Merchandising

In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to the variety of products available for sale and the display of those products in such a way that it stimulates interest and entices customers to make a purchase.

In retail commerce, visual display merchandising means merchandise sales using product design, selection, packaging, pricing, and display that stimulates consumers to spend more. This includes disciplines and discounting, physical presentation of products and displays, and the decisions about which products should be presented to which customers at what time.

Merchandising helps to understand the ordinary dating notation for the terms of payment of an invoice. It solves pricing problems including markups and markdowns. It helps to find the net price of an item after single or multiple trade discounts and can calculate a single discount rate that is equivalent to a series of multiple discounts. Further it helps to calculate the amount of cash discount for which a payment qualifies.

Buyer (fashion)

In the retail industry, a buyer is an individual who selects what items will be stocked in a store, based on his or her predictions about what will be popular with shoppers. Retail buyers usually work closely with designers and their designated sales representatives and attend trade fairs, wholesale showrooms and fashion shows to observe trends. They may work for large department stores, chain stores or smaller boutiques. For smaller independent stores, a buyer may participate in sales as well as promotion, whereas in a major fashion store there may be different levels of seniority such as trainee buyers, assistant buyers, senior buyers and buying managers, and buying directors. Decisions about what to stock can greatly affect fashion businesses.

Background

Buyers are supported by the garment technologist, merchandisers, and designers. The garment technologist is the technical expert that offers advice on textile engineering and controls the development of samples. The merchandiser aids the buyer in the design of the stock mix, which is a strategy supported by analysis of trends. The merchandiser also manages the budget and directs delivery of stock and stock distribution. The designer offers creative direction and the buyer chooses from product designs spawned by the designer.

Fashion design

Fashion design is the art of application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social attitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories such as bracelets and necklace. Because of the time required to bring a garment onto the market, designers must at times anticipate changes to consumer tastes.

"Designers conduct research on fashion trends and interpret them for their audience". They attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear falls within a narrow range of conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions such as evening wear or party dresses.