Apparel demand has reached a new level of unpredictability. During the pandemic, the purchasing behavior pendulum has swung from weak sales amid early lockdowns to revenge spending in 2021. Historical data is therefore no longer a strong predictor of market performance.

Retailers are also contending with supply chain disruptions, including expanded lead times and shipping schedules that threaten on-time arrivals of goods. The major risk has shifted from overstocks to understocks, and retailers have adjusted their buying strategies accordingly. In AlixPartners and Sourcing Journal’s recent “2021 Fashion in Focus” survey report, industry executives said they were planning for delays by buying earlier and ordering larger volumes of goods. But buying far out essentially means “buying blind,” explained Joe Schmitt, a managing director at AlixPartners.  

As the industry adapts and learns from pandemic pressures, there are still uncertainties in how to navigate planning.

“I don't think anyone has a clear game plan moving forward around what exactly they need to do,” Schmitt told Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman in a recent podcast conversation. “I think the theme is really, ‘How can we be as flexible as possible while still being differentiated in the market?’ And that balancing act is what everyone's trying to figure out right now.”

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Part of the appeal of producing garments in Peru comes from the homegrown natural fibers, including cotton and alpaca. And while these raw materials are attractive for their quality, they also boast strong sustainability credentials.

As Rizal Bragagnini, executive director of the Peru Textiles Exporters Association, explained, these fibers have the added benefit of durability. For instance, in tests, extra-long staple pima cotton retains its color through at least 140 wash cycles. If garments can last and look better for longer, their impact to the environment is lessened.

This is the message of Peru Textiles’ latest marketing campaign. With the tagline “Find the true value behind Peru Textiles,” the promotion invites buyers and shoppers to explore Peru’s sustainability and quality.

Peru Textiles is aiming to make its production even more sustainable. In 2020, the exporters association set out to make Peru the most sustainable apparel production market in the world. Bragagnini noted that this quest to be the leader in sustainability is a work in progress. During a recent discussion with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Bragagnini and Mario Ocharan, director of export promotion at tourism and trade agency PromPeru, detailed the efforts underway to move Peru’s apparel sector in this direction, including renewable energy sources and carbon reduction.

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Following a challenging pandemic period for the global garment industry, Peru’s apparel sector is bouncing back. Exports are up over 2020, and according to Mario Ocharan, director of export promotion at trade and tourism organization PromPeru, the nation expects shipments to meet or exceed 2019 levels.

In a chat with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Ocharan and Rizal Bragagnini, executive director, Peru Textiles Exporters Association, spoke to the state of Peru’s textile trade and the role that the garment industry is playing in Covid-19 recovery.

While the U.S. remains a significant export market for Peru, representing about half of all trade, Peru has increased its business in other parts of the Americas such as Canada, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. Nearshoring has been gaining ground for some time, but the South American nation has become even more appealing amid transportation disruptions.

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Amid the retail disruptions of the pandemic, consumers began shopping online more than ever before. But escalating e-commerce sales are not solely a positive for retailers’ profitability.

In AlixPartners and Sourcing Journal’s recent industry survey: “2021 Fashion in Focus: Investing in a Future Forged by Adversity,” respondents were largely split on whether the growth in online sales had an accretive or dilutive effect on their business, and a number were unclear on the impact. Serving a customer in store has a different cost structure than fulfilling online orders, and the labor, operational and other expenses for the latter can add up. This makes it more difficult to calculate the actual net financial result of digital sales, explained Bryan Eshelman, a managing director at AlixPartners, in a recent conversation with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman.

“It is a hard, tangled web of costs and activities to untangle and really truly understand,” said Eshelman.

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Online retailers have a recurring returns problem, especially in the footwear category where they can be as high as 30 to 40 percent. As e-commerce continues to grow at an exponential rate, this challenge will unfortunately only become more prevalent. But, one company is combining 3D foot scanning and artificial intelligence (AI) in an effort to eliminate the issue entirely and give consumers the right shoe fit every time.

