See your resident buyer first. Your market representative can tell you which resources are "hot", which ones are not up to their usual standard, who is sold out, who is new and worth investigating.
If you have a special problem in locating a resource for merchandise more or less unfamiliar to you, the market representative will usually save you a good deal of digging by suggesting possible sources.
Do not overlook opportunities to meet the office's fashion coordinator and divisional merchandise manager, or to exchange ideas with buyers from other stores. Those you meet at the buying office will be from non-competing stores whose fashion policies are similar to those of your own.
Be sure to participate actively in clinics arranged by your resident office. The programs will be informative as to fashion, merchandise, and markets. The opportunity to exchange opinions with other buyers will be a valuable added benefit. Whether you are a beginner or an old pro, there are always things you can learn best by talking over your ideas with others who have similar responsibilities.
Budgeting Your Time
Schedule calls on resources in the order that you think will be most helpful to you.
Some buyers prefer to see major resources first. Because of the good rapport that usually exists between such resources and the store, buyers can pick up a meaningful background on market conditions quickly.
Other buyers prefer to see higher-priced lines first, because these firms usually have a clearer understanding of fashion and can provide a background for evaluating trends.
Still others work geographically from building to building to conserve time.
Allow time for non-market activities. Lunch and evening hours, when you are not tied up in showrooms, are good times to inspect the city's stores, see what is being worn in the streets and restaurants, and possibly tuck in a visit to an art museum, a talked-about play, or some other taste-shaper.
Window-shopping, which tells you much about how fashions are being accepted at various income levels, is important. See the windows of stores all up and down the price scale. You can do this during your strolls from hotel to market if weather permits. In traffic-snarled business districts, your walk may take no longer than a taxi ride.
Seeing a Line
If possible, have the vendor's salesman show you the line in the sequence you prefer- by prices, by groups for a particular purpose, or whatever it may be.
Run through the entire line quickly (or that part which falls within your classifications and price lines) and have the salesman set aside the styles you like. Then go through these again, to narrow your selection to those that seem acceptable.
Under normal circumstances, at this point take notes, but do not write an order. You have more lines to see. You have to consult with store and buying office people. You have to weigh all your intended purchases against your buying plan before you do any ordering at all. An order is a contract, remember, and permits no change of mind. In taking notes:
- list the best numbers first, so that you can drop the bottom ones if you have taken too many for your needs
- set down complete details of prices, fabrics, size ranges, etc.
- include full information about terms: discounts, shipping points, transportation, cooperative advertising, etc.
- note available "dealer aids": display fixtures, glossy photos, material for distribution to sales people or customers, statement stuffers, etc.
- identify each resource fully: name, address, telephone, salesman who served you
- get answers to customer questions that are frequently asked on the selling floor - about washing ability, hems that can be let down, reasons for variations in price, etc.
Now you are ready to write up your orders - in your hotel room, on the plane, or back at the store.
Using your store's own order blanks, write up what you have finally decided to buy. Be meticulous about details, such as:
- merchandise description
- terms of sale
- delivery date
- shipping instructions
- special packing instructions
- labels, guarantees, etc., required in connection with Federal laws and regulations
- advertising cooperation
- special arrangements of any kind, everything should be recorded. Nothing verbal. Nothing "understood".
Checking with Buying Plan
Do not expect the figures to tally exactly with the buying plan. The plan was prepared before you went to market; it was necessarily tentative. Your orders should reflect what you saw and learned in the market.
If some market development caused you to deviate significantly from your plan, report the condition to your merchandise manager. It may be something he will want to watch in connection with other departments, too.
Preparing Ahead
While your market trip is still fresh in your mind, it is good practice to look ahead and prepare:
- a brief report of fashion and merchandise news for your sales people
- a tentative plan for promoting what you have purchased - ideas for displays inspired by what you saw in stores and showrooms, advertising copy themes, ways to tell the fashion story that your purchases embody
- notes on places to visit next time you are in the market.
In the course of a season, you may have occasion to return to the market for fresh styles to liven up your assortment, or for special promotional purposes, or for some other reason.
Plan these intermediate trips carefully, just as you plan your major buying trips, and make them pay off in fresh ideas as well as in merchandise.
Do not evaluate the importance of your trip only in terms of the dollars you expect to spend. The exploratory aspects of a market trip are quite as important as the actual purchasing you do. Avoid the temptation to overestimate needs, when submitting your buying plan, in order to make the trip seem worth the cost. Overbuying is never worth the cost.
Reorders can be placed without a market trip. Handle these from the store, by mail or telephone, through visiting salesmen, or through your resident office.
If you cannot reorder the precise numbers you have previously bought, there may be similar styles in the same look from the same resource.
In many branches of the fashion industry, new styles are introduced between markets. Select as carefully as you did on your initial buying trip. The new styles that you introduce into the stock must fit in with the looks your store sponsors, and must coordinate with what related departments are showing.
Reaping the Benefits
In any fashion buying situation, you come into contact with people who know and love fashion. Make every market trip a search for new ideas as well as new merchandise. You can do this by planning your time as well as your buying efficiently. You'll come back to the store exuberant and full of that infectious enjoyment of your merchandise that draws forth the eager cooperation of your associates.
