Textile and Clothing Merchandising

Course: TX 355

Lecture 01
Introduction

Textile and Clothing Merchandising

Course Objective
Want to make participants able to handle

customers enquiries, costing and pricing,

sampling process, and formal coordination
with other departments as well as with
customers

Course Description
Synopsis of textile and clothing

merchandising.
Will adequately cover significant topics
related to textile and clothing merchandising.
Main focus will be enquiries handling, product
pricing, and coordination with production
departments and fluent communication with
customers.

Teaching Methodology
Class lectures
Group discussion
Seminars
Presentations
Industry Visit

Material
Books
Class notes
Hand-outs
Survey of the industry
Interviews of industry leaders
Net surfing

Assignments and Term Project

Individual and group assignments
Interaction with industry
Independent industry visits
Interview with industry leaders

Quizzes
Announced and unannounced
Concept base
30 minutes
6-8 in numbers

Attendance Policy
Five classes missing means Grade F
Five minutes late means no entrance in class
Have to justify five minutes late
Class will start at exact time INSHALLAH
Missing of one class means losing one mark

Grading Policy
Assignments: 12.5%
Quizzes:
12.5%
Midterms:
Project
Attendance:
Final:

20%
15%
10%
35%

Lecture 02
International Textile and Clothing Trade
Share of different countries and Growth Rate

Lecture Three
Performance of Pakistan Textile and Clothing

Industry

Description

Value/Share (%)

Exports

67 % of total exports
(US $ 7.5 Billion)

Manufacturing

46% of total manufacturing

Employment

38 % of total employment

GDP

11 % of total GDP

Investment

31% of total investment

Market Capitalisation

8% of total market capitalisation

Taxes

Million US $ 75.00

Salaries and Wages

Million US $ 750.00

PTI Infrastructure
Fiber Production

Natural fiber mainly cotton

Synthetic Mainly polyester

PTI Sectors
Ginning
Spinning
Weaving

Mill sector
Non-mill sector

Knitting

Part of vertical set up

Independent knitting mills

Wet Processing

Fiber and yarn

Knitted fabric
Woven fabric
Garment

Clothing
Made ups
Clothing
Clothing Accessories
Buttons
Zips
Stitching thread
Packing material
Labels etc

Textile Exports
Share in
Total
Export in
1971- 72
(%)

Share in
Total Export
in
2002-03 (%)

1971-2

2003-4

Average
Growth Rate
in 32 Years (%)

Total Exports

590.7

12313

9.95

Total Textile
exports

429.5

8253

9.67

72.8

67.03

Cotton

200.5

48

-4.5

33.98

0.39

Yarn

127.5

1162

7.1

21.61

9.44

Fabric

81.5

1766

10.08

13.81

14.34

Tent & Canvas

1.9

75

12.17

0.32

0.61

Towels

6.1

404

21.1

1.03

3.28

Bed Wear

0.9

1800

26.81

0.15

14.62

Other Made- Ups

1.2

520

20.89

0.2

4.22

Garments

3.2

993

19.63

0.54

8.06

Hosiery (knitted
garments)

3.2

1459

21.08

0.54

11.85

Textiles

4.2

80

9.6

0.39

0.65

Lecture 03
Marketing and Merchandising

Merchandising
The promotion of merchandise sales,

as by coordinating production and

marketing and developing advertising,
display, and sales strategies.

Marketing
This is the process of planning and executing

the conception, pricing, promotion and

distribution of ideas, goods and services to
satisfy customers

Sale
An exchange of goods, services, or other

property for money

Garment Industry
Production Flow

Types of Production
Order Based
Market demand base

Market Demand Base

Rare
More common for basic items
Mainly China is doing

Order Base
Most common
Brands have to follow this
For special items
For seasonal products
For small orders
For promotional items

Pakistan Garment Industry

Mainly doing order base production
Details are finalized by customer
Designs are done by customer
Supplier has to follow

Lecture 04
Role of Merchandising

Role of Merchandising

Working as a Bridge between Buyer and

Mill

Pakistan Textile Industry

Working Procedure

Work Flow
Fiber --- yarn ---fabric formation---wet

processingclothing

Merchandiser and clothing mills

Mainly merchandising are demanded by

clothing mills
In other sectors mostly marketing people are
demanded since they are producing
according to market demand, while, clothing
sector is producing after getting an order

