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      SHAPE

       The analysis of garment shapes from previous seasons should affect the key shapes that the designer uses. For instance, the merchandiser has seen that in the spring collection there was a women’s short trench coat that had a great sales order, and they think that it is also a style that can be carried over to the winter season just by changing the fabric to a heavier weight. The merchandiser adds this into the range plan as a ‘carry over’ style, and the designer researches fabrics for this updated style. By recognizing the strength of a shape, the brand can capitalize on previous seasons styles and the customer who loved the coat in the spring, can also buy a version for the winter as the fabric is warmer.

      COLOUR

       Colour analysis is vital each season and helps the designers determine its use in the collection. The merchandiser and designer work closely to determine the end use of all the colours in the concept. The colours the designer adds to his concept need to work not only for the fabrics, but also for the prints, embroideries and trims of the collection. Fluorescent pink maybe a ‘hot’ colour for the season, as predicted by the trend forecasters, but sales analysis by the merchandiser has shown that for a men’s range the pink doesn’t work in a fabric, but only in a print or embroidery.

      FINANCIAL TARGETS

       The merchandise team is in charge of the prices and the financial side of the range plan, so at the start of the season they have a total figure of what the brand needs to make in profit for the season. By looking at the previous season’s sales they know that in order to make this profit they need to have ten coat styles selling at 200€ and seven jacket styles at 150€, etc. With this information the merchandise and development teams break down the range plan by product group and selling price, so that the designer knows precisely what needs to be designed. The developer works closely with the designer at this stage to calculate target cost prices for the factory and to align the sketches to the range plan, making sure that it is technically possible to make the coat for the required selling price.

      LOCAL MARKET FEEDBACK

       Merchandisers would look to their sales agents to obtain locally based feedback on their best and worst sellers, as well as relevant local trends. Think of local trends, the climate, cultural influences and styling, and you can understand the need for market relevance.

      Be aware that there is a fine line between taking on board local market feedback and being true to your brand’s identity. Ignoring a market request can kill sales and collaboration, but being a slave to the market dilutes the brand identity and causes confusion for the customer. A possible solution for this is to create market-specific packages of styles that sit alongside the regular collection; this way sales are maximised, the brand has a clear message and it stays focused and relevant while serving local customers.

      If you are building a brand identity, stay true to what the identity is. Take into consideration what the market is asking, and if you can make the request without straying from your identity do it, but don’t sell out and try to be all things to all people.

      TRUE STORY

      I once worked for a brand that had a black and white colour palette. At the launch of the first collection (which was a very small range), one of our sales team, who was based in a warm sunny country, requested one of the T-shirts to be produced in pink, as this is what her customers would buy (based on the colours of other successful brands). She built a strong case for the added colour, but in the end we said no, and the T-shirt remained in black and white. Why? Simple. We were building a brand identity, the colour scheme was monochrome, it was a small range and the addition of the pink T-shirt would a) look strange and b) confuse the customer. We were not in a position to add the colour just for this market, as we would have had production minimum issues.

      COMPILING A RANGE PLAN

      Now that you know what a range plan generally looks like, let’s see how you can compile one yourself for either your own company or collection or the brand you are working for. In this ‘how-to’ I will assume you are working with an Excel file, but if you rather work with pen and paper for now, that’s also OK.

      If I were to create a range plan I would start with a sheet of paper and would write across the top the type of garment, for instance, coats. You can use any product group you want.

      Under that, write horizontally across the page the required/proposed selling prices. The merchandiser will give you these prices from the previous season’s sales history. Let’s fill in six selling prices for the coats: 159€ / 199€ / 249€ / 299€ / 349€ and 399€. Sometimes there are more selling prices and sometimes fewer, it is company and product group specific.

      Once you have written out the type of garment (coats) and the prices, you need to decide how many styles are actually needed. The merchandiser can give you this number based on the financial targets of the company. They would calculate that, for instance, the company would need nine coat styles distributed between six different prices to make enough money for the season. Write down on the left hand side of the sheet, coat 1, coat 2, etc. until you have nine lines down the page.

      Using sales analysis and local market feedback, the merchandiser can now tell you that out of the nine coat styles, there need to be four simple looking styles, three need to be a little more fancy and the rest should be super fashionable crazy designs that will get pr attention.

      The merchandiser could also tell you that, since your top sales markets are Sweden and Spain, you need to make sure some of the coats have a hood for Sweden, as it gets cold there, while some of the others should have ¾ sleeves, as this is a great feature in Spain. At least one of the styles could be the same as last season with a different fabric, but the rest of them should be new styles. Under no circumstances can the coat be in a velvet fabric, as this would never sell for the brand.

      Now that all the blanks are filled in, you can go to the designer to tell him that he needs to design nine coats, four of which are more simple styles, three have more detail and two that are very detailed. They need to include a best seller from last season, and some of the styles must have a hood.

      If the designer will ‘reuse’ or ‘carry over’ a trench coat from last season that sold for 199€; you can already add this style into the range plan by writing Coat 1 – Trench coat, and putting an X under the price point of 199€. One style is now taken.

      Continue filling up the plan for coats until you have detailed coat descriptions and fit information down the left of the page from the designer with X-s under all the price points. Move onto the next type of garment until your plan is complete.

      TIPS Chapter 3: Range Planning

      As the developer, the range plan is your starting point of a new season. Watch and learn from the merchandiser.

      At the early stages, the range plan will change a lot in respect of prices and number of styles. Be patient and flexible.

      Some designers ‘over sketch’ by up to 50% on the number of styles compared to the requirements of the range plan. If you

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