10 Things to look for while appointing a clothing buyer to source your products

Cloth buyers are an important part of the fashion industry. The craft of cloth buying is not technical but is crucial to the success of the brand. It is not as simple as adhering to aesthetics because clothing buyers need to consider trends, customer demand, and promotional activities by other brands. The more effort put into appointing a clothing buyer, the more the fulfillment of customer demands, which helps boost sales. In this article, we will list the qualities of a buyer to source products and perfect your retail collection.

What Does The Role of A Clothing Buyer Entail?

A clothing buyer/fashion buyer is someone who plans and selects garments for clothing ranges. Before deciding on a particular piece, a buyer must consider several factors, aforementioned. Additionally, a buyer needs to review the current stock and analyze whether they adhere to the current aesthetics of the customers.

A clothing buyer also needs to analyze market trends and predict future ones so that the brand can keep supplying what the customers need. Managing stock levels, meeting and contacting suppliers, attending fairs, and helping out with promotional activities are other crucial roles that entail the job of a fashion buyer. 

Things To Look For In A Clothing Buyer

In this section, we will summarise some of the practices the top clothing buyers follow. The points will help you navigate the industry to appoint the best buyer for your brand.

Specializations of Cloth Buyers

Although interest in fashion is a compulsory requirement, certain other majors are also highly favored. Degrees in retail management, business, economics, and marketing are highly preferred. In some cases, certifications from organizations like the American Purchasing Society are preferred and are given validation. Some brands require the buyers to travel to foreign countries, which makes it necessary for them to know some additional languages. Hence, the requirements depend on your priorities.

Analyze Brands With High Customer Relevance

Customer service is the prime focus of the fashion industry. People choose clothes that help them express themselves and their culture. To keep the collection relevant, clothing buyers must look for brands that embody the current fashion trends.

Push Boundaries

Clothing buyers shouldn’t be afraid to break the rules. Being on the lookout for future trends is an integral part of their job role and, at the same time, necessary to understand the difference between an avant-garde collection and a re-branded past collection. This helps you develop signature pieces in your collection, leading to you making a mark in the industry.

Analyze the Complete Garment Pipeline

Maintaining the quality of a collection is necessary, and the job of a fashion buyer does not involve design exclusively. They need to have the skills to evaluate the quality and set the price of clothing based on the fabric and style. Regularly analyzing and evaluating the garment pipeline helps maximize the quality offered by the brand, ensuring customer satisfaction.

Keep Brand Identity in Mind

Maintaining the image and look of the brand on all fronts is vital to suit the customer narrative. Keep in mind the atmosphere you want to set and focus on adding the pieces that add value to your collection.

Stray From Fashion Shows and Magazines

Fashion shows and magazines are key to helping understand the current trends. However, to build a unique brand image, your clothing buyer should know how to portray trends that are still fresh and early to the market. Expert fashion buyers say that they venture out and traverse unconventional ways to discover trends as well as add their personal touch.

Build A Strong Signature

A clothing buyer needs to have character and a unique vision. They should have insights into the industry which they can blend with fashion styles to create an incomparable fashion line.

Analyze Sales Records

An expert clothing buyer regularly analyses the brand’s sales records to understand whether the brand is relevant to the customer’s needs or not. The analysis also helps perfect the future collections and get insights into the lifestyle of the target customer.

Planning and Working with Fashion Merchandisers

A fashion merchandiser plans and makes buying decisions. Along with clothing buyers, they analyze the buying patterns and company budget to decide on the quantity of each item to be purchased. The process helps build a framework that helps guide customers.

Experience and Training

Graduating from school with a fashion degree does not provide the complete experience required to build an exclusive collection for a brand. The clothing buyer must grab opportunities and build knowledge and experience.Now that you know the skills to look for in a clothing buyer, we hope you will be able to deliver excellence to customers. To ease this extensive process, take help from experts at Fashinza and portray your brand like you want to!