Fashion merchandising is an exciting and fulfilling industry that provides people with some of the best designed clothes around the world. But what is fashion merchandising exactly? Well, fashion merchandising can be explained as the area where fashion, marketing, and business intersect. Specialized knowledge of fashion comes together with a marketing prowess and business sense to get designer clothes into retail stores.
The question “what is fashion merchandising” is even common within the industry. Despite the fashion merchandising courses that people take, many people cannot grasp the fundamentals. So why is it that everyone keeps asking “what is fashion merchandising”? Well, the profession is actually such a strange combination of specialties that it confuses many people. How can somebody be so great with art and fashion and yet also be a shrewd business person?
There are three main skills that people in fashion merchandising must perform well. If you’re still asking “what is fashion merchandising” after this list, then the profession is probably not for you. The first skill that is necessary for a great fashion merchandiser is forecasting ability. In order to accurately order and sell garments you must have thorough knowledge of fashion trends and recognize industry developments and changes. If you cannot properly forecast the number of designer jeans that consumers want, then you will either have far too many produced or not have enough stocked at the store.
The second skill necessary for all fashion merchandisers is analytical ability. While a good sense of style and up to date information on fashion is important, you will be unable to answer “what is fashion merchandising?” without discussing the analytical prowess required in the job. As a fashion merchandiser you must be able to determine how items fit within a budget and whether they meet the needs of your customers. The business and marketing that are involved in the industry require analytical skills that rival many other industries. Although a high intelligence is not necessarily required for a job in fashion merchandising, the ability to quickly and precisely manage garments is extremely important.
The third and final aspect of fashion merchandising, which could help answer the question “what is fashion merchandising?” is the importance of communication. In order to be a good fashion merchandiser, one must be able to communicate well with fashion designers, retail managers, and consumers.
In order to answer the question “what is fashion merchandising?” one must first examine what the job entails and what types of people excel greatly within the profession. Simply saying that fashion merchandisers sell clothing does not even scratch the surface of what they do, let alone answer the question “what is fashion merchandising?” Nonetheless, one could still somewhat accurately describe what is fashion merchandising in a single sentence. Fashion merchandising is about knowing what your customers want to wear before they know they want it and persuading them that they do. Although that sentence may seem like a tongue twister, that is pretty indicative of how difficult the industry really is.