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"The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce marketplaces. And the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has clarified that the FDI is only for the marketplace format of e-commerce and not for inventory-led models. It has defined e-commerce as buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic networks."
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce marketplaces. And the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has clarified that the FDI is only for the marketplace format of e-commerce and not for inventory-led models. It has defined e-commerce as buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic networks.
The announcement comes just ahead of Chinese major Alibaba’s proposed entry into India. Also, the move coincides with a recent markdown of valuation of e-commerce companies. Some prominent e-commerce marketplace players in India are Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm and Shopclues. American major Amazon, Flipkart’s biggest rival, entered India as a fully-owned online marketplace player two years ago. Till now, only 51 per cent FDI was permitted in multi-brand retail. The sector had got an estimated $10 billion (Rs 65,000 crores)FDI since its beginning a decade ago. In 2015, around $5 billion (Rs 32,500 crores) of foreign funds were raised by e-commerce companies. Till now, policy guidelines had stated that no FDI was permitted in e-commerce.
Deep discounts: A thing of past
The new policy will hit big e-commerce players such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India who till now made a killing through deep discounting. The new policy puts at risk high-profile events such as Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale during the festive season and Amazon’s Independence Day sale. It was the high flying sales of these companies which were dependent on the high discounts offered by the companies. And the sales resulted in the high valuation of Flipkart, Snapdeal and Paytm. These deep discounts had attracted the ire of brick-and-mortar firms who were losing customers to online retailers. In fact, they had lobbied with the government to rein in the e-commerce firms.
Online marketplace platforms, with players like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal among others hosted thousands of sellers, were described as technology enablers rather than e-retailers. They claimed to have no inventory of their own. That kept them going even with a ban on FDI in e-commerce. The government has now put an official stamp on how these e-commerce majors have for many years operated their business.
The deep discounting by e-commerce firms has attracted the ire of offline stores, which are fighting to survive after losing customers to their online rivals. Offline retailers have lobbied hard with the government to rein in e-commerce firms. “E-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall maintain level playing field,” according to a note released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). This means that the imaginative methods used by Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India in funding discounts may have been outlawed.
For instance, Amazon funds discounts by sellers indirectly through a route it calls “promotional funding”. This is how it works: Amazon recommends the amount of discounts to its sellers on products, but doesn’t force them to adopt these suggested prices. Sellers, however, end up keeping these suggested prices because Amazon finances the discounts. At the end of a certain period, sellers send a debit note to Amazon. This note contains the amount of discount that the seller gave on apparel, electronics, toys and other products sold on the site. Amazon then pays the seller by cheque.
Payments and e-commerce firm Paytm offers discounts through so-called cashbacks. Often, the company gives cashbacks—anywhere between 10 and 80 per cent—on products instead of direct discounts; these cashbacks are then returned to customers’ Paytm wallets and are used to buy other products. Then, there’s the matter of sales contributed by a single seller. Flipkart’s largest seller WS Retail Services easily generates more than 25 per cent of the company’s sales; Cloudtail India, the biggest seller on Amazon India, contributes even more. Cloudtail India, a joint venture between Amazon.com and N R Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures, is now the key growth driver for Amazon India, generating at least 40 per cent of the company’s sales in some months,. Cloudtail is particularly dominant in electronics and fashion sales, two of the three largest categories for Amazon India (promoted by Amazon Seller Services). The new regulations mean that Flipkart and Amazon India may have to find new seller entities on their platforms.
Less discounts, blessing in disguise
Many in the retail industry believe that curb on deep discounting will help e-commerce companies spend less on advertising, thus helping them to control their losses. So even if there may be a drop in sales, the companies would be cutting down on their losses. Also, the clause provides a more level playing field between the better-capitalised companies, and those that haven’t received the same amount of funding. It will, as Anil Talreja, Partner at Deloitte Haskin & Sells, points out, will sanitise the whole supply chain. The worst hit by the discount clause, consumer electronics and cellphone makers, are hoping that pricing parity will put an end to predatory pricing in the industry and lead to sustainable growth of the e-commerce marketplace. And as Amarjeet Singh, partner, tax, KPMG in India opines although, some of the structures practiced by existing players may require alteration, it will give the much-needed clarity to undertake business with certainty in longer term. Also, this will further boost foreign investment in this sector. And Kishore Biyani, Chief Executive of Future Group, believes the policy addresses brick-and-mortar retailers concerns and will also prove beneficial for online retailers in the long run.
