Buying and Beyond

Season 2 Episode 6: Inspirational trips & trends.As a buyer you take trips to inspiring cities to help with the product development of your ranges. We talk through some of the trips we have been lucky enough to attend and how important they are!

Buying & Beyond Season 2 Episode 6

In episode 6 the focus is on travel again, but this time inspiration trips, one of the most creative parts of the job! Similarly to a development trip, you will need to be keeping on top of your BAU, so again, as fabulous as the destinations can be, and nice it is to be out of the office, that day to day running of the team doesn’t go away - but it’s worth the juggle for the ideas you can get! We talk about the incredible places that Buyers get to visit, the quick turn around of product from festival to factory, and ….. It’s one of the the best ways to absorb yourself in creativity and see products from a consumer point of view - just make sure you take photos before you have a cheeky drink…!         

Here are our 3 recommendations for inspo trips - 

  1. Don’t just stay in your lane, Inspiration trips are a great one for going with other departments, such as design, or marketing, or VM, and having a great bounce around of ideas
  2. Incorporate store visits if you have any in that area - great to see from customer point of view in another demographic/geo location 
  3. Plan an Inspiration trip to gain the right information at the right time to influence your next range. Think carefully about timing. Ideally this will be at the beginning of your Critical Path to help you plan your strategy - but depending on your product category it might be months ahead of your CP starting e.g. beach inspiration trips may need to be in the summer (depending on where you’re going) but your CP may not need to start until the following February..

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