The nice part! Miami Beach- inspirational shopping trip
If anyone ever asks what I do for a living their response is always, wow, you get to shop for a living! That’s my dream job! ‘How glamourous’ they say (whilst scrutinising what I’m wearing). I usually try to explain that it’s not all glamour and shopping but this tends to mean faces drop and glaze over. They really don’t want me to ruin their dream! Don’t get me wrong I really like what I do. I love the bridge between creativity and business, BUT it is stressful, competitive, not to mention the long hours and weeks spent away travelling.
It’s a competitive industry and in my 20’s I thought the same about the ‘glamour’ of travelling and going to fashion shows. This is what really what drew me in and this does happen. But alongside all of this, there is the ‘day to day’ which usually involves back to back meetings, which is why buyers don’t answer their phones or emails. Essentially, you’re the middleman or I should say the ‘go between’ the brands/ designers and the customers. You’re also ‘piggy in the middle’ for all the other areas of the business including PR, marketing, technical, merchandising to name a few.
Jasper Conran catwalk show
The goal for any buyer is to make a profit and be ‘up’ on last year. This is a careful balancing act of getting your customer excited (otherwise why would they shop your store?) and giving them something they would really want and would wear. You need to know your customer inside and out. I’ve worked on the shop floor and this really is the best way. When working as a lingerie buyer, I was always surprised at the number of customers who were comfortable enough to pull up their tops and show me their bras. Hey, it all helps with buying next season….
LA inspirational shopping trip
At worst, a buyer shouldn’t just buy what they like. There’s always an element of what you’re personally drawn to but you have to think about the person who’ll be buying it. Before a buyer can commit fully, there are often meetings with management, who meet to look at the collection. This is often a very business orientated and methodical look at sales history, best and worst sales etc. On the other hand, you’re also likely to get random comments leading to a tiresome 3-hour discussion about a shade of khaki (it was grey!), a bra strap or what everyone in the room would like to wear. Through gritted teeth you make it to the end and the collection is signed off.
Then you wait and perhaps pray that once the new season is in store it will sell. There are many sleepless Sunday nights, as sales are reported on a Monday, and you just hope that sales are good. If not, you’ll be called in to explain why! More often than not, it’s the weather or the stock isn’t actually out….. and then suddenly you have a best seller and no explanation is required. You just need to find a way of making sales EVEN better next season.
Next time a buyer doesn’t respond spare a thought that they might have been in meetings since 8am and its 3pm, they’ve not had lunch and have another 3 meetings to go to. They may even need to leave for China at 11pm that night…
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