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Jeff Bezos, the founder of e-commerce giant Amazon recently announced plans to use Amazon India’s global footprints to export $10 billion worth of Make in India products by 2025. As per these plans, over the next five years, Amazon will invest an incremental $1 billion to digitise micro and small businesses in cities, towns, and villages across India, helping them reach more customers than ever before.
This investment will bring millions of more people into the future prosperity of India and at the same time expose the world to the ‘Make in India’ products that represent India’s rich, diverse culture. Amazon and rival Flipkart have been pumping in millions of dollars across various operations like marketplace, infrastructure and supply chain management as well as marketing and promotion as they look to strengthen their position in the fledgling Indian e-commerce market.
For months, the organisation of small traders has been very actively protesting against Flipkart and Amazon and CAIT accusing both the e-commerce giants of unfair business practices and violation of India’s FDI rules. The group has also blamed both the e-commerce giants for a slump in the businesses of traditional retail during Diwali season in October.
Readymade clothing and apparel exports from Turkey to China in February 2020 soared by 500 per cent. The increase was mainly because of the high demand for disposable masks due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Companies producing masks in Turkey do not export directly. Some companies buy products from them and sell them to China. Ready-to-wear clothing and apparel exports across Turkey surged by ten per cent in the January to February period compared to the same period last year.
Sen Tekstil, based in Turkey, has started making antibacterial suits to be shipped to China. This factory which is normally into women’s clothing has increased production capacity in the light of the outbreak and hired more workers after receiving a staggering amount of orders from China. It is producing around 5,000 units a day which are being sent to China on cargo planes. The protective antibacterial suits, which are completely airtight and disposable, are essential for medical personnel treating COVID-19 patients. The depreciation in the Turkish currency against other currencies has made the country’s exporters more competitive. Turkey has the advantage of being able to deal with sharper deadlines compared with the Far East.
The fatal illness that began in China shows no sign of slowing down as more new cases continue to pop up in countries across around the world.
Guess plans to remove ancient and endangered forests from its supply chain by the end of 2020. The apparel brand first crafted a responsible sourcing policy for manmade cellulosics in 2017. Two years later, it joined Canopy Style, an initiative by Canadian forestry not-for-profit Canopy, to keep deforestation out of viscose textiles.
Currently, more than 60 percent of the brand’s mills use top-scoring green shirt viscose providers. The remaining 40 percent, however, employ mills that are either unlisted or have yellow, orange or red shirts that indicate a higher risk of sourcing.
Guess had previously dispatched tailored communications to its viscose providers, either thanking them for their efforts if they had a green shirt or encouraging them to improve if they didn’t. With the December release of the 2019 ‘Hot Button’ report, the brand will be following up with yellow, orange and red shirts to find out where they are on their pathway and if they are in communication with Canopy Style.
For the fourth quarter Kontoor Brands’ revenue decreased 10 per cent. For the full year, revenue decreased eight per cent. Net income in the quarter fell 45 per cent. For the year, net income declined 63 per cent. For the quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (ebitda) was up one per cent. Gross margin increased 210 basis points to 40.7 per cent of revenue on a reported basis. For the year, gross margin decreased 90 basis points to 39.4 per cent on a reported basis, primarily due to higher distressed sales and manufacturing inefficiencies. For the year adjusted ebitda was down 12 per cent. Ebitda margin on a reported basis declined to 7.6 per cent of revenue. Adjusted ebitda margins decreased 90 basis points to 13.5 per cent.
Kontoor Brands, the parent of Wrangler and Lee, has undergone a transformation to improve operational performance, address internal and external factors, and set the stage for long-term profitable growth. Initiatives that focus on higher margin and faster growing lines of business, as well as the exit of select non-strategic lines of business and points of distribution, position the company for future success. While first half revenue is expected to decline, revenue is expected to grow in the second half.
