Retail Terms
Terms
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- wholesale
- buying the goods at cost
- terms
- a manufacturer's reduction in the price of goods offered to the retailer for placement of an order, early payment, quantity purchases, etc.
- Just-in-time manufacturing
- a manufacturing system in which materials used for manufacturer and/or sale are produced precisely at the time they are needed. As a result, no costly storage of inventory is required. Electronic record-keeping and communication about inventory and needs has made this system possible
- CAM
- Computer Aided Manufacturing used to enhance performance of manufacturing tasks
- counterfeit goods
- imitation goods that are sold illegally
- flash
- daily sales posting
- contractor
- second party hired to produce goods or do any part of the production process
- embargo
- hold on trade until a trade issue, or related paperwork, can be resolved
- sourcing
- determining where textiles and/or apparel can be obtained and how and when this will be done. in the global economy, sources may be domestic or international
- RTW
- Ready-to-Wear or clothing that is mass produced
- soft goods
- generally speaking apparel items plus home textiles and other textile products and accessories carried in a store
- DC
- Distribution Center is a handling facility where merchandise comes in from vendors/consolidators and is then routed to specific stores
- trademark
- this is a word, design or device assigned to a product or service by the owner. trademarks can be registered so that no other individual or company can use the name or symbol, and so it is given legal protection because of exclusive rights. It must be registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office of the Department of Commerce. Registered trademarks are designated with symbols
- vertical integration
- this is a company that engages in all processes of production and distribution from spinning to weaving, finishing and selling garments
- domestic
- products or textiles made in the US
- hard-goods or hardlines
- non-apparel or non-textile items carried in a store
- operations
- usually indicates the store segmentation of business or within a store it is the functions of support services like the dock, back-rooms, janitorial staff, etc
- greige goods
- undyed, unfinished fabrics which are later dyed closer to time of need
- export
- merchandise produced and sold out of a country
- branch
- a store in the chain of stores
- QR or Quick Response
- comprehensive business strategy consisting of computer linkages and inter-industry partnerships to speed up the production and delivery of goods. the purpose is to lower inventory levels while keeping in-stocks
- safeguards
- a process to temporarily reinstate quota to restrain international trade to protect certain home industries from foreign competition
- lead time
- the amount of tie required between different stages of the distribution channel. from a manufacturer's perspective the number of days or weeks between receiving an order and producing those goods. from a retailer's perspective, the number of weeks or months between placing an order and receiving those goods. From someone in product development the days or weeks between conception until receipt of goods.
- vendor
- supplier of goods to be used or sold/sometimes referred to as the manufacturer
- intellectual property rights
- legal protection for exclusive use by owners of copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets or trade dress
- knit
- fabric that is made by interloping of either vertical or horizontal sets of yarns
- RTV/RTM
- Return to Vendor or Return to Manufacturer. This is when merchandise is returned to the vendor either because of a shipment problem, pieces that have been damaged or overstocks which are negotiated for return (reimbursement)
- RFIDs
- Radio Frequency Identification, an automatic identification method relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags. Merchandise with RFID tags can be tracked at any point in the pipeline
- Coop Advertising
- advertising or promotional money that is provided by the manufacturer in exchange for the purchase of goods and name recognition in promotional efforts
- key items
- large volume items used to drive business
- licensing
- the process by which a manufacturer pays a fee to an individual or company for the privilege of affixing the licensor's name, trademark, or logo to the licensee's products
- flagship
- this used to be the original store or main store, but now is often used to refer to one, or one of top, large stores in a company where there is a main focus
- woven
- interlacing of at least 2 sets of yarns in a vertical and horizontal interlacing - has a grainline
- POS
- point of sale. POS is often referred to as the cash register/checkout station
- CMT
- Cut, Make, Trim - contractor who performs all the production operations to produce a style
- out-sourcing
- situation where a company pays an outside party to undertake one or more production task
- branded goods
- clothing developed by a manufacturer and sold to many retailers under the trademarked brand. also called name brand, national brand or just brand
- strike points
- key focal areas in stores
- Bar code
- black lines and spaces read electronically to identify a product and specific information about a product
- RN# or Registered Number
- number assigned by the Federal Trade Commission to identify a product's producer
- Compliance
- a company's policy on human rights and environmental issues at factories producing for them
- inventory
- merchandise kept on hand by a manufacturer or retailer. inventory can be stored off site
- copyright
- legal protection of the rights of an artist, in the case of the retail industry sometimes a fabric print
- test or style test
- putting new items into only some stores for the purpose of getting sales readings to better be able to anticipate needs and make buys
- chargeback
- this is when a retailer charges a manufacturer for late shipment or other problem related to shipping such as not following specific retailer instructions, etc. Chargebacks can also be made for quality assurance problems as negotiated by the retailer.
