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Apparel Wholesale Order Management by Season: The Role of the Fashion Calendar
The fashion calendar—also called the fashion season calendar or apparel wholesale calendar—is the foundation for how successful brands and wholesalers plan, manage, and deliver apparel collections all year long. For anyone in the apparel industry, especially those focused on apparel wholesale order management by season, understanding the fashion calendar is critical to profitability and growth.
What is the Fashion Calendar (or Fashion Season Calendar)?
The fashion calendar is an industry-wide timeline that defines when new collections are designed, sold, produced, and delivered. It is structured around key fashion seasons—like Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter, Resort, and Holiday. Each season comes with its own wholesale ordering windows, production schedules, and delivery deadlines.
Why Does the Apparel Wholesale Calendar Matter?
Staying aligned with the fashion season calendar allows apparel brands, wholesalers, and manufacturers to:
- Plan seasonal collections and order windows for buyers
- Optimize inventory by matching production and delivery to real retail demand
- Reduce overstock and prevent stockouts by tracking sales by season and delivery
- Coordinate core style and bestseller planning using actual calendar data
- Automate and streamline wholesale order management by season with apparel ERP and fashion wholesale software like AIMS360
Wholesale Success Relies on the Fashion Calendar
Whether you’re a designer, a wholesale manager, or a retail buyer, the apparel wholesale order management by season process depends on having clear visibility into the fashion calendar. With the right system, you can automate order entry, manage deliveries, and ensure you’re always shipping the right products at the right time—every season.
AIMS360 apparel software gives brands and wholesalers real-time tools to manage orders, inventory, production, and fulfillment in sync with the entire fashion season calendar.
The fashion industry typically operates on distinct seasonal calendars, each with its own set of delivery windows:
- Spring/Summer (SS): Deliveries from January to April
- Fall/Winter (FW): Deliveries from July to October
- Pre-Fall/Resort: Deliveries from May to June
- Holiday: Deliveries from October to December
Each season may encompass multiple delivery dates to cater to varying retailer needs and regional climates. For instance, a Spring/Summer season might have separate deliveries for early spring and high summer collections.
AIMS360 supports multiple seasons across the entire order lifecycle. Most brands use 4 to 5 seasons per year, but AIMS360 is flexible enough to support up to 35 seasons across styles, orders, and invoices. This allows brands to track detailed seasonal performance, plan production and deliveries precisely, and maintain clean financial reporting tied to seasonal timelines.
Essential Reports for Seasonal Order Management
To effectively manage seasonal orders, consider implementing the following reports:
- Seasonal Sales Performance Report – Analyzes sales data by season to identify top-performing products and trends.
- Inventory Turnover Report – Measures how quickly inventory is sold and replaced within a season.
- Open-to-Buy (OTB) Report – Helps in planning future purchases by comparing planned inventory against actual sales.
- Sell-Through Rate Report – Calculates the percentage of inventory sold within a specific period, indicating product performance.
- Markdown Analysis Report – Evaluates the impact of discounts and promotions on sales and margins.
Best Practices for Seasonal Order Management
- Accurate Demand Forecasting
- Use historical sales data, market trends, and external factors like weather patterns to predict demand accurately.
- Flexible Inventory Management
- Adopt scalable storage solutions and responsive supply chain strategies to accommodate seasonal fluctuations.
- Integrated Technology Systems
- Leverage order management software that integrates with ERP, CRM, and accounting systems for real-time data synchronization.
- Collaborative Planning
- Work closely with suppliers and retailers to align production schedules and delivery timelines.
- Continuous Monitoring
- Regularly review key performance indicators (KPIs) and adjust strategies based on current market behavior.
Transitioning Core Styles into Year-Round Offerings
Certain styles, known as “core” or “never-out-of-stock” (NOS) items, maintain consistent demand across seasons—such as classic denim, neutral tees, and staple black trousers. To optimize these products:
- Consistent Production: Maintain steady production schedules year-round.