An association of brand owners, Bangalore Apparel Manufacturer’s Association (BAMA), recently organised the third edition of the Texstyl Show in Bengaluru. “In a year, we organise two fabric and one garment fairs,” says Pravin Mutha, President, BAMA. “For this show, we sent almost 10,000 e-mails and called every brand head. We got 40,000 hits for the event,” he adds.
Currently having 55 members, BAMA accepts only branded garment manufacturers as its members. “We have primary and secondary members. Of this, only our primary members have voting rights,” states Mutha further. “Our members are selected on the basis of selection criteria. They are organised manufacturers who sell their products at MRPs only,” he adds.
BAMA highlights the issues of these brand owners by collaborating with like-minded associations across India. “This gives us an added advantage over other associations,” says Raj Sanghvi, Vice President of the association. “For instance, it is currently helping us to present a united front against GST,” he adds.
The recently held Texstyl show was open to all manufacturers who have a good supply base and aim to enter the Bengaluru market. “We had people from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Delhi,” adds Pankaj, Secretary, BAMA
The show was organised in Bengaluru which is considered as the hub of garment manufacturing in south India. “The city has huge garment units which operate through a line system whereas the rest of India operates through a piece work system. Also, export volumes from the city are huge,” adds Sanghvi.
BAMA plans to organise the next edition of this fair in a much bigger way. “The show will have more participants and larger stalls. The average size of current stalls is 180 sq ft. This will increase to 500 sq ft in the next edition. The stalls will be customised to the exhibitor’s requirements.
BAMA also plans to organise a garment show soon. “The theme of this show will be Urbane 2020. It will be autumn/winter show and be open to all Bengaluru manufacturers. To be organised in May, the event will have around 82 exhibitors and focus on men’s wear and other categories. We plan to invite 400 top retailers to the show,” adds Pankaj
Jack Sewing Machine Co., a leading China-based sewing technology company, launched its new Internet of Things (IoT) technology at the Garment Technology Expo (GTE) held from January 10-13, 2020 in New Delhi. Sudhakar Varma, Director of the Indian operations of the brand elaborates on this launch and its other initiatives.
Jack Sewing Machines was launched in India around 14 years ago. “Seven years ago we opened a liaison office in the country which enabled us to penetrate deeper into the market. It also enabled us to support new agents and launch new machines,” notes Sudhakar Verma, Director of the India Operations of the brand. Today, Jack offers technologies like wi-fi with IoT. In coming days, each of its products will offer cut to pack solutions for the industry.
According to Verma, exporters are looking forward to digitalisation of the industry. “We are ready with the app. Once the concept is ready we will sell this to the exporters,” he says. The brand provides both low and high-end machines. “The future for high end machines is quite bright as they require less labor and are more productive. People are showing a greater interest in the hanger system as it reduces hanging time while increasing needle time,” he adds.
Verma also recommends an increase in duty drawbacks. According to him, the industry should reconsider the levying of import duty on machinery. “Procedures for obtaining the TUF loan should be simplified. Fifteen years ago, exporters were granted good duty drawback amounts. Today, these have reduced to two to three percent,” he says.
For the last five years Jack has been concentrating on its C level fabricators and other domestic machines. “These ensure us of 100 percent growth in the domestic market. As a lot upcoming brands make men’s and women’s garments, their demand for machines is growing.
Earlier people would compare Japanese machines with Chinese ones. “However, no one makes machines in Japan today. Japanese companies manufacture their machines in China predominantly and some of it in Vietnam as these countries ensure a better quality and service besides very flexible & versatile eco-system,” adds Verma and in the same breath says sadly India is still nowhere in the global supply chain in this part of business.
The company has received a fantastic response for its products at the GTE exhibition. “Especially, our spreading machine has received an excellent response and helpus increase our business,” adds Varma.
With more brands adopting the digital route to growth, traditional luxury market is in the midst of a seismic transformation. Millennial customers are opting for online shopping which is forcing many traditional luxury brands to sell their wares through ecommerce platforms.
