PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF

MERCHANDISING

SIGNATURE OF THE FACULTY SUBMITTED BY:

ALOK JAISWAL
HAGE MONYA
EL DIM NIANG SIANG
KULDEEP SINGH
LIPSA MOHAPATRA
MONIKA VERMA
 SWETA DAS

RANGE DEVELOPMENT

ON

WOMEN’S

SPRING- SUMMER WEAR – 09

IN

GOKALDAS IMAGES
BANGALORE

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RANGE DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE

RANGE
DEVELOPMENT

RESEARCH FORECASTING

STORY MAKING LOOK

CASUAL LOOK FORMAL WEAR JEANS WEAR

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

FABRIC SELECTION DOCKETING

SAMPLING TRIM SELECTION

PRESENTATION

SAMPLE SELECTION

ORDER PLACEMENT

COSTING

TNA

ALL APPROVALS

SHIPMENT

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RANGE DEVELOPMENT

It basically depends on the

• Season selected

• Buyer(his own ranges)

• Buyer strategy

A manufacturer design or product development department plans and creates

new styles within the company’s image or identity.

Merchandisers or product managers, designers, and their assistants are all

involved in the development of a line or collection of the fashion manufacturers’

product.

Product/Range development is the process of market and trend research,

merchandising design, and development of the final product.

In a large company, a designer, a merchandiser, perhaps a product manager,

and their assistants are assigned to each division.

Mainly it’s the team effort that gives the results.

Each season, the design and merchandising departments of each division are

responsible for creating a new line, the seasonal collection, that the manufacturer

will sell to store retail buyers.

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Work of a new line begins approximately eight months before the selling season.

Say sportswear design begins a year in advance of the selling season. The

design and merchandising team has about two and a half months to complete

line development.

Designers and merchandisers also work on two or more lines at once, designing

a future collection while checking samples from the one that is about to be

produced.

They are finishing work on the spring line while beginning fabric research for

summer.

Most women’s wear companies produce four or five seasonal lines a year; spring,

summer, transitional, fall ,and holiday or resort.

Men’s sportswear firms also have four line releases a year as compared to men’s

suits, which have just two. Children’s wear firms have three or four, depending on

the product focus.

RESEARCH

In this the designers along with the manufacturers go for research on the basis of

preferences done by the buyer. They research their target market to learn buying

habits and preferences. Manufacturers and retailers ask consumers directly

about their preferences.

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Consumer reactions are compiled and tabulated to find preferences for certain

garments or accessories, colors, or sizes, and so on, or preferences for particular

retailers.

This information can be used to create new products to fit specific consumer

tastes. Methods of questioning consumers can be formal or informal. Buyers and

sales associates may talk with customers in the store.

Manufacturers may hire market research companies to make inquiries by

telephone or mail and to hold consumer focus group meetings.

Every manufacturer and retailer researches its own sales records. Rising sales

statistics show what styles have passed their peak. Overall weak sales show that

a style is not meeting consumer needs for fashion, quality or fit.

FASHION FORECASTING

Designers, merchandisers and buyers must learn to predict trends, which are

new directions in fashion.

It would be impossible to ask consumers what they will want to wear a year or

two in advance – they would not know themselves. Designers, merchandisers

and retailers must work so far ahead of the selling season to produce or stock the

fashions their customers will want, they must learn to anticipate customers’ wants

and needs – to be fashion forecasters of the future.

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Fashion forecasting involves:

1. Studying market conditions – consumer’s buying behavior is influenced

by society, economics, technology, and the environment

2. Noting the life-styles of the men, women, or children who are the

customers

3. researching sales statistics to establish sales trends

4. Evaluating the popular designer collections to find fashions (colors,

silhouettes, fabrications, lengths) that suggest new directions or “trends”

5. Surveying fashion publications, catalogs, and design services from

around the world

6. Observing “street fashions”(what people are wearing) and what celebrities

are wearing

7. Keeping up with current events, the arts, and the mood of the public

STORY MAKING

This is followed by forecasting. In this the designers have to look for all the

factors that need to be taken into part when forecasting a new product.

Say if they go for a women’s garment then they have to look for all the added

accessories to it, which has to be in tune with the product to be forecasted. This

in tune has to be season based, else its of no use.

Based on the work, they need to decide the graphics for print, embroidery,

styling, etc. Color palette is done on the basis of color selection.

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LOOK

This again depends on the type of attire the manufacturer is into. When a

manufacturer thinks of producing a garment then he goes for casual look, formal

wear, jeans wear.

In casual look he has to go for colors and prints which give a cool and

comfortable look, and this should match with the season, its feel and everything.

In formal wear the look has to be very professional, as a result of which things

have to be planned accordingly. The trousers, cufflinks, and belts should match

with the look. In jeans wear, the look will be very casual and T-shirts, shades and

watches etc have to be matched accordingly.

Jeans are again of various colors and GSM which has to be chosen by the

designers looking into the target market

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PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

PRODUCT
DEVELOP
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MARKET
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MERCHAN
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DESIGN: LINE
PLAN, SAMPLE SEWING/ SAMPLE
COMPANY IDEA/ SELECTIO
BUDGET, PATTERN FITTING GARMENT
GOALS HSKET N
LINE, SIZE

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Merchandisers or product managers, designers and their assistants are all

involved in the development of a line or collection of the fashion manufacture’s

product. This is known as product development or range development i.e. a

development of a line of products according to the season or occasion or theme

chosen.

The product development team

Responsibilities for product development, design and merchandising vary from

manufacturer to manufacturer. Product development is the process of market and

trend research, merchandising, design and development of the final prod

Merchandising:

Merchandising is planning to have the right merchandise at the right time in right

quantity and at the right price to meet the needs of the company’s target

customers.

It is also the manner in which a group or line of garments is presented to the

public – the way the line will look in the stores.

Cost merchandising:

Based on costs for last season’s styles, merchandisers establish price points for

garments to be designed. It is very important for merchandisers and designers to

understand how fabric and production costs affect pricing.

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Scheduling :

The merchandiser, or product manager, sets up a schedule of deadlines for

styling, finished samples, and production to meet the required shipping dates.

These dates are, of course, coordinated with the production department.

Merchandisers meet regularly with designers, the sales staff, and production

managers to discuss company goals, budget requirements, line size, delivery

dates, sizes and so on. Merchandisers and designers have to plan production

based on how they think the line will sell by group, color, and size in the stores.

Seasons

Each season, the design and merchandising departments of each division are

responsible for creating a new line, the seasonal collection, that the manufacturer

will sell to retail store buyers. Work on a new line begins approximately eight

months before the selling season. The design and merchandising team has

about two and a half months to complete line development.

Design elements:

Keeping the theme of the group in mind, a designer must incorporate a pleasing

combination of all elements of good design – color, fabric, line, and shape into

each garment.

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Fabric :

Designers and merchandisers first select fabrics for each group in the line and

specific fabrics for each style.

It includes:

1. Fabric selection

2. Fabric characteristics

- texture

- performance

- weight and hand

3. Fiber content

4. Patterns

5. Price considerations

6. Sample cuts

Color

Color is the first element to which consumers respond, often selecting or rejecting

a garment because of its color appeal. Color is particularly important in today’s

fashion. Therefore designers must consider their customers and provide colors

that are both appealing and flattering. People connect certain colors with holidays

and seasons. We can choose warm colors, cool colors and neutrals.

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Color dimensions:

It has three different dimensions:

- hue

- value

- intensity

Line

After selecting the fabric, the designer must consider the other elements of good

design. Line refers to the direction of visual interest in a garment created by

construction details such as seams, openings, pleat, gathers, tucks, topstitching,

and trims.

Lines have the power to create moods and feelings. Vertical lines remind us of

upright, majestic figures and suggest stability.

Horizontal lines are like lines at rest, they suggest repose, quiet, and calm. Soft,

curving lines express grace, and diagonal lines imply powerful movement and

vitality.

Shape:

It is used to describe the outline of the whole garment. It is responsible for one of

our first impressions of a garment.It should be related to body structure, but some

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variation is needed to add interest. Bodies that do well in one season are usually

updated in a new fabric or color for the next season.

Style board:

To chart the development of the line as a whole, the designer arranges working

sketches of all garments in fabric and color groups on a large board, which is

essentially a master plan. The board is posted on the wall of the design room.

Designing a sample garment:

The first sample garment or prototype is the test to see if a design is successful.

The first pattern:

The next step in the product development procedure is making the first pattern,

which is used to cut and sew the prototype, or first sample garment.

The pattern is made in a sample size, the one used for testing and selling

purposes. The patternmaker can use either of two methods for making patterns:

draping, flat pattern, or computer generated.

The designer work sheet:

Records are kept on all styles as they develop. Each designer fills out a work

sheet containing information that guides the production department in figuring

costs and in ordering piece goods and trimmings. Many companies now use

product data management(PDM) systems to collate this information. In this case,

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each department responsible (such as fabrics, trims, designs) enters its own data

into the computer.

The work sheet or PDM includes all or part of following information:

- date the garment was designed

- selling season

- sizes in which design will be made

- style no assigned to the design

- short description of garment

- working sketch of the design to make it easy to identify the garment

- colors or color combination

- fabric swatches

- material descriptions, like fabric type, source, width, and price per

yard

- marker width, usually one inch narrower than fabric

- trimmings information: kinds, sources, sizes, and prices of buttons,

zippers, braids, lace, belts, elastic, and so on; special fabric

treatments done by outside contractors, such as pleating , spaghetti

straps, and ties, are also included .

- labor costs for grading , marking, cutting, sewing, finishing, garment

dyeing , and washing; etc.

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DOCKETING:

It’s a style sheet made by designer, with all designs of the product, trims ,

accessories, for sampling purposes. This sheet is given to the production

department people mainly the sample tailors who initially go for preparing the

garment before production starts in bulk.

