fashion merchandising & promotion

Fashion Merchandising& Promotion

What is Merchandising?

• Fashion Merchandising involves the activities of planning, buying and selling apparel and accessories.

• It is the central function of Apparel Retailing• Includes the following areas:– Retail Positioning– Merchandise Buying– Merchandise Promotion– Visual Merchandising

The Retail Segment

• General Merchandisers– Market all types of goods in multiple price ranges

and try to satisfy as many needs of broad range customers.• Examples: Sear, J.C. Penney, Macy’s

• Specialized Merchandisers– Offer limited lines of related products targeted to

more defined customers• Examples: Aéropostale, Forever 21, Victoria's Secret

Types of Retail Merchandisers

• Department Stores– Large scale general merchandisers that offer many

varieties of merchandise grouped into separate departments.

• Chain Stores– A group of stores that is owned managed,

merchandised and controlled by a central office and have similar goods and prices• Can be general or specialized merchandisers

• Discount Stores– Retail establishments that sell merchandise at

lower than recognized market-level prices• Specialty Stores– Carry large selections of limited classifications of

merchandise. Usually have lower volume and higher prices

• Non-Store Retailers– Selling without a conventional facility


Match the Following Store with its Retail Type


1. Department Store2. Chain Store3. Discount Store4. Specialty Store5. Non-Store

A. CoachB. AmazonC. Macy’sD. T.J. MaxE. Forever 21

Check your answers with Mrs. Wendt

Retail Positioning

• Retail Positioning refers to where a retailers situates itself in the market.

• General Retail Positioning Price Categories– Designer: (couture) original high priced-fashion

for the tiny “class” market; distinctive style and emphasize top quality

– Bridge: “secondary” lines of high priced designers; made with expensive fabrics, fine details & produced in small quantities

• General Retail Positioning Price Categories– Better: high quality, but more reasonable prices;

they are ready to wear garments that are more available to consumers than high fashion designs

– Moderate: medium priced merchandise with well known brand names; sold through department & chain stores as well as specialty stores

– Budget: lowest price category of apparel; sold on retail racks and shelves; no original designs resulting in knock-offs

Retail Positioning

1. Designer2. Bridge3. Better4. Moderate5. Budget

Retail PositioningMatch the Brand with its Price Category

Check you answers with Mrs. Wendt

A. Liz ClaiborneB. Valentino for Angelina JolieC. GapD. Michael Kors for Macy’sE. No Boundaries

Target Markets• Retail Positioning includes choosing a Target

Market– Target Market: specific segment of a total market

that a company wants as customers and toward whom it directs its marketing efforts.

– Based on • Demographics: Age, Gender, Race, Education, Religion,

Income, Occupation, and Geographic Location• Psychographics: statistics that try to explain consumer

behavior such as: Lifestyle, Values, Attitudes & Self-Concept

Target Markets Match the Store with its Target Market

1. Forever 21

2. Banana Republic

3. Nike

A. Various age groups with athletic lifestyles

B. Teen to Twenties, with little to medium income

C. 30 – 40 year old working women; with middle to upper middle income

Check you answers with Mrs. Wendt

Retail Positioning Strategies

• Product Strategy: the assortment breadth & depth a retailer offers– Breadth: the number of different item categories– Depth: the quantity of each item available– Three main approaches• Broad & Shallow: many categories, small quantity• Narrow & Deep: few categories, large quantity• Moderate breadth & depth: balance between

categories & quantity

• Price Strategy: pricing strategy should correlate with a retailer’s image, target market and competition.– Quality & price usually, but not always correlate• High price = high quality• Low price = low quality


• Price Strategy Continued– Pricing Approaches

• Prestige Pricing: setting high prices on items to attract customers who want quality goods or the status of owning expensive & exclusive merchandise• Price Promoting: advertising special price reductions of

goods to bring in customers• Value Pricing: selling items below the suggested retail

price• Everyday low pricing: promotes the idea that shoppers

can shop anytime in the store and receive a fair price


• Place Strategy: relates to the site location and physical design of the site.– Locations• Central business district: stores in cities or towns• Neighborhood shopping centers: 5 -15 stores• Community shopping centers: 15 – 30 stores• Regional shopping centers: Enclosed malls• Super regional centers: Mega-malls


• Place Strategy Continued:– Facilities Design• Store exterior

– Visible to traffic– Compatible with surroundings– Convenient for consumers

• Store Interior– Selling areas: merchandise is displayed– Support areas: dressing rooms, bathrooms, checkout, etc.


