The most welcome news for apparel manufactures this week was, Macy’s, the largest US departmental store by the sales revenue and Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, posted profits. This is welcome news not only for the brick and mortar stores but the manufacturing companies' world over. While online clothing sales keep rising, it is great news for apparel manufacturers to see that traditional stores also in the game. More sales mean more orders for the manufacturers.
Over the past few years, one of the most notable development was the rise of E-commerce. As we know, it is having a major impact on the global market. Apparel is at the forefront of this trend. All major brands, retailers as well as many thousands of lesser know brands are offering their products to the customers in various online websites and platforms.
Traditionally, most of these e-commerce companies competed using the price leadership strategy. Most companies now realizing that, competing only on pricing is not a viable option. This has created the need for FAST Fashion concept. Design to Store in a minimum number of days is the concept behind this trend. 2018, this is going to be one of the main strategies among many buyers. Already Zara, VS, Nike and many numbers of other buyers made this strategy their priority.
If you look at closely, this shift to fast fashion makes so much sense. As there are no global barriers, customers can purchase clothing from any corner of the world. Competing price alone become a difficult task for many retailers. The FAST Fashion relies on offering customers with latest designs, colors and accessories which may become a hit within a short period due to a well-known celebrity wearing it, may be discussed in a social media or appeared on a magazine. Giving what customers are looking for is the best strategy to increase the sales.
Obviously, manufacturers need to do their due diligence and work closely with buyers to ensure enough greige is booked and production line capacity plans are done accurately. ERP systems should be updated in real time, and all the team members should be aware of their duties and responsibilities.
Another trend picking up in 2018 is that some of the well-known retailers are opening up their online platform to third parties to sell their products. The latest addition to this concept is US retailer Sears. This is a great opportunity for apparel manufacturers to become retailers.
Consumers are already aware of the sears online store, and the traffic which comes to the site will see your products which are displayed on the Sears site. Amazon has been doing this for years, and recently they are aggressively encouraging apparel suppliers to use Amazon platform to sell their products. Perhaps it's time to think about taking matters into your hand and try to sell the products to end customer rather than to a middleman or a retailer.
Traditionally, most of these e-commerce companies competed using the price leadership strategy. Most companies now realizing that, competing only on pricing is not a viable option. This has created the need for FAST Fashion concept. Design to Store in a minimum number of days is the concept behind this trend. 2018, this is going to be one of the main strategies among many buyers. Already Zara, VS, Nike and many numbers of other buyers made this strategy their priority.
If you look at closely, this shift to fast fashion makes so much sense. As there are no global barriers, customers can purchase clothing from any corner of the world. Competing price alone become a difficult task for many retailers. The FAST Fashion relies on offering customers with latest designs, colors and accessories which may become a hit within a short period due to a well-known celebrity wearing it, may be discussed in a social media or appeared on a magazine. Giving what customers are looking for is the best strategy to increase the sales.
Obviously, manufacturers need to do their due diligence and work closely with buyers to ensure enough greige is booked and production line capacity plans are done accurately. ERP systems should be updated in real time, and all the team members should be aware of their duties and responsibilities.
Another trend picking up in 2018 is that some of the well-known retailers are opening up their online platform to third parties to sell their products. The latest addition to this concept is US retailer Sears. This is a great opportunity for apparel manufacturers to become retailers.
Consumers are already aware of the sears online store, and the traffic which comes to the site will see your products which are displayed on the Sears site. Amazon has been doing this for years, and recently they are aggressively encouraging apparel suppliers to use Amazon platform to sell their products. Perhaps it's time to think about taking matters into your hand and try to sell the products to end customer rather than to a middleman or a retailer.
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