Retail100 Consulting director and co-founder Neil Amer

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Merchandising: it’s not what most people think!

Retail100 Consulting director and co-founder Neil Amer gives an insider’s view of the role of merchandisers - and his insights may surprise you…

If I had a pound for every time someone thought a merchandiser dresses windows, I’d be a rich man. In fact, I can’t think of a group of people less qualified to dress windows - the skill sets needed for merchandising and visual merchandising could not be more different.

As a former merchandiser, I must say that the wonderfully creative visual merchandising teams have a talent I could only dream of. However, it’s no surprise the two get confused: call something by the same name and what do you expect? But the similarities really do end there.

Budgets, spreadsheets, KPIs [Key Performance Indicators], WSSIs [Weekly Sales, Stock and Intake]… welcome to the world of merchandising. The reality of merchandising is to manage financial risk. We work hand in hand with buyers to deliver a market-leading range, manage stock, and maximise sales and margins. Buyers can find great products, negotiate great prices, or find great sources to manufacture. But without a merchandiser, none of this would come to market.

A merchandiser sets a framework or boundaries for a successful and profitable trading environment. We plan sales and stock budgets, plan the number of options a buyer can buy, produce forecasts for suppliers, and work with logistics and warehousing to ensure the smooth and timely delivery of stock. We monitor sales patterns, deal with underperforming ranges, and plan financially viable ways to exit stock.That’s just a few of the things we’re responsible for. It’s quite often the case that a merchandiser’s head is in three seasons at once - the one you are currently trading in, the next one where you are trying to make sure everything is on time, and the one eight to 12 months ahead, which you are planning for.

To be a successful merchandiser, you need to have many skills, but my top three would be: multi-tasking - you need to keep many a plate spinning; prioritising - as you simply cannot do everything that’s asked of you; and collaboration - because you need to work closely with people/teams (not least the buyers) to deliver results.

For the best results, buyers and merchandisers work closely together, often referring to each other as ‘work husband’ or ‘work wife’ as they spend so much time collaborating, celebrating, and arguing (or do I mean healthy tension?).

I believe the best merchandisers love the product as much as they love a spreadsheet, and the best buyers love a spreadsheet as much as they love the product. It’s very much like a Venn diagram, where the skill sets should overlap, but it’s the skill sets that don’t overlap at the opposite ends of the spectrum that call us to become a merchandiser or buyer.

This can be even more complicated in a small business, where the buyer and merchandiser roles can often fall upon the same person. One skill set will shine through, most probably the buying one as this is more focused on the ‘sexy’ product. It will often be difficult to have that ‘healthy tension’ in one person’s thought process, so I fear merchandising is often overlooked. You may not be great with a spreadsheet, nor know what a WSSI is or have the tools to forecast, and that can be okay: your business can succeed without these things. But I guarantee that if you don’t have a framework or a proper grip of your stock intake versus sales (essentially the finances), your business will not be as successful as it can be.

A huge generalisation, I know, but in my experience most buyers are extroverts and most merchandisers are introverts and as such are often referred to as the unsung heroes of a buying office.

So, to all you merchandisers out there, whether your family and friends think you dress windows, work in a shop, or are Meryl Streep in A Devil Wears Prada: I know how tough it can be when you feel the weight of millions of pounds on your shoulders. And, you have my word: I will never stop banging the drum for you. Because behind every great buyer, there is a strong, powerful and expert merchandiser.

Neil Amer is a director and co-founder of Retail100 Consulting, which is a consultancy firm with 100 years of retail experience that helps retailers and brands grow. Coming from a retail background, Neil worked as a merchandiser for John Lewis for 17 years. Email: hello@retail100consulting.co.uk Visit: www.retail100consulting.co.uk; www.linkedin.com/company/retail100-consulting