Types of Garment Mills

Woven
Knitted

Textile and Clothing

Textile

All products made of fiber but not ready to be

used by consumer, like, yarn, fiber, grey fabric
Clothing

All products ready to wear, like, shirts,

shorts, trousers, blouses etc

Products
Woven garments
Knitted garments
Made ups

Merchandiser for a Clothing Mill

A key person in the whole chain
First person being contacted by buyer
All liaison through merchandiser
Senior person in the hierarchy
Most experienced

Responsibilities of Merchandiser
Close liaison with buyers, buying houses
Keeping firm well informed about the market

situation
Prediction about future market demands
Receiving enquiries from buyers
Cots calculation
Offering prices
Intimation to buyers about delivery time
Confirmation about WO

 Keeping buyer update about production

status
Passing all information to production people,
account departments and all other relevant
people
Helping in conduction final audit
Dealing with complaints and finally:
Keep mill filled with suitable orders

Lecture 6 Required Communication

Skills
Writing
Speaking
Presentation

Writing
E mails
Letters
Faxes
Reports

Speaking
On phone
In meeting

Presentation
Reports
Progress
Profile of the firms

For all you need:

Good command on English
Reasonable typing speed
Clarity in pronunciation
Computer operation skills
Internet application
Mobile phone uses
Chatting techniques
Bidding techniques

Communication Flow
Communication:

The act of communicating; transmission

o
The exchange of thoughts, messages, or
information, as by speech, signals,
writing, or behavior.
o
Interpersonal rapport
o

Feed back

Sender

Receiver

 Consumer
Retailer
Whole seller
Importers
Buying agents (optional)
Suppliers (exporters)
Manufacturers/vendors

Sale Strategy
Direct to Whole seller or importers
Sale through buying houses

Direct Sale
Importers
Manufacturers

Indirect Sale
Importers
Buying House
Exporters

Detail of Communication flow

Importers merchandiser
Head of account (importers)
Buying House merchandiser
Head of account (buying house)
Head manufacturer merchandiser
Head of account (manufacturer)
Account merchandiser (manufacturers)

With in the mill

Production planning and control
Account department
Quality assurance
Procurement
Any other relevant people

Ways of communication
E-mails
Faxes
Phones
Faxes
Verbal

Communication issues
Message not clear
Incomplete message
Late message
To person not relevant

Cares in Communication
Message should be clear
Get receipt of the message
Ensure message received by the person concerned
Action as per communication
Feed back on message
Involve other people in communication (copy to many
other people)
o Keep record of communication
o Write time and date on message while receiving
o Important: one should be responsible for wrong
communication and you should not be this person
o
o
o
o
o
o

Letter Writing

Clear
Concise
Correct
Courteous
Conversational
Convincing
Complete

 Effective letter writing boils down to knowing why you are writing a

letter, understanding your reader's needs and then clearly writing

what you need to say. Every letter should be clear, human, helpful
and as friendly as the topic allows. The best letters have a
conversational tone and read as if you were talking to your reader.
In brief then, discover the Seven-Cs of letter writing. You should be

Putting your reader first

For all writers the most important people are their readers. If you

keep your readers in mind when you write, it will help you use
the right tone, appropriate language and include the right
amount of detail.

Ask questions to get a clear picture

of your readers.
Who are my readers?

What do they already know about the subject?

What do they need to know?
Will they understand technical terms?
What information do they want?
What do I want them to do?

Keeping your business plan to the

point
Make a list of the topics you want to cover but don't worry about

the order.

Under each topic, list key words, examples, arguments and

facts.
Review each topic in your outline for relevance to your aim and
audience.
Cut out anything that's not relevant to your aim or audience.
Sort the information into the best order for your readers.

Getting the right tone to your

business letter
Use Contractions
Use Personal References

So instead of writing:
Our address records have been amended ...
write
Weve changed your address in our records ...
Instead of writing:
The company policy is ...
write
Our policy is ...

Use Direct Questions

Original: We would appreciate your advising us whether you

want to continue this account or transfer it.

Redraft: Do you want to continue your account or transfer it?
Original: Please inform us whether payment against these
receipts will be in order.
Redraft: Can we pay against these receipts?

Writing your business plan in

plain English
Use active verbs rather than passive verbs

Passive: It was agreed by the committee...

