Responsibilities of Merchandiser in Garment Industry

Roles and Responsibilities of a Garment Merchandiser in the Apparel Industry

Who is a Garment Merchandiser?

Garment merchandiser is like a bridge between the buyer and industry. He has to look after every job like buying the raw materials which are required to finish the product, making the garment, finishing the garment, preparing documentation, and finally shipping. Actually, he is the main responsible person to make the product timely. As its importance, this article has presented a vast discussion on the roles and responsibilities of a merchandiser.

Duties of Merchandiser in Readymade Garment Industry:

An apparel merchandiser should follow the below responsibilities:

1. Internal & external communication,
2. Sampling,
3. Preparing internal order sheets,
4. Accessories & trims in-housing,
5. Preparing purchase orders,
6. Getting approvals on lab dips,
7. Advising and assisting production and quality department,
8. Taking responsibility for inspections,
9. Giving shipping instructions and following shipment.

All the above responsibilities of a garment merchandiser have explained in the following:

1. Internal & external communication:

A merchandiser has to communicate not only with the buyers but also with the others such as suppliers, nominated factory owners, fabric manufacturers, etc.

2. Sampling:

It is one of the most important tasks for all apparel merchandisers. Here, samples have to develop according to the buyer’s instruction. Different types of samples should be developed here such as proto sample, fit sample, fit sample, photoshoot sample, salesman sample, size set sample, etc.

3. Preparing internal order sheets:

An apparel merchandiser has to prepare various types of internal order sheets such as costing sheets, booking sheets, etc.

4. Accessories & trims in-housing:

After confirmation of a garment export order, a garment merchandiser has to book and in-house all kinds of trimmings and accessories according to the buyer’s instruction.

5. Preparing purchase orders:

Different types of purchase orders should be prepared here by the garments merchandiser such as fabric, sewing thread, trimmings, and accessories, etc.

6. Getting approvals on lab dips:

It is the other important task of an apparel merchandiser. At first, lab dip should be done by maintaining the buyer’s recommendation and submitted by the merchandiser to the buyer for its approval. If it’s ok then the buyer approved it for running garment production.

7. Advising and assisting production and quality department:

A garment merchandiser must have to make a good relationship with the garment production and quality department for smooth and fault-free production. This also creates a great impact on shipping the product timely.

8. Taking responsibility for inspections:

Inspection should be done before shipping the product to the buyer. Here, the merchandiser plays a significant role to inspect the product by using a strong quality department or third-party quality inspector.

9. Giving shipping instructions and following shipment:

It is the last and final task of an apparel merchandiser. Here, the garment merchandiser advises various instructions to the commercial department about the shipment of a garment export order. By maintaining those instructions, the commercial department will ship the products to the buyer.

-Written by

Mayedul Islam
Merchandiser at Fashion Xpress Buying House.
Badda, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Email: mayedul.islam66@gmail.com