Biba Brand product review

Hi,

 In this blog, I wish to discuss BIBA the Indian ethnic brand which has more than 400 points of sale. I am a big fan of BIBA Indian ethnic wear. Whenever I need a complete Suite SKD I always prefer to go to the BIBA outlet for quick shopping without wasting a hell lot of time at Large scale format. BIBA EBO is the perfect place to shop for all occasions wear from daily office wear to the Party wear. 

Why do I love Biba? 

Collection: they don’t make a standalone garment but offers a complete collection at one theme or storyboard, which attract customers to buy at least one garment from each Collection. This strategy helps the brand to make a bigger ticket size or a basket size.

Vibrant colours: The best thing is that BIBA plays with vibrant colours which gives excitement, energy and brightness to customers. When bright colours reflect at the individual face then one looks brighter with makeup as well as accessories complements bright colour. even if the trend is of soft pastel then to the brand will offer at least one or two collections in bold vibrant colours to satisfy the youth customers.

Prints: I admire Biba textile print designers. I love Biba prints for traditional motives, bright hues and printing quality which doesn’t fade even after multiple washes, except gold khadi print which has a nature of getting fade during washes. Each collection of Biba looks different because of its beautiful prints, although silhouettes remain same in all most each print collection.

Coordinates: Even if you like a Kurti design, you need not worry as Biba offers a wide variety of interesting bottom wear from straight pant, Plazzo, Sharara to skirts. Each theme will have separate stole or Dupatta as well.

Play with Minute details: BIBA plays with minute details which makes the garment more sophisticated and interesting. it has tapes piping, laces, tapes, Dori, beadwork, Tassels or touch of sequence, which make the collection more interesting rather than a basic tailor-made garment.

Play with Variety of silhouettes to fit all age groups and figures: Biba has straight A-line collection Anarkali and heavy flair collections short Kurtis, long Kurtis coordinated with a variety of bottoms to satisfy all age groups.

Biba collection has few drawbacks also.

1.Size: BIBA collection does not have a size bigger than 38.

2. Fit: Biba Top wear Kurti & SKD shoulder and across back measurements are less than other brands which make fit slightly uncomfortable. Because of small size off the shoulder and across back measurements, one has to compromise to buy a bigger size than a perfectly fitted garment. The bicep size is slightly less than required. Slight increment of ½ CM will make it more comfortable.

3. Technical error: When Kurti has lining in sheer fabric, Biba brand stitch both fabrics together in the upper body as well as in darts, which gives a bulging effect at the upper layer if not stitched with perfect tailoring. Technically Lining fabric should be free and not attached with upper fabric. Sometimes both have different shrinkage.

4. Mix and match Coordinates prices: Chooridar, Plazzo, Pant, Dupatta and stoles are overpriced compare to the fabric quality. The brand must have a lesser margin at coordinates because they don’t give a discount even at the end of the season Sale period. Better quality of leggings are available in the market one of the example is “Go colors”.  Go Color brand is Not only Value for Money, but they also offer a wider colours range in bottoms.

Sourcing, Costing, Product Development,

The success of any organization depends on expertise on product sourcing. At the time of product development, the Top Management gives the product development team the target of the end Product cost for Sourcing. Cost is one of the very important aspects of any business. To sell the product in the mass market, the brand has to be very competitive with differentiating quality. If the product will not be competitive it will not sell in the mass market until and unless it has high brand value and developed for a Rich class who needs exclusivity & ready to pay a good amount for unique products.

Sourcing and costing (How to identify resources): What are the three key elements of costing and Sourcing. How to decide the source from which Organization one should source a particular product? Following three criteria has been defined to finalize the right source or Organization.

Quality: Required quality by customer, Buyer or Management expectation or we can say brand market position.

Price: the price of each product should be less or the same as compare to similar product’s supplier.

Timely delivery and commitment:  Lot of products are seasonal and have deadlines to launch in the market. If things get delayed then whole investment become waste or the company’s balance sheet get affected, So timely delivery is a very important aspect. In terms of commitment the required quantity should be delivered as per the purchase order in agreed quality, it should not be less.

At the time of Costing following elements have

to be taken care.

