1. MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF TEXTILES
UNIT TUTOR:
Johanna Bergvall-Forsberg
The University of Manchester, UK

2. COURSE OUTLINE Introduction Strategic Management Operations Management
Marketing
The Fashion Operation
Exam

3. LEARNING OUTCOMES
…to understand the strategic role of the textile manufacturing operation
…to understand the importance of marketing in managing a fashion operation
…to recognise the importance of added value to the textile and clothing industry

4. MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF TEXTILES
Expectations
Marketing
Operations
Customer
Strategic
Decision
Product
and/or Service
Specification
Interpretation of

5. A CUSTOMER DRIVEN OPERATION
“The process starts with the customer (customer needs and use situations) and ends with the customer (the customer’s level of satisfaction).”
(Walters, 1999)
Customer
Needs
Value
Drivers
Desired
Benefits
Value
Creation
Customer
Satisfaction
Customer
Use
Situation
Cost of
Purchase

6. VALUE CREATION
“A value strategy involves identifying, producing and delivering the combination of price and non-price related benefits the customer is seeking.” (Walters, 1999)
“Our premise is that buyers will buy from the firm that they perceive to offer the highest delivered value.”
(Kotler, 1997)

7. THE TEXTILE AND CLOTHING SUPPLY CHAIN
FINDINGS SECTOR
CLOTHING SECTOR
RETAIL
SECTOR
Clothing Findings
Production
Cutting
Sewing
Garment
Finishing
Retail
Sales
FIBER SECTOR
TEXTILE SECTOR
Natural
Fibre
Weaving
Yarn
Production
Fabric
Finishing
Man-made Fibre
Knitting

8. MERCHANDISE CHARACTERISTICS
Functional Products
Innovative Products
Low demand uncertainties
High demand uncertainties
More predictable demand
Difficult to forecast
Stable demand
Variable demand
Long product lifecycle
Short selling season
Low inventory cost
High inventory cost
Low profit margins
High profit margins
Low product variety
High product variety
Higher volume per SKU
Lower volume per SKU
Low stock out cost
High stock out cost
Low obsolescence
High obsolescence
Basic or Classic Fashion
Accepted by majority of people
May be expensive or inexpensive
Remains “in fashion” for a longer period of time
Fad Fashion
Short lived - enthusiastically accepted by large group for a very short period of time
High Fashion (Haute Couture)
Limited appeal because of newness, unusualness and often impractical
Produced and sold in small quantities at high prices
Accepted by fashion leaders
Mass Fashion (Fast Fashion)
High competition between retailers
Copy of latest catwalk trends
Manufactured and sold in large quantities at moderate to low prices
Branded Fashion
Uses marketing to push products to market
Manufactured and sold in large quantities at moderate to high prices
(Fisher, 1997)

9. FUNCTIONAL- PREDICTABLE
Product life cycle - more than 2 years
Contribution to overheads - 5 to 20 %
Product variety - low
Forecasting error - 10%
Mean stockout rate - 1 to 2%
End of sale mark down – not relevant
Product life cycle – 3 to 12 months
Contribution to overheads - 20 to 60 %
Product variety - high
Forecasting error – 40 to 100%
Mean stockout rate - 10 to 40%
End of sale mark down – 10 to 25%
INNOVATIVE - UNPREDICTABLE

10. THE TEXTILE AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY
New market entrants
Changes in consumer demand
Shortened product lifecycles
Globalisation of supply
“In these short life-cycle markets, being able to spot trends quickly and to translate them into products in the shop in the shortest possible time has become pre-requisite for success”
(Christopher et al., 2004)

11. THE FASHION MERCHANDISE RANGE
Basic Products
generally sold throughout the year
Seasonal Products
shelf life of weeks
Short-Season Products
shelf life of 6-10 weeks or less
(Lowson, 2003)

12. COMPETITIVE REQUIREMETNS
DIFFERENTIATION
Stuck in
the middle
COST
LEADERSHIP
FOCUS
(added value)
Source: Porter’s generic routes to competitive advantage