Closing the Skills Gap: Why Excel Is a Skill you Need Working in Fashion

Most roles in fashion require you to have a basic understanding of Excel, however, there is a misconception amongst some that it's a skill for only merchandisers, buyers and analysts. Spreadsheets seem basic, but their use is endless. It can be used by Social Media Managers to create content calendars; it can be used by product developers to create tech packs and line sheets and even used by Event Planners to monitor the progress and evaluate an outcome of a conference.

This week I decided to speak to Coy Griffin a Data Analyst and Information Technologist to discuss the importance of Excel and its purpose in the industry. This interview is more like a mini masterclass!

Q: So Coy, I mean I know you very well, but please tell us more about who you are and why this topic of spreadsheets is relevant to you.

A: My expertise is primarily in fashion technology and analytics. I am a Senior Manager of Analytics, Educator, Author and TEDx speaker, and the founder of the fashion technology consulting company, Your Own Creativity (YOC). I am also the Operations Director of the Fashion Education Group, the holding company for the Council for International African Fashion Education (CIAFE).?

I typically promote the education of fashion technology and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) opportunities in three ways:

• Throughout my workshops, I educate fashion professionals on improving their analytical skillsets using software and spreadsheet templates. Prominent universities and tech organisations typically host the workshops.
• I provide consulting services such as augmented reality, analytics, and strategic technical roadmaps for fashion businesses to future-proof their businesses.?
• I share fashion technology content on social media platforms to educate fashion enthusiasts on trends and strategies within the fashion industry.?

Q: How does your role relate to MS Excel and Google Sheets?

A: As a fashion technologist and senior analytics manager, it is crucial to know how to compile, interpret, and apply complex data to actionable steps and tailor it to a specialised industry. Spreadsheets are a great way to begin analysing data when starting an analysis. I typically use Excel and Google Sheets in fashion to organise and develop reports, manage and analyse inventory, develop a product list, manage a customer list, review e-commerce data and more.?

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application that enables fashion professionals to manage data efficiently. It is one of my most used tools for analysing data and works great for project management, visual charts, and managing other daily business processes. Google Sheets is a similar spreadsheet application that allows users to create, update and modify data and collaborate with others in real-time. Overall, Excel and Google Sheets provide formulas to calculate metrics faster than manual metrics in a journal.

Excel is used by approximately 800 million users worldwide, and jobs that use Excel and Google Sheets are becoming more popular. According to an RHI survey, on average, certified Excel skills can increase your earning potential by 12%. With this in mind, I predict that there will be a rise in fashion roles requiring Excel as a skill set.?

Q: What type of fashion roles require you to use spreadsheets??

There are many fashion roles which require the use of spreadsheets, and I've compiled a list of a variety of roles which need Excel. The examples include salaries ranging from approximately $50K - $120K.?

• Retail Store Manager: Retail Store Managers are responsible for managing and operating a store's everyday operations. This includes designing shop procedures, supervising and leading employees, and keeping track of inventory. Within this role, they use Excel and other software to prepare a forecast of their products, analyse consumer and sales patterns, and more. Here's an example of a retail manager position which requires Excel.?
• Merchandising: Merchandisers plan the production of fashion designs and distribute the final product to the end consumer. Overall, the core of their job role is to use spreadsheets to predict fashion trends, plan and implement store layouts, purchase apparel, and collaborate with designers. Fashion budgets, revised plans, OTB, and markdowns are part of the merchandising plan, and Excel spreadsheets are helpful to arrange and quickly organise this information. Here's an example of a merchandiser position which requires Excel.?
• E-Commerce Analyst: E-commerce fashion analysts investigate, dissect, and interpret online retail performance for websites and e-commerce stores. Many e-commerce platforms provide an option to export raw data (data gathered by the source before it has been further processed, cleaned or analysed) so analysts can develop custom reports based on their needs. Here's an example of an e-commerce analyst position which requires Excel.?
• Project Manager: A variety of industries, including fashion, require project managers. They must develop objectives, assign responsibilities, manage budgets, and make a concerted effort to maintain timeliness and financial restraints. Microsoft Excel is one of the first tools they turn to when they need to do a wide range of tasks. Here's an example of a project manager position which requires Excel.?

Q: How are spreadsheets used in the industry?

