Fashion Merchandising
When you walk into a retail clothing store, you see racks featuring different clothing collections. However, have you ever stopped and thought how they got there or what made the store manager decide that they want to have a certain collection on display? Well, this is nothing but fashion merchandising. From a consumer point of view, this might seem insignificant. However, for every fashion brand, this matters a lot. It is the process that determines which clothes and other fashion products will make it and which won’t.
Well, we’ll discuss it in detail.
What is Fashion Merchandising?
The fashion industry is a dynamic yet competitive field. It’s one that is dependent on creativity, innovation and research. Fashion merchandising is one important aspect in the fashion industry that involves planning, buying and selling fashionable items. It also bridges the gap between product development and sales. Since it is an important strategy, a lot of students are also considering a career in fashion merchandising. Usually, fashion merchandisers are involved with ensuring the right products are available in the right store at the right time and in the right quantities. They analyse market trends and engage in-depth research to determine what the consumer wants. They’re even responsible for developing attractive displays and ensuring visual presentation is up to the mark.
A few key responsibilities of a fashion merchandiser are as follows:
- Deciding which inventory items to restock/remove
- Check the price and quality offered by clothing manufacturers
- Collaborating with visual merchandisers for attractive displays
- Follow and analyse trend forecasts
- Present selected options to the team
Careers in Fashion Merchandising
Fashion merchandisers have an important role to play in both retail as well as wholesale environments.
In fashion merchandising, there are a few sub-careers as well. To pursue a full-time fashion merchandising career, you need to have a bachelor’s in fashion and apparel designing degree from a reputed private design college in India. Such courses equip you with the fundamental as well as the theoretical concepts of the field. While a few colleges offer fashion merchandising as a specialisation, the others have a specific program on it.
If you’ve completed your degree and are looking to pursue a career in this path, you can look at the following options:
Retail Buyer
First and foremost, you can become a retail buyer. As the name suggests, the responsibilities usually include selecting and purchasing merchandise for stores. The decision you make impacts the profitability of a store. To arrive at a decision, sales data is analysed and market trends are monitored. A retail buyer is also responsible for supplier negotiations.
Trend Forecaster
As mentioned earlier, trend forecasting is every fashion merchandiser’s important job. The job includes analysing consumer behaviour, past trends, and cultural shifts. This helps predict future trends. A fashion merchandiser usually shares these insights with brands and retailers. Trend forecasting is also an important part of marketing.
Visual Merchandiser
In a retail space, if the products are not arranged well, customers will simply walk away. Visual presentation matters, and that’s where a visual merchandiser steps in. They’re responsible for designing and arranging the visual presentation within a store. This motivates customers to make a purchase. An attractive store environment directly influences a customer’s purchase decision.
Product Developer
Product developers also include suppliers. Fashion merchandisers usually conduct research to analyse what products customers want. They further collaborate with designers and manufacturers based on market trends. Product development is all about managing the production process to meet consumer demands.
Fashion Marketing Coordinator
The next career path you can choose is that of a fashion marketing coordinator. Their job is to promote fashion products and think of appropriate marketing campaigns for the same. It can be through campaigns, social media, or even certain branding strategies. Fashion marketing coordinators usually work with fashion brands or PR agencies.
The above listed careers are the most sought-after fashion merchandising careers.
Key Skills to Become a Fashion Merchandiser
To make a successful career in fashion merchandising, here are a few key skills you should master:
- Sense of style and trend awareness
- Creative thinking ability and visual design
- Business and retail knowledge
- Time management
- Communication and negotiation skills
Once you’ve mastered these skills, finding a job becomes much easier. Fashion merchandisers usually work with fashion retailers, online fashion stores, fashion designers, departmental stores, fashion magazines, and wholesale fashion distributors.
Conclusion
Ever since its inception as a career option, fashion merchandising has come a long way. A fashion merchandiser has an important role to play as far as how an interior space looks and the collection it features. A lot of people confuse fashion merchandising with fashion marketing. However, they’re not the same. While the former focuses on product selection and in-store presentation, the latter focuses on promoting the product through advertising and branding strategies.
If you’ve just graduated from the best design college in Bangalore, you should consider a career in fashion merchandising.