Aetrex recently unveiled FitGenius, an AI platform that is now integrated into their foot scanning technology. The program works by matching shoppers’ unique foot profiles, which are gathered from a foot scan in store, with a retailer’s footwear catalog. 

In a chat with Sourcing Journal, Larry Schwartz, CEO of Aetrex, spoke about the data that can be collected during a foot scan.

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For sourcing professionals, the pandemic has served up a seemingly never-ending series of logistical quagmires. Factory shutdowns, transportation capacity constraints and cost spikes, and raw material shortages forced companies to adopt plan B, C or even D.

Outside of the direct effects of Covid-19, environmental disasters and geopolitical upheaval threaten to abruptly cut off supply or derail shipments. And when time is of the essence, it pays to have planned ahead.

“Companies have to start thinking about developing their own contingency plans and risk-mitigation playbooks,” said Murali Gokki, managing director at AlixPartners, who leads the company's apparel and fashion services as part of the retail practice. “These need to be institutionalized; they no longer have the luxury of waiting for an event to happen and then putting their best brains in a room to think through a solution.”

Listen to this episode to learn how to navigate freight hurdles heading into the holiday season, what it will take to scale nearshoring and onshoring, the hidden impacts of inflation that are hurting bottom lines, where to start with digital design and production management tools and how companies should approach the supplier-buyer relationship.

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During the pandemic, home goods sales have soared as consumers prioritize spending on their living spaces. At the same time, shopping migrated online and individuals gained more time to investigate their purchases, leading them to invest in quality, organic and sustainable goods.

Eco-mindedness is not solely a millennial or Gen Z trait. During a recent conversation with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Corinne Bentzen, CEO of bedding and bath product retailer The Company Store, explained that consumers across all generations are considering the environmental impact of their purchases. “The baby boomers are becoming more responsible as they are bringing grandkids into this world and they want to leave a better footprint behind,” Bentzen said.

Discover more about how consumers are weighing sustainability in their home purchases and why TENCEL™ is a fit for The Company Store’s promise of conscious, comfortable linens.

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For fashion to break out of its disposability rut, it needs to focus on quality. And quality begins with using materials that can last.

A key tactic to reduce a garment’s impact is to get more use out of it. Being able to wash and wear something 40 times instead of five times makes a huge difference in the overall calculation of its environmental cost, explained World Textile Sourcing (WTS) CEO Luis Antonio Aspillaga during a recent discussion with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman. “Sustainability works when the garment has a longer life,” Aspillaga noted.

Hear more about WTS’ experience working with TENCEL™ and how quality relates to sustainability.

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Sustainability has been a top talking point for the apparel supply chain in recent years, but it’s safe to say that mere awareness doesn’t cut it anymore. Results are a must.

To get there, brands have to set “measurable and quantifiable” goals, according to Min Zhu, Ph.D., technical director, U.S. and Canada softlines at SGS North America Inc., a testing, inspection and certification company. But when the sustainability conversation extends beyond the brand, suppliers typically need more explicit directions and training to set these goals in motion.

“The training that we provide to the supply chain should not just end at the Tier 1 supplier,” Dr. Zhu said in a conversation with Edward Hertzman, founder and president of Sourcing Journal. “We should go as far as we can reach to ensure the mutual understanding of the brand’s commitments, goals and expectations—this is critical.”

Listen to hear about SGS's Sustainability Ambitions 2030 roadmap.

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Got data? Of course, you do. Most companies are drowning in it.

But useful data? That’s a different story.

“Talk to brand executives or decision makers today and no one’s really saying they don’t have enough data,” said Dan Leahy, co-founder and CEO of retail product decision platform MakerSights. “But ask people within a brand responsible for bringing products to market: ‘Do you have the data at your fingertips important to guide the actual decisions you need to make?’ then the results are a lot more mixed.”

In this chat, Leahy discusses why the need for actionable data is more urgent than ever.

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