As the pandemic has incapacitated Chinese high-end shoppers, luxury players like Balenciaga and Montblanc are rethinking their strategies to reach these consumers in Mainland China. Earlier, around two-thirds of Chinese consumers shopped for luxury goods overseas, says consultancy Bain & Co. This shopping usually occurred during their vacations or through resellers called “daigou.’

Pandemic makes luxury shift urgent

Aware of the potential of these consumers, luxury houses has been rolling out expansion plans in China before the virus broke out. The pandemic has accelerated their plans and made this shift more urgent. The perceived anti-Chinese racism in Western countries exacerbated by the Coronavirus, and Chinese government’s desire to bring spending home is fuelling Chinese buyers’ desire to shop domestically. Bain & Co estimates by 2025, over half of Chinese purchases for luxury goods may happen domestically.

To deal with this, brands should increase their imports into China and offer a wider and well-priced range, says Amrita Banta, Managing Director, Agility Research. They can also expand their reach to more cities, she adds.

Luxury brands turn to e-commerce platforms

China’s luxury fashion market is set to grow by around 10 per cent this year, against a 45 per-cent plunge expected in the global industry, estimates Boston Consulting Group. However, the loss of Chinese travel spending has been a big blow to earnings of luxury companies like LVMH, Moncler SpA in recent months. Increase in domestic shoppers is pushing these companies to reconsider their store and distribution networks, says Jean-Marc Duplaix, CFO, Kering SA. Luxury brands like Prada, Miu Miu, Balenciaga, Piaget and Montblanc have opened virtual storefronts on Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall luxury platform this year, some setting aside long-standing objections to working with third-party online channels. Brands like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Chloe have also started using social media platforms to live-stream their products in China.

Rethinking strategies

Earlier, luxury brands in China kept local manufacturing to a minimum. Now, they will have to rethink how to avoid delayed stock and lost sales, says Banta. The growing preference among Chinese shoppers for second-hand luxury platforms to procure certain goods is fuelling more investments in such startups. For instance, sales of JD’s used-goods platform Paipai in second-hand luxury category jumped by 138 percent during the 18 days of its annual summer sale period in June compared to a year ago.

Facing its worst economic contraction since 1992, China aims to keep spending within its borders. The country recently increased tax-free shopping quota for travelers to its southern Hainan province to 100,000 yuan annually per person from the previous 30,000 yuan. Sales on the first day of the new policy at four malls amounted to nearly 60 million yuan, reported state media. The pandemic has made Chinese consumers realize the benefits of domestic shopping and the trend is likely to continue in future too.

COVID-19 is drastically altering relations between brands and retailers. With fear of bankruptcies and subsequent non-payment looming over them, factories are choosing their retail partners with due diligence and emphasizing on a strategic partnership.

As Peter Maerevoet, Global Chief Financial Officer and Senior Executive Officer, Tradewind says, since buyers cannot ditch their suppliers currently, suppliers are in a more powerful position to decide on partners. Earlier, this power balance was hugely imbalanced as there was huge disparity between supplier’s capacity and demand. Though some bigger manufacturers could decide on their partners, most had to compete by offering better prices than their rivals. COVID-19 has narrowed this choice by wiping away many suppliers.

Henceforth, surviving factories will be careful in selecting their customers; opines Guido Schlossmann, President and CEO, Synergies Worldwide. They will not only hesitate to bring onboard new customers but also continue doing business with only trustworthy partners. The pandemic has also exposed the financial instability of retailers with many of them succumbing to bankruptcy. Some of the biggest retail giants have bucked under pressure, says Ritesh Nair, Co-Founder and Director, Lipi Sourcing.

Emphasis on financial stability of retailers

Indeed, in future too, factories will continue to rely on brands. However, they will now work with only financially stable companies that would be able pay for their orders. They will work with retailers having an online business and selling essentials such as food, says Schlossmann. The most appealing brand partners would be ones with a strategic business model. HSBC’s B2B platform Serai is launching a solution that gives brands a simple color-coded rating based on their payment habits. Brands are also seeking out cash in advance, payment upon delivery or payment after inspection, while customers are increasingly pursuing open account terms.

Factories are also leveraging factors or trade credit insurance. Lately, there has been an uptick in requests for trade finance due to the uncertainty surrounding payment terms. This gives the industry an opportunity to shift to phase financing. This type of financing make amounts accessible to factories at specific stages in production, guaranteeing that they get paid in a timely manner.

Revisiting contract terms

Suppliers are also scrutinizing the terms of their contracts and requesting additional protections. There has seen an increase in the use of retention of title clause, which enables the factory to hold onto goods until payment, even in case of a retailer’s bankruptcy. Besides, factories are trying to circumvent restrictions on branded merchandise and seeking permission to sell their goods to third parties.

