And IBEF report suggests India is the world’s fifth-largest global destination in the retail space. The entry of top players has made the sector one of the most dynamic and fast-paced with total consumption expenditure expected to be worth $3,600 billion by 2020 from $1,824 billion in 2017. It accounts for over 10 per cent of the GDP and around eight per cent of employment.

As per United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's Business-to-Consumer (B2C) E-commerce Index 2019 India stood 73rd and is the fifth largest global destination in retail spaces; 63rd in World Bank’s Doing Business 2019.

A promising and growing market

The IBEF report highlights India’s retail sector was worth $950 billion in 2018 growing at CAGR of 13 per cent and it is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by 2020. Online retail sales were forecasted to grow 31 per cent annually to $32.70 billion in 2018. Revenue were projected at reach $60 billion by 2020.

Revenue from brick and mortar retail was expected to reach Rs 10,000-12,000 crore ($1.39-2.77 billion) in FY20. And as per consulting firm RedSeer’s study the retail sector was expected to recover 80 per cent of pre-Covid revenue ($780 billion) by end-2020. In fact, after a 19 per cent drop in the January-March 2020 quarter, the FMCG industry recovered in July-September 2020 quarter with a y-o-y growth of 1.6 per cent.

As per Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade from April 2000-June 2020, the retail sector received FDI equity inflow worth $ 2.17 billion. In 2019 PE funds worth $970 million were channelled to the retail sector. Many global PE funds have been attracted by Indian retail for example, in September 2020, US private equity firm Silver Lake announced plans to invest Rs 7,500 crore ($1.00 billion) in Reliance Retail, the second billion-dollar investment by Silver Lake in a Reliance Industries subsidiary after the $1.35 billion investment in Jio Platforms in 2020. Walmart Investments Cooperative invested Rs 2.75 billion ($37.68 million) in Wal-Mart India.

And what given the sector an edge are the various government initiatives to improve the industry. One of these is allowing 100 per cent FDI in online retail and services through the automatic route, thereby providing clarity on the existing businesses of e-commerce companies operating in India.

As ecommerce expands in the country, retailers need to leverage digital channels, which would push them to spend less on expensive real estate while reaching out to more customers in smaller cities. By 2021, traditional retail is expected to hold 75 per cent share with organised making up 18 per cent and e-commerce 7 per cent of the total retail market. The long-term outlook for the industry is positive, with rising income, favourable demographics, entry of foreign players, and increasing urbanisation, sums up IBEF.

Turkish companies are planning to invest $50 million to construct textile factories in Azerbaijan's liberated territories says TÜMKİAD (Turkish Association of Business People and Entrepreneurs). A MoU on the construction of textile factories was signed between TÜMKİAD and the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan.

TUMKIAD emphasized the construction of industrial plants and textile factories is envisaged as a priority in support program for Azerbaijan in this direction. Moreover, TÜMKİAD is engaged in many areas, but at the initial stage, it is planned to invest in the textile sphere. Earlier, Azerbaijani President had stated companies from friendly countries will take part in reconstruction works to be carried out in liberated territories. Large-scale construction work will be carried out but first, Azerbaijani companies will take part in this work.

The Azerbaijani government has allocated $1.3bn for reconstruction in the liberated territories in 2021. These funds will be used to restore the infrastructure, as well as cultural and historical monuments.

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has welcomed President Biden’s action plan and COVID-19 response, accompanied by a series of executive orders, including an order to strengthen US supply chains by directing federal agencies to use the Defence Production Act (DPA) to address shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and related vaccine supplies.

American manufacturers have been at the forefront of the effort to build a domestic PPE supply chain since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The US textile industry retooled production and operations virtually overnight, producing millions of face masks, isolation gowns, testing swabs and other critical medical textiles.

The industry is dedicated to making significant investments in automated equipment for PPE, but the industry needs long-term, multiyear contracts to help realize that investment. The deployment of DPA is one of the critical tools that will help incentivize investment in equipment, propel the hiring of U.S. workers and expand these critical production chains.

Since its inception, the DPA has been utilized by the Department of Defense to make critical investments in domestic textile manufacturing infrastructure and capacity, creating private-public partnerships through the government’s capital investments under the DPA and guaranteeing purchases through long-term contracts.

The industry has outlined critical steps that are necessary to strengthen the U.S. supply chain for essential products here.

