What is Fashion Merchandising & Management? Career, Skills & Jobs

Fashion is much more than just a glamorous runway or clothing. It is the field of creativity, innovation, design, technology, style, strategy and business. Behind closed doors of every closet involved the process of planning, designing, marketing and selling. This is when Fashion Merchandising and Management comes into play.

Fashion Merchandising and Management is an important part of the fashion business whose main focus is to make fashion both aesthetic and profitable with the help of strategies to give the customer their best product. In this article, we will explore the importance of enrolling in a Fashion Merchandising course, their skills, career scope and importance in this field of fashion design and how it's making an impact on the fashion industry.

The Core: Connecting Product, People, and Profit

Fashion merchandising plays an important role in planning, selling, buying and marketing their products at the best profitable value while keeping up with the demands of consumers and fashion trends.

In easy words, fashion merchandisers' work is to create trending and fashionable clothes and market them to their consumers attractively with the best profitable value.

Responsibilities of a Fashion Merchandiser

1. Market Research and Forecasting of trends: Before even making a single garment, a fashion merchandiser is already at work analysing marketing trends and data, studying consumer behaviour, attending fashion shows to examine the colour, style and product by which they predict the outcome of future trends.
2. Inventory Management: Fashion Merchandiser is also responsible for selecting and buying the right amount of product for their store, which includes creating merchandising plans, setting budgets and managing inventory levels to avoid overstock (which leads to markdowns) and understanding understock products (which leads to lost sales).
3. Setting Price and Financial Planning: Fashion Merchandisers are also responsible for setting prices for their products, which are both profitable and competitive. They are also responsible for creating promotions, sales and lowering the price of slow-selling products to maintain the healthy cash-flow.
4. Strategy Making and Sales Analysis: After the end of the season launches a fashion merchandiser thoroughly analyses the sales data to check which products are selling fast and which are not to create future strategies and real-time adjustments.
5. Creating Visuals: A fashion merchandiser also works with the visual teams to create captivating visuals for their products, both online and offline stores, to attract more customers, which encourages them to buy their products. 

Difference between Fashion Merchandisers and Fashion Managers

Fashion merchandiser and fashion manager both play an important role in the fashion industry, while both have a similar role, yet vary in different aspects, like:

Fashion merchandiser focuses on only one product life cycle from trend analysis to buying, selling and visuals of the product, which is the day-to-day role that deals directly with the merchandiser.

Fashion management deals with all aspects of the fashion business, including managing, marketing, branding, supply chain and human resources, including fashion merchandising. Fashion Management includes all-around improvement of the brand itself, while Fashion Merchandisers' role revolves around only one product or lane.

Still Thinking? Others Are Already Designing

While you’re waiting, others are learning, building portfolios, and landing jobs. Don’t fall behind—start your creative journey today with Wisdom Design College.

Enquire Now

How to Break Into the Field of Fashion Merchandising 

In order to thrive in the competitive industry of fashion merchandising, you should have a set of essential skills that help in both creativity and commerce.

• Business Acumen and Analysis skills: To become a great merchandiser, you must be comfortable with spreadsheets, numbers and data. You can only become an expert if you master the skills of analysing sales reports, tracking inventory, and forecasting financial performance.
• Communication and Negotiation skills: Merchandisers are constantly in contact with various investors, designers, suppliers, store managers and team managers with strong communication skills. Merchandisers can secure the most favourable deals with vendors.
• Knowledge of Trends and Have a Creative Side: Fashion Merchandisers should have a keen eye for popular trends and can translate them into commercial collections. This creative side of them will help them build the desirable and popular products for their brand.
• Knowledge of Digital Tools: The Fashion industry is growing rapidly, with growing technology. It's essential for the fashion merchandiser to know digital software of the fashion business and data analysis tools; having a strong understanding of the e-commerce side and digital marketing tools is a plus.
• Strong Problem-Solving Skills: Being a fashion merchandiser, you must have strong problem-solving skills; the fashion industry is unpredictable. Problem-solving skills will help you when problems of shipping delay, manufacturing issues, and consumer delay occur.

Career Opportunities in Fashion Merchandising

Having a degree in Fashion Merchandising is a plus and can open more doors for you in this field with better opportunities and rewards. With a Fashion Merchandising degree and skills, students can become:

Retail buyers: The Retail buyers select and purchase the product for a retail store, company or brand. They're the ones who decide what accessories, clothes, and shoes will be sold.

Merchandising Planner: With a Fashion Merchandising degree, one can become a Fashion Merchandising planner, which focuses on analysis, forecasting future trends, managing inventory and creating plans to get higher profit.

Visual Merchandiser: With a Fashion Merchandising degree, you can also become a Visual Merchandiser, which revolves around creating breathtaking visuals for both online and offline stores

Product Developer: With a Fashion Merchandising degree, you can also become a product developer, where you work with other designers and have to create a design from scratch, maintaining the quality of the product.

Brand Management: With a Fashion Merchandising degree, you can also get an upper role in fashion brand management where you have to manage the overall brand, including marketing, identity and market position.

With rapidly growing technology, fashion merchandisers are now also using AI tools to get higher predictions of What Is Trending. And What The Consumer wants?  Additionally, sustainability and ethical practices are no longer just a trend but a business imperative, and merchandisers are at the forefront of implementing these changes. They are responsible for sourcing materials ethically, managing sustainable supply chains, and communicating a brand’s values to consumers.

FAQs about Fashion Merchandising & Management

Is fashion merchandising a good career for me if I'm not a designer?

Of course, you don't have to be a designer to become a Merchandiser; if you have a strong understanding of business, numbers and strategies, then you can also enter this field.

What is the typical salary for a fashion merchandiser?

Salary depends on your knowledge, skills, location, size of the company and experience. A newcomer can earn a modest salary while a senior can have a handsome amount.

How can I get started in fashion merchandising?

You can start by gaining a degree and experience in this field. Enrol in a few Internships to gain hands-on experience, which will help you build a professional network.

Is the fashion merchandising industry growing?

Yes, the fashion industry is growing rapidly with new technology and AI tools. More designs and ideas help designers get more ideas. While some traditional stores are evolving, the demand for professional fashion merchandisers is still in demand and growing rapidly, mostly in online stores.

Interactive Call: Could Fashion Merchandising Be Your Path?

Fashion merchandising and Fashion management are rapidly growing fields which is essential for running a successful fashion brand or store. It's perfect for students who want to make a career in this field and have a creative side with an interest in fashion trends. Whether you are a graduate or a professional, if you find thrill in unlocking new outcomes of design and want to make an impact on the fashion industry, you are perfect for this field.