Instructor’s Guide®

Introduction toFashion

Merchandising

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

THE WHOLESALE LEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

THE RETAIL LEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

PERSONALITY TRAITS AND EDUCATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

VOCABULARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

EXERCISES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Copyright © 1991 Cambridge Educational® Written by Lynne Schwabe

OVERVIEWThe fashion business can be glamorous and a lot of hard work. It is nearly always exciting. Fashion can bechallenging and it can be frustrating. The one thing that's for sure is that it is constantly changing—andthat's part of its appeal.

Fashion involves the design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing and accessories for men,women, children, and the home. Fashion merchandising is planning, buying, and selling. Each of theseactions is based on calculations of what customers need and will purchase. Merchandise has to be the rightstyle, the right quantity, and the right price at the right time—”right” being what the customer will like andbuy.

Two areas of fashion merchandising which offer varied career opportunities are the wholesale level (wheremerchandise is manufactured and sold in bulk to retail stores) and the retail level (where merchandise issold to the public). Creating and selling fashion involves several steps, from the initial design of a product toits sale to a customer. Along the way, everyone works to devise ways to present the product most efficientlyand effectively to the customer. This is called merchandising a product.

Retail Store(sells to retail customer)

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DESIGNER/WHOLESALER

ShowroomSales Rep

(represents several designers)

ShowroomDesigner/Wholesaler(represents one designer)

Reta

il Le

vel

Who

lesa

le L

evel

Buying Office(resident buyers help retailbuyers find merchandise)

FASHION MERCHANDISING

THE WHOLESALE LEVELOn the wholesale side of fashion merchandising, manufacturers design and develop products they hope willmeet customers' wants and needs. Fashion starts with a designer. These people actually come up with ideasand are responsible for creating the design of the products. Not only are they responsible for originating themany garments that make up collections of clothes, they also have to think about how the clothes will fit,how they will suit their customers' life-styles and how to give their designs the "special magic" to transformbrowsers into buyers.

Designers sometimes own their own factories and are involved with actual production of the product, or theymay work with wholesalers who oversee this part of the process. When all decisions are made, the designsare sketched, sent to pattern makers, and a sample line is produced. The sample line is then presented toretail buyers.

The next step in the process is selling the line to retailers. Clothing lines are usually presented in wholesaleshowrooms where buyers from stores can see samples of what's being sold. Selling at the wholesale levelis very much like selling at the retail level. The seller must understand why the buyer might want the product,what's good about it and how it can be used. All of this information must be clearly conveyed to the buyer.Often manufacturers will stage fashion shows to present the designer's complete line to retail buyers and themedia. Although most of the work is done in wholesale showrooms, road salespeople travel to storesshowing samples of the product and taking orders. From orders received, the manufacturer then decideswhich styles to produce, which to discard, and which colors to use. To some extent, he can predict futuresales according to orders received before the line is produced.

Showroom salespeople look at the lines, determine who the customer is and try to convince the customer(the store buyers) to see the clothing when they are on a buying trip. They help merchandise—or present —the product. They sell it and follow through with buyers. Following through means calling the store buyers to be sure the merchandise was received as ordered and finding out what selling tools might help them promote the lines. Sales representatives market many designers' lines to reach a broader base of clientele.

A manufacturer decides what to produce according to items ordered and feedback gathered from buyers.Many people, from those who make the patterns to those who cut the fabric and sew the garments, areemployed in the production process. Once the product is completed, it is checked for quality, packaged andshipped to the retailer.

4

THE RETAIL LEVELThe finished product then reaches the retail side of the flow chart. Retailers sell goods purchased fromwholesalers to the public. Just as the wholesaler tries to meet the demands of the retailers, the retailer triesto meet the demands of the public by offering adequate assortments of merchandise by classification,price, size, and quantity.

Retailers are often assisted by a resident buying office which helps them research the market and findmanufacturers that have merchandise to meet their needs. Buying offices offer a wide range of services toassist retailers in keeping ahead of the competition.

Although called "buying offices," "finding offices" might be a better term. These organizations act on behalfof the clients (stores) finding special merchandise, better merchandise at better prices, and special deals onproducts. The buying office finds out what's happening in the market daily and communicates its findings tostores. People who work in resident buying offices are called resident buyers. They search the market foritems their clients might be interested in and work closely with store buyers when they visit the market.

Since thousands of manufacturers show their wares, stores often utilize buying offices to save time andmoney. A buying office is an efficient way of weeding out inappropriate merchandise and focusing on whatto buy. A buying office learns what kinds of stores its clients have and then directs them to the most appro-priate merchandise. Employees of a resident buying office spend their days in the market looking at lines.They see literally hundreds of garments and try to determine what might be appropriate to the store clients.They function in the market as their clients' eyes and ears.

Whether a retailer operates a department store, a specialty store, a chain store, or a discount store, he selectsa group of people and focuses his attention on trying to sell his product to that market. Merchandising fashionis highly competitive. Different kinds of stores and catalogs compete for the customer's dollar. Planning whatto buy and effectively presenting those products becomes extremely important at the retail level.

Retail store buyers try to stock what's in harmony with customer demand. They have a budget to workwith called open-to-buy, and they decide how and when to buy a variety of styles by price, size, fabric, andcolor. They want to buy what will sell, and measure their success by watching sales, inventories, and profits.

Once merchandise arrives at the store, the products must be presented to the customer with seductiveappeal, taking careful advantage of advertising, publicity, internal displays, and window displays. Usually afashion coordinator is responsible for making sure that a store's fashion image is presented effectively tothe customer. The fashion coordinator plans the events that bring customers into the store by working withevery area of the store to present the intended fashion message to the customer.

However, nothing happens in retailing until the cash register rings. A key person in the chain of fashion mer-chandising is the sales associate, the person who convinces . . . or doesn't convince . . . the customer tobuy. Good salespeople have highly developed skills and work long and hard to develop a close relationshipwith their customers. They present product information to their customers. They explain the features ofthe product and how those features can benefit the customer. In other words, the sales associate is alwaystrying to answer a customer's implied question, "What's it going to do for me?" They try to make multiplesales to customers by selling them more than one item. Making the sale is not the end of the salesperson'sjob. A good salesperson follows up with the customer and keeps track of his wants and needs by keepinggood customer records. In this way, he develops a customer following—customers who desire his helpbecause he has satisfied them in the past.

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PERSONALITY TRAITS AND EDUCATIONSuccess in fashion merchandising depends on certain personality traits. In any of these careers you must beoutgoing, able to get along with people, enthusiastic, and able to communicate effectively. Organizationalskills are crucial, and the large amount of paperwork required makes it necessary to give attention to detail.You must have a desire to learn all aspects of the business and the ability to do many things simultaneously.

Education for a career in fashion merchandising can be somewhat flexible. You need a college degree, prefer-ably in liberal arts with a marketing or business concentration. While you learn the technicalities of fashionmerchandising on the job, it is important to bring to that job the discipline of knowing how to learn, whereto find information, and how to organize it. Schools of design offer degrees which teach specific aspects offashion merchandising and will expose you to different areas of fashion. Everyone agrees that if you thinkyou are interested in fashion merchandising, you should try it out. . . get a parttime job in retailing and findout what it’s like!

SUMMARYFashion merchandising is planning, buying, and selling based on calculations of what customers need andwill purchase. Fashion merchandising is presenting the product effectively to a variety of wholesale or retailcustomers. Each step of the process offers many career opportunities. A parttime job in retailing is a goodway to explore a career in fashion merchandising.

Fashion merchandising is creative. Designers originate hundreds of products each season and present them to customers. Fashion merchandising is selling. In each step of the process selling the product is the primarygoal. Fashion merchandising is challenging. Buying offices systematically shop the market each day lookingfor products that will work for their retail clients. . . the stores. At the retail level, fashion merchandising isexciting as the store works to present its fashion image to customers. The goal of retail stores is to presentthe merchandise its buyers have purchased so that we (the customers) will be tempted to buy.

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VOCABULARYBuying Office: Professional organization hired by retail stores to help them research the market and findmanufacturers that have merchandise to meet their needs.

Classification: All merchandise of a given type, e.g., women’s blouses.

Customer Records: Notes kept by sales associates listing a customer’s sizes and past purchases, wants,and needs.

Fashion Coordinator: Person responsible for presenting a store’s fashion image to the public.

Fashion Merchandising: Planning, buying, and selling based on calculations of what customers need and will purchase.

Merchandising a Product: Presenting a product most effectively to a customer.

Multiple Sales: Selling coordinated items or more than one item at a time.

Open-To-Buy: The budget allocated to a buyer to spend on merchandise within a given time period.

Product Information: Knowledge about a product that a sales associate uses to explain the product to the customer.