COVID-19 has broken down the trust between suppliers and customers. This can be rebuilt by retailers taking ownership of orders or paying for goods. Retailers also need to be transparent about their financial forecast while outlining future orders, says Maerevoet. On their part, factories should offer flexible payment terms and ensure faster production to ease some of the retailers’ woes. This can help create new relations between factories and retailers, adds Nair.

According to NPD Group, the adult activewear market in the US generated $50.3 billion revenue in 2019, with men’s category accounting for 51 per cent of the market share and women’s category sharing 49 per cent of the revenues.

When the COVID-19 hit the world in early 2020, and specifically the USA in mid-March, gyms and fitness centers had to close their doors temporarily creating a noticeable dent in athleisure/activewear industry in March. Not to be put down, fitness freaks opted for home workout routines amidst stay-at-home instructions realising that the pandemic is not going anywhere soon.

As a result, according to Lifestyle Monitor, certain athleisure categories, especially in bottoms, have sold really well from mid-April till May ’20 – which are sweatpants and leggings. Sweatpants sell out of overall assortments in the USA apparel stores has gone from 6 per cent in May ’19 to 11 per cent in May ’20. In menswear, it’s 14 per cent of overall sales in the first 5 months of this year as compared to 11 per cent of the same period in 2019.

This surge in activewear in the USA is even more significant considering that all other product categories have seen massive downslide. Lifestyle Monitor’s survey shows that half of all US consumers (47 per cent) are buying less apparel for themselves in 2020 compared to 2019.

Japanese casual clothing chain Uniqlo plans to shut nine stores in central Seoul and other major cities from August as the once most popular Japanese clothing brand suffered from a year-long consumer boycott in South Korea on top of coronavirus outbreak.

FRL Korea, the operator of Uniqlo business in Korea, will shut down nine stores next month, bringing the number of its stores in Korea to 165, minus 22 from 187 at the end of last August.

Under its schedule, Uniqlo will close operation of two stores in Gangnam and Seocho in Seoul, and one store inside Shinsegae Department Store Gyeonggi in Gyeonggi Province. Others in the list include the Home Plus Ulsan store, Kimhae I square store Cheongju Megapolis store, Busan Nampo store, Daejeon Milano 21 store, and Asan store.

The Japanese brand was hard hit by consumer boycott since July last year in protest to Tokyo’s sudden launch of trade barriers on South Korea amid dispute over compensations for wartime forced labor.

In May, FRL Korea decided to close three local stores of Uniqlo’s sister brand GU by the end of August. GU is a new brand to local consumers with less than two years in Korean operation. The company plans to open new stores in September and look for operational efficiency through synergy with online malls. ine malls.

Fashion brands across the globe are in a fix with most stores still closed brands are clueless about their plans to dispose unsold inventories. Many brands plan to either burn or throw away some of their stock to protect their image and price integrity. However, as France has banned bonfires of all consumer goods, these brands would have to find new ways to get rid of excess stock.

They can follow the example of Burberry which recently announced a new strategy for its S/S’20 overstock. Burberry plans to sell its remaining stock at discounted outlets or in staff sales or donate it to charities or recycling organizations

Smaller brands take to flash sales

While bigger brands can sell their stock at discount stores, smaller designers have to organize early flash sales. London-based designer Rejina Pyo organized one such sale in April where she offered a 20 per cent discount on a pair of strappy sandals, 30 per cent off on a tiger-print skirt and 40 per cent off on a woven bucket bag for 24 hours.

Similarly, designer Petar Petrov held a private shopping night in his Vienna studio in June. Left with €1 million of merchandise from cancelled orders, the designer offered a 20 per cent discount on all products and sold 150 pieces. He later organized another sale in Munich where he offered 40 per cent discounts.

Altering discounting strategies

In order to boost sales, retailers are resorting to drastic discounts like Saks sold a flowery Rosie Assoulin blouse at $334 even though its original retail price was $1,395. Similarly, Net-a-Porter offered 70 per cent discount on tops by Ganni and denim bombers by Stella McCartney. Brands are also altering their discounting strategies for resale sites such as Vestiaire Collective without detracting from the full-price merchandise. Harrods set up an outlet in Westfield shopping centre in London while Stockholm-based sneaker brand CQP established a separate sale site titled CQP Archive in June, with more than 30 styles from current and previous seasons.

Katie Holland, Founder, Showcase plans to wind up her collections in a end-of-year sample sale. This sale event will be bigger than ones organized earlier and more designers will be attending it. MadaLuxe Group, the New York-based middleman company that buys out-of-season inventory from brands and discreetly filters them through to discount stores, has also increased business projections by 25 per cent. The company buys packages from brands spanning between $1 million to $400 million. The company offers each brand a proposal to shift stock across territories, holding it within its own warehouses until it is sold on to discount stores.