- Inventory Buffering: Keep safety stock levels to absorb demand spikes.
- Marketing Focus: Promote core styles for their versatility and reliability.
- Data Analysis: Use performance data to identify seasonal hits that deserve year-round treatment.
Advanced Fashion Season and Year Management in AIMS360 Apparel Software
Today’s apparel brands operate in a fast-moving market with diverse delivery windows, regional calendars, and recurring product lines. AIMS360 offers robust, flexible tools for managing seasons and years in your Style Master, supporting even the most complex merchandising strategies.
Handle Mutiple Seasons & Years; Custom to Your Business
AIMS360 allows you to configure up to 36 unique seasons directly in your Style Master. Whether your collections follow traditional seasons like Spring, Summer, Fall, Holiday, or you need to support monthly drops, capsule collections, or retailer-specific calendars, AIMS360 adapts to your workflow. Popular configurations include:
- Standard fashion seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Holiday, Resort, etc.)
- Split or sub-seasons (Spring I, Spring II, Fall Preview, Capsule, Pre-Fall, Main, Holiday II)
- Special drops or collaboration seasons
- Market or channel-specific groupings
You have the freedom to name and use seasons as best fits your brand, with no need to fill every slot or follow rigid naming conventions.
Assign an Optional Year for Every Style
For deeper organization and reporting, each style can be assigned a specific year. This means you can easily track collections like “Spring 2026” or “Holiday 2025,” analyze performance by year, and manage reorders or restocks across different seasons and annual cycles. The year field is entirely optional, so you can use it only when relevant for your products and business processes.
Dedicated Year-Round Option for Evergreen Styles
Not every product fits neatly into a season. For core, continuity, or never-out-of-stock (NOOS) items, AIMS360 offers a “Year Round” season and year option. This allows you to:
- Clearly identify and manage evergreen styles in your catalog
- Separate inventory and reporting for ongoing programs
- Simplify bulk ordering and fulfillment for styles available all year
Flexible and Scalable for Any Apparel Brand
- Customizable entry: Use as many or as few seasons and years as your business needs. No requirement to fill all fields.
- Clean separation: The season and year are managed as separate fields—no need to embed the year into your season code. This keeps data organized and reporting flexible.
- Easy reconfiguration: If your merchandising calendar changes, you can update, rename, or reorder season codes as your needs evolve, with guidance available from AIMS360 support.
Powerful Fashion Season Reporting and Search
AIMS360’s advanced setup lets you run reports, filter, and analyze by any combination of season and year. Whether you want to track sales by collection, review performance across multiple years, or manage replenishments for evergreen styles, you have the tools to optimize your operations.
AIMS360 gives fashion brands the flexibility to manage modern, multi-season, and multi-year merchandising—all in one place. With support for extensive season codes, optional years, and year-round styles, your brand can stay organized, responsive, and ready for growth.
Fashion Calendar Conclusion
Apparel wholesale order management by season involves a combination of strategic planning, data analysis, and flexible operations. By understanding seasonal structures, utilizing essential reports, implementing best practices, and optimizing core styles, businesses can navigate the complexities of the fashion industry and drive sustained success.
To support this, AIMS360 is an omnichannel apparel order management platform, purpose-built for fashion businesses. It integrates with leading direct-to-consumer and wholesale platforms to unify order flow across all sales channels. AIMS360 also offers a powerful wholesale order entry system that empowers both customers and sales reps to place orders across seasons, deliveries, and terms. The platform supports flexible payments, including credit card, ACH, factoring, deposits, prepayments, and partial payments. Customers are provided a secure interface to enter their credit card information, streamlining every aspect of the wholesale order process.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is seasonal order management in the apparel industry?
Seasonal order management refers to planning, tracking, and fulfilling wholesale apparel orders based on fashion seasons like Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter, Resort, and Holiday. Each season may include multiple delivery windows, and managing them effectively ensures on-time production, smooth inventory flow, and greater retailer satisfaction. By aligning your wholesale operations with the fashion calendar, you can reduce overstock, increase sell-through, and meet critical shipping deadlines.
