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.’’