What a Fashion Brand ERP Needs — Export Orders and Domestic Operations in One System

When a fashion brand starts to need an ERP

In the early days a brand can manage orders and stock with spreadsheets and chat messages. As accounts and style numbers grow, the same order ends up scattered across several files and it becomes hard to tell which number is current.

In apparel, one style splits into colors and sizes, so quantities have to match at the option level. Once overseas orders are added, currency, language and minimum order quantity (MOQ) terms differ from account to account. This is the point where a system that keeps orders and stock in one place becomes necessary.

Features needed for overseas orders (export)

These are the features a brand exhibiting at order-taking trade shows should check. The text in parentheses is how Brand ERP handles each one.

• Multilingual product information — product names and descriptions should be ready in the language the buyer reads (enter them in Korean and the English, Chinese and Japanese fields are translated automatically).
• Online catalog — buyers should be able to look up products before and after the show (a public catalog that combines keyword search and semantic search).
• On-site order entry — networks in exhibition halls drop often (a trade show mode that queues orders offline and sends them to the server once the connection returns).
• Prices and terms — prices by currency and quantity terms must be recorded accurately on the order (exchange rate recorded at the time of order, MOQ discounts, manual pricing, change history).
• Sending the order sheet — the buyer should receive the order details as soon as the meeting ends (order PDFs in Korean, Japanese and Chinese, plus WeChat notifications).
• Order check by the buyer — buyers should be able to see their own orders without creating an account (an order portal opened through a dedicated link).
• Line sheets and contracts — the line sheet sent to buyers each season and the signed contract are produced from the same data.
• Post-show analysis — reports per trade show and sales analysis by buyer and by brand feed into preparation for the next season.

Features needed for domestic operations

These are the features to check for a brand that runs stores, a showroom or online channels in Korea. In Brand ERP each brand switches on only the modules it uses.

• Inventory — quantities are tracked by location, such as warehouse and store, and receipts, shipments, transfers and adjustments are recorded by barcode. Every movement stays in the ledger.
• Showroom POS — handles sales and refunds at showrooms and stores, and each sale goes into domestic orders automatically.
• Sales channels and domestic orders — orders from each channel are managed on one screen.
• Production — production orders and receipts, raw materials and pre-orders are managed in sequence.
• After-sales service — a history is kept from intake through each processing status.
• Sales and staff — an owner-only sales dashboard (monthly targets, product cost history) and staff leave requests and approvals.

Five things to check before choosing an ERP

Each system has different strengths, so check them one by one against how the brand sells.

• If you exhibit at order-taking trade shows, can orders be entered at a booth with no internet?
• Can overseas buyers receive and view the order sheet without signing up?
• Do orders and inventory line up at the color and size option level?
• Can you use only the features you need now and add inventory or production features later?
• Is a change history kept for orders and inventory, so the cause can be traced when the numbers differ?

How CBSR Brand ERP is used

Brand ERP is a system that CBSR (CEO Ahn Cheol-seong) developed in-house while managing overseas trade show participation for designer brands. CBSR manages about 10,000 trade show buyers in this system. It was built so that work continues inside the same system, from orders taken on the show floor to running stores in Korea.

The system is at www.cbsr.app and the feature overview is on the CBSR website (www.cbsr.kr/en#erp). To ask about adopting it, use the contact form on the website and choose Brand ERP as the inquiry type.

Frequently asked questions