1. List Down What all is components are needed to make the final product. 
2. In what quantity each element is needed for this takes technical team assistant to understand average or weight of each component (measuring defined unit for required components). The required unit will be multiplied with Qnty to source in bulk 
3. How to define the correct cost of each component. Cost depends on the amount of raw material that has been used in each unit including wastage. 
4. once we have all the raw material cost, product manufacturing cost including all operations has to be added into it.
5. Final finishing and packaging cost need to be added to the product cost.
6. Factory overhead has to be added to the product cost which depends on the infrastructure in terms of factory rants, electricity, employee’s wages (Working hours) and depreciation.
7. After doing all the above exercise each organization has a certain benchmark for adding a margin considering all frontend cost, transportation and Texas as well as expected margin, promotions and discounts. The organization decide MRP maximum retail price adding all the above parameters.
8. After deciding MRP the marketing team review the merchandise analyses whether it is competitive in the market as per target at the time of product development. if the product seems to be expensive but has better quality features and better sustainability. The marketing the team highlight the features of the product for the marketing strategy to make customer convince to try the product.

• I am attaching one excel to understand costing better. 

Career Opportunities in Fashion & Retail Industry- Femi-Fashion Expert

What is Fashion Trend & Designing- Femi -Fashion & LifeStyle Consultant

Visual merchandising

Visual merchandising

The question arises why invest time, energy and money to do visual merchandise?

The ultimate reason is to increase business as much possible and stand apart from the crowd. Make customer walk-in rather than walk out. Make customer stay long inside the store for better conversion. Stand apart from the market, so that markets players and customers talk about it, which creates a curiosity for others to visit and end up buying. When customer visits they must get engaged with all 5 senses.

So what are the major aspect and purpose of Visual merchandising?

• Ignite the imagination: while grouping merchandise a visual merchandiser used his creative imagination by using a colour scheme, the collection storyline for best visual appeal. Some science and creative sense should be used in the combination of grouping merchandise. For example, sportswear window can have a combination of apparel, sports shoe, and sports prop such as football, Hockey, Knee guard or elbow guard etc. Visual should be so interesting that the customer should look twice. 

• Music: to engage customer music played a very important role. It should be so soothing with softer bests which force to customer stay long. It should not be loud that customer cannot communicate well or focus at merchandise

• Light: light plays a very important role to not only see the actual colour of merchandise but to highlight what retailer wanted to show more in terms of new products. People don’t want to browse in such sections of stores which don’t have proper light. 

• Touch: Merchandise should be in reach and not out of the arm. Customer visits the physical store to have touch and feel before buying otherwise E-com portal display is convincing enough to purchase. 

• Smell: the smell is closely connected with memory and emotion, So for a better recall value stores must have a pleasant smell. Smell has a strong impact on consumer behaviour. Now more researches are happening at fragrance to put the customer in the right frame of mind.

• Taste: if the retail format is of food then a tasting table should be organized. for Apparel and accessories, trial rooms will serve the purpose.

• Support with signage: these help customer to inform about sale promotions activated in stores. Signage helps to direct customers to a different area of the store where the seller wanted them to head. Signage also supports to the group product. If you have bought a winter longs coat signage may direct you to snow boots or Cap. This help to increase bucket size.
• Create Hierarchy: Contrasting height and depth grab mass interest. Fixture and racks can be strategically placed. The Pyramid principle can be applied to stop the customer’s eye for long.

• Refresh Layout and Display: this technique is used to engage customers who frequently visit your store to buy something new. By changing display customer get a chance to see that merchandise which he didn’t notice during their last visit. It brings freshness in store

• Communicate the layout or make a blueprint: this helps to evaluate date which layout has worked best in terms of sale performance. This will help to repeat layout for better per square feet sale return. 

Since the past 10 years, most of the modern retail formats are focusing to enhance customer experience by putting more efforts at visual merchandising. It improves business productivity, helps in cross-sale, increases bucket size and generates faster turnover. To enhance visual experts are using different props, space design, fixtures, layout and mannequin. New trends of visual merchandising should be implemented from time to time to upgrade stores.

How to fight with Coronavirus?

How to fight with Coronavirus?

These days most of the population is thinking out this question, How to beet coronavirus.

So the best way to fight this COVID -19 is to boost our immunity system to fight back with Coronavirus. I have explored some best way to boost my family immunity and wish to share the secret with you.

I am a great fan of Himalaya medicine as well as a complete child care range. Infect Himalaya Skincare products are also amazing. Himalaya is an Indian Ayurvedic brand since 1930. The best thing is the company is very genius in terms of the cost of the product so that the mass population can get benefitted from Himalaya product line.

So let’s focus on Immunity Booster Septilin. Septilin is very good for all age groups to boost immunity against seasonal cold, cough, fever, allergy, tonsils, Urine infection, Respiratory infection and even work at skin infection. It is a wonderful product which was advised by my elder sister a few years back, since than I have hardly seen my kids sick with common flues. I work 6 days a week, that is the reason my kids stays at day boarding. Luckily I don’t remember since past long that I have taken off from my office to treat my kid's illness as they don’t get sick. For Kids 5ML dose is commended and for adults 10ML.