A: Honestly in many different ways, I could write a book about this! But here are a few common areas:

• Inventory Management: Inventory management creates and organises product documents that managers and employees can use to update product availability throughout the business and supply chain. Spreadsheets enable professionals to record and manage the source, storage and selling of product inventory.
• Trend Reporting: Fashion professionals utilise trend reports to develop new clothing and accessories for brands. Trend reports include historical and present fashion trends, which are initially organised in spreadsheets to measure the popularity of colours, fabrics, textures, materials, prints, graphics, beauty/grooming, accessories, footwear, street style, and more.
• Tech packs & Linesheets: Excel is a typical software for creating tech packs because of its flexibility and various features. Although some experts also utilise Illustrator to create tech packs, Excel is generally a more cost-effective choice for smaller fashion companies. A tech pack is a blueprint document which includes the fabrication details, style guidelines, and materials that manufacturers need to price the concept and turn it into a finished product.
• Build an Email List: It’s common for fashion professionals to utilise spreadsheets to collect and store email addresses to consolidate customer data in one place. Most importantly, you can export your list from Excel as a CSV file and import the customer list to an email marketing platform to send mass emails to your customers.
• Other areas are: Marketing; Journalism; Product Development; Academia and Data Analytics.

Q: Why is excel an important software to use within organisations?

A: Excel is widely used in business because the formulas and functions are easy to understand, and companies can quickly analyse complex data. According to Statista, Excel is the most used market research tool in the United States. In 2018, 86% of its market research respondents said that they use Microsoft Excel.

Microsoft Excel allows fashion organisations to collect and manage all of their data in one place. Most businesses utilise multiple software for different departments; when they want to combine data from several platforms into a single file, they typically export data from each platform into an excel spreadsheet.?

Q: In the fashion industry, we see that Google sheets is becoming increasingly popular, like MS Excel? Is there a reason for this? What is the difference between the two spreadsheet softwares?

A: Yes, Google Sheets is more collaborative and minimalistic and is a cheaper alternative for individuals than MS Excel. The main difference between Google Sheets and MS Excel is data storage, formula functions, and price.?

Google Sheets is free for individuals and $6/user/month for business (as of November 14th, 2022) and is built for collaboration. Users can easily invite team members to view or edit the spreadsheet, and it has a built-in revision history so you can view previous edits. Google Sheets automatically saves your work, has a real-time chat window and interactive comments allow users to communicate efficiently. Google Sheets is great for low volumes of data, but loading time is negatively affected as the data increases. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of chart and formula limitations compared to MS Excel.?

Excel is excellent for organisations that need to manage large amounts of data because it has a higher storage space, offers more charts & formulas and can process more cells than Google Sheets. With MS Office, you can receive Excel for individuals at $7/user/month (as of November 14th, 2022). Collaborating with other team members on MS Excel is less intuitive than Google Sheets, and autosave is only included in the most recent version of Excel.?

Overall, I would recommend Google Sheets for smaller teams who need basic reporting and MS Excel for larger groups with complicated reporting requirements.?

Q: What are the most important functions for people to be skilled in when it comes to using spreadsheets?

A: Here are my top three commonly used functions:

Average: AVERAGE() can be used to find the average of numbers from a selected data set.

Sum: SUM() is used to quickly add up a range of totals in the excel sheet.

Max and Min: MAX() and MIN() to identify the maximum and minimum numbers in a selected data set.

Q: With all the new database software appearing, do you think that Excel will become redundant??

A: I don’t think Excel will ever become redundant. Almost every software can export a portion of its database to raw data as a CSV file (CSV files are used for importing and exporting important information, such as customer or order data, to and from your database). CSV files are similar to Excel spreadsheets, except they strip out the excess formatting that causes some import errors. Since CSV files are hard to read, many professionals import their CSV files into Excel to understand their data. Ultimately, the software will always change or upgrade, but when you want to look at your data in its purest form, most organisations will use Excel.?

Q: How can people learn more about MS Excel and Google ?

A: Great news is from January I'll be delivering workshops specifically on Spreadsheets for Fashion. These workshops are created to help people learn how to use MS Excel and Google Sheets for the fashion industry to register your interest click here https://forms.gle/uM2S1PaaXm96v8Jx5