The government has also made it clear that no one group company or seller on a marketplace can contribute more than 25 per cent of the sales generated on the site.
E-commerce took off in a big way around 10 years ago. Since then the sector has got an estimated 10 billion dollars (Rs 65,000 crores) of foreign investment. In 2015, around 5 billion dollars (Rs 32,500 crores) of foreign funds were raised by e-commerce companies.
The 9th International Symposium of Intimate Apparel, was organized by the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently. The idea was to promote the exchange of the latest knowledge and development of intimate apparel among academics.
The event was supported by world’s leading lingerie and beachwear trade show organiser Eurovet, The Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association (HKIAIA), Intimate Apparel Journal, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), Cotton Incorporated, Society of Dyers and Colourists Hong Kong, Textile Institute Association (Hong Kong), as well as The Hong Kong Institution of Textile and Apparel. Under the theme ‘The New Frontier of Intimate Apparel’, the symposium discussed latest trends and development in the global lingerie market. It also sharpened the industry’s competitive advantage to develop its future business and marketing strategies.
The symposium was officially kicked off by Prof John Xin, Chair Professor and Head of ITC, and Mrs Rita Wong, Vice Chairman of HKIAIA and Managing Director of Cerie International.Distinguished local and overseas lingerie experts shared their insights and experience on the new marketing development in the intimate apparel industry. How should brands and retailers position themselves for the new market requirements? What does the educator do to meet the market need. These were some of the topics discussed along the sidelines.
In line with the symposium, three workshops were conducted. Terri Meichner Fisher, President/ CEO of Platinum Coast Retail Consulting, shared her views on ‘Panoramic View of the Intimate Apparel and the Athleisure Market in the US’. Prof. Andrew Sia, Publisher of Intimate Apparel Journal, spoke on ‘South Asia & Southeast Asia Country Reports – The Perspective from an Industrial Veteran’; and Spike Ngai, Manager, Technical Marketing, Supply Chain Marketing Asia of Cotton Incorporated, talked about ‘Opportunities to Use Advanced Cotton’.
Established with strong industrial support in 2005, the Ace Style Institute of Intimate Apparel of ITC is the first lingerie institute in the Asia Pacific. Over the years, the Institute’s research has reaped fruitful results and gained international reputation.
Textile mills in Pakistan want a 15 per cent regulatory duty on the import of manmade fibers, particularly polyester viscose yarn, polyester cotton yarn and pure polyester yarn. The industry sees the surge in imports of manmade fibers as a matter of serious concern. It feels an unchecked import of yarns has hit the viability of the domestic spinning yarn industry, which is also threatening the survival of domestic polyester staple fiber producers and the purified terephthalic industry by and large.
So the 15 per cent regulatory duty is expected to stop the inroads of subsidised yarns into the domestic market. Pakistan’s imports of manmade fiber yarn for domestic consumption have increased by four times in the last four years and are likely to reach 57,000 tons per annum by the end of 2015-16.
Pakistan’s textile mix is 80 per cent cotton versus 20 per cent manmade, compared to the global trend, which is closer to 70 per cent manmade fibers and 30 per cent cotton.
Textile mills feel lowering the import duty on polyester staple fiber to zero will help the country enter new products and markets. Pakistan has an opportunity to export synthetic based textile products under GSP Plus.
US net imports of textile and apparel fiber products increased for a third consecutive calendar year in 2015 to the highest on record, reaching 15.7 billion pounds (raw fiber equivalent), compared with 14.5 billion pounds in 2014.
US net imports consist mostly of cotton and manmade fiber products as demand for linen, wool, and silk products remains relatively small. With manmade fiber imports expanding steadily in recent years, cotton’s share has declined consistently.
In 2015, cotton textile and apparel products accounted for 44 per cent of total imports while manmade fibers contributed nearly 49 per cent. By comparison, in 2007, cotton accounted for 56 per cent of all textile and apparel imports while the share of manmade fibers was 37 per cent.
Cotton is clearly losing the battle to manmade fibers. After years of demand erosion, cotton has lost its top spot to synthetic competitors. Yarn mills have switched spindles to polyester and its cohorts due to years of high cotton prices and improving synthetic technology.
Falling polyester prices have complicated the hope that lower cotton prices will renew demand. Polyester prices are also down, partially in sympathy with their cotton competitor and partially due to the freefalling price of oil, a key raw material.
