Buyers Market: Learn the Business of Merchandising in Fashion Design School

by Marianne Salina
Fashion School Review Columnist

March 9, 2007

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Do you fancy yourself a savvy shopper? Do you study the fashion design trends and then find the designer who sells at the best price? If so, perhaps a career in fashion design and marketing is the perfect profession for you. The truth is, in the world of retail, buyers are at the top of their game, understanding the breakdown of sales, competition with other retailers, and, of course, selecting the merchandise that customers love.

Science of Shopping--A Fashion Design Program for You
As a fashion design buyer for stores like Bloomingdales or Saks, you need read sales numbers at rapid-fire rates. More than a fashion design expert, you are also a sales and marketing analyst, constantly scrutinizing the success or failure of a product and discovering the reasons behind the results. Becoming a fashion design buyer requires as much business prowess as it does shopper's intuition and proper training is the best way to succeed. A fashion design program in marketing and merchandising explores:

Budgeting
Accounting
Retail sales
Inventory control and company protocol
Displays

Fashion Design School: Getting the Most Out of Your Buying Career
In addition to sales analysis, meetings, and store visits, buyers must learn the art of bargaining. As you select products for your stores, you must learn to be able to spot a good deal and know when you're paying too much. It may sound like haggling, but in fact it is a shrewd buyer's tactic to be able to talk down a vendor's price.

How do you learn such skills? First, begin with a foundation in retail sales. Then, consider fashion design school, which offers marketing and merchandising courses that make great shoppers into fabulous buyers.

Source:

The Vault

About the Author
Marianne Salina is a freelance writer in Spokane, Washington. She writes about pursuits in education and degree opportunities.

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