The Business of Fashion Ch. 9

Dallas Market

"Dallas Market Center (DMC)" Key center for the South. Includes 4 buildings: 1. World trade center 2. Trade Mart 3. International Floral and Gift Center 4. Market hall (Headquarters: Willaimson-dickie. VF has operations their)

Advantages of market weeks for fashion brands:

- Sales reps can show lines to large number of retailer buyers in a short time. - Retailers may place orders during market weeks - Sales reps can talk with buyers and quire information regarding consumer and retail trends - sales reps can determine which pieces will most likely be put into production based off of buyer interest - apparel and home companies can receive publicity for their line and increase potential for securing new accounts - lines of competing companies may be viewed

Advantages of services designed to assist retail buyers:

- educational seminars (trend reports, visual merchandising, etc) - seminars for first time or new buyers - fashion shows - programs to connect buyers with representatives and vendors - opportunities for buyers to join together for purchasing, marking , and advertising purposes - credit and financing assistant - discounts on travel expenses entertainment (concerts, food fairs, etc)

non-selling jobs of sales rep

- inventory management - make travel arrangement - writing reports for company - keep books for accounting - attending sales meetings

Market week advantages for buyers:

- review many lines of merchandising in a short time - can aquire information about fashion trends, promotional strategies, visual merchandising and other topics - buyers can become aware of new lines they may want o purchase for their stores

Selling functions of sales rep

- showing lines to retail buyers -demonstrate product features - negotiating terms of sale - writing order for merch

South American Fashion Brand Market Centers

Argentina and Brazil Sao Paulo, Brazil (fashion week is 5th largest in the world)

A Mart is___

a building or a group of buildings that houses showrooms in which sales representatives show apparel and home fashions lines to retailers

Atlanta

"AmericasMart" hosts more than 55 markets per year. (Headquarters: Carter's)

Terms of Sale include:

- specific time goods are to be delivered - guarantees related to orders and style will be produced - promotional discounts paid by the manufacturer to retailer for coopadvertising - discounts- if certain quantity is purchases, if merch is bought early - markdown allowances - return privledges - promotional tools such as gift with purchase

Orders can be canceled for the following reasons:

- there are insufficient orders for particular style or color - the fabric is not available - variety of production problems can occur - natural disasters If the retailer's order for a style cannot be filled by the manufacturer, the retailer may be willing to accept a substitute style or color/ or the retailer may cancel their order

selling support of sales rep

-Advise buyers on trends - provide product information - train buyers and sales people to promote and advertise merchandise - order and reoder merchandise for customers - deal with complaints - promote customer relations

Trade Shows

-Purpose of promoting line of apparel, accessories, and home fashions -Last anywhere from 3-8 days -typically located in exhibition halls, large hotels, or convention centers -New York (MODA) and Las Vegas (Ex: Magic, ATS) is the US hub for trade shows

Decisions regarding promotion strategies are based on

-advertising budget -characteristics of target market -characteristic of its product line -area of distribution

During market weeks buyers attend to the following activities:

-set appointments with manufacturers' sales reps -set appointments with contractors for private label and store brand merchandise - discover new trends - attend fashion shows - attend trend seminars and other educational sessions - review manufactures lines - place orders

Selling function is handled in one of the following ways

1. internal selling for private label merchandise and store brands 2. corporate selling 3. sales reps and show rooms

The term market can be used in the following ways:

1. location where the buying and selling of merchandise takes place. 2. Consumer demand for a product 3. promoting a product (typically through advertising and public relations) (marketing)

international Marketing

1. sell through direct sales-sells directly to foreign business 2. sell through agents- international agents handle selling becuase they have expertise in market 3. sell through exclusive distribution agreements- agreements with specific retailers for exclusive selling rights 4. sell through foreign licenses in a specific country or region- license to foreign companies.

European Fashion Market Centers

France- Birth place of haute couture, luxury fashion (channel, Dior, Louis Vuitton.) Paris fashion week Germany- best known for textile and production machinery, and important trade shows. (PUMA, Adidas, Hugo Boss) Italy- Long histroy of supporting the fashion industry. Milan fashion week Great Britain- quality woolens and custom tailored suits. London fashion week. (Doc Martin, ASOS, Burberry.) Spain- best known for its fast fashion companies (ZARA, Mango)

International Markets

New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Milan, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires

Multiline sales reps

Independent. Work for themselves not a specific company. represent lines from several non-competing, but related companies. work on straight commission (typically 5-10%). Work for small business or business who do not want to and can not afford to hire their own sales reps. determining the right fit between sales rep and company can be difficult.

Asian Fashion Brand Markets

Japan- specialty textiles. Tokyo fashion week. (Yohji Yamamoto) Hong Kong- important port for east Asia. hub for supply chain management, marketing, licensing, and trade. (li and Fung, LLC) South Korea- Focused on 1. market center of budget and moderate fashion brands priced merchandise for Asia and Russia. 2. Luxary Fashion Designers. 3. Companies that serve as merchandisers and supply chain managers for brands producing in china. Taipei (Taiwan)- world leader in manufactured fibers, high-tech and performance materials, materials used in footwear production.

