I have experienced a phenomenon the past few years that has always boggled my mind—popular items like topcoats at Banana Republic and J.Crew tend to go out of stock very quickly and not be restocked. Why does it boggle my mind? Because (unless there is something I don’t know about the clothing retail industry) the marginal cost of producing more topcoats should be minimal. I’m guessing that clothing retailers spend a lot on rent, marketing/advertising, staff salaries and benefits, and maybe design… but I would think the actual cost of fabric and manufacturing of the clothing represent a very small percentage of the price of the clothing. When retailers don’t manufacture enough product to meet demand, there’s a lot of money being left on the table.
Are the retailers really that bad at forecasting potential demand? I’ve been shopping for a dressy wool topcoat and a trench coat the past 2-3 years and I can tell you from experience that they always sell out very quickly, especially the wool topcoats. Surely, I’m not the only one who goes shopping for these items later in the season.
Are they limiting supply in order to create artificial demand, similar to the accusations of Nintendo intentionally limiting the supply of the Wii? It’s hard for me to believe you could ever build up Wii-like hype over wool topcoats.
I’ve been checking out bananarepublic.com and jcrew.com from across the pond in search of a wool topcoat and yet again, they’ve both completely sold out their stock of topcoats. Another winter goes by without a dress wool coat…
(Yes, I know there are many other options beside Banana Republic and J.Crew but I’m a lazy male shopper who doesn’t want to spend a fortune on clothing.)
Comments 3
you know, retailers are pretty bad at production only because there are a few more steps than just telling the factory to make a garment. what typically happens is that a buyer/planning period starts at least 6-8 months prior to the actual product arriving on the floor. then, they estimate the amount of product that will sell. based on that estimate, they cut the fabric accordingly and send the fabric to the factories for assembly.
Posted 14 Dec 2008 at 5:12 pm ¶yes, it’s absolutely the “artifical demand” – it’s to create frenzy so that they hope to put that seed into the consumer’s mind (like…you) that “next year, i’d better get it in SEPTEMBER and not miss out!”
i guess it’s called retail psychology, if there was such a thing.
it’s that mentality that gets women stuck with about 10 pairs of black shoes of every kind (“omg, this fits! i HAVE to get this” – and we fall into this every time).
so…learn your lesson & apply next time!
Posted 22 Dec 2008 at 2:56 am ¶It is defenitely a “hook line and sinker” or “bait and switch” technique. How many times have we gone through this with J.Crew. Well I am on to them. I purchased a sweater that a week later went down in price by about $50.00 when I went to purchase another they said they had no more anywhere. I called customer service and made some noise and they got me what I needed. The create what is called retailer “havoc”. The item is so high in demand and when it comes down in price they sell out. Making people think they can get something beautiful for a steal. Very shrewd it creates this obsession with their products so that you will hyperfocus on J.Crew, J.Crew, J. Crew and never leave the website causing you to buy things you dont even need. It is hypnotic and they are the masters of creating it. Hope I did not ramble too much. You are better off going to Nordstrom or Niemans and getting something you really love.
Posted 08 May 2009 at 10:09 am ¶Post a Comment