Bridal buyer

87

ASSOCIATION NEWS

WWW.BRIDALBUYER.COM

“We need to be

moving forward

with our brands,

discovering and

creating the next

season’s best-

sellers”

T

HE CONCEPT OF MINIMUM ORDER

numbers is standard in many wholesale

industries though it can also be set as a

minimum order value. If the manufacture

of the goods is being undertaken by a

third party then there will be a minimum

piece number per manufacturing order for

the wholesaler, but, more signifi cantly, the taking and

processing of orders has to be cost-effective. Easily the

largest part of these costs is exhibiting at trade shows and

putting sales reps on the road; this alone makes having a

sample order minimum in place commercially sensible. The

argument that bridal suppliers accept single item orders all

year round – brides’ repeat dress orders – misses the point

that there is no direct sales cost attached to

repeat orders for the supplier.

It is true that 30 years ago many bridal

companies didn’t apply minimums to sample

orders. For the suppliers this had to change

because allowing retailers to cherry-pick a few

styles each season resulted in them servicing

twice as many stockists, which seriously

reduced effi ciency, quality of service and

profi tability. More signifi cantly, the retailer

who presents the wedding dresses in their

shop as their own collection with all styles

and price points no longer exists in the upper

two-thirds of the UK bridal retail market. We

are now a far more sophisticated consumer nation driven

by brands with extraordinary levels and reach of brand

marketing. Brand presentation in our industry has never

been so vital: this is embraced by the consumer and so is of

great importance to the retailer when considering new labels.

Minimum order numbers have a second, perhaps more

crucial, function. For the wholesaler it is essential to set a

minimum level of styles from the new season collection

in each outlet to ensure the bride can see a representative

selection of the range that is being advertised and promoted

online. For the retailer it reassures her that, as a serious

stockist of a label, the next nearest stockist isn’t able to claim

to hang a label without having invested suffi ciently in it.

That does not solve the problem of the ‘label hogger’ who buys

enough samples to be a stockist but uses the label’s brand

profi le to attract brides without actually converting that

Brand presentation has never been more vital in the

bridal market says Martin Jenkins from the British

Bridal Suppliers Association (BBSA), as he highlights

the importance of minimum orders to suppliers.

interest. In truth, this is not a particularly common problem

but it is one that should be resolved by the supplier when he

looks at his repeat to sample multiples.

It is, of course, important to retailers that their loyalty to

a label is recognised. Two ways bridal design companies can

do that is to ensure only stockists who have ordered at least

the minimums requested number of samples that season are

listed on their website and ads, and are offered sample loans.

This will, inevitably, disadvantage shops that are in the habit

of not buying every season or who are able to persuade the

supplier to accept an order below his minimum.

All of this, I hope, makes sound commercial and

marketing sense. The tricky issue is the actual minimum

number a supplier decides upon. A broad rule of thumb is

that the higher the price point, the lower the minimum.

For an established brand minimums can obviously be used

to create a high commitment from their stockists and it is

a recognised method of strengthening market position.

This, then, transforms a purely commercial device into a

marketing dominated business strategy; for this to succeed

both supplier and retailer have to be comfortable with both

its benefi ts and with its implications for their business. With

high minimums a retailer can be in the position of ordering

some styles that they are not totally ‘wowed’ by or ordering

more styles than they have allowed rail space for. The answer

for many stockists is to have a vigorous stock management

system and to either successfully promote sample Sales or

have a reliable outlet for releasing older sample gowns.

A case put forward by well established stockists is that

they shouldn’t have the same minimum as new stockists

because of the number of samples they are already hanging

to support the brand, and many bridal suppliers do have

different minimums for existing and new retailers. The

supplier industry would like retailers to understand that

relying on previous seasons’ best-sellers is, in progressive

marketing terms, looking backwards.

We need to be moving forward with our

brands, discovering and creating the

next season’s best-sellers because these

are styles brides see all over the internet.

Investing in dress samples and

processing repeat orders is unique in

the wider fashion industry and creates

business relationships that are closer

and that need to be long term. To this

end there have been contracts signed

guaranteeing exclusivity distances to

retailers in exchange for minimum

sample and repeat order numbers.

Though this puts the business relationship down in black

and white, both shops and labels know how our industry

can vary from year to year, which can turn a contract into a

straitjacket. Both retailers and suppliers are very competitive

• some would say over saturated – markets, so regular, open
  communication is vital to understand each others’ issues.
  Putting hard and fast rules in place doesn’t acknowledge
  that retail businesses vary greatly in size and location and
  it should not necessarily follow that a retailer is penalised
  for having a relatively small yet professionally-run business.
  Retailers should not shy away from asking any supplier
  about their minimum order numbers and the reasoning
  behind them. Minimums is a subject that regularly crops up
  in the discussions of bridal retailer organisations, and there
  clearly needs to be clarity and trust for the system to work
  positively for bridal retailers and wholesalers alike. BB

Why minimum

order numbers

are important

to bridal suppliers

087.BB.163.BBSA.indd 87 17/06/2014 15:46