MER 3270 - FASHION MERCHANDISING: DOMESTIC, GLOBAL, AND OMNI

credits: 3.0
Crosslisted/Same As: FSH 3270
Crosslisted/Same As (2): MGT 3270
FSH 3270-MER 3270-MGT 3270. The fashion industry is a highly visible customer-facing business with unique competitive and merchandising challenges. Will cover the fundamentals of fashion merchandising, combining academic and business concepts with hands-on experiential learning. Students will learn traditional and industry-specific elements of the merchandising process, including planning, forecasting, procurement, and management aspects of the fashion business. Case studies and class projects will expose students to real-world issues in fashion merchandising, and provide a sense of what actual merchandising projects involve. This fundamentals course will introduce students to the common business practices and strategies of the retail side of the fashion industry, and also provide a base for follow-on topics in advanced merchandising courses such as product development, product life cycles, buying and sustainability. Objectives: The course aims to give students a hands-on grounding in merchandising concepts as applied to the world of fashion and how to manage them effectively, using actual case examples and current information gathered directly from the industry: A) To describe the core principles of merchandising for the fashion industry, including forecasting, buying cycles, sourcing, pricing, promotion and distribution; B) Explain the different functions of the merchandising process, including the development of buying plans, promotional materials and events and sales strategies for multiple retail channels; C) Analyze the use of data and technology in fashion merchandising throughout the product life cycle; D) To apply key principles in managing B - to B relationships with vendors, suppliers, distribution channels and others; E) Create a merchandising plan for a fashion product. Method of Instruction: Lectures and class discussion, guest speakers, assigned readings and cases, field trips, and in-the-field hands on experiences / project based learning. Method of Evaluation: Assignments: Case studies, 30%; Exams / Quizzes, 20%; Group Facilitator, 20%; and Experiential Learning Project / Portfolio, 30%.

Prerequisite(s): MGT 2240 - PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT