task 2 pdf
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The role of a buyer is different between companies but all fashion
buyers are responsible for overseeing the development of a range of
products aimed at a specific customer and price bracket. A buyer must
consider different factors when making purchasing decisions such as,
customer demand concentrating on price, quantity and availability,
market trends, store policy’s and financial budgets. Buyer’s source
new merchandise and review existing products to ensure products
remain competitive, but still completely understanding consumer
needs, they are able to maximise profits and provide a commercially
viable range of merchandise at completive prices. Keeping up to date
with market trends and reacting to changes in demand are key
elements for a buyers.
Buyers much have full fashion awareness and be able to understand
clearly customers changing fashion requirements, while also
anticipating future looks and trends, which can later be interpreted
into key looks and ranges. They must also have good commercial
awareness and have the skills in order to judge costs and selling prices
of specific garments. They need to have a clear understanding of
predicted sale potential of a product and actively seek and develop
new suppliers. Another important aspect is being able to understand
new target customers buying behaviour and patterns.
Planning is also a key part of a buyer’s role as they need to be able to
track all of their orders for every season through critical paths. They
must also be good at managing time of both themselves and their
team by sharing and prioritising work. It is also key that buyers accept
full reasonability for own and team decisions and actions as it is down
to them whether the brand make a profit from products or not. They
must also be able to pick up bargains buying potential for out of
season products and ensure commercial balance of new fashion and
core bestselling lines.
Retail buyers typical work actives can vary according to different
seasons. A buyer working within the fashion industry is most affected
by the changing seasons. For example out of season the buyers with
spend most of their time in the head office looking at trends and
planning for future seasons. During the buying season a significant
amount of time will be sent away from the workplace in order to
assemble new collection and merchandise. Most of their time will be
spent overseas visiting manufacturing trying to source the best
product for their brand which will ultimately catch customer attention
and increase buying patterns within the store.
A buyers role with initially involve analysing consumer buying patterns
and predicating future trends, regularly reviewing performance
indicators, such as sales and
discount levels while also
managing plans for stock levels
within each store. Reacting to
Changes and negotiating terms
of contract as well as maintain
good relationships with
exsisting and new suppliers.
They will also regularly attend
fairs in the UK and overseas to
select and assemble a new
collection of products. They will
also be writing reports and
forecasting sales levels. As well
as this they will have to present
new ranges to senior retail
mangers to ensure they are
meeting a certain standard and
finally they will be in charge of training graduate buyers and junior
staff.
The definition of a supply chain is a sequence of processes involved in
the production and distribution of a product or a service. A supply
chain will include every person or business that is involved in the
completion of a finished product to be sold to the consumer. A supply
chain activates transform natural resources, raw materials, and
components into a finished product that is delivered to the end
consumer. The supply chain not only includes the manufacture and
suppliers but also the transport process and warehouse as well as the
initial customer. Within each business such as manufacturer, the
supply chain includes all function involved in receiving and filling a
customer request.
Supply chains however will differ depending on brand, product and
service. An example of this is Zara’s supply chain which will be
influences by their high fashion content at affordable prices and so
their strategy ultimately revolves around speed and getting the
product to the customer as fast as possibly in order to maintain their
brand image. Another example is Dell Direct, their customer
experience is vital and this will be shown though their responsiveness
through configure- to- order. Dells unique supply chain looks for ways
to take out time and costs to pass and savings onto their consumers.
To ensure the brand achieve this they need to gather information
through their direct sales model and shares it with its internal sales
departments and external suppliers. These close relationships allow
dell to understand what they must supply in real time and then meet
their demand and giving the consumer what they want and not just
hoping that the customer will buy the product. Apple value is through
product innovation that makes them a lead competitor in the market.
If they didn’t have their efficiency through outsourcing and
manufacturing and logistics it may not run the same. The outsource
production around the work so they are able to produce the best
products by the best people at the cheapest and in the most flexible
way possible.
Wall mart success is down to the lower cost of production due to
sourcing, better control over inventory and selection in stores that
ultimately results in lower prices for customers. Amazon is
valuable for its wide range of product of offer to customers the
operational strategy is very efficient with reliable ordering
systems for customers. Lead time can affect the supply chain as
longer lead times can be very expensive and so retailer will want
to reduce the amount of time is takes for them to deliver a
product to the market. Recent growth of amazon has come from a
new program set up called, Amazon Prime that offer free two day
delivery to more
than 20 million
subtribes. Where
products cannot
be stored ahead
of time in
warehouses like Amazon lead time
is critical as it will also from the
customer perception of the
business. For a made to measure
service a lead time
that is excessive
may force the
customer’s
perception of the business.
Zara is another brand which also has a very unique supply chain
compared to other retailers on the higstreet as it is purely focused
on fast fashion. Zara’s success comes from making catwalk copies
in house and sending them out to stores with three weeks. This
enables the consumer to buy new on trend items every few
weekend before they hit other retail stores. Zara turns over
30,000 new designs per year with phenomenal speed. In order for
Zara to achieve this speed Zara limits its outsourcing and makes
most of their catwalk copes in house to ensure that they have
better quality control over the product. If Zara does out source,
they use poorer European countries. The industry average for
products to hit the shop floor is 6 months spreading across four
months, but Zara however now want you to buy in 104 seasons
with new products arriving in stores twice a week. Even when
items arrive to Zara stores they are ready to be hung straight onto
the shop floor. All items have been pre tagged and security tags
have all be attached this is to save staff time in store so they can
focus more on the customer. Due to the fast cycle of Zara
products, consumes tend to visit the store six times more than its
competitors. Another unusual way that Zara works compared to
retailers is that is uses no advertising. Retailers will spend million
on advertising new products but the Zara found it a ‘pointless
distraction.
Supply chains are constantly evolving and brands are now looking
at ways to make the customer feel included in the chain and make
them feel they understand where their product has come from.
This is known as the prosperity chain that evolves from existing
supply chains already in place within the industry. As supply chains
have grown larger and more people are included in between the
artisan, manufacturer and the consumer and some people are
even replaced by machinery decreasing product value. As more
people are involved and production increased the clothing will
lose its original authenticity. Authenticity and value is what the
prosperity chain is trying to bring back to into the production line.
The prosperity chain allows customers to trace back who has
made their garment. Supply chain is a consumer walking into a
store such as Zara to buy a specific outfit, this is where the supply
chain initially starts, with the consumers need.
The next stage of the supply chain is Zara as this is the retail store
that’s the customer has decided to visit. Zara will distribute
products to their stores every three days from their distribution
centre in the north of Spain. These factors are what contribute to
Zara being the leader in fast fashion. A supply chain is dynamic
and involves the constant flow of information, product and funds
between the different people involved in the supply stage. Zara
for example provides the product as well as pricing and availability
information to the customer. They design make and distribute all
of their products in house direct to the customer this is when the
customer will
transfer their
funds to Zara
when purchasing
a product.
Due to increasing globalization and
better accessibility to alternative
products made available to
consumer in today’s market the
important of product
design when keeping
up with demand have
become more
significant than ever.
In addition to this competition is increasing for companies as they
all want a some of the limited market demand. This however is
causing pricing and other marketing elements to become less
distinguishing factors.
Different retailers may have different types of control over their
supply chain and their sourcing options. A small shop/ boutique
may decide to source their products from a wholesaler that will
supply them with a range of products at a lower price so that the
boutique can make a higher profit from what the sell. They may
also decide to source their products from specific designer brand
in which case they would contact that designer directly or attend
different trade shows, for example scoop in London. Depending
on the type of shop they may source from garage sales especially
if it is a vintage store as you can find a lot of different unusual
vintage style products and the supply chain can vary. As the
products would be ready made and possibly sourced locally and
the quantities would be a lot smaller it means that the lead times
are smaller. A department store such as Harvey Nichols would
source their products differently to a small shop. The buyer for
that brand would be required to stock the store with a large know
of well know brand and also their own company brand. The well-
known brand would be ready made from other designers whereas
their own brand products would be manufactured to Harvey
Nichols own specifications. They would have more control over
the supply chain process for their own brand products choosing
where they would be manufacture cost of production.
A multiple retailer such as Topshop has more control over their
supply chains as all of their products are own brand. The buyers
for Topshop would be required to travel overseas to source
cheaper manufactures. This type of buyer would oversee the
overall process of the product being developed including the
delivery. The lead time for their products would be a lot higher
sue to their transport costs and time and also because the
products will be in much bigger quantities. Larger retailers will buy
in bigger quantities. Such large commercial retailer will buy in
large quantities so they are able to buy items at cheaper cost.