High street retailers, Marks & Spencer is broadening the choice of fashion clothing by adding third party fashion brands to its growing list of labels available from stores. The multinational retailer has signed partnership deals with fellow UK-based fashion houses Joules, Phase Eight, Hobbs and, Seasalt, which will kick in this coming spring 2021.

M&S, suffered badly during store closures during the lockdown and sees this move as a way of attracting new customers to shops and on-line stores. In 2019, Marks & Spencer put pen to paper for their first third party venture with eco-conscious fashion brand for women, Nobody’s Child a fashion label who sell ethical fashion online.

M&S has just acquired the fashion label Jaeger is partnering UK fashion label Ghost which sees them adding more choices of fashion ranges to their on-line shoppers. According to M&S, these new partnerships will complement the range of clothing and accessory items they can offer to on-line shoppers.

The Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) has announced the country’s garment industry is targeting exports worth $20 billion in 2021. Ready-to-wear clothing exceeded 10 per cent of the country's total exports in 2020, the sector had managed to increase exports in eight of 12 months last year. Exports to Canada rose the most nearly 50 per cent to roughly $101 million. This was followed by Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, and the US, with $221.4 million, $124.6, and $793.6 million, respectively.

TIM also underlined as they progress, vaccinations will help strengthen the textile industry, as will a recent free trade deal between Turkey and the UK. In the case of no-deal Brexit and WTO tariffs kicking in, the ready-to-wear sector would be the most affected with the $200 million tariffs. Today, this risk is no more. The agreement, signed late last year eliminates uncertainties

At this point, in order to maintain its competitive edge, Turkey’s focus is on high quality and value-added production that will enable it to acquire a much larger share in the global supply of ready-to-wear clothing.

Some gaps need to be plugged in the EU's nine-point action plan for Bangladesh in order to obtain the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status after the country's graduation from a least developed nation in 2024.

One of the major gaps lies in the freedom of association as factory workers still need the participation of 20 per cent of their colleagues to form a union. The threshold was reduced from 30 per cent through an amendment to the labour law. However, the 20 per cent threshold is still high when considering that many factories have thousands of workers.

Besides, representatives of various workers' organisations complain that union leaders are only allowed to be selected from workers of the establishment concerned. This enables employers to force out union leaders by firing them for other reasons, such as 'unruly behaviour'. However, the term 'unruly behaviour' was not properly defined in the labour law. As per the law, the government has the power to stop a strike or lockout if there is concern of "serious hardship to the community" or if the protest is "prejudicial to national interest". However, the related terms are not properly defined by law in the discriminatory anti-strike provisions.

Obtaining the GSP Plus status is important for Bangladesh since the EU is the country's largest export destination. Some three fifths of Bangladesh's total exports and two thirds of the total garment export are destined for the EU, where they enjoy duty free access under the EU's everything but Arms (EBA) scheme. However, this generous preference on export would be eroded when the country graduates to a developing country in 2024, as per the rules of the EU GSP facility for LDCs.

Epson has launched first ever industrial level direct-to-garment printer, Epson SureColor SC-F3030. The robust direct-to-garment (DTG) printer is designed for high productivity. This printer is targeted towards garment screen printers, e-commerce customers, drop-shipment jobbers and new start-ups engaged in personalized T-shirt printing business. It offers a low total cost of ownership (TCO) for Mid/Large garment and T-shirt manufacturers.

The SC-F3030 features high levels of accuracy and prints even complex designs on a variety of cotton garments from light to dark colors, allowing businesses to deliver quick turnaround time. Its high speed networking enables rapid file transfer with 4GB RAM for job queuing. While printing on a light colored shirt can be done in 14 seconds, printing on a dark garment takes 26 seconds. Its new Hanger Platens and auto height adjustment enable for faster loading with optional grip pads for frameless placement.

Epson SureColor SC-F3030 comes with Epson Garment Creator, which enables production of complex high-quality images containing a mix of text and graphics. Epson Accounting software helps in cost control and new Epson Cloud Solution PORT (Remote Monitoring System for Professional Printers) solution helps in enhanced management, security and operational support. These software make the new printer highly functional. Epson has introduced elements such as enhanced productivity and highly durable design to help businesses be more efficient and to optimize the printing workflow. Additionally, the new SureColor SC-F3030 printer is designed with ink-less nozzle status monitoring and advanced auto cleaning, which ensures consistent output with minimum wastage.