Despite taking Septilin if still, you caught the infection than what should be the next immediate step along with getting your test. Himalaya Bresol which treats dry cough. Bresol is also one of the amazing medicine which not only deal with a dry cough, but also allergy and Asthma. I got to know that Corona attach can be deadly if one is Asthmatic.

For common cough, Koflet is the most recommended medicine.

Why I love Himalaya. The reason behind is its natural ingredient with no side effects till now. It works to strengthen our immune system to fight better against all future illness.

Here I conclude by giving you insight about one more medicine which improves the digestion, Live 52 is meant for improving your liver capabilities and digestions. It gives amazing relief at the time of Lever infection and improves the digestive system dramatically. Healthy liver or digestive system is directly connected with the immune system. If our body will absorb required nutrients from food then only we will get stronger to fight with diseases.

Impact of coronavirus at the fashion Industry

Impact of coronavirus at the fashion Industry

Today India has announced Lockdown at most of the part of the country till 31/March to fight well with the situation. Luckily India doesn’t have a shortage of Doctors. This lockdown will help to control and further spread COVID-19. China experience has taught us well to fight with such a situation. This lockdown will affect Retail and fashion Industry badly. Now customers will stay away from impulsive buying & will focus on daily needs.

Let's see what is the impact of COVID-19 at Fashion and Retail industry across the globe.

1. America closes New York delivery station.
2. Global Bridal wear label Pronovias group supports to hospital employs by donating wedding dress to brides-to-be.
3. Moda Fabriek July show planned to be cancelled.
4. TJ Maxx halts E-Commerce operation for two weeks.
5. Everlane brand has just announced to donate profit for feeding America COVID-19 response fund.
6. Vancouver F/W20 fashion week cancelled.
7. Gucci & Chanel Luxury brands shut down factories in Europe.
8. Retailors of India, U.K and Ireland can learn from Italy online sale surge.
9. Stores closures across the world will hit GDP.
10. “Made in China” products declined by 16 percent across the globe.
11. Valmount Barcelona fashion week postponed.
12. Australia Fashion week cancelled.
13. Amazon is prioritizing medical and household things & putting other goods on hold keeping coronavirus outbreak in mind.
14. Zara sale has dropped by 24% from 1st March to till 16th March.
15. In Paris, most fashion capitals are expected to work from home in self Isolation.

The 'Best' way to handle Female customer

The 'Best' way to handle Female customer

The Female customer never has to be taken lightly. It doesn’t matter she is an early member of the family of not, but buying power is definitely in her hand. One dissatisfied Women customer can cause huge damage to the Organization as she will set and discuss with her family and friends about the disappointment and experience with a specific brand and then her system, Mother and friends will discuss further which will make a big chain and huge amount of loss. A male customer will hardly discuss his bad experience with some brand. 

So the question arises what are the best 10 things a sales staff must do to make a female customer satisfied even though he or she doesn’t sell. Following are 10 topmost tips.

1. Hygienic staff must approach a lady with a smile to greet her. Women are very particular about hygiene. 
2. Sales staff must enquire the purpose of buying to guide her better without wasting much time as women get irritated and moved out if she doesn’t know where to find what she is needed. 
3. Women customer follows the recommendation, which is the reason before planning to buy something they may discuss with her mother, sister, friend or husband. Smart sales staff always recommends with confidence to convince for buying.
4.  Before buying a Female customer wish to know the advantage of selected merchandise before making a final decision. So a good sales staff explains the features of the product. If Sales staff is not trained enough about the product he is selling then the customer may not prefer to buy. A lady needs a satisfactory answer to all her question.
5. Women customers are sensitive to speakers tone. Be polite, listen to them pore and sustain eye contact to assure them that you are listening to them seriously to assist them and understand their requirement.
6. Women control the majority of spending in their household, so they should be considered as a serious buyer. If a lady will get convinced then a man will not take time as the lady will convince him.
7. Image is everything. Women notice detail, so everything should be neat and clean & up to date.
8. Don’t Knock the competition. Never give bad comments about competitors especially if the customer says that she is a buyer competitor brand. A good Sales staff must talk about the benefit of their brand. 
9. Emphasize the benefits of buying your brand. Explain why the merchandise is best to fulfil her requirements. Women especially like to buy the best.
10. Women expect to follow up. Usually, if a man says that he will think about it then it is simply no and don’t like to follow up. They prefer not to say straight no, while if a woman says that she will think about it then she really means it. Follow up will help to convert the lead.