Recently, global cotton prices declined for a second consecutive month. Values for the nearby May NY Futures contract set a series of life-of-contract lows over the past month, with prices dropping from nearly 59 cents/lb a month ago to those near 56 cents/lb. In latest trading, values have rebounded above the 58 cent mark but current levels are among the lowest since 2009. The A Index also lost about three cents/lb. Recent values have been between 64 and 65 cents/lb.
However, since September, every monthly update to USDA’s supply and demand figures has featured decreases to both world production and consumption. This month’s report was no exception, with the global harvest number dropping 1.2 million bales (from 101.4 to 100.2 million) and the global mill-use projection falling 400,000 bales (from 109.6 to 109.2 million). Current estimates for both production and mill-use are the lowest since 2003/04.
No price-related details, however regarding an upcoming set of auctions have been officially released. If the expectations for the drop in Chinese prices expressed by CNCE and ZCE markets are confirmed by an upcoming government announcement, there is potential for Chinese spinning mills to become more competitive internationally and for Chinese mill-use to increase. The USDA is expecting China will start to more aggressively move cotton from reserves by lowering prices, and that Chinese mill-use will increase by one million bales in the coming crop year (from 32.0 to 33.0 million bales).
Apparel retailer American Apparel has named Paul Charron, former head of handbag retailer Liz Claiborne as the new chairman. Charron served as chief executive of Liz Claiborne, now known as Kate Spade, for 11 years until his retirement in 2006.
Charron also served as senior advisor at private equity firm Warburg Pincus and has spent six years as chairman of Campbell Soup. He joined Warburg Pincus in 2008 and focused on investment activities in the consumer and retail industries as well as industrials, leveraged buyouts, and special situations.
Los Angeles-based American Apparel, known for its ‘Made in USA’ fashion and sexually charged advertising, emerged from bankruptcy last month as a private company. In appointing new board members, American Apparel is trying to further distance itself from the tumultuous period that began after its board ousted Charney as CEO and Chairman in 2014 when an investigation uncovered allegations of misuse of company funds and inappropriate behavior with employees.
Susan Davidson, who heads fashion boutique Scoop and design house Zac Posen and has worked at Bloomingdale's and Liz Claiborne, and Bruce Fetter, who runs women's luxury knitwear retailer St. John Knits, will also join American Apparel’s board.
store.americanapparel.net/
Currently in India, imported jute from Bangladesh seems to be a more viable option as compared to the domestically available alternative. The reason being production costs Bangladesh are 30 per cent lower than in India.
Earlier the Bangladesh government had banned raw jute exports to India . The ban was lifted on November 3, 2015, as its domestic consumption rose from three million bales (one bale is 180 kg) to five million bales. .
“There are no sharp market reactions to the current development. But, there is hope that this would ensure more availability of raw jute and help stabilise prices,” said Sanjay Kajaria, former chairman of Indian Jute Mills' Association (IJMA) and managing director of Hastings Jute Mill. Raw jute prices in India are currently at Rs 58,000 a tonne
Experts opine that its cheaper to import jute goods from Bangladesh and Nepal as labour and production costs are higher in India. Export of raw jute from Bangladesh to India, which was in the level of 0.9 million bales during 2011-12 and 2012-13 came down to the level of 0.24 million bales in 2013-14, 0.15 million bales in 2014-15 and 0.26 million bales in 2015-16.
In 2014-15, import of jute bags rose 75 per cent in value terms and 79 per cent in volume. Of this, jute sacks went up by 36 per cent, jute yarn by 37 per cent and carpet backing cloth by 27 per cent.
In July 2015, import of raw jute from Bangladesh surged 213 per cent on volume and 274 per cent in value terms over the same month a year ago. Also, import of jute products rose five per cent in quantity and moved up 23 per cent in value terms compared to July 2014.
Cumulative imports of raw jute during April-July 2015 declined by 21 per cent in volume but rose six per cent in value terms over the corresponding period of last fiscal. Likewise, import of jute products in the period declined 26 per cent in quantity but increased by four per cent terms in value terms.
Texpo will be held in Pakistan from April 7 to 10, 2016. The event will be attended by international textile buyers and is aimed at enhancing the country’s textile exports. The entire value chain of the textile sector will be on display. The event is expected to open new horizons for investors to invest in the textile sector.