Resident Buyer: Employee of a buying office who searches the market for items that clients (retail stores)might be interested in.

Retail Level: Different types of retailers who buy their inventories from the secondary level to supply directly to the consumer.

Retail Store: Where retailers sell the goods they buy from wholesalers to the public.

Retail Store Buyer: Employee of a retail store who buys merchandise at the wholesale level for sale at the retail level, and who tries to stock what’s in harmony with customer demand.

Road Salesperson: Salesperson who takes wholesale samples to the stores so they can decide what to buywithout going to a wholesale showroom.

Sales Associate: Person who works directly with customers and convinces them to buy merchandise.

Sales Representatives: People working in wholesale showrooms who try to sell the products of one orseveral designers.

Sample Line: A collection of representative garments shown to buyers so that orders for the merchandisecan be placed.

Showrooms: Spaces maintained by manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, and distributors where merchan-dise is displayed for store buyers.

Wholesale Level: Area of the business where merchandise is created, manufactured, and sold in bulk toretail stores.

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EXERCISESYOUR SELF-EVALUATION CHECKLISTYou now have the opportunity to evaluate your personal attributes to see if they match what is necessary for a successful career in the fashion industry. Do you have what it takes?

Yes No

Do you like to speak before groups? ________ ________

Do you have good verbal skills? ________ ________

Do you have good writing skills? ________ ________

Are your math skills good? ________ ________

Do you get along with your peers and supervisors? ________ ________

Are you enthusiastic about activities you enjoy,as well as those you don’t? ________ ________

Do you pay attention to your surroundings? ________ ________

Are you creative? ________ ________

Do you possess lots of curiosity? ________ ________

Do you have stamina? ________ ________

Do you consider yourself emotionally stable? ________ ________

Can you work under pressure? ________ ________

Do you have good memory skills? ________ ________

Can you assume responsibility? ________ ________

Do you believe a supervisor should be ableto delegate authority to others? ________ ________

Are you flexible? ________ ________

Are you able to budget your time? ________ ________

Are you fair and impartial? ________ ________

Are you tactful? ________ ________

Do you take initiative? ________ ________

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QUESTIONS

1. Define “fashion” and “fashion merchandising.”___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the difference between the wholesale level of selling and the retail level?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are the steps that a garment goes through from its creation to its sale to a customer?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What is the goal of people selling fashion?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What are two kinds of wholesale showrooms? What happens in these showrooms?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What is a buying office and what does it do?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Who are the clients of a buying office?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Why would a store hire a buying office?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. How many times is merchandise sold in the wholesale/retail process?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What does a designer do?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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11. What is “merchandising” a collection?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. How does a manufacturer know what to produce?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. How is selling at the wholesale level similar to selling at the retail level?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. What does a store buyer do?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. What is a resident buyer?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. How does a resident buyer help a store buyer?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. What is Open-To-Buy?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

18. Define “classification.”___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. When merchandise arrives at a store, what happens to it?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. What does a fashion coordinator do?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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21 . How does a good sales associate work with a customer?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

22. What are multiple sales?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

23. What are some of the personality traits necessary for success in fashion merchandising?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

24. How can you find out if fashion merchandising is for you?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11

MATCHING

Match the terms below with the definitions on the lower portion of this page,

_____ Sample Line _____ Sales Associate

_____ Wholesale Level _____ Buying Office

_____ Designer _____ Retail Store

_____ Retail Store Buyer _____ Fashion Coordinator

_____ Retail Level _____ Resident Buyer

_____ Fashion _____ Merchandising a Product

_____ Sales Representative _____ Customer Records

_____ Product Knowledge _____ Road Salesperson

_____ Showroom _____ Multiple Sales

_____ Fashion Merchandising _____ Open-To-Buy

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1. The budget allocated to a buyer to spend on merchandise within a given time period.

2. Area of the business where merchandise is created, manufactured and sold in bulk to retailstores.

3. Salesperson who takes wholesale samples to thestores so they can decide what to buy withoutgoing to a wholesale showroom.

4. Samples of products shown to buyers so that theycan decide what to buy for their stores.

5. Person responsible for presenting a store’s fashion image to the customer.

6. Area of the business in which merchandise is sold to the public.

7. Professional organization hired by retail stores to help them research the market and find merchandise.

8. Employee of a retail store who buys the merchandise to sell in the store.

9. Employee of a buying office who searches the market for items their clients might be interested in.

10. Where retailers sell the goods they buy from the wholesaler to the public.

11. Person who works directly with customers and convinces them to buy.

12. Selling more than one item at a time.13. Planning, buying, and selling based on

calculations of what customers need and will purchase.

