What Religion is Your Bra?

A man walked into the ladies department of a Macy's, shyly walked up to the woman behind the counter and said; "I'd like to buy a bra for my wife. "

"What type of bra?" asked the clerk.
"Type?" inquires the man, "There's more than one type?"
"Look around," said the saleslady as she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, color and material imaginable. "Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only four types of bras to choose from."
Relieved, the man asked about the types.
The saleslady replied: "There are the Catholic, the Salvation Army, the Presbyterian, and the Baptist types. Which one would you prefer?"
Now totally befuddled, the man asked about the differences between them.
The Saleslady responded, "It is all really quite simple...

The Catholic type - supports the masses

The Salvation Army type - lifts the fallen

The Presbyterian type - keeps them staunch and upright

The Baptist type - makes mountains out of mole hills"

They forgot the German bra;
Holtzemfromfloppen

Whats your breast type?

Analysing your business - Part 5

Having said all that I have in the past blog posts, trade shows are the best times to see and meet brands and industry people that you do not normally or regularly see, so make sure you have enough time scheduled in to see them. Do some searching on the internet prior to shows and make sure you have read your trade magazines. It is also the time to see the trends and colours for the oncoming seasons. So walk the isles, look out for newness and talk to the new brands or brands you do not currently deal with, you never know you may be pleasantly surprised. Introduce your self to the trade magazines ask them what they have found that new and exciting and find out all the latest news. You need to know what is going on in your industry, Be pro active, think ahead...

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks

Analysing your business - Part 4

So now you are ready and prepared to attend the seasonal shows armed with all your brand performance information and a clear vision of what you need for next season to be more successful. There is nothing worse than returning from a show or appointment having not achieved what you needed to.  Try and view all your like for like brands at similar times so that you can contextualise the ranges and limit duplication of styles. Get up early and get there early, maximise this opportunity. Make appointments with the brands in advance and plan your route effectively. Make sure you see the fashion shows – beginning of day is best so you can get inspired and see new collections. Keep an eye on your time, plan in break times, refreshment and food breaks. If you don’t feel good than your decision making and concentration skills will be effected, you can then make some buying decisions at the show & place orders. If you know what you need there should be no uncertainty......

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks

Analysing your business - Part 3

So lets now look at the OTB (Open to Buy) for next season and decide how you are going to split it. This is often tricky without first reviewing the branded collections and seeing all the newness. However having an initial plan will keep you on track and  at least it will ensure your monies are not wildly overspent on the wrong areas.  Don’t forget  to keep a part of your OTB back, this will enable you to have monies in season to buy into that high fashion trend that has taken you by surprise, enable you to replenish regularly on your basic best selling lines or keep on top of paying the bills should trade be a little tougher in the earlier months than expected.  Your buy should also take into consideration what events or promotions you are going to run in season and ultimately what  products you will require to support these events? Remember to speak to your current branded suppliers and see what can they do to help and support you. They may even sponsor an event if their brand is uniquely featured.

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks

Analysing your business - Part 2

As a continuing part of this months blog, you should be looking at your business and asking yourself lots of questions. Firstly what is the stock turn on your stock lines and most importantly are they turning fast enough? Stock should turn at least 3 times in a year to be financially viable, with your best sellers turning at least twice this. The message here is little and often.

Identify and review those best sellers by style and also by size, are they still effective? Look at the sell through percentage on seasonal one shot ranges  and  colours, have they achieved the minimum required sell through percentage?  Lingerie needs to achieve  60% to be financially viable and nightwear in excess of 65%.  Finally review the profitability per category, by brand or supplier, has it increased? decreased ?If it is too low how can it be improved? Can you renegotiate terms with your supplier? Are these lines selling out fast enough do they warrant the money you invest in them and return your business enough profit? 

Once you have finished this process and completed your analysis you can start to build your buying plan for next season. Plan, plan & then plan some more as successful buying and retailing is all in the detail. This process helps you to feeling comfortable and relaxed about your business, where you are going and enable you to look forward to seeing the new seasons collections.

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks

Analysing your business - Part 1

In the past I have spoken at length about how important effective planning is and that’s its all about reflection, analysis and vision. So lets look with a fresh mind on what we should all be doing.

'Planning' is such a big and ambiguous idea but it creates strong guidelines, without these targets how can you tell how well your business is doing..? It’s always good to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, but likewise you have to be able to plan forward and to be able to see & predict the trends and know where your market is going. This will help you decide what you need to do next with your business. The aim of analysis is to understand the lesson’s to be learnt from the previous year. A process of SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats,  with the main focus being on opportunities going forward i.e. New product areas? Growth of existing successful areas ....  

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks