Terms use in Fashion Merchandising

Merchandiser works in merchandising department to buy and sell merchandise for an organization. Merchandiser uses various term during the the process.

1. Anil Kumar
Lecturer, Dept. of Textile Design
Pt. LakhmichandState University of
Performing & Visual Arts, Rohtak
Terms
in
Merchandising

2. Glossary of Terms
Accessories
Arangeofproductsthataredesignedtoaccompanyitemsofclothingto
completeanoveralllook.Usuallyintendedtobedecorative.Common
examplesincludeties,belts,bags,scarves,hatsandjewellery.
Basefabric
Allfabric,wovenandknitted,needstobeapprovedforqualitybeforeitis
usedingarmentconstruction.Fashionbuyersgiveapprovalattwo
differentstagesreferredtoas‘base’and‘bulk’fabricapproval.Base
fabricisapprovedforstabilityandsuitabilityforendusedbeforethe
fabriciscommittedforfurtherdevelopment.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

3. Glossary of Terms
Bulkfabric
Referstothecompletedfabricthatisusedinthemake-upofgarments.
Thefabricisdyedtoaspecificcolour,willoftencontainprinteddesigns
andpossesscertain‘finishes’whichprovideitwithspecificbenefits.As
such,theapprovaltestsaremorefocusedoncolourfastnessandthe
specificbenefitsprovidedbythefinishingprocess–e.g.wrinklefree
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

4. Glossary of Terms
BarCodes(barcoding)
❖Barcodesorbarcodingisauniquewaytogiveeachfashionproduct
anindividualidentitythatcanbereadbylaserscanneratthepoint
ofsale.
❖Thisensuresthattheretaileristhenawareofwhatline/size/colorof
garmenthasbeensold.
❖Theyarefoundonmostconsumerproducts.
❖Onfashionproductstheyareprintedontoacardboardswingtag
attachedtothegarment.
❖Theyareinternationallyrecognizableandhavebeendevelopedto
ensurethatretailersareabletomonitorsalesquicklyandcontrol
theirstocklevelsaccurately
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

5. Glossary of Terms
Buyer
Thejobofafashionbuyervariesaccordingtothenatureandsizeofa
business.Aboutiquebuyerwilloftenalsobeitsownerandwillbuy
brandedordesigner-labelstocktoselltocustomers.Abuyerforafashion
retailbrandwillbeinvolvedinamorecomplexbuyingprocessinvolving
design,sourcingandproduction.
BuyingEthics
Aself-imposedcodethatensuresthatfashionbuyingiscarriedoutina
decent,moralandhonorablemanner.Itcoverssuchissuesasbuying
bribes,environmentalissuesandpoorlypaidorchildworkers.Many
fashionretailerswillgivebuyersclearwrittenguidelinesontheseissues.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

6. Glossary of Terms
BuyingTeam
Theteamofindividualsthatisresponsibleforplanningandbuyinga
specificrangeofmerchandisewithinafashioncompany.Usuallyit
consistsofabuyerandmerchandiser,togetherwiththeirindividual
supportstaff.Normallyabuyingteamisproduct-orgarment-specific,
althoughsometimesateammayberesponsibleforarangeforproducts.
Category
Sometimescalleda‘productgroup’,itisusedtogrouptogethergarments
orsimilarlinesintoonegroup.Itensuresthatafashionretailerisableto
quicklyseehowonetypeofgroupoflinesisperformingaswhole.It
helpsinthemonitoringofsalesperformanceandoverallstockcontrol.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

7. Glossary of Terms
CIF–Carriage,InsuranceandFreight
Thetermreferstotheagreementonthedeliveryofforeigngoodsthatis
includedwithinthecostprice.Thecostpricepaidbythebuyerincludes
transportofmerchandisebyvesseltoacountryspecifiedbythebuyer.It
isuptothesellertoarrangeinsuranceanddeliveryofthemerchandise
withinthepricetheyagree.
CMT
‘Cut,MakeandTrim’.Generallyusedintheproductionofmorecomplex
ortailoredgarments,whereaclothingmanufacturerreceivesfabric
ownedbytheretaileroranotherpartytomakeupintoafinished
garment.Thepricepaidfortheprocessisonlyforthecutting,makingup
andprovisionofitemsusedtotrimthegarment.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

