Dimension of Product Change in Apparel Merchandising

Dealing with the demand for constantly changing products may be one of the most challenging and interesting aspects of apparel merchandising. Fashion results in customer demand for product change.

"Fashion is a continuing process of change in the styles of dress that are accepted and followed by segments of the public at any particular time". A second aspect of product change, seasonal change, is often confused with fashion change. The terms seasonal goods and fashion goods are often used interchangeably, as are the terms basic goods and staple goods. However, when fashion change is separated from seasonal change, reasons for product change are clarified.

Fashion/Basic goods
Fashion goods are products that frequently experience demand for change, in styling. Fashion goods require frequent changes in styling to have continued demand from consumers. Styling is the characteristic or distinctive appearance of a product, the combination of features that makes it different from other products of the same type. For example, the salable life of junior dress styles may be only about 8 weeks. This means that the junior dress line must be replanned, developed, produced, and presented with new merchandise six times a year (a 52-week merchandising cycle divided by an 8-week selling period equals 6.5 lines a year).

In contrast, products that experience a comparatively long period of fashion acceptance are called basics. Basic goods have less-frequent demand for style change than fashion goods. Basic goods may have a selling period of 52 weeks, a whole year, and perhaps several years. Only one or at the most two lines must be planned, developed, produced, and presented during a 52-week merchandising cycle.

Seasonal/Staple goods
Seasonal goods experience changes in demand related to a combination of factors associated with the calendar year including ethnic and cultural traditions, seasonal events, and weather changes. Products may be seasonal because of events that occur consistently in the calendar year, social customs, or functional aspects of the garments relative to the weather. Holidays and the beginning and end of the school year have a major impact on the demand for certain types of products. For example, well over half of all children's wear is sold at retail during about 10 weeks of the back-to-school selling period. The merchandising of coats offers another seasonal example. Coats are often sold year-round, but the types of coats offered vary. Lightweight coats and raincoats are offered for spring/summer, and down, wool or fur coats are offered for fall/winter, with about a 26-week selling period for each.

In contrast to these seasonal products, products with little change in demand relative to the time of the year are called staple goods. Staple goods are stocked year-round at relatively consistent inventory levels. Change in demand related to the time of year may or may not include a corresponding demand for change in styling. For example, demand for budget or moderate-priced girls' Easter dresses is highly seasonal. The selling period spans less than 8 weeks, ending with the Easter holiday. However, the preferred styling for the Easter dress may be quite traditional, including white collars, lace trim, and bows in the back. In this case, the merchandiser's primary concern may be planning for the highly seasonal demand of a basic product.

A Perceptual Map of Product Change
Some apparel products are highly fashionable, and others are highly seasonal. Some are both seasonal and fashionable; others are neither seasonal nor fashionable. The impact of these aspects of product change on merchandise planning and positioning can be visualized through the use of a perceptual map as shown below;

This perceptual map is a graphic representation of fashion/seasonal and basic/staple variations in consumer demand. It is based on a 52-week merchandising cycle, the time period commonly used for merchandise planning. A merchandising cycle is divided into selling periods, the number of weeks a particular style or merchandise group is salable to the ultimate consumer. The rate of product change is determined by the number of different selling periods in a merchandising cycle. The intersection of the fashion/basic continuum and the seasonal/staple continuum creates four sectors in the perceptual map. 

SECTOR-l: BASIC/STAPLE GOODS 

Sector 1 represents products that are basic and staple. These products have selling periods lasting over 26 weeks without product change. The same or similar styles in similar fabrics and colors are stocked year-round. Manufacturers of basic/staple goods such as athletic socks may produce and promote only one line for each year with a minimum of a 52-week selling period. Product lines for succeeding years may be nearly identical. 

SECTOR-2: FASHION/STAPLE GOODS. 

Sector 2 represents fashion/staple products. Selling periods might range from 1 to 52 weeks. An example is designer sheets. Most household textiles are basic/staple products; they are offered year-round and have relatively few changes in styling (52-week selling period). However, the creation of designer lines moves some household textiles into the fashion category, to point c in Sector 2 with a 26-week selling period, with designers doing two lines a year. An apparel example of a staple, fashion product is blue jeans for the teenage market. Teenagers purchase blue jeans year-round, but the popular styles and labels change frequently. Therefore, jeans for teens might be positioned at point d in Sector 2 with a 10-week selling period.

SECTOR-3: FASHION/SEASONAL GOODS 

Sector 3 represents merchandise that is both fashionable and seasonal. Seasonal merchandise with a high rate of fashion change has a short selling life from 1 to 26 weeks. Each selling period's stock should start at zero and end at zero since merchandise is not normally carried over from one selling period to the next. Any fashion merchandise the firm has left over at the end of the period has to be sold at extreme discounts. This makes timing of planning, development, and delivery of the line extremely critical. Merchandisers monitor sales and inventory levels and have to make quick and risky decisions for reorders because of the short selling period. Thus, merchandise represented in Sector 3 experiences the most frequent demand for change. Seventy to 100% of fashion/seasonal styles in a line will be new from one season to the next (Vendors take control, 2001).

SECTOR-4: BASIC/SEASONAL GOODS

Sector 4 represents basic/seasonal goods. Selling periods may range from 1 to 52 weeks. A product such as holiday decorations is highly seasonal but maybe mostly basic in styling. For example, Halloween costumes are sold only for selected weeks during a year, but the merchandise often has similar styling year after year. 

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