Textile and Clothing Merchandising

Course: TX 355

Course Outline

Lecture 01

Introduction

Textile and Clothing Merchandising

Course Objective

� Want to make participants able to handle

customer’s enquiries, costing and pricing,

sampling process, and formal coordination

with other departments as well as with

customers

Course Description

� Synopsis of textile and clothing

merchandising.

� Will adequately cover significant topics

related to textile and clothing merchandising.

� Main focus will be enquiries handling, product

pricing, and coordination with production

departments and fluent communication with

customers.

Teaching Methodology

� Class lectures

� Group discussion

� Seminars

� Presentations

� Industry Visit

Material

� Books

� Class notes

� Hand-outs

� Survey of the industry

� Interviews of industry leaders

� Net surfing

Assignments and Term Project

� Individual and group assignments

� Interaction with industry

� Independent industry visits

� Interview with industry leaders

Quizzes

� Announced and unannounced

� Concept base

� 30 minutes

� 6-8 in numbers

Attendance Policy

� Five classes missing means “Grade F”

� Five minutes late means no entrance in class

� Have to justify five minutes late

� Class will start at exact time INSHALLAH

� Missing of one class means losing one mark

Grading Policy

� Assignments: 12.5%

� Quizzes: 12.5%

� Midterms: 20%

� Project 15%

� Attendance: 10%

� Final: 35%

Lecture 02

� International Textile and Clothing Trade

� Share of different countries and Growth Rate

Lecture Three

� Performance of Pakistan Textile and Clothing

Industry

Description Value/Share (%)

Exports 67 % of total exports

(US $ 7.5 Billion)

Manufacturing 46% of total manufacturing

Employment 38 % of total employment

GDP 11 % of total GDP

Investment 31% of total investment

Market Capitalisation 8% of total market capitalisation

Taxes Million US $ 75.00

Salaries and Wages Million US $ 750.00

PTI Infrastructure

� Fiber Production

� Natural fiber mainly cotton

� Synthetic Mainly polyester

PTI Sectors

� Ginning

� Spinning

� Weaving

� Mill sector

� Non-mill sector

� Knitting

� Part of vertical set up

� Independent knitting mills

Wet Processing

Fiber and yarn

Knitted fabric

Woven fabric

Garment

Clothing

Made ups

Clothing

Clothing Accessories

Buttons

Zips

Stitching thread

Packing material

Labels etc

Textile Exports

1971-2 2003-4A verage

Growth Ratein 32 Years (%)

Share in

Total Export

in 1971- 72 (%)

Share in

Total Export in2002-03 (%)

Total Exports 590.7 12313 9.95

Total Textile exports 429.5 8253 9.67 72.8 67.03

C otton 200.5 48 -4.5 33.98 0.39

Yarn 127.5 1162 7.1 21.61 9.44

Fabric 81.5 1766 10.08 13.81 14.34

Tent & C anv as 1.9 75 12.17 0.32 0.61

Towels 6.1 404 21.1 1.03 3.28

Bed Wear 0.9 1800 26.81 0.15 14.62

O ther Made- Ups 1.2 520 20.89 0.2 4.22

Garments 3.2 993 19.63 0.54 8.06

Hosiery (knitted

garments)

3.2 1459 21.08 0.54 11.85

Textiles 4.2 80 9.6 0.39 0.65

Lecture 03

�Marketing and Merchandising

Merchandising

�The promotion of merchandise sales, as

by coordinating production and

marketing and developing advertising,

display, and sales strategies.