14. Design, production, distribution, and marketingof clothing and accessories for men, women,children, and the home.

15. Person who creates the design of products,from styling to materials used.

16. Presenting a product most effectively to the customer.

17. Notes kept by sales associates which tell themtheir customers’ wants and needs.

18. Salesperson working in wholesale showroomswho tries to sell products of one or manydesigners.

19. Place where samples of a designer’s line areshown to retail buyers.

20. Information about a product that a sales associ-ate uses to explain the product to a customer.

PROBLEMS TO WORK

1. Pretend you are a designer and have just designed a men’s business suit that is guaranteed NOT to wearout for 10 years of regular wear. What are some ways you might present it to a customer to convince himto buy it?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Who was the best salesperson you’ve ever had? Why? The worst? Why?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What information about a product might convince you to buy?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. How do you usually buy something? What affects you most — looks, or price? What catches your eyewhen you shop?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Describe a store you like and explain why you like it.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Describe a window display you thought was effective.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. If you were an advisor to someone designing sportswear for teenagers, what would you tell him or her?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Why do you think you might be suited for fashion merchandising?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Where do you get your sense of style? How do fashion magazines affect what you wear? Does TV have aneffect on what you wear? Do rock stars?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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FILL IN THE BLANKS

At the (1) _______________________ level, a (2) _________________ originates ideas for a

product, from styling to materials used. When a collection of clothes is designed, a (3) _________________

is made to show to (4) _________________________ in the wholesale (5) _______________________.

These garments can either be shown in a (6) _______________________ or (7) ____________________

showroom, where the designs of one person are displayed, or in a (8) ___________________________

showroom, where the designs of several designers are shown. The retail store buyers look at many lines,

trying to decide what merchandise to buy for their stores. These buyers work within a budget called (9)

_________________ , which tells them how much money they can spend on merchandise within a given

period. Sometimes, stores hire (10) ___________________________ to help them research the market and

find merchandise. Having the assistance of a (11) ____________________ usually saves the retail store

(12) _____________________ and (13) ______________________ and keeps it ahead of the (14)

________________________. The people in a buying office who research the market, acting as eyes and

ears of their store clients, are called (15) ______________________.

At the (16) _____________________ level, the stores try to display merchandise as effectively as

possible. Everyone’s goal in fashion merchandising is the same: to (17) ________________________.

Usually a (18) ____________________ works with everyone in the store, seeing to it that the merchandise

is presented to the public in a way that is consistent with the store’s (19) _______________________.

(20) ______________________ are the people who try to sell merchandise to you and me. If they

are good, these (21) _________________________ develop a close relationship with their customers,

keeping (22) ____________________________ and finding ways to let us know that they have merchan-

dise that meets our (23) ___________________________ and (24) ___________________________.

They try to give us (25) ________________________________ information about a product that might

influence us to buy. They will also try to sell us more than one item. This is called (26) _________________.

Remember, there is a difference in the terms “fashion” and “fashion merchandising.” Fashion is

(27) ___________________________________________________ while “fashion merchandising”

is (28) __________________________________. If you think you want a career in fashion merchandising,

the best thing to do is to (29) __________________________________________________.

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CLASSROOM EXERCISES

To the teacher: Whether you have retailing experience or not, it’s easy to direct classroom activities thatinvolve the student in aspects of retailing. Creativity is the key and the goal is to structure situations in which the students can determine if they might be interested in fashion merchandising.

1. Have the students bring in examples of what they think are effective ad campaigns. Discuss the variouscampaigns as a class, deciding which three are the best and why. Have the students pick a favorite productand plan a three-part campaign for the product.

2. Visit a local clothing store (visiting two or three enables comparisons). Notice how the store displays itsgoods and how its sales associates approach customers. What is the fashion image of the store? Does itsimage support its reputation? How did you feel when you were in the store? Did anything or anyone makean overwhelming impression? Were you greeted when you entered? Did someone thank you when youleft? If the store president asked you to criticize the store, what good and bad points could you make?

3. Have students role-play. In groups of two, have one student try to convince another student that he or sheshould buy something. Reverse roles.

4. Have students bring articles of clothing and accessories from their wardrobes. Using these items, have theclass design a new look.

