Role of Merchandiser

in
Buying house
• About Buying House
• Functions of Buying house
• Types of buying house
• Organizational hierarchy
• Role of Merchandiser
• Vendor selection
• Quality auditing
• Documentation
• Conclusion
 Buying House

Buyer Buying house Vendor

• Buying house is an Intermediate between the Buyer

and vendor.
• Buying house is an agent who is working for a buyer
abroad. Buying house represent the buyer.
• Buying house not only performs the final inspection
before the shipment but also involve himself in the
various activities such as sampling, order tracking,
trouble shooting, ensuring timely delivery.
 Buying house
Buyer (Triburg) Vendor

• Exists in the whole sale market

• The office may vary in size
• The merchandise runs from a single line to the full
complement of merchandise
• The operation of office is not restricted only to the
purchase of goods
• The office is primarily an advisory agency or market
market representation
 Functions of buying House

• Buying house look after Quality and Timely

delivery of the merchandise.
• Nominates the fabric & Trim supplier in case
the buyer is unable to do so.
• Offers a cost effective option to the buyer
 Advantage to the buyer

• Makes sure of the timely delivery.

• Commits to the quality standards required.
• Reduce the buyer work load for style follow
up.
• Buying house take care of all documentation
work.
• It also offers a wide variety of products for a
particular season.
 Types of Resident buying house/offices
The Private office
• Privately owned, retailers of enormous size with
specific needs
• Few in number, Nieman-Marcus
• Merchandising mix – high price & unusual
offerings
• Limited market
The Cooperatively owned office
• Associated office: A.M.C & Frederick Atkins Co.
• Smallest in terms of size, sales, volume & prestige
of its member stores cannot be overlooked
 The Corporative owned office

• Ownership by a syndicated store organization

• Composed of chains of department stores
structured
• This buying office services the needs of all of the
stores in the chain
• it plays important role in the store’s merchandising
plan
• It serves only the member stores
•Formulates the pricing policies
 The independent owned office
• Largest buying office; I.R.S, youth fashion guild
• Salaried, fee, or paid office
• Charges annual fee based on a percentage of the
store’s annual sales, paid in monthly installments
The Merchandise Brokers or Commission Office
• Store does not pay the buying office any fee
• The merchandise broker collects his
remuneration from cooperating manufacturers in
the form of a commission based upon a
percentage of orders placed for their clients.
 Services of an Office
Buying merchandise
- Re orders
- Special orders
- Initial orders
Finding new resources
- For fresh goods
- Creative merchandise
Recommending Hot item
Following up orders
Group buying
Handling complaints and adjustment
- Substitution shipping
- Assisting the buyer during market week
- Preparation of promotional activities
- Foreign market Information
- Private label Development
- Training sales personal
- Research

How to choose an buying office..

- How large is the office?
- Does the office provide the full complement of services the store
needs to improve its operation?
- Which stores are members of the resident buying office?
- Are the stores represented by the office similar to the retailers
operation?
- Does the office specialized in all the merchandise classifications the
store carries?
Organizational Hierarchy
 CEO

MD

Triburg Bangalore

GM

Merchandising Quality

PVH
Sr. Merchant QA Manager

Merchant
Merchant QAs

(Source :- Triburg Bangalore)

Order Flow
Philips Van Heusen
(Buyer)
Pricing
PURCHASE ORDER Fabric & TRIM info.
agreed upon

TRIBURG
(Buying House)
Buyer sends GSS
Negotiate
(Quote)

FACTORY
(Indusfila) Fit sample
sent

approved

PP sample
sent

approved
Bulk
Production
Interim. Pilot Run Size set
TOP

Final Inspection Shipment

Role of a Merchandiser
Here we can see in the above chart that initially a price is fixed in between the Buyer
and the Triburg by negotiating with factory.

After that PO is generated and the fabric and trim requirement is calculated as per
that order is placed for fabric and trim.