Active: The committee agreed...
Passive: At the last meeting a report was made by the
Secretary...
Active: At the last meeting the Secretary reported...
Passive: This form should be signed and should be
returned to me.
Active: You should sign the form and return it to me.

Keep your sentence average length

low
I refer to my letter of 13th June and am writing to advise you that

if we do not receive your completed application form within the

next fourteen days, I shall have no alternative but to arrange
property insurance on the bank's block policy.
(One Sentence45 words)

Shorter Sentences
I have not yet received your reply to my letter of 13th June. If we

do not receive your completed application form within fourteen

days, I shall have to arrange property insurance on the bank's
block policy.
(Two sentences13 words and 24 words)

Use simple words rather than

complex ones
As we noted in the preceding section, if you purchased

additional printer options, such as a second printer tray, it is a

requirement you verify its correct installation.

Simple words
As we noted in the previous section, if you bought extra printer

equipment, such as a second printer tray, you must check you

install it correctly

Edit wordy phrases

at a later date
at the present time
for the purpose of
have no alternative but

later
now
for
must

Avoid jargon and technical terms

Avoid abbreviations

Writing powerful headings for your

business letters

Banking code outlaws obsolescence for savings accounts

Electronic banker offers taste of the future
Euro-fish out of its depth
FT-SE falls on foreign woes
Kingfisher flies in the face of retail gloom
Masters sells pub chain
Whitbread stops 5,000-job plan

Conti-- Why Have an Annual Review?

Why Invest Your Lump Sum?
Are You Paying Too Much Tax?

Writing a strong opening to your

business letter
Thank you for your letter of 8th March 1998, which has been

passed to me for my attention.

I refer to previous correspondence in respect of the above and
note that to date we have not received your cheque for the
outstanding arrears.
I write with reference to our telephone conversation yesterday
regarding the above matter

conti
answer a question
ask a question
explain an action taken
express pleasure or regret
give information

standard phrases

Further to my recent
I am writing
I refer to my letter dated
I refer to previous correspondence
I write in reference to
In respect of the above
Recent correspondence
Regarding
With reference to
With regards to

Writing a strong close to your

business letter
I would again apologise for the delay in replying and I trust that

this has clarified the points you have raised, however, if you
wish to discuss any points I have not clarified, or need any
further information, you may wish to telephone or contact me
accordingly.

I look forward to hearing from you and in the meantime, should

you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I regret that I cannot be of more assistance in this matter, and

should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to

contact me.

overused business phrases

Thanking you for your...
Hoping for a prompt reply...
Thanking you in advance for your assistance...
Trusting this answers your questions...
Please do not hesitate to contact me
I trust this clarifies the situation

Conti- according to our records on receipt of after careful

consideration please do not hesitate to any further action

please find enclosed as you are aware please forward at
your earliest convenience trust this is satisfactory detailed
information under separate cover enclosed for your
information upon receipt of for your convenience urgent
attention further to we acknowledge receipt in receipt of
we regret to advise

 Original:

We trust this is satisfactory, but should you have any further

questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Redraft:
We hope you are happy with this arrangement but if you have
any questions, please contact us.
Original:
Further to your recent communication. Please find enclosed the
requested quotation
Redraft:
Thank you for contacting us. I enclose the quotation you asked
for
Hackneyed business phrases ruin a clear natural style; so avoid
using them and choose your own words instead.

Business letter writing checklist

Keep it Short
Cut needless words and needless information.
Cut stale phrases and redundant statements.
Cut the first paragraph if it refers to previous correspondence.
Cut the last paragraph if it asks for future correspondence.

Keep it Simple
Use familiar words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
Keep your subject matter as simple as possible.
Keep related information together.
Use a conversational style.

Keep it Strong
Answer the reader's question in the first paragraph.
Give your answer and then explain why.
Use concrete words and examples.
Keep to the subject.

Keep it Sincere
Answer promptly.
Be human and as friendly as possible.
Write as if you were talking to your reader.

Website
http://www.business-letter-writing.com/writing-a-business-letter-

examples/business-letter-checklist.html


What interests or motivates them?

What prejudices do they have?

What worries or reassures them?
What will persuade them to my view?
What other arguments do I need to present?
How are they likely to react to what I say?
If you imagine yourself in your reader's position, you're more likely to

write a good letter.