Lean Mean Merchandiser
Lean Mean Merchandiser Why should you be a Merchandiser in the first place? Of all the professions, why did you chose to be a merchandiser? Were you out of your mind? Or do you love this job so much? Anyways, now that you are one, let me ask you the next obvious question. Are you […]
Apparel Merchandising / sourcing tips and tricks
Apparel Merchandising / sourcing tips and tricks Negotiating the Best Deal Merchandisers in the apparel industry engage in two kinds of negotiation activities. At one level, merchants try to negotiate the deals with their buyers and at the other level, they do the same with their suppliers such as trim suppliers and fabric suppliers. The […]
Hilarious Merchandising Stories – The Wise Tag
Hilarious Merchandising Stories – The Wise Tag The ‘Wise Tag’ I am sitting on my work station in our very charming pristine white Tommy Hilfiger office, with white walls, white cabinets and white work desks. My boss sits facing me, and the only thing that prevents us from each other’s view is the cubicle wall […]
Merchandising as Centre of Excellence (CoE)
If we study some of the best companies of the world, it is easy to discern that they are successful because they have very strong SOPs put in place, and are not so heavily people dependent. It is not like if one merchant is on leave, the entire account’s work goes haywire !
We are talking about a huge paradigm shift here. The merchandising community must rise up and elevate themselves to the new paradigm. The futuristic view of the role of merchandiser must undergo the following paradigm shift –
From that of a ‘victim’ to that of a ‘mentor’
From that of a ‘mere merchant’ to that of a ‘project manager’ or ‘project owner’
From ‘people’ orientation to ‘process’ orientation
From ‘swatch card’ to ‘job card’
From ‘coordinator’ to ‘customer relationship manager’
From ‘crisis manager’ to an ‘internal consultant, expert, Centre of Excellence’
Delivery Extension – How to convert the sin into a win ?
We often get stuck in this tricky and conflicting situation. The vendor feels that buyer is partly responsible for causing the delay and buyer feels that vendor owes it to them to ship the goods on time, no matter what and should proactively manage the deadlines. What is the best way to handle such situation is the focus of this paper.
Decidedly, each situation is unique and will call for a unique resolution. But for the purpose of this discussion, let us assume the common theme that vendor is not internally convinced about being held responsible for the delay in question. Some part may have been played by the buyer in contributing to the delay as well. So what do you do to put across your point, without appearing to be playing the blame game?
Blame Game – The Bane of Merchandising
One might be tempted to argue and say, why all the blame should fall on the merchandiser’s shoulders alone. Other departments should equally shoulder their responsibility as well, if it is teamwork. There is definitely some merit in this reasoning. However, a smart merchant knows
Costing and Negotiation skills for merchants in apparel supply chain.
Costing and Negotiation skills for merchants in apparel supply chain. It’s that time of the year again. The beginning of a new season, proto sampling deadlines, endless coordination with fabric suppliers and garment vendors to stick to the dates to make sure the samples reach in time for the ‘ oh so important meeting’, and […]
CFM – Customer Focused Merchandising – top ten tips
CFM – Customer Focused Merchandising – top ten tips In today’s extremely competitive apparel industry, CFM – customer focused merchandising is the single most important factor that can differentiate you from others in the field, whichever side you may be on, be it retailing or sourcing as in buying offices or in manufacturing. We cannot […]
Apparel Industry – encounters with truth
Apparel Industry – encounters with truth Post quota regime – wake up call Order in question is 50,000 pcs of a basic men’s pant in cotton twill fabric. Our factory in Bangladesh quoted $ 7.00 per pc as their best price. Next day you hear from buyer that order placed with a vendor in china […]