Among the exhibits are art silk and synthetic textiles, towels, textile fabrics, tulle lace, tents and canvas, bed wear, garments, accessories. Major textile associations of the country will showcase trendy and stylish textile products. The main objective of the event is to build a strong business relationship of Pakistan’s exporters with importers of textiles worldwide. There will be 230 exhibitors from textiles, value added textiles and high-end fashion.
Around 600 delegates will attend from 50 countries. B&C Collection from Belgium, Marubeni Tex from Japan, Shinwon from South Korea, Polo Africa from South Africa, Super Muffato from Brazil, Apacinti from Indonesia, Septwolves from China, Teddy from Italy, Fifth Factory from Spain, and Firma Gamma from Russia will be among those attending.
Texpo is being organized by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. Pakistan will organise 120 exhibitions in different countries this year to market local products.
tdap.gov.pk/texpo/
Imported jute from Bangladesh seems to be a more viable option in India at the moment compared to the local alternative. The reason: production costs Bangladesh are 30 per cent lower than in India. Earlier the Bangladesh government had banned raw jute exports to India. The ban was lifted on November 3, 2015, as its domestic consumption rose from three million bales (one bale is 180 kg) to five million bales.
Sanjay Kajaria, former chairman of Indian Jute Mills' Association (IJMA) and managing director of Hastings Jute Mill feels there are no sharp market reactions to the current development. But, there is hope that this would ensure more availability of raw jute and help stabilise prices. Raw jute prices in India are currently at Rs 58,000 a ton.
Experts opine it’s cheaper to import jute goods from Bangladesh and Nepal as labour and production costs are higher in India. Export of raw jute from Bangladesh to India, which was in the level of 0.9 million bales during 2011-12 and 2012-13 came down to the level of 0.24 million bales in 2013-14, 0.15 million bales in 2014-15 and 0.26 million bales in 2015-16.
In 2014-15, import of jute bags rose 75 per cent in value terms and 79 per cent in volume. Of this, jute sacks went up by 36 per cent, jute yarn by 37 per cent and carpet backing cloth by 27 per cent.
In July 2015, import of raw jute from Bangladesh surged 213 per cent on volume and 274 per cent in value terms over the same month a year ago. Also, import of jute products rose five per cent in quantity and moved up 23 per cent in value terms compared to July 2014.
Cumulative imports of raw jute during April-July 2015 declined by 21 per cent in volume but rose six per cent in value terms over the corresponding period of last fiscal. Likewise, import of jute products in the period declined 26 per cent in quantity but increased by four per cent terms in value terms.
"CHIC (China International Clothing & Accessories Fair 2016 -Spring) took place from March 16 to 18, 2016 right at the beginning of China’s 13th Five-Year-Plan Convention. The fair underlined evolution, not revolution dominates the prosperity of the fashion business. Innovation, especially in the area of research, development, industrial transformation constitutes the ‚main force."
The 24th edition of CHIC, China's largest fashion trade fair, continues to grow and evolve as the event welcomed over 1,300 exhibitors from 20 countries. CHIC (China International Clothing & Accessories Fair 2016 -Spring) took place from March 16 to 18, 2016 right at the beginning of China’s 13th Five-Year-Plan Convention. The fair underlined evolution, not revolution dominates the prosperity of the fashion business. Innovation, especially in the area of research, development, industrial transformation constitutes the ‚main force. And as outlined by Chen Dapeng, Executive Vice President CNGA and Head of CHIC, “The Chinese market is still growing but it is a market for the middle class. The slogan‚ ‘new normal’ expresses that consumers in China are very well aware on styles and prices, but not buying at any price. The price/quality ratio plays an important role.”
International hub of fashion business
During the three days of the event, 1,04,592 professional visitors registered. Even if this number was lower compared to CHIC in March 2015, the higher quality of visitors was remarkable. As Limin Ou, CEO of Peacebird said they received a lot of positive feedback, the visitor quality as well as the quantity was amazing and they succeeded in reaching their goal. The Chinese market becomes more and more sophisticated and the organizers believe the future for them will lay in quality fashion for China’s growing middle class. The increasing number of international buyers is evident with merchants from as far as Botswana in Africa signing a business contract at CHIC.
Carrefour placed a direct enormous order. Besides trade visitors coming from shopping malls, department stores boutiques, e-commerce platforms also outlet centers attended CHIC. According to Liu, President and General Manager of Shanghai Xiongyi Apparel, a long-time visitors at CHIC, “I am coming to CHIC since many years. I always receive new inspiration here and discover every time new brands for my business.”
Considered Asia’s fashion window, CHIC furnished proof on international cultural and creative industries with total 1,300 brands. Twenty seminars with focus on scientific and technological researches including new sales channels were held during the event. Moreover, 15 fashion shows underlined the new fashion styles.
Lifestyle arenas a lure
The clear structure of CHIC convinced the professional visitors again. Within ‘Prestige,’ hot discussions were raised regarding customization style innovation and better cost performance. Some of the Chinese brands used CHIC as a platform to re-launch their brand or present new lines. ‘Firs’ re-launched its brand ‘Shanshan,’ ‘Peacebird’ presented a new brand of their group called ‘Whaam’, a new cooperation between Ningbo Peacebird and Disney, targeting the young fashion market in China. Also one of the big Chinese retail brands, ‘Semir’, promoted a new brand within the area ‘New Look’ (womenswear). Liu, Business Development Manager of Semir, explained that their new brand ‘Gson,’ focussed on business style fashion, is profiting from the boom in the commercial real estates of China. Septwolves launched its new brand Totem Wolf – a new fusion of Mao, Tibetan, Dai ethnic characteristics and culture. The leading young team of Totem Wolf supplemented the launch with a relevant mobile phone app.
International fashion journey
The area was enlarged this time and new nations like Netherlands showed up. Chen Dapeng expressed that European brands are demanded in China, but they have to compete with the market prices of same quality in China and review their calculation of prices being partly six times higher than in Europe.
On the occasion of the visit of Dutch fashion labels to Shanghai, the first Sino-Dutch Fashion Dialogue ‘Cross’ was co-organized by the Netherlands Consulate General in Shanghai, RNW Media and Donghua University, CROSS helped the best of Dutch and Chinese fashion form ties through engaging dialogues.
As Anneke Adema, Consul General of the Netherlands in Shanghai said she noticed that throughout China there is a shift to the creative sector and hope this dialogue will make more people familiar with Dutch fashion: sustainable, comfortable, innovative in crossing borders and with a twist. She also expressed that it will also help in creating sustainable ties between Shanghainese and Dutch creative minds.
According to Gerard Roudine organizer the French pavilion ‘Paris Forever’ opined this CHIC was the best in their longtime participations. And Italian pavilion ‘La Moda Italiana’ received more visitors than previous years.
Meanwhile, Brazilian shoe association Abicalcados organized the Brazilian pavilion ‘Brazilian Footwear’. They were happy about the visitor flow and joining forces with CHIC to push their brands into the Chinese market. After several platforms they tried in China, they found now their place at CHIC and will continue in October 2016.
This time, the Chamber of Commerce of Netherlands, Enterprise European Network participated for the first time at CHIC. They received visitors from wholesalers, buyers and agents. And they even placed orders at CHIC. They considered their participation as successful and will plan a larger participation next time.
Participants of the German pavilion got good experiences at CHIC. Claire Thorneycroft, Export Manager at Roesch, liked the clear structure of CHIC and conducted promising talks to enlarge their distribution network. Some German exhibitors exhibited along with their agents in China. This, some said led to a resounding success.
Similarly, London-based PURE with its show-in-show concept at CHIC was optimistic. PURE organizers were happy about this cooperation as they were aware of the strong partnership with CHIC as mediator in the fashion sector.
Istanbul Leather and Leather Product Exporters’ Union (IDMIB) participated for the 3rd time at CHIC. They increased their participation by 50 per cent and announced already a further increase for next CHIC. The Turkish brands for leatherwear, furs and shoes received many trade visitors and considered their participation much more successful than expected.
Information Age at CHIC
This area provided the complete industrial chain software information technology. Information solution enterprises like Qishaon Tech, Quzhuyun Tech, Jiqimote accentuate the necessity of intelligent manufacturing from sewing automation digital printing. 3 D printing or drawing, but also inventions like cloud computing, big data to improve the industrial standards to 4.0.
CHIC is the recognized mediator of fashion business in China. Since its beginning in 1993, CHIC has established a world-wide network and a very close relationship to whole Chinese fashion circle. CHIC has set its tasks to be the fashion wind vane and to be partner even in more difficult times to see and work out changes and breakthroughs.