Marketing

� This is the process of planning and executing

the conception, pricing, promotion and

distribution of ideas, goods and services to

satisfy customers

Sale

� An exchange of goods, services, or other

property for money

Garment Industry

� Production Flow

Types of Production

� Order Based

� Market demand base

Market Demand Base

� Rare

� More common for basic items

� Mainly China is doing

Order Base

� Most common

� Brands have to follow this

� For special items

� For seasonal products

� For small orders

� For promotional items

Pakistan Garment Industry

� Mainly doing order base production

� Details are finalized by customer

� Designs are done by customer

� Supplier has to follow

Lecture 04

Role of Merchandising

Role of Merchandising

Working as a Bridge between Buyer and

Mill

Pakistan Textile Industry

� Working Procedure

Work Flow

� Fiber --- yarn ---fabric formation---wet

processing—clothing

Merchandiser and clothing mills

� Mainly merchandising are demanded by

clothing mills

� In other sectors mostly marketing people are

demanded since they are producing

according to market demand, while, clothing

sector is producing after getting an order

Types of Garment Mills

� Woven

� Knitted

Textile and Clothing

� Textile

� All products made of fiber but not ready to be

used by consumer, like, yarn, fiber, grey fabric

� Clothing

� All products ready to wear, like, shirts,

shorts, trousers, blouses etc

Products

� Woven garments

� Knitted garments

� Made ups

Merchandiser for a Clothing Mill

� A key person in the whole chain

� First person being contacted by buyer

� All liaison through merchandiser

� Senior person in the hierarchy

� Most experienced

Responsibilities of Merchandiser

� Close liaison with buyers, buying houses

� Keeping firm well informed about the market

situation

� Prediction about future market demands

� Receiving enquiries from buyers

� Cots calculation

� Offering prices

� Intimation to buyers about delivery time

� Confirmation about WO

� Keeping buyer update about production

status

� Passing all information to production people,

account departments and all other relevant

people

� Helping in conduction final audit

� Dealing with complaints and finally:

� Keep mill filled with suitable orders

Lecture 6 Required Communication

Skills

� Writing

� Speaking

� Presentation

Writing

� E mails

� Letters

� Faxes

� Reports

Speaking

� On phone

� In meeting

Presentation

� Reports

� Progress

� Profile of the firms

For all you need:

� Good command on English

� Reasonable typing speed

� Clarity in pronunciation

� Computer operation skills

� Internet application

� Mobile phone uses

� Chatting techniques

� Bidding techniques

Communication Flow

� Communication:

o The act of communicating; transmission

o The exchange of thoughts, messages, or

information, as by speech, signals,

writing, or behavior.

o Interpersonal rapport

Sender

Receiver

Feed back

� Consumer

� Retailer

� Whole seller

� Importers

� Buying agents (optional)

� Suppliers (exporters)

� Manufacturers/vendors

Sale Strategy

� Direct to Whole seller or importers

� Sale through buying houses

Direct Sale

� Importers

� Manufacturers

Indirect Sale

� Importers

� Buying House

� Exporters

Detail of Communication flow

� Importers merchandiser

� Head of account (importers)

� Buying House merchandiser

� Head of account (buying house)

� Head manufacturer merchandiser

� Head of account (manufacturer)

� Account merchandiser (manufacturers)

With in the mill

� Production planning and control

� Account department

� Quality assurance

� Procurement

� Any other relevant people

Ways of communication

� E-mails

� Faxes

� Phones

� Faxes

� Verbal

Communication issues

� Message not clear

� Incomplete message

� Late message

� To person not relevant

Cares in Communication

o Message should be clear

o Get receipt of the message

o Ensure message received by the person concerned

o Action as per communication

o Feed back on message

o Involve other people in communication (copy to many other people)

o Keep record of communication

o Write time and date on message while receiving

o Important: one should be responsible for wrong communication and you should not be this person

Letter Writing

�Clear

�Concise

�Correct

�Courteous

�Conversational

�Convincing

�Complete

� Effective letter writing boils down to knowing why you are writing a

letter, understanding your reader's needs and then clearly writing

what you need to say. Every letter should be clear, human, helpful

and as friendly as the topic allows. The best letters have a

conversational tone and read as if you were talking to your reader.

In brief then, discover the Seven-Cs of letter writing. You should be

Putting your reader first

� For all writers the most important people are their readers. If you

keep your readers in mind when you write, it will help you use

the right tone, appropriate language and include the right

amount of detail.

Ask questions to get a clear

picture of your readers.

� Who are my readers?

What do they already know about the subject?

What do they need to know?

Will they understand technical terms?

What information do they want?

What do I want them to do?

Keeping your business plan to the

point� Make a list of the topics you want to cover but don't worry about

the order.

Under each topic, list key words, examples, arguments and facts.

Review each topic in your outline for relevance to your aim and audience.

Cut out anything that's not relevant to your aim or audience.

Sort the information into the best order for your readers.

Getting the right tone to your

business letter

� Use Contractions

� Use Personal References

� So instead of writing:

� Our address records have been amended ...

� write

� We’ve changed your address in our records ...

� Instead of writing:

� The company policy is ...

� write

� Our policy is ...

Use Direct Questions

� Original: We would appreciate your advising us whether you

want to continue this account or transfer it.

� Redraft: Do you want to continue your account or transfer it?

Original: Please inform us whether payment against these

receipts will be in order.

� Redraft: Can we pay against these receipts?

Writing your business plan in

plain English� Use active verbs rather than passive verbs

� Passive: It was agreed by the committee...

