Increasingly sophisticated software has led to fashion merchandisers having an unprecedented number of data-crunching possibilities at their fingertips. High street fashion multiples in particular appear to be embracing the Weekly Sales and Stock Intake (WSSI) systems wholeheartedly. But has this software changed the fundamental role of the merchandiser into more of a tech-head than a calculated risk-taker? Or, in today’s open-to-buy fashion market, is intuition as important as ever?
John Schofield, head of merchandising for womenswear at luxury department store Harvey Nichols, believes that logic and process will always be paramount to the role of the merchandiser, but intuition plays a key role – especially at his end of the market.
Schofield says: “First of all, it is absolutely an analytical/numerical role. Having accurate information about what stock is in regional stores and warehouses and trends, etc, that’s absolutely imperative – you couldn’t do without that. However, in my business, an understanding of fashion, brands and the competition is also important.”
George at Asda resourcing manager Paul Jenkins agrees that, while technology is useful, intuition will always be crucial in fashion and systems are there only as a support. “Technology has been able to give much more accurate historical info – that’s a good starting point. But it can’t show us what retail looks like a year down the line,” he says.
So, does the support that information technology can provide mean there is less of a risk element involved in merchandising now?
Schofield says: “Fashion is a risk. With, say, screwdrivers – a category that is pretty constant – it’s a different ball game, but everything we do is a risk. What will the new collection be like? How will people receive it? What will the weather be like? Technology gives you more information and analysis, but, in fact, the future is always a risk.”
Jenkins echoes these sentiments. “It hasn’t taken away the risk element. Risk lies in what the future holds – in forecasting trends,” he says.
Mary Anderson-Ford, principal merchandising consultant at recruitment firm CVUK, believes technology can help offset the risk. “I think the risk is very much still there. But you are less likely to trip yourself up and come a cropper, because the stats are there to guide you,” she says.
LESS MARGIN FOR ERROR
However, Anderson-Ford adds: “Market conditions are contributing to that risk. At the moment, the high street is a challenging environment. It’s even more a case of heads on the chopping block if a collection hasn’t been thought out properly, because there is less money to waste.”
Fenwick trading director Hugo Fenwick believes that the fast pace of the fashion arena has caused things to go full circle and the merchandiser must rely on intuition now more than ever. The fashion market has changed fundamentally over the past 10 years. Price deflation, consolidation, the speed of the supply chain and changing customer behaviour all mean retailers have had to adapt the way they buy fashion and, therefore, the way they merchandise it.
Fenwick explains: “That has led to a shift and means merchandisers have to have a different mindset. The speed to market is so much quicker and the market is so competitive – merchandisers have to be more adept at holding back for open-to-buy. You need to be more intuitive. The most important thing is to be brave enough to buy less to sell more later on.”
Schofield agrees: “At one point, about five or 10 years ago, the merchandiser’s role was seen as an absolutely number-based role. That has changed in line with the market.”
Anderson-Ford believes there isn’t a universal truth, but, rather, merchandisers increasingly fall into two categories: blind merchandisers and product merchandisers. Blind merchandisers are less intuitive and rely on technology to guide them, while product merchandisers can step away from the data, because they know it so well. But they can use technology to reinforce what they know.
Anderson-Ford expands: “Blind merchandisers don’t care whether it’s cabbage or couture – look at the numbers and the figures and work it out from there. Product merchandisers have an affiliation with and know a product.”
Many insist that the best fashion merchandisers will be plugged into climate, social and fashion factors that will affect the business, but will have a more methodical, analytical approach than buyers – their more creative and impulsive counterparts.
The attributes that people search for in a fashion merchandiser appear to have remained fairly consistent over the years: good commercial sense, a focus on trading and love of clothes.
Fenwick believes that, in terms of the qualities needed, the merchandising role is, in fact, less scientific than it used to be. “The main thing is having the guts to buy closest to market – they mostly have the greatest success. You can’t simply put things into a matrix – nowadays merchandisers need to be constantly adapting, assimilating information and buying closer. It requires a more agile mind,” he says.
Whether the role is now more scientific or less, you cannot ignore the fact that the industry is turning to these systems more and more – although to differing degrees – and the technical skills needed to operate them are becoming increasingly essential. Jenkins says: “You have to be more computer literate. But people are moving along and growing with the systems and those who are new to the industry are growing up with these systems and finding it easy to pick up as they go along.”
However, he adds: “For me, the role of the merchandiser is still really exciting. It’s a lot of your own instinct and gut reaction.”
But, while a great deal of value may be placed on having a good feel for fashion, it is equally true that, when searching for the right candidates, the big-name multiples are demanding an aptitude for using the latest systems. Those without WSSI experience tend to be restricted to smaller, niche or high-end operations.
Anderson-Ford says: “What’s difficult for me as a recruiter is trying to explain to non-WSSI merchandisers why high street names wouldn’t want to interview them. They say: ‘I’m a gifted merchandiser and can be trained,’ but, in reality, high street retailers only want those with WSSI experience.”
Anderson-Ford goes as far as saying merchandisers could be limiting their career options by going for a niche brand after a high street one and effectively halting their WSSI development.
Intuition is undoubtedly equally important, if not more so, than it used to be, but is perhaps most powerful when combined with the ability to use technology effectively. Systems skills, while also increasingly important, should be viewed in the context that it is more about what you get out of a system, in terms of analysing the numbers. Technology may be fast-paced, but so is the fashion market today and an agile, open mind can only be a welcome addition to solid analytical and numerical skills.
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