UK retailers are considering burning clothes that have been shipped to customers in the EU because of extra costs and red tape resulting from Brexit. According to the UK Fashion and Textiles Association (UKFT) EU consumers buying goods from the UK-based fashion websites are being handed bills for customs clearances and VAT of 20 per cent or more than the cost of the goods.

UK high street and luxury fashion brands have a mounting volume of goods building up in the EU that customers have returned, often because they have been asked to pay extra costs that they did not expect. When customers return goods there is additional paperwork to complete as well as fees including export clearance charge, import charge arrival, and import VAT. Fashion retailers are among companies that face tariffs on exports to the EU if the goods were not made in the UK. The charges are 12 per cent at items. The additional time and expense meant it may be cheaper for retailers to write off the cost of the goods rather than dealing with the problem.

UK customers buying from the EU are also being hit with additional bills. Since the trade deal came into force, UK shoppers ordering items from Europe costing more than £39 are likely to be given a VAT bill. And for items over £135, some customs duties may also apply. Thought businesses would adapt in the coming months to minimise the unexpected customs and tax bills. Exporters are likely to pay duties before they arrive in most cases.

US-based leading apparel retailer American Eagle is planning to shut around 200 to 250 stores, mostly mall-based locations. The company currently has around 880 stores. These store closures will take place in next 2 to 3 years. At the same time, the retailer plans to grow the number of Aerie stores by 50, to reach about 400 by the end of 2021. The target is to have 500 to 600 Aerie locations by 2023.

The company is expecting its fourth-quarter revenue to decrease in the low-single digits –driven by a drop in bricks-and-mortar sales due to weak mall traffic during the pandemic. It expects momentum to continue online, with digital sales at all of its brands growing in double digits. Aerie is forecasted to see a high 20 per cent revenue growth in fourth-quarter, while its namesake American Eagle is forecasted to see sales drop in low double digits.

Its long-term financial target is to grow Aerie business to $2 billion, while improving profits in namesake banner. The rapid growth of Aerie, which sells everything from bras and underwear to swimsuits and sweatpants, is emerging as a strong competition to L Brands’ Victoria’s Secret business.

Sharing long-term financial outlook, the company informed it targets revenue of approximately $5.5 billion and operating income of $550 million in fiscal 2023, with the operating margin expanding to 10 per cent.

Global denim market is expected to continue its upward growth trajectory predicts various studies. With growing demand for recycled denims made from plastics and other materials the market is expected to grow at 6.20 per cent from of 2020 to 2027, says a databridgemarketresearch study. Similarly, as per psmarketresearch.com global denim market valued at $56.1 billion in 2017 will grow at a CAGR of 5.8 per cent by 2023.

Sustainability, innovation drives growth

The psmarketresearch.com study highlights Asia-Pacific market will clock in fastest growth fuelled by higher disposable income, easy availability of raw materials, and positive government policy initiatives for manufacturing in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India among others, says Textiletoday report. The US market growing at a CAGR of 16.1 will be one of the biggest for denim.

And as the market grows sustainability will be a major thrust for consumers. Recycling of old, discarded clothes and plastics are a huge concern across the globe both among consumers and manufactures. Use of large quantities of hazardous chemicals and high emissions greenhouse gases during denim production are affecting the environment. And as demand for recycling gains ground production of denim from plastic and other recyclable materials is a major opportunity for manufacturers.

Moreover, cropped hems, distressed, patched and boyfriend jeans, two-tone jeans, and skinny jeans are much in demand across the globe especially among younger people. Decorative denim with patches, laces, and embroidery are also going off the shelves, the study reveals.

The retail angle

Indeed, North America was the largest denim market, in terms of revenue from 2013 to 2017 for long. However, the APAC region is projected to see highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to improved manufacturing process, swift urbanization, bettering standards of living, increasing disposable income, and expanding working-class population

Meanwhile online retail will continue to be a huge draw registering the fastest growth in denim market. In fact, the pandemic has confirmed this trend. Online sales will be fuelled by customers wanting convenient on-demand shopping and now with the pandemic their reluctance to visit brick and mortar stores.

Overall, denim market is highly fragmented in nature. In fact, major global players have taken strategic measures, such as product launches, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and facility expansions, to strengthen their position.