Merchem Company Review - Fast Fashion

1
Fast Fashion
Fast fashion is a contemporary term used by
fashion retailers to express that designs move
from catwalk quickly in order to capture current
fashion trends. Fast fashion clothing collections
are based on the most recent fashion trends
presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and
the autumn of every year. Emphasis is on
optimizing certain aspects of the supply chain in
order for these trends to be designed and
manufactured quickly and inexpensively to allow
the mainstream consumer to buy current clothing
styles at a lower price. This philosophy of quick
manufacturing at an affordable price is used in
large retailers such as HM, Zara, Peacocks, and
Topshop. It particularly came to the fore during
the vogue for "boho chic" in the mid-2000s. MD
Merchem Merchem Company Review
2
Category management
The primary objective of the fast fashion is to
quickly produce a product in a cost efficient
manner to respond to fast changing consumer
tastes in as near real-time as possible. This
efficiency is achieved through the retailers
understanding of the target market's wants, which
is a high fashion looking garment at a price at
the lower end of the clothing sector. Primarily,
the concept of category management has been used
to align the retail buyer and the manufacturer in
a more collaborative relationship. Category
management is defined as "the strategic
management of product groups through trade
partnerships, which aims to maximize sales and
profits by satisfying customer needs MD
Merchem Merchem Company Review
3
Quick response method
Quick Response (QR) was developed to improve
manufacturing processes in the textile industry
with the aim of removing time from the production
system. The U.S. Apparel Manufacturing
Association initiated the project in the early
1980s to address a competitive threat to its own
textile manufactures from imported textiles in
low labour cost countries. During the project
lead times in the manufacturing process were
halved the U.S. industry became more competitive
for a time, and imports were lowered as a
result. MD Merchem Merchem Company Review
4
Marketing
Marketing is the key driver of fast fashion.
Marketing creates the desire for consumption of
new designs as close as possible to the point of
creation. This is achieved by promoting fashion
consumption as something fast, low price and
disposable. The continuous release of new
products essentially makes the garments a highly
cost effective marketing tool that drives
consumer visits, increases brand awareness, and
results in higher rates of consumer purchases.
Fast fashion companies have also enjoyed higher
profit margins in that their markdown percentage
is only 15 compared to competitors 30 plus.
The fast fashion business model is based on
reducing the time cycles from production to
consumption such that consumers engage in more
cycles in any time period. MD Merchem
Merchem Company Review
5
"Supermarket" market
The consumer in the fast fashion market thrives
on constant change and the frequent availability
of new products.Fast fashion is considered to be
a "supermarket" segment within the larger sense
of the fashion market. This term refers to fast
fashion's nature to "race to make apparel an even
smarter and quicker cash generator". Three
crucial differentiating model factors exist
within fast fashion consumption market timing,
cost, and the buying cycle. Timing's objective is
to create the shortest production time possible.
MD Merchem Merchem Company Review
6
Supply chain
Supply chains are central to the creation of fast
fashion. Supply chain systems are designed to add
value and reduce cost in the process of moving
goods from design concept to retail stores and
finally through to consumption. Efficient supply
chains are critical to delivering the retail
customer promise of fast fashion. The selection
of a merchandising vendor is a key part in the
process. Inefficiency primarily occurs when
suppliers can't respond quickly enough, and
clothing ends up bottlenecked and in back
stock MD Merchem Merchem Company
Review
7
Vendor relationships
The companies in the fast fashion market also
utilize a range of relationships with the
suppliers. The product is first classified as
"core" or "fashion". Suppliers close to the
market are used for products that are produced in
the middle of a season, meaning trendy, "fashion"
items. In comparison, long-distance suppliers are
utilized for cheap, "core" items, sometimes
referred to as "capsule" clothing, that are used
in collections every season and have a stable
forecast. MD Merchem Merchem Company
Review
8
Environmental impact
Consumers in developed countries produce massive
amounts of waste by buying and throwing away
fashion items. For example, the residents of New
York City discard around 200,000 tons of clothes,
handbags, belts, and other sorts of textiles each
year. The average American household produces 82
pounds of textile waste every year. Consumers in
the European Union generate a total of 5.8
million tons of textiles each year that end up in
landfills. MD Merchem Merchem Company
Review
9
List of fast fashion brands

• Lolly Wolly Doodle
• MD Merchem
• Merchem Company Review

• Zara
• United Colors of Benetton
• Bestseller
• Peacocks
• Bershka
• CA
• Charlotte Russe
• Deb Shops

10
(No Transcript)