Suggesting: If a lady is with her kids then there should be some arrangement to engage kids so that a day can do brows, discuss, select and buy comfortably without seeing kids cranky. 

Coronavirus effect at Retail & Textile Industry

               Coronavirus effects at Retail & Textile Industry

1.    Coronavirus Impact: Mall operators may lose up to 25% of their annual revenue
2.   Apple shuts all retail stores outside Greater China until further notice.
3.   India's Feb merchandise exports rise by 2.91%. India Export may be benefitted more because of China invention of Coronavirus.      
4. Grocers limit food purchases, urge shoppers not to hoard as panic buying continues.
5. Asia's garment industry sees lay-offs, factories closing due to coronavirus.
6.  Export body advises members to widen sourcing, reduce dependency on China.
7. Lavie launches new brand Lavie Sport.
8.  More U.S. retailers shut stores to limit coronavirus spread till March 27.
9. Demand dives at apparel retailers as virus-wary shoppers stay home
10. Apparel exporters should learn from Bangladesh, Vietnam to push shipments: AEPC
11. Walmart reduces hours at US stores to keep up with the surge of shoppers. The store will open from 6am to 11pm at the place of 24 Hours.
12. Mandatory for government departments to make 20 per cent handloom purchase from KVIC, registered weavers.
13. Macy's, Hudson's Bay to temporarily close U.S. stores due to virus outbreak
14. Textile industry body seeks relief package to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic impact, Apart from the reduction in the bank interest rate and extension of soft loans.
15. CCI imposes Rs 302 cr penalty on Grasim Industries.
16. ICRA expects Indian apparel exporters to report a moderation in profitability
17. FY20. Flipkart's Rishi Vasudev appointed CEO of Lifestyle International.
18. Kroger largest supermarket chain in the U.S CEO: We have hired 2,000 people and have 10,000 openings in response to coronavirus demand.
19. McDonald’s asks US franchisees to close dining rooms amid coronavirus outbreak.
20.  Fashion startup Styched launches new portal Styched Life.  Business Mantra production will be on-demand, fashion brand claims to be a one-stop-shop for fan-based merchandise.

Product life-cycle, Mantra to sustain in Business

Hi Readers, 

Do you know why world leaders spend more time energy and money at innovation? The reason behind is the main key to their success lies in innovation. A small player always keeps a close watch at market leaders to copy their innovation to supply at a cheaper price without R&D Cost.

Product lifecycle: In this blog, we will discuss the product lifecycle. Each new product has to go through 5 stages.

1. Research and product development: This is the first stage where market leaders and proactive new and old organizations keep on working at new products to launch at the time when their previous products are at decline stage to maintain business growth. In textile Industry if we recollect traditionally there were four main fibers used in textile, for example, Cotton, Linen, Silk and wool as an organic product, rest was Polyester and acrylic. The Innovation of Birla Cellulose of Viscose fiber LIVA as bringing a revolution in the fashion industry. A cheap fabric made by “wood” a natural organic raw material with the sheen, lustre, breathability, drape ability with the brightness of color has given a new dimension to the fashion industry. As soon as other players have started supplying Viscose staple fiber or fabric, Birla launched new product Modal fabric with better pilling resistance and reduce seam slippage with better strength in a lighter weight. This innovation of Birla Cellulose helps them to fetch a very good business from China through supplying fiber. 

2. Introduction and launch: this is the 2nd stage of product lifecycle where organization decides the budget of a new product launch by ATL and BTL marketing strategy to create product awareness. In most of the cases, the Organization launches a new product when their previous product starts declining to meet business targets. Some organizations launch new products during the period where the business is stagnant and has no scope to increase further. For example, Birla Cellulose introduced Tencel to help marketing team to retain his existing customers & add more at the time when most of the mills start providing Modal fabrics.

3. Growth: After the introduction of the new launch, some products sale grows drastically and a decline in the same way. Such example we can see these days in the Mobile industry, but some product last long. Nokia is one of the example of a product which has long life. Somehow Nokia fails to match the international market Innovation speed & decline badly. Same way in Textile industry Cotton fabrics like cambric, voile, Poplin & Canvas may never die, but the sale is reducing day by day as customers are getting new options every season which is causing a decline in Cotton textile. Although the current fashion trend is focusing back at sustainable and recycled fabrics where cotton and linen blend “new fabrics innovations of Vardhman mill” are attracting premium as well as mass brands because future fashion trend is focused on sustainability. Growth is the stage where the sale graph keeps on moving upward or we can say business is increasing day by day. During this period overheads go done and brands start giving some extra benefits to attract & add new customers.

