The pandemic-induced lockdown has catapulted online shopping for garments and accessories to a huge business for the fashion sector. As a great leveler, fashion became accessible beyond metros and Tier I cities, reaching out to larger consumer groups with purchase power in Tier II, III cities where many brands did not have a physical presence.

Traditionalists may have spoken about the advantage of tangible experience of shopping in a physical store, engaging ones senses of sight and touch, the success story of online shopping begs to differ to these pundits. What’s more, smart use of social media, technology and rich content, brought to life clothes and accessories for a customer to make a purchase decision. To corroborate this fact, many reputable brands have disclosed figures.

Gen Z takes the lead in online shopping

Puma for instance relies on online shopping for half its sales whilst H&M, Woodlands, Marks & Spencer and Arvind Fashions (Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Arrow and U.S. Polo Assn.) attribute online sales as 42 per cent, 35 per cent, 25 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.

This phenomenal success story is being led by young consumers categorized as young millennial and Gen Z as they are natural inhabitants of the digital world and see no problem in living their fashion desires from online shopping. Many fashion and accessories brands are leveraging the popularity of e-platforms like Amazon, Myntra, Ajio and Flipkart to channel their sales whilst the big brands not only use these platforms but also offer their own branded e-stores.

Surprisingly, India’s department store chains are yet to experience the success story as substantially as individual brands. Westside, Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle have reported positive growth but currently online sales contribute only between 6 to 10 per cent.

Growing online fashion marketplaces

As India surges ahead with the introduction of indigenous 5G network, online and smartphone penetration across the country is continually growing. Fashion marketplaces have become immensely popular after Myntra revolutionized this channel. Reliance’s Ajio and Tata’s Cliq are also catching up and consistently growing market share. Unhindered by individual brand guidelines, these e-commerce fashion sites are agile, quick to respond and provide customized portfolios for individual shoppers that have proven to be a winning strategy. Additionally, these marketplaces with their huge portfolio of brands don’t get as impacted on fickle brand loyalty.

Unprecedented growth of e-commerce

A recent Bain & Co. report projected for the next five years states, India will experience an annual growth rate of 25 to 30 per cent in online shopping. If this projections turns out to be true, India will then nudge the US out to become the world’s second largest online shopping market by 2024. In 2021, the Indian online shopper base was between 180 and 190 million. By 2027, the figures would read 400 to 450 million and valued at $150 billion. In 2022, the value is $50 billion, up 40 per cent compared to 2021. As online became the dominant channel and continue through 2022, many brands are now dedicating exclusive online collections and products that cater to a wider segment across price points.

Online shopping has spread across categories such as groceries, personal electronic devices, pharmaceuticals, etc but it is still the fashion sector that retains its pole position as the driver of India’s e-commerce boom.

YKK has a roadmap for achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Sustainable materials (such as recycled or plant-derived materials) used in zipper textiles has increased to 13 per cent (up seven points yearonyear). Eleven plants are worldwide operating on 100 per cent renewable energy. Sustainable packaging use has increased to 3.3 percent. Landfill waste has been reduced by 272 tons year on year. Waste resource conversion rate has increased to 87 per cent (up 3.7 points yearonyear). There has been a 7.5 per cent reduction in total water intake by all manufacturing sites.

The company has implemented wastewater management using voluntary control standards stricter than government regulations and has developed paints with reduced toluene and xylene for use on main products. The expanded lineup of products produced with YKK’s new eco-friendly AcroPlating technology eliminates 100 per cent of cyanide, chromium, selenium, and other harmful substances. The volume of products made with this technology increased 75 per cent for zippers and 48 per cent for snaps and buttons. YKK, based in Japan, has continuously set industry standards for quality, innovation, and sustainability in the production of zippers, plastic hardware, hook and loop fasteners, webbing tapes, and snap and buttons.

Yamuna Machine Works will launch three knitting machines at the trade fair India Itme, Noida, December 8 to 13, 2022.

These are the Open Width Knit Compactor, the Open Width Knit Singeing Machine and the Alea-Yamuna Multilayer Stenter. Textile machinery manufacturer Yamuna caters to the demands of Indian textile processors by offering state-of-the-art machines.Yamuna has a strong market position in India as well as in the US, Europe, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and other countries.

The manufacturer has also been the recipient of several export awards for the past three years.Yamuna Machine Works flagged off operations in 1990 and entered the Indian textile industry by introducing the stenter machine for the benefit of domestic companies. Yamuna designs, develops and delivers hot air stenters, hydraulic jiggers, coating lines, singeing machines, polymerisers, thermo bonding lines, dye pedders, drying ranges, shrinking ranges, rope scouring, washing ranges and dipping lines, all manufactured to global standards of excellence.

