The Two Faced Designer— Editing Your Line

Merchandising is a matter of using both the creative an analytical side of the brain. Achieving financial success in fashion doesn’t have to be a gamble. The merchandising process is designed to turn your product from a simple work of art to merchandise positioned to produce financial return.

After your line is beautifully designed the Merchant then takes over and begins editing the line to make it a marketable assortment. In this article we’ll discuss the general of merchandising and how to begin the process. .

A Merchandiser is not all about numbers and margins. Although the bottom line is their priority both the designer and merchandiser ultimately want a visually stimulating line.

The conflict can approach when it comes to turning your gorgeous line into a successful business. This means creating an assortment with the right number of pieces, appropriate pricing, positioning and strategic sales strategies.

I say all this to say that in any design related company that’s goal is financial reward, there needs to be at least two people making product decisions. A designer and a merchandiser.

If you’re a one man show you’ll need to assume both roles as you begin merchandising. This journey begins with editing your line. In order to accomplish putting together an effective merchandising strategy the first stop is to separate yourself.

The designer side is free and artistic while the merchandiser side is best described as the business person as well as the “customer filter.” It is ultimately the merchant’s responsibility to make sure everything suits the potential customer’s preferences and most of all sells.

Let’s back up a bit. If you haven’t already you’ll need to define your customer. Outside of typical demographics age, gender, income and geographic location, take some time to dig deeper.

Really try to get into the psyche of your customer. Shop where they shop. Read what they read. Watch what they watch on television and son on and so forth. At times I suggest my clients write a little story about their customer’s lives. This helps ensue that every product they decide to produce has a place in the customer’s life.

Another helpful exercise is to match your product to a well known person or celebrity. Is your product more Posh Spice or more Sienna Miller? Jackie O or Kelis?

Getting your customer profile together first helps to put everything in perspective from your brand strategy to your actual product assortment.

Once you’ve thought about your customer preferences begin applying them to your product line. As you get started whether you have samples or simply flat sketches the Merchant should pull each product through this customer profile or story. If it doesn’t fit it’s out. You don’t want to throw off your brand with an unfocused assortment. The goal is to make sure your product says something and keep in mind it’s not supposed to say something to everyone; just your potential customer and anyone who aspires to be like them.

The proper merchandising strategy is not only going to serve to increase your sales but it will also help greatly reduce your costs. You’ll hopefully eliminate things without sales potential and draw more focus in your marketing to product that you strongly believe in.

In effect you’re working at it from both ends to achieve the highest sales and profits possible.

If you need help developing your merchandising strategy contact Gloss Marketing at info@glossmarketing.com.