So What is Merchandising

1
So What is Merchandising?

• Merchandisers work very closely with Buyers and
  determine range of goods to be sold
• When to buy them
• Their price
• How they will be presented
• Merchandiser responsible for range of
  merchandise, contents, price and give policy
  guidelines to Buyer
• Merchandiser could be responsible for promotion,
  display, sales forecast and stock levels

2
Retail Merchandisers need to understand all the
buying systems related to

• Buying
• Selling
• Transportation
• Warehousing of merchandise

The Merchandiser will

• Produce current sales figures
• Sales History Reports
• Produce Forward Estimates
• Visit Supplier Base and Warehouses AND
• Determine a strategy with the Category or
  Merchandise Manager
• Plan the size of the BUY
• Monitor stock management allocation to stores

3

• They will
• Manage one or two assistants and junior allocator
• Raise Purchase Orders to match range plan from
  buyers
• And
• Develop detailed spreadsheets for the buyers
• They
• Work closely with retail buyers in forecasting
  stock requirements and mark down decisions

4
Retail Buyers offices increasingly operate with
combination of buying and merchandising teams

• Buyers responsible for the product selection
• Merchandisers responsible for planning and
  financial control

Wholesale merchandising

• This is where company is a supplier to the High
  Street
• The Merchandiser becomes Liaison between Customer
  and Factory in UK and Offshore

5
The Role Involves

• Ensuring purchase order raised to budgets
• Ensuring orders from overseas and UK factories
  arrive on time
• Taking initial brief from customer via buyer for
  the season
• Negotiating cost prices with factories
• Negotiating on cost to customer i.e. selling
  price
• Approving pre-production samples
• Organising shipping documents
• Monitoring pre-production
• Stock control and contract invoicing

6
Skills and Qualifications required of Merchandiser

• Sound judgement
• Decisiveness and maturity
• Ability to cope under pressure
• Tough, business like approach
• Absolute integrity
• Excellent communication skills
• Negotiation skills

• Eye for detail
• Excellent numerical skills
• Ability to interpret data and figures and make
  commercial decisions based on them
• Good I.T. skills
• A degree or HND qualification
• Be self motivated
• Have the ability to rise to a challenge

7
Buying and Merchandising Director120K
Buying and Merchandising Manager 55 - 75K
Merchandiser 30K- 45K Assistant
Merchandiser 22K- 25K Allocator 16K - 18K
Buyer 30K- 45K Assist Buyer 22K - 25K Buyer
Assist 16K - 18K
8
The Role of The Merchandiser

• Retail Merchandising
• Work closely with Buyers to determine ranges of
  goods when to buy, price and how presented
• Produce financial plans on a seasonal basis
• Sales and stock level
• Gross/net margins
• Gross profit
• Space planning
• Mark up/downs
• Monitoring the performance of these measurable
  targets on a weekly basis
• Working within the buying team ensuring suppliers
  deliver on time
• Monitoring the allocation distribution of stock

9

• Wholesale Merchandising
• (The step before retail)
• Where company is a supplier to the high street,
  merchandiser becomes liaison between the customer
  and factory
• Ensuring purchase orders are raised to budgets
• Ensuring orders arrive from overseas and UK
  factories
• Critical brief from customer via buyer for the
  season
• Negotiates cost prices with factory and customer
  on sell
• Organising shipping documents
• Monitoring pre-production and stock control and
  contract invoicing
• Visual Merchandiser organise methods of display
  concentrating on
• colour,style, impact and ticket pricing.