Who is a Garment Merchandiser?

Garment merchandiser is like a bridge between the buyer and the industry. He has to look after every job like buying the raw materials which are required to finish the product, making the garment, finishing the garment, preparing documentation, and finally shipping. Actually, he is the main responsible person to make the product timely. As its importance, this article has presented a vast discussion on the roles and responsibilities of a merchandiser.

The main responsibilities of merchandisers:

• Internal & external communication
• Sampling
• Lab dips
• Accessories & trims
• Preparing internal order sheets
• Preparing purchase orders

• Advising and assisting production
• Advising quality department about quality level
• Mediating production and quality departments
• Giving shipping instructions and following shipping
• Helping documentation department
• Taking responsibility for inspections and shipment

Evaluation of merchandiser in garments:

The concept of the term “Merchandising” can be traced dated back to the early historic period when the emergence of trade between the countries. There are numerous notes about the existence and evolution of trade between the bigger civilizations in those periods like Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, and Egypt. But during those days the meaning of the term merchandising was confined merely to the exchange of materials or commodities which were availed from nature or produced from nature and were not manufactured for specific purposes or specific customers. There was an exchange of materials that fulfills the basic needs of living like commodities, live stocks, textiles, and luxurious items like gold diamonds, precious stones, etc. In earlier days the production of goods was home-based and family-oriented which were not mass-produced. In the industrial period, home production was replaced by the factory system,s and hand operations were replaced by machines. Mass productions were followed by large-scale consumption.

Process flow chart of apparel or garments merchandising:

Order received from the Buyer with details
↓
Sample Development
↓
Price negotiation with the Buyer
↓
Confirmation of order and receiving the order sheet
↓
Make buyer requirement sample (Fit, Proto, etc.) for approval
↓
Make requisition for bulk fabric
↓
Make requisition for accessories
↓
Swatch board making and approval
↓
Raw material collection and also receive it in factory
↓
Check and also listing
↓
Make P.P (pre-production Sample) with all actual
↓
Pre-production meeting
↓
Start bulk production
↓
Collect daily production and quality report
↓
Make online inspection by strong quality team
↓
Sample sent to third party testing center
↓
Make final inspection for bulk production
↓
Shipment
↓
Send all documents to the Buyer
↓
Receive payment from Bank

So,

Merchandising is the department that mediates the marketing and production departments. Sometimes, merchandising department will have to do costing and pricing also. In any case, the merchandiser is the person whose responsibility is to execute the orders perfectly as per the costing and pricing. So, it is a very valuable department.