4.   Maturity: This is the peak of growth. By even putting more efforts at marketing and even giving extra benefits, organizations are unable to increase sale. This is the right time when the Organization must launch new products before the sale starts declining.

5. Decline: This is the stage when the sale graph goes down. Customers are getting better products in the market offered by other players. Before this stage, Organization’s research and development teams should be ready with new better products which should be ahead with the current market. This new product not only matches in the advancement but also should be durable, comfortable or Healthy as well as nature-friendly.

The success of today’s business lies in trust between consumer and manufacturer/Seller. If the customer trusts an organization & has faith that post buying product, an organization will stand by to understand and resolve customer’s issue & complaints then they become loyal customers. This global warming has made customers aware of the importance of Natural, Organic, sustainable, and biodegradable benefits to the save nature & nation. Nowadays, this new educated generation is quite a concern about what we are going to leave for the next generation. Electronics which has a short lifecycle, for example, smartphone are creating such kind of waste which is a slow poison of our earth. So sustainability is one of the key mantras of today’s successful businesses. 

E-Com and Omni Channel

E-Com and Omni Channel: 

The brick-and-Mortar selling format is limited by the geographical area which they can service. With an e-commerce website, the whole world is your playground. An e-commerce on mobile devices has dissolved the remaining limitation of geography. We can see a big boom Since Past eight year in e-com selling platform. Before choosing your career in this industry one has to know the future.

Future of E-commerce 

• Overcome Geographical Limitations- E-com platform has help customer to get most of the product by sitting any corner of the country without travelling. 
• Lower Costs: E-com discount offers are making customers addictive. 
• Gain New Customers with Search Engine Visibility.
• Product comparison is easy at e-com platform.
• Provide Abundant Information.
• New brands and products could get a better reach by choosing big platforms like Amazone, eBay, Myntra, Flipkart, Alibaba.
• Exclusive e-com stores are coming in to picture with better services and range.
• Display of Products like apparel and accessories at models give more confidence 
• It Remains Open all the time. So anyone can shop at any time from anywhere in this world.
• The market can be created for Niche products.
• E-com selling platform helps the business to reduce fix cost such as rent, cam, sales staff & other management costs. Indirectly such benefits are passed on end consumers to some extents. 

Following are the models of Selling at E-com. 

Business-to-Consumer (B2C): B2C transactions is buying and selling goods on the internet.

M-Commerce or Mobile Commerce: is largely a subsection of B2C transactions. This has helped the customer to shop while travelling. In such a way the consumer can utilize his travel time as well. 

 F-Commerce 0r Facebook commerce: This is a subsection of B2C retailing. Rather selling merchandise at traditional website merchandise is sold is social media. A Seller often provides a link to online purchasing options through their pages and posts. Same is done on Instagram and tweeter.

Business-to-Business (B2B): Business-to-business is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. Such transactions are bigger.

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): These types of the transaction represent the barter system.

Omni Chanel: these channels help to interconnect all selling mediums. If the customer has spent a certain time at one medium to choose or filter collection then the information will reach to seller and customer can buy from any other selling medium available on Omni Channel. For example, if you have chosen merchandise of your interest at E-com or F-com, have added selection in the cart then you wish to have physical look and feel of same, you simply need to visit nearest retail format. Without spending time again to browse and filter merchandise seller will provide your selection to decide what to buy. This physical store which is a part of Omni Channel may not handover your merchandise instantly & may have limited available inventory, but will deliver you ordered merchandise at your requested address with the mentioned time frame.    

Button measuring units in Fashion Industry

Size Chart Of Buttons

"L" stands for ligne, the traditional unit of measure for measuring buttons.

Ligne	mm	inches
10L	7mm	1/4"
12L	8mm	5/16"
14L	9mm	3/8"
16L	10mm	3/8"
18L	11mm	7/16"
20L	12mm	1/2"
22L	14mm	9/16"
24L	15mm	5/8"
26L	16mm	5/8"
28L	18mm	11/16"
30L	19mm	3/4"
32L	20mm	13/16"
34L	21mm	7/8"
36L	23mm	15/16"
38L	24mm	15/16"
40L	25mm	1"
48L	30mm	1 3/16"
50L	32mm	1 1/4"
54L	34mm	1 3/8"
60L	38mm	1 1/2"
80L	51mm	2"