With the launch of its private label apparel and footwear brands last year, Amazon stepped firmly into the fashion sector.  In less than a year, the online platform has become a favorite place for both women and men to shop for apparel.Coresight Research surveyed 1,699 U.S. consumers and found that despite Amazon’s huge marketshare, Walmart was the top ranked retailer,in terms of shopper numbers in 2017. When asked where they had purchased apparel or footwear in the last twelve months...

NEM Vietnam, the second largest women’s apparel maker in the country, and Stripe International, a Japanese fashion retailer, have begun negotiations for Stripe to acquire a stake in NEM.According to the Hanoi Times, Stripe wants to take over the fashion business of NEM, which has huge potential with 44 stores across the country targeting women aged 20-40. NEM’s revenue is expected to rise by 20 percent this year to $26 million.The acquisition of NEM is part of Stripe’s plans to...

Kitex realized that efficiency and sustainability start to outperform cheap labor so they began investing in state-of-the-art equipment. While India has built a reputation for being a technology center, one rarely thinks of it as a center for apparel or textile technology.Although many of the nation’s apparel producers are still driven by low cost manual labor, the industry leaders are looking to technology to boost efficiency and quality.One of the leaders in tech-driven manufacturin...

Customer Experience or CX is a hot initiative at many companies and many more companies, from Fortune 500 to 5-10 person start-ups, are looking how to start and build their CX programs.  Customer Experience takes passion, perseverance, and a belief to build a great series of experiences for the customer across all customer interaction points in an organization.  A great product or service is the start point for great CX.  You also need a great billing process, great digital tools,...

Online isn’t what’s driving brands out of business.  It’s a lack of direction and focus that’s doing it.There’s a lot of evidence that if you can get your sales assistants to really engage with customers – and find out what their real needs are – and give them advice that is authentic and plausible, that’s something very difficult to get in a purely online experience.“It requires a shift in behavior.  Most organizations are very loo...

After a record US$21.93 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first seven months of 2017, a 52 percent year-on-year surge and the highest growth rate since 2011, investment has started to taper off..  Noteworthy, is that of all the FDI pouring into the nation only US$0.75 billion went to the textile and garment industry, despite Vietnam attracting an increasing volume of apparel orders. Manufacturing and processing industries continued to be the top sector, receiving US$10.8...

While still way behind developed nations, China’s sports sector is poised for massive growth.Aided by a national plan to boost the sports industry, sport-related businesses have attracted massive financing from private and corporate investors over the past two years.The sports entertainment and service sectors, which include businesses such as sports marketing, training, venue operation and sports tourism, are considered the industry's next frontier, with their growth linked to a shift...

How a new sourcing strategy helped Liverpool Department Stores outperform the market. “We met our retail targets for 2017, thanks to the very responsible handling of inventory,” said Stephen C. Patton, Liverpool Asian Sourcing CM. “The focus was on keeping inventories turning and having a leaner business with better end margins.  Our business is very price driven, and the consumer has become very dependent upon promotions, so we need to be sure that our initial p...

In the apparel sector it’s all about natural fibers.  Seen as being better quality, more skin-friendly and part of the whole movement towards greener living, fabric and yarn is seeing a growing demand for natural-touch textiles, even when they are made from synthetic fibers. The demand for natural fibers has driven up both wool and cotton prices, which have been on an strong upward trend since last year. Cotton is now expected to reach 85 cents by July, up from the low 70 ce...

Ambitious Uniqlo is looking to beat out rivals H&M and Inditex as the biggest fast fashion retailer.  It’s a tough challenge.  Both H&M and Inditex are at the top of their game, and look set to remain strong through savvy market moves that keep them two steps ahead of their competitors. However Fast Retaling Co. Ltd., Uniqlo’s parent company, has one ace in the hole: a dominant share of the Asian market.  Not surprisingly, H&M and Inditex draw their st...