8. Glossary of Terms
ColorWay
Acolouroptionofaproductstyle
COO–CountryofOrigin
Mostproductshavethecountryinwhichtheyweremanufactured
recordedonalabelattachedtothegarment.Thisisnothoweveralegal
requirementintheUnitedKingdomandmostEuropeancountries.
Costprice
Thepricepaidforaproductbeforeamark-upisaddedtoachievea
sellingprice.Generallythecostpriceofafashionproductboughtfor
resalebyaretailerincludesalltickets,hangers,protectivecoversand
packaging.Transporttotheretailerwillbeincludedaccordingtodifferent
costterms.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

9. Glossary of Terms
Couture
DerivedfromtheFrenchwordfor‘dressmaking’,itgenerallyrefersto
extremelyindividualanduniquehand-madegarmentsmadeinthe
studiosandworkroomsofinternationalhautecouturedesigners.
Deliveryschedule
Atimetableschedulingdeliveriesofproductsfromsuppliers.The
deliveriesintothebusinessoccureveryweekandareupdated
accordingly,providingarecordofoutstandingstock.
Departmentstore
Large-spaceretailer,usuallywithseveralfloorssellingawidevarietyof
goodsincludingclothingandhouseholdgoodsindedicatedareasor
departments.OriginallyaFrenchinvention,theyarefoundinmost
developedcountriesandnormallydeliverhighlevelsofcustomerservice.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

10. Glossary of Terms
Designer
Apersonwhoisinvolvedinacreativeprocessturningcustomerneeds
intovalueoutcomes.Outcomesmayrangewidelyaccordingtothe
specificroleofthedesigner,butcouldincludemanufacturedproducts,
corporatelogosorpackaging.
Distributioncentre(DC)
Afacilitywhichredistributesproductstoretailoutletshavingreceived
themasdeliveriesfromsuppliers.
Factoryoutlet
Adistributionchannellocatedatmanufacturingfacilitiesandusedby
brandstoselloffend-of-lineproducts.Theproductsareusuallysoldata
significantdiscounttonormallydistributedretailgoods.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

11. Glossary of Terms
Fashion
Traditionallydefinedasthecurrentstyleofdressingorappearancethatis
adoptedbythemajorityofpeople.Althoughmorecommonlyexpressed
throughclothing,hairstylesandotheraspectsofindividuals’appearance,
fashionisincreasinglyconcernedwithother‘visible’aspectsofpeoples’
life-styles.Homeinteriors,gardens,plants,cars,mobiletelephonesand
clubmembershipsareallinfluencedbyfashiontrends.
Fashionability
Anindustrytermtorefertothewayinwhichaparticularseason’sfashion
isexpressedinproducts.Ingarments,thefashiontrendsmaybe
reflectedthroughthemanipulationofsilhouette,fabric,colour,print,
patternsandtrimmings.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

12. Glossary of Terms
Fashionmerchandising
Inbuyingandmerchandisingtermsitreferstotheanalyticalstockcontrol
anddistributionroleaccompanyingbuyinginfashionretailing.Other
definitionscanrefertothepresentationofstockinstores.
Fit
Referstothesuitabilityoftheshapeandsizeofagarmenttoaperson.
Principallyconcernedwithcomfortandappearance,althoughthelatter
canbeveryinfluencedbystylingtrends.
Fitmodel
Amodel,usuallyasize12inwomen'swear,whotriesonfitsamplesin
orderthatgarmenttechnologistsandbuyerscanmakeappropriate
adjustmentstoprototypegarmentsaspartofthequalitycontrolprocess.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

13. Glossary of Terms
Fitsample
Aprototypeofthegarmentstylebookedforproduction.Accurateinfabric
andtothedesignspecificationdimensionsofthegarment,fitsamplesare
notaccurateforcolour,print,patternandtrimmings.Anyadjustments
madearecommunicatedtothesupplierwhosendsanamendedversion,
whichissealedonceconsideredtobesatisfactory.
FOB–FreeonBoard
Thisisacost-pricetermwhichdoesnotincludecompletedeliverytothe
buyerinthecostprice.Thecostpriceincludesdeliveryontoavesselata
portinthecountryofmanufacture.Subsequentinsuranceand
transportationofthemerchandisefromtheporttothefinaldestinationis
thebuyer’sresponsibility.ManyfashionretailersprefertobuyFOBas
theycancontrolthecostandlead-timesassociatedwithshippingtotheir
country.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

