Reader Question: How Do Immediates Work?
19 Nov
Here’s a great question from the comment section this morning:
Q: How do immediates work? How long does it take to get them, do all lines do immediates?
A: This is a good question, and one I get a lot, and for a good reason. It seems that a lot of people who are new to this business are interested in immediates, and it’s not surprising, because investing thousands of dollars 4-6mos ahead of time is VERY daunting. I, personally, change my mind like clockwork so it’s tough. Right now with my brick and mortar retail space I’m doing everything on an immediate basis.
Some lines have immediates and some don’t. I’m lucky to work with a couple of great labels who not only have plenty of immediates but also are VERY flexible about reordering. But what I’m hearing is that with the economy changing lines are starting to cut only what is ordered, making immediates a bit more scarce (funny story though…the west coast sales rep for a certain brand told me this, and then the east coast sales rep for the exact same line emailed me telling me there were TONS of immediates…interesting!) So you really need to get to know the line before you risk waiting for immediates. Feel them out a bit; of course ask the sales rep, but also see for yourself. Try and get on the mailing list for the showroom (if they have one) because that’s one of the quickest ways to find out whats available. Also, visit their showrooms and visit them during trade shows; usually lines will show their immediates along with the upcoming season, and it’s a good way to gage how much they tend to keep available.
The way immediates tend to work is pretty simple. The merchandise for a season will become available, and will ship out to the stores that already placed orders first. Then whatever is left over after that will become available. The amount of time it takes just depends on how long it takes them to ship out all the orders placed. Generally each collection will have a 15 day window (which is why some linesheets will say a delivery is open 3/15 – 4/01) or longer. Once they become available and you place the order, it should ship out to you right away. How quickly you receive it after that just depends on where you live. It’s great being 90 miles away from LA because I can order something and get it in stock the next day.
So if you know you’re going to want immediates, email your sales rep around the time the delivery is set to ship. Ask them to email you with what’s available when it becomes available. Hope that helps! And as always, feel free to email me with questions or leave them in the comments section!
Hi there! I am so happy to have stumbled upon your wonderful blog! You seem very well informed and it’s great that you are willing to share so much helpful information. I have been slowly, over the past year and a half been working toward opening a women’s boutique of my own here in Cleveland, Ohio. I have decided on the neighborhood where I want the store to be located and spoken to the planning commission about available retail space and the cost and terms of rent. I have written a business plan, chosen a name, formed my L.L.C., reserved my domain name and chosen my clothing lines of interest. Most of them are smaller independent labels not carried locally and have pricepoints of $75 and under. The store will also carry some locally made items, including a few things made by myself. Someone is currently working on designing my logo, and I have come up with my design for the interior of the store. I would like to open at the end of summer 2010. Should I be purchasing clothing now ( I have a pretty limited budget for inventory, but have set some $ aside for this)? As I do not currently have a storefront I am concerned that it will be hard to get my inventory which is obviously so essential. I love the idea of immediates, but I realize I can’t count on them. When I try to get wholesale information online from certain labels, they seem to want a location, a website or even a photograph of the store. There was also a trade show I had looked into ( The Pool Trade Show) which wanted to see two completed invoices as part of the application. I do have a tax id number, but that’s about it at this point! Any help or advice you can give would be so appreciated! Best of luck to you this coming weekend as the holiday madness begins!! – beth