- Quota
- limit on items that may be imported
- trade dress
- refers to the shape and specific features of products itself that are not only distinctive, but also identify the manufacturer of the product. this is the rule that is to deter companies from making exact copies of another's product since apparel is generally not patented
- private label
- brand developed by or for a specific retailer, also called store brand or private brand
- assortment
- the mix of products carried
- planogram
- a visual representation of the space for selling with merchandise strategically placed. This is often used in stores for communication purposes either from corporate to the stores or from a manager to people in the stores
- SKU
- Style Keeping Unit used for inventory tracking, usually designated with a number and that number is also called an SKU
- Color or Trend service
- business in the industry that one subscribes to for research on color or trends for future seasons
- gray market goods
- sometimes called parallel imports, these goods are legitimate products that are distributed through channels not authorized by their original manufacturer. sometimes called diverted goods
- Basics
- items kept in stock on a continuous basis because they are minimally affected by fashion changes
- Depth
- the number of units in each sku carried in the assortment
- breadth
- the number of various lines or sku's carried in the assortment
- factor
- outside source for capital, often becomes a company's credit and collection agency. this is designed to allow a manufacturer to maintain a steady cash flow
- QC or Quality Control
- the effort applied to assure that the end products meet the requirements set for production
- Doors
- stores are often called doors
- in-stocks
- percent of stock in store compared to basic levels set or can be percent of items in-stock in store
- import
- goods that are brought into a country
- duty or tariff
- a fee imposed on goods brought into a country for the purpose of reducing competition with domestic production
- agent
- an individual or firm with connections a country or region where products are being sources. They act on behalf of the company that hires them to help with finding factories to produce and perform other functions such as overseeing production of those goods
- preproduction garment
- sample garments made to test the final production of a garment
- merchandising
- the planning, development and presentation of product lines for target markets with regard to prices, assortments, styling and timing. usually the corporate arm of a buying offices is often called the Merchandising Division
- findings
- materials used in garments other than piece goods such as trims, threads, closures, labels, etc
- converter
- a firm that buys greige goods from mills, contracts the dyeing, printing and/or finishing and sells finished piece goods
- staple items
- basic items that are constantly in demand and minimally influenced by fashion changes
- logistics
- the total process of planning, enacting, and coordinating the physical movement of merchandise from supplier to retailer to customer in the most timely, effective and cost-efficient manner possible
- Open-to-Buy
- the difference between planned purchases and purchase commitments already made by a buyer for a given time period (most often a fiscal month). It represents the amount the buyer has left to spend for that month and is reduced each time a purchase is made
- country of origin
- country where major production is completed in a product. needed for determining quota monitoring
- vendor matrix or just matrix
- buying from a pre-approved list of vendors
- specs
- size specifications used in the production of products - used for communication and the development of the pattern
- piece goods
- fabric used in the production of goods
- CAD
- Computer Aided Design system used to perform design tasks and give the designer the ability to experiment with ideas about styles, colors, fabrics, etc.
- registered trademark
- name or symbol used for identification followed by R with a circle around it. This indicates registration of intellectual property with the US Patent and Trademark Office
- Comp Store Sales
- same stores sales this year compared to last year. In other words, when new stores are opened or closed, these numbers are not in comp store sales. The store must be open for at least 1 year to make this comparison
- knock-off
- the legal copy or near copy of the general idea of a design shown by another firm under a different brand name