Indian luxury players are also catering to growing digital habits of their affluent consumers as it is influencing the decisions of these high-net-worth individuals. Over the last few years, there has been a considerable change in behaviors of these individuals. They now aspire to buy their LV or Gucci bag even before they buy their first automobile. Therefore, they seek the availability of these brands across online portals. Most of these online fashion portals use discount as a medium to lure customers, whereas, luxury brands stay away from regular discounting practices.
Digital is the future of luxury fashion
In its recent ‘Global Powers of Luxury Goods’ Deloitte highlights consumers now consider digital as being the future of luxury.
Over 37 per cent of these consumers, in future luxury products and technology are likely to become more closely linked. Hence, luxury brands need to boost their ecommerce investments to offer a seamless shopping experience. For instance, in its bid to acquire the millennial consumer, Louis Vuitton, recently did live streaming of its ‘Fall Winter 2020 collection’ online.
Luxury brands often ignore reams of unstructured data. This includes consumer comments on social media, reviews, affluent influencers' photo feeds on Instagram, and engagements across multi-channel customer journeys. Brands can mine these to glean invaluable insight into their customer lifestyles, shopping preferences, and purchase behaviors.
Omni-channel emerges a viable option
Brands also need to be extra cautious while choosing an ecommerce platform to launch their luxury mono-brand online store. They need to choose the design, functionalities, ease of use and security of their store wisely as this will help them to deliver an exclusive experience, maintain brand loyalty and increase their sales performance. They should also align this online store to the brand’s global webstores and the physical stores to offer its latest global collection across regions.
Thus, ecommerce is no longer a sole option for brands to meet the evolving needs for their customers. They should instead opt for an omnichannel strategy which is emerging as the most viable choice for modern luxury retail.
On the upcoming occasion of International Women's Day, Alphabet Media has launched a specially curated gifting guide on behalf of all its representative brands. The guide contains detailed information on some of the most prominent womenswear brands in India.
One of the brands that the guide features is Raisin, a contemporary fashion brand for the modern age women launched by Bhumi Pednekar. Co-founded by Vikash & Vishal Pacheriwal, the brand represents everything a modern woman looks for - extreme comfort, affordability, and chic designs all wrapped up in one stylish piece of clothing.
Another brand featured in the guide includes Julahaa Sarees, a traditional hub for sarees. Offering a wide range of opulent jacquard weaves and designer embroideries for weddings and festivities, the brand blends traditional skills and craftsmanship into sarees.
YKK Corporation will continue to identify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its business activities, including raw material procurement, production processes, logistics, and the supply chain. Within the next two years it will set science-based targets consistent with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. YKK aims to obtain Science Based Targets initiative certification.
YKK has become a signatory to the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. The Fashion for Global Climate Action initiative calls on fashion industry to acknowledge the contribution of the sector to climate change and its responsibility to strive towards climate neutrality for a safer planet.
YKK joins more than 100 signatories to the Charter, which supports the goals of the Paris Agreement in limiting global temperature rise to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels and sets specific goals for the entire fashion industry to implement. These goals focus on a 30 per cent aggregate reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action was launched under the auspices of United Nations Climate Change at COP24 (24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in December 2018.
There was an increase in economic activity for US manufacturing in January. Manufacturing is expected to see an upward trend for the foreseeable future supported by the current macro-economic and political climate in the US. That growth will be driven in part by continued reshoring. Over 1,300 companies have announced their plans to reshore, and that can positively impact manufacturing plants, supply chains and supporting services. Recent trade agreements and tariffs continue to drive this shift. A tectonic shift is about to bring supply chains and jobs back to shores that exported them in previous years. Automation and industrial are two sector areas with possible investment opportunities. In the 1990s and early 2000s developments introduced a much cheaper labor force for US businesses, and companies took advantage of lower cost labor by moving their plants, factories and supply chains offshore. This created a substantial difference in US imports and exports, resulting in a large trade deficit. Eliminating the deficit may lead to five million new manufacturing jobs in the US.
Economic growth in the US is driven by consumer demand and a combination of labor growth and productivity gains. The over 60 million millennials are delaying buying cars and housing but are expected to become active when they start families.
