Buying and Merchandising MONSOON REPORT 1
1. Introduction
Following a directional shopping trip to LA, the Buying and Merchandising teams have developed two dresses to be presented at the internal product review meeting with management. One of these garments is to be included in the Spring/Summer 2012 range as part of a capsule collection. The chosen garment will go in sale in store in 10 weeks, thus making it a fast fashion garment.
This report documents the process the Monsoon Fusion Buying and Merchandising teams for the dress department have undertaken in selecting these garments, as well as KPIs and sales figures. All aspects of the two garments are compared, investigating which one will be more saleable in store and therefore profitable for the company, to aid in the decision making process of selecting one to put into production.
The selected garment will become part of the Monsoon Fusion Spring/Summer 2012 range, a sub-brand of Monsoon which is aimed at a younger customer base, with prices 20-30% cheaper than the core range (Mintel, 2011). A founder of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), Monsoon prides itself on their ethical, fairtrade and sustainable efforts (Monsoon.co.uk, 2012). Monsoon and all of its sub-brands, including Monsoon Fusion, ensure garments are produced in line with Monsoon’s Code of Conduct (see appendix 1).
2. Procedure and Methodology
The report follows in chronological order the initial conception of ideas for the garments, through to development, placement within the Monsoon Fusion pricing architecture, required unit buys and allocation to stores.
In order to obtain information by which to select garments, several methods have been employed. These include:
Customer profiling
Analysis of high street competition
Trend research via RTW and Couture collections and analysis of street style
Market analysis
KPIs have been applied to the garments based in information gained from analysis of historical sales patterns, like-for-likes (LFL) and planned growth within the range.
Following a directional shopping trip to LA, the Buying and Merchandising teams have developed two dresses to be presented at the internal product review meeting with management. One of these garments is to be included in the Spring/Summer 2012 range as part of a capsule collection. The chosen garment will go in sale in store in 10 weeks, thus making it a fast fashion garment.
This report documents the process the Monsoon Fusion Buying and Merchandising teams for the dress department have undertaken in selecting these garments, as well as KPIs and sales figures. All aspects of the two garments are compared, investigating which one will be more saleable in store and therefore profitable for the company, to aid in the decision making process of selecting one to put into production.
The selected garment will become part of the Monsoon Fusion Spring/Summer 2012 range, a sub-brand of Monsoon which is aimed at a younger customer base, with prices 20-30% cheaper than the core range (Mintel, 2011). A founder of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), Monsoon prides itself on their ethical, fairtrade and sustainable efforts (Monsoon.co.uk, 2012). Monsoon and all of its sub-brands, including Monsoon Fusion, ensure garments are produced in line with Monsoon’s Code of Conduct (see appendix 1).
2. Procedure and Methodology
The report follows in chronological order the initial conception of ideas for the garments, through to development, placement within the Monsoon Fusion pricing architecture, required unit buys and allocation to stores.
In order to obtain information by which to select garments, several methods have been employed. These include:
Customer profiling
Analysis of high street competition
Trend research via RTW and Couture collections and analysis of street style
Market analysis
KPIs have been applied to the garments based in information gained from analysis of historical sales patterns, like-for-likes (LFL) and planned growth within the range.
Bibliography: BBC News (2012) The Facts About UK Manufacturing. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1861801.stm Accessed: 23 Feb 2012 Goworek, H (2001) Fashion Buying. Oxford: Blackwell Science Free Index (2011) Available at: http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(catwalk-styles)_204156.htm Accessed: March 2012 Jackson, T & Shaw, D (2001) Mastering Fashion Buying and Merchandising Management. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Maynard, JK (1997) Fashion Buying & Merchandising – the Principles. Thorpe-Le-Soken, Essex: Jonjaqsaw Mintel (2011) Clothing Retailing – UK – October 2011. Mintel, London Monsoon.co.uk (2012) Accessed: March 2012 Shaw, D (2006) ‘Fashion buying and merchandising’ in T Jackson & D Shaw (eds.) The Fashion Handbook. Abingdon: Routledge