Merchandise Planning & Buying• Merchandise Planning: involves estimating, as

correctly as possible, consumer demand and how it can be best satisfied

• Merchandise Buying: is done through vendors, such as apparel producers, to obtain the merchandise decided upon during the planning phase

The Merchandise Cycle

Merchandise Planning & Buying

Planning

BuyingSelling

1. Gather Information from– past sales records– Sales people– Consumer opinions and behavior– Merchandising bureaus– Vendors– Trade information– Comparison shoppers


2. Prepare Buying Plans– Buying plan• Describe the types and quantities of merchandise to

purchase– Create a dollar merchandise plan• Estimated budget for stock, sales and profit

– Assortment Plan• Variety and quantity of stock keeping units (SKU) to be

carries


3. Select Merchandise resources– Manufacturers– Wholesalers– Web sites & catalogs– Importers– Vendors


• Market Week: scheduled periods of time during which producers introduce their new collections or lines (fashion shows all week)– Collection: total number of garments in a designer’s or

producers seasonal presentation, especially for high priced garments

– Line: group of styles within a collection that are produced and sold as a set of new selections• Typically has one design element in common throughout all

garments– Color, line, balance, silhouette, etc.


Example of a LineMerchandise Planning & Buying

• Major Domestic Fashion Markets– New York– California: L.A. & San Francisco– Dallas– Chicago– Miami– Atlanta


• Major Foreign Markets– London, England– Paris, France– Milan, Italy


Merchandise Promotion

• Purpose of Fashion Promotion– Inform• Create awareness and understanding of products

– Persuade• Convince consumers of the benefits of using/buying

products– Remind• Product availability, encourage purchases and stimulate

additional purchases

• Promotion Levels– Consumer: directly to consumers, usually done on

a national scale by companies that do not sell directly to consumers

– Trade: aimed within the industry• Fiber and fabric companies promote to manufacturers

– Retail: promotion by a store to its customers• Promote merchandise chosen for their target market in

hopes to create demand


• Promotion Program: details of efforts for a period of time. It includes– Goals & objectives– Message or theme– Specific Promotion activities– Timing of activities– Media to be used– Assignments of responsibility– Budget– Evaluation Methods


• Advertising: any paid form of non personal sales message made by a sponsor through a communication medium– Purpose:

• Build a companies image• Promote a brand or product• Announce a sale

– Retail Advertising Purpose• Bring customers to a sight• Promote an image


• Types of Advertising– Product advertising: designed to sell specific,

identifiable merchandise items, lines or services– Institutional advertising: designed to sell a

reputation of an organization rather than a specific product

– Cooperative advertising: sharing the cost with two or more organizations


• Forms of Advertising– Merchandise Packaging:

• Company names, logos, slogans on shopping bags, boxes, paper, etc.

– Newspaper– Magazines– Outdoor: billboards, public transit ads, etc.– Direct Mail– Radio– Television– Websites


Visual Merchandising

• VM: physical display of goods in the most attractive and appealing ways

• VM Purpose:– Sell goods and promote store image– Educate about new items trends– Show how items can be worn– Grab customer attention– Provide information on price or special features

• Store Décor & atmospherics– Décor: style and appearance of interior furnishings• Theme should be carried throughout the store to fit

company’s image• Should coordinate with merchandise

– Atmospherics: features intended to create a particular emotional mood or attitude through sound, smell and the décor• Uses psychology to induce buying• Examples: type of music or pleasant aromas


• Merchandise Presentation: includes the ways that goods are hung, placed on shelves, or made available for sale in retail stores– Shoulder-out presentation• Garments are hung with only one side showing from

shoulder to bottom (like hung in your closet)– Face-forward presentation• Clothing is hung with the front fully facing the viewer

– Always done at the entrances and aisles of a store


Merchandise FixturesVisual Merchandising

• A-frames• Base cabinets• Build-ups• Card holders• C-rack• Drapers• Dump or table bin• Four-way rack• Gondola• Grid units• Hangbars• Pedestal units

• Pegboard• Quad rack• Rounders• Showcases• Slatwall units• Spiral costumer• Straight arm• Superquad• Tables• T-stand• Tier tables or racks• Two-way racks• Waterfalls

• Interior Store Display: individual and notable physical presentations of merchandise– Use unique equipment or fixtures to feature

distinctive merchandise– Should be color-coordinated, accessorized, and

self-explanatory• Window Display: seen from outside the store– Enclosed; semi-enclosed; open; island


• Displays are intended to:– Stimulate product interest– Provide information– Suggest merchandise coordination– Generate traffic flow– Remind customers of planned purchases– Create additional sales of impulse items– Enhance the store’s visual image


• Displays should include the following:– Merchandise

• One-category groupings; related groupings; Themed groupings; variety

– Lighting• Floodlighting; spotlighting; pinpointing

– Props• Mannequins, bust forms; decorative props; structural

props– Signage


fashion merchandising & promotion

Documents

retail racks

high fashion designsmoderate

following store

medium priced merchandise

total market

price categorycheck

target markettarget

high quality