TYPES OF BUYERS

AND
COMMUNICATION
CHANNELS
APPAREL MERCHANDISING
By Dr. NITHYAPRAKASH. V
 Fashion buyers choose apparel and
accessories to be sold in retail stores.

FASHION A buyer may own their own store or

boutique, or work on behalf of a
BUYING fashion store or department store.

They buy according to the market

category they belong to.
DIFFERENT MARKET CATEGORIES
FOR FASHION PRODUCTS
INTERNATIONAL FASHION BUYING SEASONS –
Womenswear and Menswear

SPRING FALL TRANSITION HOLIDAY

JANUARY TO MARCH JULY to AUG OCTOBER

MARCH to May Late September NOVEMBER TO JANUARY

SUMMER FALL / AUTUMN RESORT / CRUISE

FASHION SEASONS in INDIA
• Spring / Summer

• Fall / Winter – winter in India is around two months

• Festive season – September to November & Early spring

TYPES OF
BUYERS
• HIGH FASHION
BUYERS

• RETAIL BUYERS

• BRANDS
HIGH FASHION They buy the luxury
There are two
BUYERS – fashion goods that
channels – Haute
are Avante-garde
FRENCH+ITALIAN, and exclusively
couture and Luxury
RTW.
Coco Pari, designed.

Atelier 7918
(luxury retailers),
BURBERRY, Luxury RTW buys for
regular seasons,
CHANEL They own Ateliers or where as Haute
design houses in Top couture operates on
fashion centers. bespoke designs
year around
continuously.
RETAIL Retail buyers may design their own products
or buy knock down versions of successful
BUYERS- luxury fashion products and designer labels.

Debenhams, Retail buyers sell their produce through

retail chain stores under their own label or
TOPSHOP, through departmental stores.

Reliance Buying is for seasons: SPRING, SUMMER,

Trends. AUTUMN, WINTER only.
 Brands focus on design and marketing in
procuring the Fashion designs.

BRANDS – fast Premium brands have their own Exclusive brand

outlets.
fashion / Classic
– ZARA, A & F, Budget brand operate through exclusive brand
UCB, NIKE outlets and multiple brand outlets.

They buy mid season flash collections, capsule

collections, seasonal full collections according to
their buying strategy.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF
MERCHANDISER
Effective •"Seek first to understand, then to be
understood "
Communication •Communication It is the process by which a
& Negotiation person, a group or an organization (sender)
transmits some information ( message ) to
Skills another person/group or and organization
(receiver)

Channels of communication
 Written
 Telephonic
 Face – to-Face

Need to choose an appropriate channel for maximum effectiveness. It is a very

important tool which is very critical for your success as an individual as well as a
company.
Proper & Effective Communication
You should have proper background.
Current knowledge of the subject.
Right perspective & attitude
It should be precise, clear and to the point.
Good Listening skills.
Better relationships.
Access to relevant info.
Should be open minded
Not judgmental
ORGANIZING SKILLS
 Importance vs. Urgency
These are not the same things.
Something urgent is not necessarily important.
Urgent tasks should be dealt with straight way taking out the minimum time.
Positive tasks are always the important ones and reactive tasks are rarely
important.
OBJECTIVE of effective
Communication

• Maximize return of time.

• Maximum fulfillment.
• Reduces stress.
 Order No. Activities Activity type
1 AT009 Making patterns for fit sample Critical
2 AT013 Grading patterns for size set sample Non-critical
3 AT0021 Making patterns for fit sample Critical
4 BZ0013 Making production pattern from size set comment Non-critical
5 BZ0015 Grading patterns for size set sample Non-critical
Serial Order No. Activities Activity type
1 BZ0013 Making production sample Non-critical
2 BZ0015 Making size set sample Non-critical
3 LZ003 Fit sample making Critical
COMMUNICATI
ON Agencies for
Merchandisers
Modes of
Communication
1. E-mail
2. Telephonic conversation
3. Formal meetings
4. Video conference
5. Courier
6. Virtual prototyping
7. Electronic data interchange
(EDI)
E-Mail Etiquettes

• Just like a written letter, be sure to open your email

with a greeting like Dear Dr. Jones, or Ms. Smith:
• Use standard spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization.
• Write clear, short paragraphs and be direct and to
the point.
• Try to respond within a reasonable time frame
Video Conferencing

• Video conferencing can be point-to-point

conversation between buyer and garment
factory or garment factory and fabric supplier
or multipoint conversation, for example, buyer,
garment manufacturer and fabric supplier at a
time.

• Videoconferencing can enable individuals in

distant locations to participate in meetings on
short notice, with time and money savings.
Formal meetings

• Merchandiser need to conduct formal meetings with different

people, at different stages of order processing.

• This is the oldest and very reliable source of communication,

which ensures the quick response.

• This is very effective method of communication, the facial

expressions, body language, and attitude towards particular
situation can be judge on the spot, and decisions can be made at
that time.
Virtual
Prototyping
• Proto typing is first stage
where only aesthetics are
judge in sample; hence
virtual prototyping is
effective and time saving
way to communicate with
buyer without sending
physical sample.

• Shimaseiki 3D, Lectra 3D,

CLO 3D, TUKA 3D
EDI; Electronic Data
interchange
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange
of standard electronic business documents, such as purchase orders and
invoices, between two organisations.
• The sending company creates an electronic document and the receiving
company processes it – without the need for human intervention. There
are two key elements in basic EDI.
• First, electronic documents replace paper based ones. Second, the
exchange of documents takes place in a standardised format.
• Verified by digital signatures.
An alternative to faxes and manual documents