The information about all the things related to the garment is a result of the output

of the designer, of the manufacturing unit.

SAMPLING:

To test the forecasted design, the designer orders a 3-5 yard cut of a fabric to

make a sample garment. They initially order enough for many samples, perhaps

100 yards or more. They commit to a fabric order even before having a collection

to show. Once fabrics have been selected, the designer can begin to create

styles.

PRESENTATION:

In this the style the design that the designer has made is given a shape by the

sample tailors under the manufacturer’s brand name. And when the buyer’s

come, they go through the sample designs.

It happens they may like the style and ask for production, some may even reject

it. If they accept they may ask for bulk production with the same style color and

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everything but if they wish they can ask for slight variations in fabric, color, trims,

etc. Once the proto-sample is made for a particular buyer it is liable to change.

But until then it’s the manufacturer’s property, so he can do as he wishes.

SAMPLE SELECTION:

When the buyer chooses the particular style, the he goes for sample selection.

During this process he can select any design, fabric, trim, and colors.

For fabric – fabric type, quality, quantity, sources etc.

For trims – threads, elastics, interfacings, laces, embroidery, ribbons, braids and

cords, zippers and buttons, labels, hangtags, etc.

The thing is finalized here and the manufacture starts with the proto sample.

ORDER PLACEMENT:

When everything is finalized then the order is placed before the company by the

buyer or retailer. This then starts in bulk and the company tries to complete the

order in allocated time.

This deal is made with the top management and the merchandiser of the

company with the buyer, wherein all negotiations are made, and things are

finalized there. Any changes asked by any party are not taken into consideration,

normally.

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COSTING:

The production cost of a garment is mutually determined by the manufacturer and

contractor. Costing is an exact calculation by the sourcing department and the

contractor, using actual figures for materials and labor, based on how long it

takes to make an entire garment.

They use the designer’s work sheet, a prototype garment, and the production

pattern to analyze materials and construction. Usually, final costs are mutually

agreed on between manufacturer and contractor based on the production costs

of similar garments made last season. A detailed cost analysis may be made for

each garment, including expenses for fabric, trims, cutting, labor, overhead, sales

commission, and manufacturer’s profit.

COST CONSIDERATIONS

1. Materials

2. Trimmings

3. Production pattern making, grading and marking

4. Spreading and cutting

5. Assembly

6. Finishing

7. Freight

8. Duty and quota

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Wholesale pricing:

The manufacturer determines the wholesale price by adding the cost of labor and

materials to a mark up.

The markup covers sales commission usually 7-10%, overhead, and a profit

which is needed for staying in business.

They include the direct cost: fabric purchased, trimmings, labor and Indirect cost:

design and manufacturing, general administrative overhead, sales commission,

trade discount, markdown allowance, promotion, other retail services, profit

before taxes, etc.

Costing in the company is done with a minimum GP (gross profit) of 20% if its of

a domestic order, wherein if it an export order it diverts 14% and 8.7% goes for

the duty drawback, which is obtained from the government to the company. This

is added to the company’s account.

So 14%+8.7% = around 20%. This minimum quantity plays a vital role where

company quotes high profit.

TIME AND ACTION PLAN(TNA PLAN)

This is planned by the PPC (pre-production planning and control) department,

where a pre-planned format is planned starting from the production floor to the

shipment.

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Respective departments are given with the target sheets where they have to plan

according to the sheet and reach their target.

TNA plan is discussed with each department managers and put before them. So

production has to be completed in time followed by finishing department,

packaging and then truck out.

In cases of unavoidable circumstances the matter can be negotiated with the

buyer.

APPROVALS:

When all the above things are done, all the approvals are passed from all

departments, like quality, production, planning, merchandising, etc.Then finally

the buyer gives a nod and the company plans for shipment in whichever mode it

has been asked to.

SHIPMENT:

Now the fabric is ready for shipment. The cost of shipping completed garments

from the contractor to the manufacturer’s warehouse must be calculated. A

percentage of the air or sea freight cost must be added to the cost of each

garment. The cost of shipping garments to the retailer is generally paid by the

receiver. Manufacturers must pay air- freight, however, if they are late with their

delivery.

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To further complicate matters, manufacturers have to choose from various

combinations of transportation packages that must be negotiated. Manufacturers

make these arrangements directly with contractors, through representatives, or

agents.

FREE ON BOARD (FOB)

Includes payment for the contractor to get the finished merchandise to the ship or

plane in the country where it is made.

LANDED , DUTY PAID(LDP):

It is a complete package, which pays the contractor to ship the merchandise,

including paying duty, to the distribution center in the USA by a specified date.

This costs more but is less bother.

COST, INSURANCE, FREIGHT (CIF)

It pays for insurance and freight to the final destination. Manufacturers must allow

approximately 4-35 days for sea transportation, depending upon origin, or 3-10

days for air delivery. Finished garments are returned to the manufacturers’

distribution centers for shipping to retail stores.

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LADIES COLLECTION

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