ROLE OF MERCHANDISER By, Prof.

Lipsa Mohapatra,
IN FMS Dept., NIFT,
BUYING HOUSE Bhubaneswar
CONTENTS
 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 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.
SERVICES OFFERED

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
 International market Information
 Private label Development
 Training sales personal
 Research

How to choose a 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 (Source :- Triburg Bangalore)

Merchandising Quality

PVH
Sr. Merchant QA Manager

Merchant
Merchant QAs
ORDER FLOW
Philips Van Heusen
(Buyer)
Pricing agreed
upon PURCHASE ORDER Fabric & TRIM info.

TRIBURG
(Buying House)
Buyer sends GSS
Negotiate
(Quote)
Fit sample
FACTORY sent
(Indusfila)
approved

PP sample
sent

TOP sample is collected from Bulk Production

Bulk approved
Production

Interim audition Pilot Run Size set

100-120 samples are produced to check the

smoothness of the production process

Final Inspection Shipment

1. Initially a price is fixed in between the Buyer and Triburg through negotiation
2. PO generation
3. Fabric and trim requirement calculated as per order requirement
4. Buyer sends the GSS (graded spec sheet) to Triburg then Triburg’s QA along
with factory master will prepare a Fit sample accordingly.
5. It is always recommended that 1st fit must be light color as it provides ample
freedom to the buyer to suggest corrections.
6. Sample gets approved at 3rd fit. Maximum up to 4th fit is allowed.
7. Then PP sample is made which is consider as a contract between the buyer and
the vendor.
8. After the approval of PP sample the size set sample is developed. Samples for
all sizes e.g. s/m/l/xl/xxl are developed and checked by the QA.
9. Followed by a Pilot run where 100-120 samples are produced to check the
smoothness of the production process.
10. After necessary checks, bulk production is started and from bulk TOP sample
is taken out and checked for Interim auditing.
11. Final inspection is done at the end of the production process layout by QC.
12. Packaging
13. Audit by the buyer
14. Shipment
Merchandiser role is very important in any buying house, starting
from sampling stage to order execution.

He is the one who co-ordinates between both vendors as well as buyers.

Merchandisers monitor the order process flow.
A merchandiser make sure that the factory implements all SOPs. It is
divided in two phases.
 PHASE 1- Sampling
 PHASE 2- Bulk order production
As soon as the Techpack is received, merchandisers discuss and decides
with the QA, PPC, Sampling, Warehousing and Sourcing Teams about
various factors like production feasibility, requirement of any special
machinery or fabric or tests, 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 the Fixed By merchant Date at which

Preplanned accordingly for each actual activities
Template 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
 Vendor selection

Quality basis Compliance basis

VENDOR PROFILE Factory Performance

•Vendor information •Piece goods handling •Health and safety
•Credit reference •Material utilization •Payroll
•Management personal •Sewing •Labour
•Physical facilities •Finishing •Minimum age
•Products •Quality control •Social benefits
•Production capacity •Overall rating •Workers interview
•Cutting room facilities •Plant overall rating
•Sewing room facilities •Recommendations.
•Finishing/packing room
•Organizational chart
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 bursting
 Seam allowance
 Pressing Temperature Seam security

 Thread colour Button hole

 Collar shapes Button attach
 Zipper setting
Hem level
 Cuts
Hand tacking

Cutting Room audit

 Laying accuracy
 Accuracy of marking
 Keeping notches against pattern, bundling
FINAL INSPECTION

AUDIT
Lining Checking
 Interlining
 Pocket lining
 Shoulder pad
Label Checking
 Main label
 Size, Country of Origin,
 Packing
 Hangtag position
 Wash care label
 Hangtags  Spare button
 Polybag sticker  Poly bag
 Folding
 Pressing/ crease

Trim Checking
 Threads  Defects
 Zippers  Flaw
 Buttons  Shade
 Hook/eye  Soils/ stains/sports
 Rivet/stud  Hole/needle chew
 Cords  Raw/ frayed edges
 Elastic  Skip/broken stitch
DOCUMENTATION
FILING FORMAT
• After treatment swatch
• Interlining test report
• General correspondence • Trim test report
• Tech pack • Fabric testing report
• Costing fabrics • Garment testing report
• Order sheets • Docs/FLIGHT
• TNA/OSR
• Fabric – INFO
• Bulk swatch