Afterwards buyer sends the GSS (graded spec sheet) to the Triburg then Triburg QA
along with factory master will prepare a Fit sample on that. It is always
recommended that 1st fit must be light color it gives a major correction by the buyer.
Mainly sample gets approved at 3rd fit. Maximum 4 fit is allowded.

Then PP sample made which consider as a contract between the buyer and the
vendor. After the approval of pp sample the size set operation is done.

Here for all sizes s/m/l/xl/xxl the sample is made and checked by the QA. then Pilot
run is conducted where 100-120 samples are produced to check the smoothness of
the production process.

After wards the bulk production is started and from bulk TOP sample is taken out
and checked then further Interim auditing and final inspection is done and at the end
shipment is done.
• Merchandiser role is very important in any buying
house , starting from sampling stage to order
execution.
• He is the one who build relationship with both
vendors as well as buyers.
• Merchandisers monitors the order process flow and
co ordinate between the vendor and Buyer.
• A merchandiser make sure that factory implement all
SOPs. It is divided in two phases.
• PHASE 1-Sampling
• PHASE2-Bulk order production
• As soon as the Techpack is received merchandisers
accesses with the QA and decides upon the factors
like production feasibility, requirement of any special
machinery required etc.
• He also assesses the tech packs in terms of design,
embellishment, fabric etc. and contact factories
according to their expertise , experience and strength.
• He forwards the tech pack to factory and asks for
costing. After much negotiation it is closed with the
factory with best quote.
• He then allocates the styles to the factories approved
by the buyers.
• He updates the TNA every week and in case of any
delay alerts mill, factory or buyer. It is one of the
ways of having complete control over the process.
Merchants do the backward planning according to the
delivery date.
 Order Scheduling
Order Date

Planned Date Schedule Date Actual Date

Obtained from Fixed By merchant Date at which

the Preplanned accordingly for actual activities
Template each style happen
• Once the bulk production starts merchandiser
ensures that he receives all inspection reports
from the respective QA for their styles.
• A merchant stays in direct contact with the
forwarding agents and check if the shipment is
being received in the correct condition.
• Once the final production is over merchant
sends the shipment under his supervision along
with required documents.
Vendor Selection

Quality basis
VENDOR PROFILE
•Vendor information
•Credit reference
•Management personal
•Physical facilities
•Products
•Production capacity
•Cutting room facilities
•Sewing room facilities
•Finishing/packing room
•Organizational chart
Vendor selection
Compliance basis
Factory Performance
•Piece goods handling •Health and safety
•Material utilization •Payroll
•Sewing •Labour
•Finishing •Minimum age
•Quality control •Social benefits
•Overall rating •Workers interview
•Plant overall rating
•Recommendations.
Quality Auditing
• Interim audits- it done at the stage of bulk Production for
checking Measurement, accessory, Packing
• Small parts audit- Here small parts are checked such as
 Machine tension
 Seam allowance  Seam bursting
 Pressing Temperature  Seam security
 Button hole
 Thread colour
 Button attach
 Collar shapes  Hem level
 Zipper setting  Hand tacking
 Cuts

• Cutting Room audit

– Laying accuracy
– Accuracy of marking
– Keeping notches against pattern, bundling
 Final Inspection Audit
 Lining Checking
 Label Checking • Interlining
• Main label • Pocket lining
• Sz,coo, care label • Shoulder pad
• FCTY code label
• Hangtags  Packing
• Polybag sticker • Hangtag position
• Spare button
• Poly bag
 Trim Checking • Folding
• Threads • Pressing/ crease
• Zippers
• Buttons  Defects
• Hook/eye • Flaw
• Rivet/stud • Shade
• Cords • Soils/ stains/sports
• Hole/needle chew
• Elastic • Raw/ frayed edges
• Skip/broken stitch
• Uneven stitches
Documentation
 Filing Format
• General correspondence • After treatment swatch
• Tech pack • Interlining test report
• Costing fabrics • Trim test report
• Order sheets • Fabric testing report
• TNA/OSR • Garment testing report
• Fabric – INFO • Docs/FLIGHT
• Bulk swatch