This report outlines, in layman's terms, a few key general concepts behind supplying high end fashion retailers and what we actually do to secure orders with them. The nuts, bolts & buyer contacts are within the e-book, here's a little taster of what is contained within!
Free Report.
Securing fashion stockists.
13th April 2011.
By Renato Grant
www.boutiquebuyers.com
Attracting orders
To secure your first stockists, you have to work pretty hard. If you're an overseas designer and you are attracted to selling within the UK market you must try to work in conjunction with your Embassy here in London and do as many sponsored trade exhibitions as you can alongside them. They have access to more area's within the industry than you do at the moment.
You should also try to showcase your collections at specific trade shows but do your research on the exhibition first as the overall cost of the stands differ greatly and you must ensure that the exhibition you plan to exhibit at is relevant to your product ranges.
Fashion buyers take great pleasure in meeting the designer and will feel privileged if presented the collection by the designer. Sales people take over when it comes to writing the orders. Buyers like the collection presented by designers but prefer the speed of salespeople writing the orders because then they can also say certain things in honesty (maybe pricing/styling/colour ways not too their liking etc) that they would not dream of saying to the designer, so as the designer you must know when to take a backseat! It also allows the buyer(s) to relax in the knowledge that salespeople are thicker skinned than the designers themselves!
If exhibitions are difficult for whatever reasons, then you must either mail the buyer your fantastic images, look book, or better still, go see the buyer at their store, or send them press cuttings you may have. When planning to drop i on a boutique, always call and ask first. Just say that you're in the area for an hour and would it be okay to show a few of your designs which will probably take half an hour. If the buyer likes what she/he sees then you could be there a lot longer but it will be at their discretion. If they do not like what they see or it's not for them, you'll be in and out in less than 15 minutes.
With regards to mailing the buyers information, do not send them information that is too bulky or long winded. It will get thrown away, why? Because they get sent too much from too many designers! Yours has to stand out! Design something that is small enough and light enough to be carried in a shoulder bag, concise and shows images of your best pieces and has just enough explanation of the collection on it to excite a buyer. If you have press on your collection you could include this in your mail out. Include your website details also. This works well because it tells buyers just enough about the collection, shows the best imagery and gives a little background. If you design a well sized postcard, these also work well because when it is delivered it is not in an envelope and so the likely hood is that it will get seen and if buyers like what they see on the front they will read what is on the back.
Sometimes buyers will take this postcard when they are out on buying appointments because it is lightweight and small enough to fit in a handbag. A small brochure will do the job just as well.
When I do my mail outs I make sure that they arrive either on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday morning. Why? Because it's midweek, stores are usually quieter and buyers have more time to browse their mail! Also Monday's are when department store buyers do sales figures so never a good time for mail or calls and Fridays get busier in the lead up to the weekend.
When I am making my follow up phone calls I call late morning after 11 am but before 3pm the same for the same reasons! No point calling a buyer late afternoon, either they would have left the store already or, be on other appointments or more than likely they have customers in the store and will not take your call!
Buyers do not mind if you are prepared to take a small capsule collection to them but you must make sure to tell them it is a small capsule collection. They will not be too happy if you turn up with a 150 piece collection. They need the space to sell goods in store. If you call and ask if it will be okay to pop in and show a few pieces next time you are around, the likelihood is that they will say fine. This is a very good way of taking initial orders. It will cost the buyer nothing other than a small amount of time but show great enthusiasm on your part. I have done this many times and still do it today if there is no other way. I prefer showroom sales because I will have the full attention of my buyers but if I really want a store to buy my collections and they cannot get to me for any reason then I will go to them with collection and order book in hand.
If budgets are tight, as they usually are for us all, there is also no reason why PR cannot be done in-house and you should approach fashion editors & journalists directly with the view to having either editorial or product placement within their publications. Press typically want great images sent to them initially and a well written press release. Simply buy the top magazines, Vogue, Grazie, Stella, Marie Claire etc, find the page that lists all fashion editors/ assistants and make contact. It is a very big money saver for you and you will be doing a similar job PR's will do initially but charge you a lot of money. The advantage of course of being represented by a good PR is that they already have established relationships with fashion editors and journalists.