How do I manage multiple delivery dates within a single season?
Use an apparel ERP or wholesale order management platform like AIMS360 to assign and track multiple delivery dates within each season. You can set up separate ship windows, manage order fulfillment by delivery group, and automate status updates for each window. Reporting by delivery group helps sales reps and production teams stay organized, ensuring all commitments are met—even for complex orders split over several months.
What reports are most useful for managing wholesale apparel orders?
The most valuable reports include:
- Seasonal Sales Reports (see how each collection or delivery is performing)
- Open-to-Buy Reports (understand buying budgets and inventory needs by season)
- Sell-Through and Markdown Analysis (measure what’s selling vs. what’s left)
- Inventory Turnover by Season (track how quickly inventory is moving for each delivery window)
- Pre-book vs. At-Once Order Reports (monitor future vs. immediate orders)
- These reports help forecast demand, avoid overproduction, and identify which styles should be carried forward, discontinued, or marked down.
What are core styles and how should I manage them?
Core styles are your best-selling, year-round products—like essential t-shirts, black leggings, or classic denim—that perform consistently across all seasons. They should be managed separately from seasonal fashion collections using continuous replenishment strategies and accurate demand forecasting. Maintain steady inventory levels through buffer stock, and use sales history to inform production planning. A system like AIMS360 lets you manage core styles alongside seasonal assortments for maximum efficiency.
Does AIMS360 apparel software support seasonal order workflows?
Yes. AIMS360 fashion software is built specifically for seasonal order management. You can assign styles and orders to seasons and deliveries, generate detailed seasonal performance reports, and provide sales reps and buyers with up-to-date seasonal linesheets through the integrated wholesale order entry system. The platform makes it easy to organize, track, and optimize every aspect of your wholesale calendar.
Can I collect payments through AIMS360 apparel ERP for wholesale orders?
Absolutely. AIMS360 apparel software supports multiple payment methods including credit card, ACH, wire transfer, and factoring. You can easily request deposits, prepayments, or partial payments—all tracked automatically in the system. Your customers are provided with a secure interface to enter credit card or ACH details, ensuring a seamless and protected payment experience for both pre-orders and at-once orders across all seasons.
How do I use the fashion season calendar to optimize production and inventory?
By aligning your order and production schedules with the fashion season calendar, you can anticipate retailer demand, minimize overproduction, and reduce last-minute air shipments or markdowns. AIMS360 enables you to generate production and delivery reports by season, allocate inventory accurately, and coordinate vendor POs and shipments to match every seasonal delivery window.
Can I manage both pre-book and at-once orders with AIMS360?
Yes. AIMS360 makes it easy to handle both future-season pre-book orders and in-season at-once orders within the same workflow. You can allocate inventory to priority customers, reserve incoming production, and automatically update order status as goods become available.
How does AIMS360 help sales reps and buyers work by season?
With AIMS360’s Remotelink iPad app and integrated B2B portals (like JOOR and NuORDER), sales reps can quickly write orders by season at tradeshows or appointments, show the most current linesheets, and check inventory by delivery window. Buyers benefit from clear, seasonally-organized order forms, fast confirmations, and a professional digital experience.
Can AIMS360 handle unique or custom delivery windows (e.g. capsule drops or special collections)?
Yes. You can set up unlimited seasons, deliveries, and capsule dates within AIMS360, making it easy to track special collections, collaborations, or quick-turn reorders separately from mainline collections.
What’s the benefit of seasonal order management for multi-channel wholesale (EDI, B2B, DTC)?
Seasonal order management ensures that orders from every channel—department stores, boutiques, B2B platforms, and direct-to-consumer—are aligned with your core production and delivery plan. This reduces inventory fragmentation, keeps all teams on the same page, and increases profitability.
