visual merchandisers evolves around the look of the store. More customers will come to the store if they find the look and theme of the store appealing. Visual merchandiser works in this sector.
Duties and responsibilities of a visual merchandiser:
Research on the view of the customer:
Visual merchandiser has to do a lot of research to find out what the customer wants to see in a store and then prepare the design of the store accordingly.
Select the theme:
Visual merchandiser has to select a theme of the store depending on the type of product and the taste of the customer.
Creating a display calendar:
Based on the research, the visual merchandiser prepares an annual display calendar which will contain all the detail about different themes and types of display product.
Select the display location:
Where the product will be displayed, what will be the size of the dummies, what will be the design of the windows – all these decisions will be taken by the visual merchandiser.
Internal design:
The internal design of the store will be done by the visual merchandiser depending on the theme.
Checking data:
The visual merchandiser checks the report to find out how visual merchandising has impacted the sales of the store and what the scopes for improvement are.
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