The company currently operates with an annual production capacity of 130 machines for its complete range, about 50 per cent of which make up the stenter business. Apart from the finishing machines, the company has also ventured into wet processing machines and this segment has also been growing considerably in recent times.

Indian textile major Trident has joined ITMF as corporate member. Joining ITMF (International Textile Manufacturers Federation) will offer Trident a network of international companies covering the entire textile value chain that will help to better understand and navigate the changing business environment.

Joining an international industry platform like ITMF enables access to the various statistics, reports, webinars and meetings that help explain the short- and long-term dynamics of the global textile industry. Having the opportunity to attend the exclusive ITMF annual conferences is another important aspect. In today’s world meeting industry colleagues on a personal level in an atmosphere of trust and respect is invaluable.

ITMF will also benefit since Trident is one of the leading producers of home textiles in the world, supplying retailers and brands around the world, and can therefore provide an important international perspective on many issues ranging from sustainable production to social compliance.

Trident began by making high-quality yarn and in due course has become the largest manufacturer of terry towels and one of the largest integrated home textile manufacturers in the world. In the meantime, Trident has also diversified beyond home textile products by successfully diversifying into paper, chemicals, energy, and more.

Founded in 1904, the ITMF is the international forum of the global textile value chain for producers of fiber to finished products. Its members are from textile and apparel-producing countries representing approximately 90 per cent of global production.

Supima is transitioning its licensing program to the digital and forensically verified SupimaAqre platform beginning January 2023.

The licensing program has been the cornerstone of the Supima organisation for over 40 years and has been essential in highlighting and identifying the products its brand partners produce using American-grown Pima cotton.

At the start of next year, Supima implements the robust SupimaAqre licensing platform that will further enhance the credibility and value of the brand. It will be a standard-setting industry benchmark for combining digital traceability and transparency with physical authentication, providing an unrivalled level of confidence in both the content and provenance of Supima products. Going forward, all Supima branded products will be digitally tracked and forensically verified across the supply chain. In partnership with Textile Genesis, Supima will bring digital data connectivity to its licensees through a robust blockchain approach. This platform will provide live, transaction-level transparency for products moving throughout the supply chain.Unlike any other platform, Supima products will undergo physical authentication.

Supima’s partner Oritain will conduct forensic testing to verify the origin of products across the licensing platform.Whether for consumer messaging or origin verification requirements, the forensic validation will provide robust proof of provenance and material origin.

Technotex will be held in Mumbai, February 22 to 24, 2023. This is the largest event of the technical textile industry in India and it offers an exceptional opportunity for India to contribute to the global agenda on insistent matters of global importance.

The event offers a good opportunity for startup entrepreneurs who represent the fastest growing category worldwide. For the high potential of startups in the textile arena, the event will focus on discussions to empower startup ventures, promote knowledge exchange on best practices and develop capacities of entrepreneurial ecosystem for startups. India is making all out efforts to promote technical textiles and has undertaken various initiatives in this direction. These initiatives include the PLI scheme, HSN codes, and the National Technical Textile Mission.

The end use of technical textile products covers a wide array of industries, there by presenting a plethora of opportunities as a high value sector in India. Since the global textile market is robust and expected to grow rapidly, the event aims at building a strong connect with the global industry, attracting domestic and global investments as well as projecting India’s strengths, initiatives and facilities.

The event is being organized by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Industry under the National Technical Textiles Mission.

Sri Lanka’s earnings from merchandise exports declined by 11 percent in October 2022 compared to a year ago.

The last time Sri Lanka saw a decline in the year on year export was in March 2022. Cumulative export earnings in the first ten months of 2022, however, increased by eight percent over the same period in the last year. A looming recession in Sri Lanka’s main export markets has threatened the island nation’s top export garment sector as orders have slowed down significantly.

The main export markets, the United States and the European Union, gripped by inflationary pressures, are plunging into a recession stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These global headwinds are expected to impact Sri Lanka’s apparel exports in the coming six months.In addition, the removal of the dual corporate tax rate structure, which is set to increase corporate income taxes on exports to 30 percent up from the earlier 14 percent, also threatens the competitiveness of the country’s exports, in particular when competing with countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.

The proposed changes to the personal income tax structure could also fuel brain drain from the country, further impacting the industry.

Japan’s imports of textile and apparel in October 2022 increased by eight per cent year on year and four per cent month on month.