Magazines do call off samples if they feel it may fit an article or shoot they have upcoming and you will have to make the samples readily available. It is similar in approaching store buyers in that you must send them imagery, press releases etc, but if they love what you are doing & feature or use your clothes in a spread shoot, then this is priceless exposure and fantastic brand building.
All fashion buyers travel globally in order to search out designers & lifestyle products for their stores, catalogues & websites, they seek everything from fashion & accessories to scented candles, furniture and art. Having a point of difference is a major attraction for boutique buyers. As well as stocking the big established designers, they love to find a new designer not stocked by many.
If you are approached or you approach stores, try not to give total exclusivity. I allow a 15-20 mile radius between boutiques for exclusivity. That does not work in major cities. In London for example I may have 4 or 5 stockists all within a 10-15 mile radius. This is acceptable if the collection is popular with buyers but be careful not to supply stores too close to each other. If the collection is popular and strong then you cannot limit yourself to only one stockist per area. You will never grow this way and buyers being buyers will always try to push for exclusivity. You must weigh up a few things. Look closely at the store themselves and the size of order they intend on placing with you. If a particular boutique has placed a reasonably sized order and booked through the collection which will give you a greater exposure of the entire collection within their store then you must support this retailer over others. Better to be sensible initially rather than overexcited.
Make show cards & look books available to buyers when you do finally deliver merchandise to them. Depending upon the imagery you hold and whether or not the images belong to you or the photographer (you must check this) showcards are usually done by the PR or us in house. This will go a long way with the buyer and show that you are not merely trying to take an order but are also prepared to help promote your goods in their store and drive custom to their tills.
Buyers do not have great loyalty anymore and if the goods do not sell they will move on. Do not take it for granted that once they buy they will continue to do so indefinitely. If the goods do sell well and they come back the following season with a larger order, now you can talk about greater exclusivity. If you find yourself in a situation like I have where you have to choose between 2 high profile retailers, then you must weigh up all odds. Remember department stores have even less loyalty if the sell throughs on a given collection are low and they also now ask for large discount terms, which they call settlement terms, in order just to deal with them! They also tend to leave your merchandise hanging on a rail with no specific salesperson to sell it! This is why I tend to support boutique business. They have a much more personalized approach, will help the consumer to any extent and will support the designer more so going forward. Department store business I see as a bonus, independent boutique business is the way forward. Of course the larger orders come from the department stores but if you fail to have a good sell through for no reason of your own then you may have messed up your chances of supplying smaller boutiques closer to the department store at the outset.
Do not be blinded by wanting to be stocked primarily in the Likes of Selfridges or Harvey Nichols. Department store buyers also check out the boutiques for fresh talent! It is a part of their job to keep an eye on the competition.
Target a small number of retailers initially but mail out to everyone. The best UK stores are all in my directory at the rear of the e-book. Exhibit at trade shows if that option is available to you. This is the best way of taking initial orders as buyers will be able to view your collection en masse. This is where the mail out you do is invaluable so it must be effective & you must ensure it does gets read. You want buyers to make a beeline to your stand rather than exhibit and hope. Do all of this in house before approaching any agent, showroom or distributor.
Later I discuss, in greater depth, the role of agents, showrooms and distributors. Fashion & newspaper press will be more interested in your collection if you can name drop stockists of your collection. Always mail out to department store buyers but do not pin your hopes for orders here initially. Have a small number of boutiques that you will follow up with, say 30 -40 and make your calls and subsequent follow up calls to these stores. These are the ones you really would like your collection stocked in so pursue them without overly hassling them. Do not call 3 or 4 times a week. Go to see them and send them imagery. Call them and nurture them. Eventually they will agree to see you but only if they believe your products fits in with their mix. Once in the store your only goal is to come out with an order.
Lastly, never talk about minimum orders to a buyer even though they will ask. Always be vague! Always mention that you don't have a minimum order, although we really can't ship out less than 30/40/50 pieces..This will keep them interested. 30/40/50 pieces to a buyer represents a relatively small order & will not break their bank, they don't exactly know our wholesale prices per style as of yet, so to us this could be a nice size order in value terms.
Buyers never usually stick to their budgets anyway. If they love something, they always find budget for it and always end up buying more than the initial 30 piece minimum we asked for.
Renato Grant 27 years fashion experience within fashion sales,marketing & brand building, Production & QC, Cashflow & costing, delivery & distribution. www.boutiquebuyers.com