14. Glossary of Terms
Forecast
Aviewofwherethebusinesswillbeinthefuturebasedonthebest
knownhistoricandcurrentinformation.Itcanbeappliedtosubjective
issuessuchasfashiontrends,butismoreusuallyappliedtotheforward
viewoflikelysalesorstocklevels.Forecastingisaregularmerchandising
taskthathelpstoensurethatthebusinesshastherightbalanceandlevel
ofstockdeliveredinreadinessforanticipatedsales.
Forwardbuying
Relatestotheprocessofbuyingaheadtomeetanticipatedfuturesales
andstocklevels.Thedegreetowhichabuyerforwardbuysdependsvery
muchuponthelengthofthemanufacturingprocessfromconceptionto
delivery.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

15. Glossary of Terms
Hangingstock
Mostgarmentsdeliveredtoafashionbusinessarrivefromthe
manufactureronhangers.Thisenablesthemtobeimmediatelyputout
onthesalesfloor.ThiseaseshandlingwhendeliveringintotheDCand
thenontotheshop.Ithastheadvantageofreducinggarmentcreasing
prevalentwithboxeddeliveries.
Highstreet
Anindustrytermtorefertothemiddle-marketfashionretailsector
typicallyrepresentedinmainurbanshoppingareas.Traditionallythe
centreofatownwasreferredtoasthe‘highstreet’andthiswasthe
locationforthemajorretailers.
Informationjockey
AnAmericantermincreasinglybeingusedtodescribethatperson
responsibleforthedisseminationofalltypesofinformationthroughout
thecompany.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

16. Glossary of Terms
Inventory
Adetailedlistofstockorgoodsheld.Inventoryissometimesused
insteadoftheword‘stock’.
Jobber
Anindividualwhobuysfaultystockatagreatlyreducedpriceforresale.
Stockwhichis‘jobbedoff’byfashionretailersgenerallyfallsintotwo
categories:thatstockwhichisrejectedowingtoqualitycontrolfaultsand
thatwhichisreturnedbycustomerstothestores.Thestockcanbesold
inthedomesticcountryorinternationally,butwillhaveidentifyinglabels,
ticketsandhangersremoved.
Lab-dip
Apieceoffabricdyedtoaparticularcolourspecificationandsubmittedto
buyersforbulkfabricapproval.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

17. Glossary of Terms
Lead-time
Theperiodoftimefromdesignconceptiontodeliveryintoretailstores.
Thedefinitionofalead-timemayvaryaccordingtotheparticularstagein
thesupplychainwhichisbeingconsidered.Forexample,somebuyers
mayrefertoamanufacturingtostoredeliverylead-time,whileanother
mayrefertotheshippinglead-time.
Mark-down/Mark-up
Indicatesapricemovementeitherdownwardsorupwards.Pricesare
reducedtomakeslow-wellingmerchandisesellmorequickly,whileprice
increasestendtoreducetherateofsale.Fashionbusinessesalterprices
regularlytoensurethatstocksellsoutattheplannedrate.Fashion
businesseskeepanon-goingrecordofallmark-downs/make-upstaken
throughoutthecourseoftheseason/year.Itisnormallyexpressedasa
percentage.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

18. Glossary of Terms
Sample
Usuallyaprototypeofaproductorkeyproductcomponentsuchasfabric
ortrim,whichissubmittedforapprovalbythebuyingteam.Alsoa
finishedproductwhichisusedinpromotingtherange.
Sealingsample
Asamplewhichhasbeenapprovedbythebuyingteam.Itwillbeusedas
astandardreferencetocomparethatfuturedeliverieshaveachievedthe
requiredstandard.
Silhouette
Theoutlineshapeofagarment.
Tradeshow
Agenerictermtorefertoameetingplaceforbuyersandsellers,usually
manufacturers,wholesalersandretailers.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising

19. Glossary of Terms
Visualmerchandising
Thecreativedisplayofgoodsin-storeandinwindows.Historically,the
termwasspecificallyassociatedwithwindowdisplay.Atmosphericsand
visualmarketingusingsoundandinteractivetechnologyhaveincreased
theoverallsophisticationofvisualmerchandising.
Wholesaler
Anindividualorbusinessthatbuysmerchandiseinbulkforresaleto
smallerretailers.Usuallythesearesmallerretailerswhoareableto
benefitfromtheeconomiesofscaleenjoyedbythewholesaler.Itis
becominglessusedasaresultoftheincreasingdominanceoflarger
fashionchains.
Fashion Marketing & Merchandising