Among Japan’s imports of textile and apparel in October 2022 the volume from China rose two per cent year on year and six per cent month on month. From January 2022 to October 2022, Japan’s total textile and apparel imports were up four per cent yearonyear while down 0.7 per cent from the same period in 2019. In October 2022 the textile import value grew by 42 per cent and the apparel import value grew by 41 per cent. Imports of clothing and accessories by Japan increased by 40 per cent yearonyear in October 2022.They were three per cent of Japan’s total imports during the period.

The country’s imports of textile yarn and fabrics in October 2022 were 45 per cent higher than the same period of last year. Yarn and fabric imports were one per cent of the total imports by Japan. The country’s exports of textile yarn and fabrics during October 2022 increased by 17 per cent year on year. The country’s exports of textile machinery were 38 per cent higher than exports in October 2021.

Lenzing will partner with Renewcell in accelerating the transition of the textile industry from a linear to a circular business model.

Lenzingis the world’s leading supplier of sustainably produced specialty fibers. Renewcell is a Swedish textile-to-textile recycling pioneer. The agreement contains the sale of 80,000 to 100,000 tons of Renewcell’s 100 per cent recycled textile dissolving pulp Circulose to Lenzing over a five-year period for use in the production of cellulosic fibers for fashion and other textile applications.

It is an essential part of Lenzing’s corporate strategy to become a true champion of circularity. To reach this goal Lenzing has partnered with a recycling pioneer like Renewcell. Circulose originates 100 per cent from textile waste, like old jeans and production scraps, and turns into dissolving pulp. It transforms textile waste and production scrap into new high-quality textile products. The partnership between Renewcell and Lenzing aims at bringing low-carbon Next Gen solutions to market at scale.

The new partnership fits perfectly into Renewcell’s strategy to accelerate the scaleup of circular materials by collaborating with fashion’s most important players. Accelerating the transition to low-impact, circular production is the challenge of the decade for the fashion industry. Moving towards a circular economy is vital to address the enormous textile waste challenges of the industry.

Shopping in the US from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday was up four per cent year on year.

This has boosted retailers’ confidence despite inflationary pressures and economic concerns. Across each major event, the proportion of sales with a markdown increased, reaching a peak on Cyber Monday at 61 per cent. Inflationary pressures led to an increase in selling prices each day, culminating in a seven per cent uptick compared to last year’s sales.

Average order values were boosted three percent year on year while units per order fell below 2021 results and heavy markdowns resulted in profitability declining ten percent year on year. Cyber Monday sales enticed the highest rate of new shoppers at 44 per cent. More VIP customers shopped compared to last year, with Thanksgiving the most appealing day for this cohort as retailers rewarded loyalty with access to Black Friday pre-sales and exclusive offers.

Average discount per cent increases over previous year

While retailers were able to be more reactive with fulfilling orders on Thanksgiving, shaving off half a day versus 2021, the demand from competitive discounts made it harder to keep up, causing average shipping times to reach two and a quarter days by Cyber Monday.Nearly half of US retailers’ assortments were advertised as marked down on Black Friday, with an average reduction of 49 per cent, higher than the previous two years. The deepest discounts were saved for Cyber Monday, where the average climbed to 50 per cent, a four-year high for the event.The most popular discount brackets retailers participated in on this day were also more aggressive than in previous years – between 70 per cent to 80 per cent off.

Combined with inflation, increased inventory levels from misjudged consumer demand and cautious holiday spending appeared to influence these competitive markdowns as retailers held seven per cent and ten per cent more styles stocked online vs. Black Friday in 2021 and 2020.The 40 per cent to 50 per cent bracket was the most common among retailers. However, the overall market opted for lower discount bands to protect margins on newly marked-down styles amid growing supply chain costs, with only 22 per cent of products experiencing a first reduction of over 50 per cent.

As the cost of living crisis will continue into 2023, discounting strategies next year will have to offer heavy reductions to entice consumers, so brands will need to forward plan assortments to build discounts into margins.Across Black Friday deals, tops accounted for the highest proportion of products marked down.

Retailers went steepest on bottoms, underwear and hosiery across the four days. Aéropostale drove heavy markdowns on bottoms, putting all of its jeans on sale for an average discount of 60 per cent off. Underwear and hosiery allow enticing discount depths without significantly damaging margins and offer low-priced add-on sales to meet price thresholds.

Blanket discounts and sale-on-sale dominate

However, the most significant proportion of discounted ranges happened in January. This indicates retailers marked down a broader range of goods at a subtler discount to move stock at the start of the year without impacting margins as harshly and saved more targeted price cuts for buzzier, clearance-specific events. Blanket discounts and sale-on-sale communications were abundant, with retailers trying to move through stock, like jewelry, denim, loungewear and partywear. Other major themes across Black Friday e-mails included buy one, get one and buy more, save more deals, exclusive membership offers and last chance steals.