Engaged in the clothing industry for 20 years.
Pre-ordering: “It is now a matter of having enough merchandise”
Many fashion retailers have reduced their pre-order budgets in the
last three seasons due to the pandemic and were faced with empty
warehouses, especially last autumn. Now the willingness of fashion
retailers to increase their pre-order quota is on the rise. The
current war in Ukraine also plays a role emotionally and concretely in
terms of securing production locations in Eastern Europe.
War in Ukraine dampens mood on the street
“There is a state of shock,” says Birgit Engelmann. “Since the war
in Ukraine started, it has been quiet in stores and on the street.”
The retailer, who carries brands such as Luisa Cerano, Marc Aurel, Ana
Alcazar and Herzen’s Angelegenheit in her boutique in Berlin’s
Westend, has felt “very supported by my customers” throughout the
pandemic and does not have to fear for her business; however, the
situation has now worsened again on a purely emotional level, as
“these are,” according to Engelmann, “not nice days”.

Jochen Ruths of Mode Ruths. Images: via fashion retailers
This is not only the case in Berlin. “Again, we have no reason to
be happy, we probably can’t get out of the depression,” says Wolfgang
Billmayer, who runs two fashion stores in Bavaria, one in Wartenberg
and one in Freising, close to Munich. Of course, the current
developments are making themselves felt, “here in Wartenberg, the
customer frequency is currently zero”.
Mode Ruths in Friedberg and Bad Nauheim close to Frankfurt also
feels the uncertainty, “not only among our customers, but also among
our employees,” says Jochen Ruths. “Of course we are concerned when we
hear from suppliers that their employees in Ukraine are now at war.
But we all appreciate the focus on our daily tasks and feel how much
our customers crave every bit of normality, even when shopping.”
Nevertheless, the current order round for the coming autumn season
is still going on – and retailers’ objectives have not changed: Many
of them want to expand their fashion range, inspire their customers
with exciting selections and – not least as a result of increased
purchasing prices – make more sales with fewer items at higher average
prices.
They want to avoid comparability and the usual; retailers are
looking for special features, unusual colours and fresh styles. At the
same time, it is simply a matter of having enough merchandise for the
entire season so as not to miss out on sales like last year. At that
time, many retailers experienced empty warehouses and gaps in many
product groups. This should not happen again.
“We need innovative warehouse programmes”
Against this background, the question arises as to how pre-order,
post-order and immediate budgets are now de facto weighted. The
picture here is divided. On the one hand, there are the retailers who
want to keep their pre-order budget at the usual level and place
greater value on fashionable, fast-moving storage goods, NOS or
long-term warehouse items.

Wolfgang and Ulrike Holzapfel of Modehaus Holzapfel. Images: via
retailers.
At Modehaus Holzapfel in Abensberg north of Munich, for example,
intensive work with NOS and temporarily stored goods is part of the
strategy. The ratio between pre-order and NOS/storage goods of 50:50
and 60:40, respectively, is therefore maintained, and the fashion
retailer works closely with companies that have a convincing storage
or NOS offer. “We basically rely less on pre-orders and reorder
daily,” explains Ulrike Holzapfel.
This avoids the risk of “having too many sleepers in the range” and
always brings “the tried and tested articles to stores”. So far, she
has always been able to get what she wanted. And if warehouses are
empty, “you just have to look around”. This meticulous work on the
selection “is the job of the buyer”. Nevertheless, she is aware that
“it’s a tightrope walk, you mustn’t overdo it” and you have to have a
feeling for which suppliers you can work with in this way.
At Vohl & Meyer in Limburg, close to Frankfurt, the ratio between
pre-order and stock items is “65:35 percent for menswear, 75:25
percent for womenswear”. And “it should stay that way”, says owner
Martin Acht. Basically, he expects not only pre-order items but also
stock items to have sufficient novelty value. “Since the pandemic, it
is especially important that there are innovative warehouse
programmes,” says Acht.