5. Using a scarf, see how many different ways you can devise to use it as an accessory.

6. Have students imagine a product that is an ultimate (the ultimate backpack/bookbag, the ultimate sportscar, the ultimate jacket). Have each student devise its features (what it is) and its possible benefits (what itdoes) for a customer. Have the students role-play in front of the class and sell the various items.

7. Invite store buyers to come speak to the class. Have them describe buying trips, how they decide what tobuy, what they do when the merchandise arrives, and what they do if it doesn’t sell.

8. If any members of the class already have parttime jobs in retailing or have worked in retail stores, havethem describe their experiences to the class.

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ANSWERS TO EXERCISESQUESTIONS1. Define “fashion” and “fashion merchandising.”

Fashion is the design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing and accessories for men,women, children, and the home. Fashion merchandising is planning, buying, and selling, based on calculations of what customers need and will purchase.

2. What is the difference between the wholesale level of selling and the retail level?At the wholesale level, merchandise is created, manufactured, and sold in bulk to retail stores.At the retail level, merchandise is sold to the general public.

3. What are the steps that a garment goes through from its creation to its sale to a customer?The garment is designed by a designer. Sales reps show samples of these garments to buyers in awholesale showroom. When a manufacturer sees what items are being ordered, he or she decideswhat to actually produce. The merchandise is then made, packaged, and shipped to the retail stores,where it is presented as appealingly as possible to the customers. In the retail store, fashion coordi-nators help to fit the merchandise into the store’s fashion image, and sales associates work to con-vince customers that the merchandise meets their wants and needs.

4. What is the goal of people selling fashion?Selling the product.

5. What are two kinds of wholesale showrooms? What happens in these showrooms?A designer’s or wholesaler’s showroom where salespeople sell the designs of one designer to retailbuyers; and a sales rep’s showroom where a sales representative sells the designs of many designersto retail buyers.

6. What is a buying office and what does it do?A buying office is a group of professionals hired by retail stores to help them research the market andfind manufacturers that have merchandise to meet their needs. A buying office functions as a store’seyes and ears in the market.

7. Who are the clients of a buying office?Retail stores.

8. Why would a store hire a buying office?Buying offices save the retail stores time and money and give them a competitive edge.

9. How many times is merchandise sold in the wholesale/retail process?Twice — once to the retail buyers for the store, and once to the store customers (the public).

10. What does a designer do?A designer originates the ideas for the designs of products, from styling to materials used.

11. What is “merchandising” a collection?Deciding how to present it most effectively to the customer.

12. How does a manufacturer know what to produce?The manufacturer gets positive reactions from buyers and sees what they are ordering. From ordersplaced, he or she knows which styles to produce, which to discard, and what colors to use. To someextent he or she can predict future sales from these orders.

16

13. How is selling at the wholesale level similar to selling at the retail level?At both levels the seller tries to meet the demands of the buyer by offering adequate assortments of merchandise by classification, price, size, color, and quantity.

14. What does a store buyer do?A store buyer tries to stock what’s in harmony with customer demand. They work within a budgetand decide how and when to buy a variety of styles by price, size, fabric, and color. They want to buywhat will sell.

15. What is a resident buyer?A resident buyer is an employee of a buying office who acts as a store’s eyes and ears in the marketand searches the market for items their stores might be interested in.

16. How does a resident buyer help a store buyer?A resident buyer helps a store buyer find particular items based on his or her knowledge of the storeand his or her extensive knowledge of merchandise available in the market.

17. What is Open-To-Buy?Open-To-Buy is the budget allocated to a buyer to spend on merchandise within a given period.

18. Define “classification.”Classification is all merchandise of a given type.

19. When merchandise arrives at a store, what happens to it?Merchandise is displayed to customers as efficiently and effectively as possible in keeping with thestore’s fashion image.

20. What does a fashion coordinator do?A fashion coordinator is responsible for presenting a store’s fashion image to the public, and he orshe does that through displays, advertising, special events — anything that will get the messageacross to the customer.

21 . How does a good sales associate work with a customer?A good sales associate tries to satisfy customer wants and needs. He or she presents informationabout the product to customers and explains how merchandise can benefit them. They maintainrecords and keep in touch with customers about new merchandise that might suit them.

22. What are multiple sales?Multiple sales involving selling more than one item to a customer and building a sale by selling acustomer items related to his initial purchase.