US brand market centers

NYC Los Angeles Chicago Dallas Atlanta

Market weeks for spring fashion

October and November

Advertising

Paid buy space or time in print, broadcast, digital media. companies can share the cost with coopadvertising

Los Angeles Market

Primary market for West coast. "California Market Center (CMC)" opened 1964. Originally one of the nations largest garment manufacturing centers, but has shifted focus to design and marketing. (companies with headquarters: guess?, Lucky Brand Jeans)

Smaller US Markets

San Francisco, CA Seattle, WA Portland, OR

Product Life Cycle Engagement Technology

Virtual Samples- 3 dimensional computer technology showing sample. including intended fabric color and print Advantages: key buyers can forecast the hot selling styles, time saving, a design can be created and revised and shown to buyers all without the cost of developing a prototype. Maximum efficiency, speed, accuracy, and quality

NMarts compete for buyers attention through:

a variety of programs and services designed to enhance the buyers experience and help them be more efficient at their jobs

Corporate show rooms

advantage: staff can devote 100% of their time to company's lines and customers, complete control over show room disadvantage: expensive investment, lease agreements vary from mart too mart

small business and multiline sales reps

advantages for small businesses is no initial capital investment in a showroom and established sales reps are familiar with local accounts and can promote the line with buyers. Small businesses do incur expenses: fees for market week activities, coop advertising expenses, costs for hospitality services, fashion shows or other promotional activities

Other promotional toosl

business to consumer- email, websites with blogs, social media direct mail trunk shows- get consumers reactions to products, exclusive service to their customers, access to full line of products merchandise reps- educate retail staff on merch, demonstrate display procedures, assist retailer in maintaining stock style testing and participation promotions

Open-To-Buy

buyers come to market with a specific amount they can spend

NYC market

considered the preeminent US fashion brand Market center. Primary for the east coast. Does not have a designated apparel or merchandise mart. Instead show rooms are located throughout a portion of Manhattan (the garment district). (Comapnies with head quarters: Ralph Laurena nd Calvin Klein)

Decorative fabric jobbers and converters- home fashions

converters- design and sell finished textiles to jobbers, designers, and manufacturers. create and distribute sample books Jobbers- also involved in the marketing and distributing of home textile piece goods, particularly upholstery and drapery

Market weeks and trade shows are primary opportunities for:

designers, manufacturers, and retailers to connect and conduct business

All marts also include:

exhibition halls that are filled with temporary showrooms or booths used during market weeks

Examples of topics of seminars;

how to do business in mexico or china, labeling requirements for exporting goods, and other issues surrounding exporting

Sample Lines

manufacturers provide to the sales rep. samples include example of each style included in one colorway. some companies require the sales rep to purchase the samples, in this case sales reps can sell the samples at the end of the season. If company does not require sales rep to purchase line, the samples are returned at the end of the season.

Market weeks for fall fashion

march and april

The area called research and merchandising typically focuses on_____

market research and developing sales, promotion, and distribution strategies.

Other promotional tools

media kits- used when launching a new company, enhancing pr changing image/identity, promoting company. line catalogs- provide important information about line to buyers B2B electronic communication- websites and virtual showrooms, extranets and communications software No appointment necessary, paperwork is reduced, ID and password log in Visual Merchandising Tools-

Publicity

not paid. dis. adv. company has no control over how merchandise is portrayed adv. company does not have to pay for publicity

Distribution policies

open distribution- manufacturer will sell to any retailer selected distribution policy- detailed criteria that stores sores must meet in order for them to carry manufacturers goods. Typical criteria: expected sales volume, geographic area, retail image

Virtual trade shows

opportunity to view and purchase good online common for graphics, textiles, home fashions, specialized apparel

The marketing area of fashion brand company is most often associated with ____

product promotion and sales

Market Center

refers to those cities that are the headquarters of major fashion brand companies, house marts and/or showrooms, are home to important trade shows, and have important retailing industries.

Chicago Market

the Chicago Merchandise Mart" and the "Chicago Apparel Center", primary customers from northern and Midwestern US. One of the Largest trade centers in the US. known for gift and home markets. (headquarters: sears holding corp)

Internal Selling

the design team present lines to in house merchandisers who select specific pieces of the line for production Private label merchandise and store brands is handled internally.

Sales Representatives

the individual who serves as the intermediary between the brand and the retailer, selling the fashion line to retailers. All sales reps are assigned a Regional Sales Territory

Market Weeks are___

the primary times during the year when retail buyers are shown seasonal lines apparel, accessories, or home fashions companies or sales representatives without permanent showrooms at that market.

Exhibition halls are also used for:

trade shows

Market week dates are set how far in advance?

typically years in advance

Show Rooms

used by sales reps to show samples to retail buyers. can be permanent or temporary. Permanent are located in market centers and marts, adjacent to marts, or at the headquarters Temporary- used during market weeks, also called booths.

Corporate selling

used by: 1)companies that manufacture designer price zone merchandise and sell to a limited number of retailers 2)very large company that sell moderately priced merch. to large corporate retailers sales are conducted through headquarters without the use of sales reps

Company Sales rep

work for a particular company only and are housed in corporate show rooms owned by company. can work on salary + commission, or straight commission Pay their own expenses including: cost of show rooms, travel expenses, sometimes the purchase of manufacturers sample lines