Especially when it comes to pants, what is in stock also determines
the choice of supplier. “With pants, we first look at the warehouse
and only then at the collection,” says Acht. The procedure at Heikorn
in Singen, close to the Swiss border, is similar. “For pants and suits
in womenswear, NOS has to work smoothly,” says owner Bettina
Kornmayer. If that is not the case, she has to look elsewhere. “If a
supplier leaves us hanging in terms of stock, we see that we find an
alternative supplier who can deliver,” says Kornmayer. She then also
pre-orders with them.
As far as other product groups are concerned, Heikorn tends to
expand pre-orders. “We had a very good year for jackets,” says
Kornmayer. That is why she has increased the order here to some
extent, because “we had too few to meet customer demand, we could have
sold more if we had had more jackets during the season”.
”Those playing it safe do not have exciting product ranges”
Tim Stenger from Modehaus Stenger in Bad Kreuznach, southwest of
Frankfurt, is also sticking to a clear pre-order focus; the ratio of
pre-orders to stocked items will remain at around 75:25 percent for
the coming autumn season. “We do have a certain contingent of stock
and NOS goods,” says Stenger. But it is clear that “if we increasingly
play it safe, the product range will become more boring”. However, his
priority is that “the selection remains exciting – and that can’t be
done by minimising risks and offering only basics”.
Petra Wichern from Moden Holst in Sittensen, southwest of Hamburg,
shares this opinion. She will continue to maintain her pre-order share
of 85 percent, even if her “ideal would be a ratio of 60:40 – but only
if items come from our regular suppliers”. But they do not keep that
much in stock, and even though “everyone talks about ready-to-wear, it
doesn’t work out so well in reality,” is her experience. But “we
manage quite well as it is,” says Wichern. She also appreciates being
able to deal with pre-ordering in a compact way so that she can
“concentrate one hundred percent on what’s going on in the store
afterwards”. Sabine Lehman from Lehmanns in Wedel, also close to
Hamburg, relies to 90 percent on pre-orders. The ten percent that she
adds are not new products, but “items we have already sold”.
”We need more fashion and enough merchandise”
”Now, the most important thing is to have enough merchandise,” says
Jochen Ruths. To ensure that there is not a shortage of goods like
last autumn, he has ordered “very tidily” for his two clothing stores
in Friedberg and Bad Nauheim this time. There are suppliers from whom
he has even doubled his orders – albeit after having reduced his order
volumes in the three previous seasons.
In the case of one order for pants, he initiated an “internal NOS”
for certain items that he considers to be very strong and that will
not be available from the warehouse. “If there’s one thing we’ve
learned from Corona, it’s that something can always happen,” says
Ruths. Therefore, a certain risk prevention surely plays a role in the
autumn order.
Wolfgang Billmayer, who this time “approached ordering with a more
positive attitude” and “bought a little more everywhere”, also said
that he “didn’t skimp as much as last autumn”. Since “knitwear appeals
[to customers] and there are enough pants”, shopping was easy for him.
“People want to look chic again,” observes Billmayer. It does not have
to be a blazer or a suit; many women are happy with dresses that they
combine with leggings and a leather jacket for everyday wear, while
young customers “tend to style dresses sexier”.
Quint manager Birgit Engelmann in Berlin, on the other hand,
believes that one should increase the level of fashion experienced in
the showrooms. “There is certainly a lack of innovation,” observes
Engelmann. While familiar styles are being relaunched, fresh colours
and completely new cuts are missing. “Women still need suits and
blazers,” says Engelmann, “it would be great if there were extravagant
jackets”.
And as far as dresses are concerned: “Plain dresses won’t serve us
in the long run.” According to Engelman, a dress needs colour and has
to be really unusual sometimes. Against this background, “I was so
bold in ordering where it was possible that I almost scared myself a
little,” Engelmann laughs. All in all, she has pre-ordered about ten
percent more, because since “manufacturers are cutting back on stock
and you don’t know what’s going to happen next, I can’t safely assume
that I’ll be able to re-order anything this year”.
This article was originally published on FashionUnited.de.
Edited and translated by Simone Preuss.