Active: The committee agreed...

� Passive: At the last meeting a report was made by the

Secretary...

Active: At the last meeting the Secretary reported...

� Passive: This form should be signed and should be

returned to me.

Active: You should sign the form and return it to me.

Keep your sentence average length

low� I refer to my letter of 13th June and am writing to advise you that

if we do not receive your completed application form within the

next fourteen days, I shall have no alternative but to arrange

property insurance on the bank's block policy.

� (One Sentence—45 words)

Shorter Sentences

� I have not yet received your reply to my letter of 13th June. If we

do not receive your completed application form within fourteen

days, I shall have to arrange property insurance on the bank's

block policy.

� (Two sentences—13 words and 24 words)

Use simple words rather than

complex ones� As we noted in the preceding section, if you purchased

additional printer options, such as a second printer tray, it is a

requirement you verify its correct installation.

Simple words

� As we noted in the previous section, if you bought extra printer

equipment, such as a second printer tray, you must check you

install it correctly

Edit wordy phrases

� at a later date later

� at the present time now

� for the purpose of for

� have no alternative but must

Avoid jargon and technical terms

� Avoid abbreviations

Writing powerful headings for your

business letters� Banking code outlaws obsolescence for savings accounts

� Electronic banker offers taste of the future

� Euro-fish out of its depth

� FT-SE falls on foreign woes

� Kingfisher flies in the face of retail gloom

� Masters sells pub chain

� Whitbread stops 5,000-job plan

Conti---

� Why Have an Annual Review?

� Why Invest Your Lump Sum?

� Are You Paying Too Much Tax?

Writing a strong opening to your

business letter� Thank you for your letter of 8th March 1998, which has been

passed to me for my attention.

� I refer to previous correspondence in respect of the above and

note that to date we have not received your cheque for the

outstanding arrears.

� I write with reference to our telephone conversation yesterday

regarding the above matter

conti

� answer a question

� ask a question

� explain an action taken

� express pleasure or regret

� give information

standard phrases

� Further to my recent

� I am writing

� I refer to my letter dated

� I refer to previous correspondence

� I write in reference to

� In respect of the above

� Recent correspondence

� Regarding

� With reference to

� With regards to

Writing a strong close to your

business letter� I would again apologise for the delay in replying and I trust that

this has clarified the points you have raised, however, if you wish to discuss any points I have not clarified, or need any further information, you may wish to telephone or contact me accordingly.

� I look forward to hearing from you and in the meantime, should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

� I regret that I cannot be of more assistance in this matter, and should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

overused business phrases

� Thanking you for your...

� Hoping for a prompt reply...

� Thanking you in advance for your assistance...

� Trusting this answers your questions...

� Please do not hesitate to contact me

� I trust this clarifies the situation

Conti--

� according to our records • on receipt of • after careful

consideration • please do not hesitate to• any further action •

please find enclosed • as you are aware • please forward• at

your earliest convenience • trust this is satisfactory • detailed

information• under separate cover• enclosed for your

information • upon receipt of • for your convenience • urgent

attention• further to • we acknowledge receipt • in receipt of •

we regret to advise

� Original:We trust this is satisfactory, but should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

� Redraft:We hope you are happy with this arrangement but if you have any questions, please contact us.

� Original: Further to your recent communication. Please find enclosed the requested quotationK

� Redraft: Thank you for contacting us. I enclose the quotation you asked forK

� Hackneyed business phrases ruin a clear natural style; so avoid using them and choose your own words instead.

Business letter writing checklist

� Keep it Short

� Cut needless words and needless information.

� Cut stale phrases and redundant statements.

� Cut the first paragraph if it refers to previous correspondence.

� Cut the last paragraph if it asks for future correspondence.

Keep it Simple

� Use familiar words, short sentences and short paragraphs.

� Keep your subject matter as simple as possible.

� Keep related information together.

� Use a conversational style.

Keep it Strong

� Answer the reader's question in the first paragraph.

� Give your answer and then explain why.

� Use concrete words and examples.

� Keep to the subject.

Keep it Sincere

� Answer promptly.

� Be human and as friendly as possible.

� Write as if you were talking to your reader.

�

Website

� http://www.business-letter-writing.com/writing-a-business-letter-

examples/business-letter-checklist.html

�

� What interests or motivates them?

What prejudices do they have?

What worries or reassures them?

What will persuade them to my view?

What other arguments do I need to present?

How are they likely to react to what I say?

� If you imagine yourself in your reader's position, you're more likely to write a good letter.