They would also have to search for new supply sources and not
just continue with their original suppliers. As you can see the
Different brands will use different types of supply
chains depending on their business aim…….
buying role would differ greatly from a multiple retailer to a
boutique. The larger the retailer means more extensive travel for
the buyer whereas the buyer for the boutique would source close
to home as it would be less worthwhile for them to travel abroad.
The buyer in the small boutique shop would also have a much
smaller budget to manage than that of a larger retailer, but the
larger retailer will likely to have a different team of buyers to
manager small sections of the brand so they are not just in charge
of a number of sections.
When sourcing products locally there are advantages to the
retailer such as being able to communicate faster and more
efficiently. It is easier for the buyer to go and visit a manufacturer
in the UK than having pay money on flight to travel abroad and
they do not have to worry about language barriers. Another
benefit of sourcing from your home country is that the quality of
clothing, manufacturing and labour standard is higher than in
poorer countries. Products that are made in the UK have a label
that will state that they have been handmade in Britain. This label
will give the garment a higher product value to the consumer than
of something that is from another county as the consumer will
feel more confident that is a good quality piece of clothing.
Products that use this label is the Cambridge Satchel Company.
Products that are sourced from overseas are much cheaper to
manufacture and there is a wide range of manufactures for brands
to choose from. This is why overseas manufacturing has such a
large appeal to retailers. There are many cons to manufacturing
overseas though such as the lower standards and different types
of manufacturing and lower labour standards for employees. In
2013 there was a factory which collapsing in Bangladesh, which
killed over 1100 workers making garments for many westerns
retailers. Many retailers who were involved have paid
compensation to the victims and their families but over year later
there are still retailer who have not paid.
Supply chains are constantly developing over time and are now
faster than ever. Just 30 years ago it took retailers approximately
thirty days to get garments frim the manufacturing to the shop
floor. This has decreased dramatically down to thirty hours and
manufacturers are now able to get clothes to the shop floor within
just thirty hours. As I spoke about earlier the supply chain can be
looked at as a cycle as the retailer reacts to the demand of the
consumer. The whole process is customer centric and reacts to
their demand, so if the customer wants a product that is not
available in with one retailer then they will go somewhere else.
The supply chain relies on quick response from each area so good
communication is key. The lead-time, which I have already spoken
about in this referees to the amount of time from the placement
of an order to the delivery. This is made up of three sections, the
pre processing time, the processing time and the post processing
time. The pre processing leas time is the time, which is needed for
planning, research and fabric purchasing. The processing lead-
time relates to the time required to manufacture the garments.
The pre processing leas time relates to the needed for dispatch
transportation, customer and delivery of garments.
The food supply chain differs slightly from the retail supply chain
as the raw materials start from livestock and on a farm and end up
in supermarket or butchers. The food supply chain is also
globalised just like retail with more consumers opting for locally
grown organic goods. This type of food chain is subject to more
risks and can become more complex due to food standards
regulations. They must also consider the cost of rising oil prices,
political instability and natural disaster on raw materials when
considering transportation around the world.
An effective supply chain overall needs to consider a quick
turnover of products so that they can get the raw materials
produced and into the store as soon as possible for customers to
buy. Lots of stock must be available in the stores at all times so
that staff members can replenish the shop floor. In the case of
Zara, clothing is steamed before it hits the store to save the staff
time. Transport from manufacturing to stores and warehouses
must be smooth and efficient and meet all legal requirements. To
maintain fast deliveries and production speed, communication in
all areas of the supply chain must be effective. One main factor,
which has stood out as being important within an effective supply
chain, is flexibility and the ability to react to changing markets and
trends.
‘’Zara's strategy involves stocking very
little and updating collections often.
Instead of other brands that only update
once a season, Zara restocks with new
designs twice a week, reported Suzy
Hansen at the New York Times.
That strategy works two ways, according
to Hansen. First, it encourages customers
to come back to the store often. It also
means that if the shopper wants to buy
something, he or she feels that they have
to in order to guarantee it won't sell
out.’’