23. What are some of the personality traits necessary for success in fashion merchandising?You need to be outgoing, to be able to get along with people, to be enthusiastic, and to be able tocommunicate effectively. You need to be able to organize and to do many things simultaneously.You need attention to detail, a willingness to learn, and a desire to learn about all aspects of thebusiness.

24. How can you find out if fashion merchandising is for you?Get a parttime job in retailing.

17

MATCHING ANSWERS

Match the terms below with the definitions on the lower portion of this page,

4 Sample Line 11 Sales Associate

2 Wholesale Level 7 Buying Office

15 Designer 10 Retail Store

8 Retail Store Buyer 5 Fashion Coordinator

6 Retail Level 9 Resident Buyer

14 Fashion 16 Merchandising a Product

18 Sales Representative 17 Customer Records

20 Product Knowledge 3 Road Salesperson

19 Showroom 12 Multiple Sales

13 Fashion Merchandising 1 Open-To-Buy

18

1. The budget allocated to a buyer to spend on merchandise within a given time period.

2. Area of the business where merchandise is created, manufactured and sold in bulk to retailstores.

3. Salesperson who takes wholesale samples to thestores so they can decide what to buy withoutgoing to a wholesale showroom.

4. Samples of products shown to buyers so that theycan decide what to buy for their stores.

5. Person responsible for presenting a store’s fashion image to the customer.

6. Area of the business in which merchandise is sold to the public.

7. Professional organization hired by retail stores to help them research the market and find merchandise.

8. Employee of a retail store who buys the merchandise to sell in the store.

9. Employee of a buying office who searches the market for items their clients might be interested in.

10. Where retailers sell the goods they buy from the wholesaler to the public.

11. Person who works directly with customers and convinces them to buy.

12. Selling more than one item at a time.13. Planning, buying, and selling based on

calculations of what customers need and will purchase.

14. Design, production, distribution, and marketingof clothing and accessories for men, women,children, and the home.

15. Person who creates the design of products,from styling to materials used.

16. Presenting a product most effectively to the customer.

17. Notes kept by sales associates which tell themtheir customers’ wants and needs.

18. Salesperson working in wholesale showroomswho tries to sell products of one or manydesigners.

19. Place where samples of a designer’s line areshown to retail buyers.

20. Information about a product that a sales associ-ate uses to explain the product to a customer.

FILL IN THE BLANKS

At the WHOLESALE level, a DESIGNER originates ideas for a product, from styling to materials

used. When a collection of clothes is designed, a SAMPLE LINE is made to show to RETAIL BUYERS in

the wholesale SHOWROOM. These garments can either be shown in a DESIGNER’S or WHOLESALER’S

showroom, where the designs of one person are displayed, or in a SALES REP’S showroom, where the

designs of several designers are shown. The retail store buyers look at many lines, trying to decide what

merchandise to buy for their stores. These buyers work within a budget called OPEN-TO-BUY, which tells

them how much money they can spend on merchandise within a given period. Sometimes, stores hire BUY-

ING OFFICES to help them research the market and find merchandise. Having the assistance of a BUYING

OFFICE usually saves the retail store TIME and MONEY and keeps it ahead of the COMPETITION. The

people in a buying office who research the market, acting as eyes and ears of their store clients, are called

RESIDENT BUYERS.

At the RETAIL level, the stores try to display merchandise as effectively as possible. Everyone’s goal

in fashion merchandising is the same: to SELL THE PRODUCT. Usually a FASHION COORDINATOR works

with everyone in the store, seeing to it that the merchandise is presented to the public in a way that is con-

sistent with the store’s FASHION IMAGE.

SALES ASSOCIATES are the people who try to sell merchandise to you and me. If they are good,

these SALES ASSOCIATES develop a close relationship with their customers, keeping RECORDS and find-

ing ways to let us know that they have merchandise that meets our WANTS and NEEDS. They try to give us

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE information about a product that might influence us to buy. They will also try to

sell us more than one item. This is called MULTIPLE SALES.

Remember, there is a difference in the terms “fashion” and “fashion merchandising.” Fashion is

DESIGN, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND MARKETING OF CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES while

“fashion merchandising” is PLANNING, BUYING, AND SELLING BASED ON CALCULATIONS OF WHAT

CUSTOMERS NEED AND WILL PURCHASE. If you think you want a career in fashion merchandising, the

best thing to do is to GET A JOB IN RETAILING.

19

14501

2572 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

www.f i lms.com

CCaallll TToollll FFrreeee:: 880000--446688--44222277

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