Role and responsibilities of retail fashion business

People engaged in the retail clothing industry are involved with buying products, merchandising them and selling them to customers. Retailers often learn to market their products effectively through such techniques as print and electronic advertising. Managing the sales staff and servicing customers are also important duties in the retail clothing industry.

Visual Merchandising

Designing and setting up commercial displays to encourage buyers is an important duty in the retail clothing industry. Window dressers and merchandise displayers design eye-catching exhibits to attract the attention of buyers. Retailers who participate in trade shows also need to use visual merchandising to attract customers.

Marketing

Individuals in the retail clothing industry often market their products through print advertising. Owners and managers may be involved in deciding on marketing strategies and setting the marketing budget. Print advertising in the form of newspaper and magazine advertisements as well as direct mail postcards to announce sales and promotions are also used.Managing Staff

Store management plays a key role in the clothing industry. Retail store managers hire and oversee store personnel. Positions in a retail store can include sales people and cashiers as well as part-time or on-call IT experts and bookkeepers. The manager ensures that individuals are trained for their positions and that they perform their jobs well. He or she may evaluate job performance regularly and handle the payroll by matching the number of hours to the paycheck for each employee.

Inventory Control

The retail clothing store manager or owner may be in charge of inventory control. This means that there must be a system in place to reveal when more goods need to be ordered. The manager's duties include making sure orders are in on time, paying for the order and keeping track of how much is spent to secure more merchandise for sale.

Customer Service

Retail clothing managers and owners provide customer service to handle complaints and problems as they arise. How the buyer experiences customer service can mean the difference between a satisfied repeat customer and an irate customer who takes her business elsewhere.