Taking the charity route

Brands that aren’t hard-pressed for cash are donating their leftover stock to charity organizations. Smilovic donated more than 900 dresses to frontline workers in April while Italian designer Brunello Cucinelli plans to gift clothing worth €30 million to various charities globally. Fionnula Shannon, Executive Director, Dress for Success Charity believes every organization has a corporate and social responsibility and brands will not able to claw back all profit however they try to sell their surplus stock.

The Council of ASEAN Fashion Designers (CAFD) says it’s time for the industry to reset its business landscape as the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization and has changed consumer behavior. Datuk Kenn Yarn, Honorary Chairman, believes this is a crucial moment for designers to rethink, reinvent and regenerate to remain sustainable. The council also aims to bridge the gap between designers from ASEAN countries and global consumers.

CAFD was established to democratize the fashion industry by creating a level playing field for ASEAN designers, enabling them to be a part of the global marketplace and thrive in the globally competitive industry. Since its inception, the council has been encouraging ASEAN designers to carve a niche for themselves by prioritizing tailored clothes and high-quality materials whilst staying up to date with innovative technologies and digital marketing strategies.

To support CAFD designers, the council recently appointed a new committee comprising an eclectic group of leading entrepreneurs and professionals in technology, fashion, media and entertainment fields with influential business networks. Its newly appointed president is the owner of the Vietnam International Fashion Week (VIFW) and co-founder Trang Le.

Textile Excellence is organizing vTexShow – virtual textile exhibition, from September 21 to 26, 2020. This initiative is launched to complement the industry’s efforts to re-energize business in these challenging times. The show covers the entire value chain – fibers, yarns, fabrics, apparel, home textiles, dyes and finishes, anti-microbial finishes, textile machinery, and the latest addition to the textile industry – PPE manufacturers. It will host the PPE makers and suppliers in a dedicated exhibition area to connect them with buyers and consumers

vTexShow will present new real way of doing business to its visitors and help them to conclude business on a virtual platform. The show will act as a catalyst for re-energizing the industry as w it will bring in the best of the Indian and global players on to a single platform.

Researchers at the Dutch organization Ex Tax Project have carried out a study to examine how tax reforms targeting natural resources and pollution might work in the Bangladesh textile industry. The report, titled ‘Tax as a Force for Good’, looks at infrastructures in which revenues are invested in clean technology, along with spending on combining industry advances with social programs targeted towards low income groups.

The report concludes that tax reforms could lead to higher GDP and employment levels, while lowering carbon emissions and energy imports, potential green tax revenues from a carbon tax are estimated at $30 per tonne of carbon dioxide by 2025 while oil and gas subsidies are phased out.

Scenarios targeted at the textile industry were used in the report because of its importance to Bangladesh’s exports; findings showed that a higher GDP, lower emissions and an increase in employment are all achievable.

Crisil Ratings predicts a 25-30 per cent decline in revenues of RMG makers in ongoing financial year due to the prolonged lockdown and lower discretionary spending. The agency expects this fall to be sharper for exporters due to tepid discretionary spending in the US and European Union, which account for 60 per cent of India's RMG exports.

The working capital cycle of RMG makers has elongated because of higher inventory and stretched receivables, which is expected to impair their credit profiles, the report said. The last fiscal ended with 20-25 per cent higher inventory as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and lockdowns began in late March.

With demand depressed in the first half of this fiscal, inventories will remain high, which will add to the woes of exporters and will weaken credit profiles of some large global brick-and-mortar retailers, which will stretch receivables, the agency noted.

Consequently, retailers’ operating margins will contract 250-300 basis points (bps) to 7-7.5 per cent for the sample set, despite softer cotton prices, and cost-reduction initiative. Crisil Ratings Associate Director Kiran Kavala views that due to a sharp fall in profits, s RMG makers will not have sufficient cash accruals to meet repayment obligations in the first half of this fiscal. However, they are expected to utilize the cushion available in their working capital facilities, and will be helped by the moratorium on loan repayments, the government relief package to micro, small and medium enterprises, and the COVID-19 emergency credit lines

Though cash flows are likely to improve in the second half of this fiscal, the ratios of net cash accrual to loan repayments and interest coverage will still be significantly weaker at 1.4-1.7 times and well below 3 times expected this fiscal, compared with 2.4 times and 4 times, respectively, in FY20, it added.

Animal rights organization PETA has urged luxury fashion brand Ralph Lauren to ban both exotic skins and alpaca fleece from its clothing. Ralph Lauren has banned fur, angora wool and mohair in the past, off the back of PETA exposés highlighting cases of gross misconduct. More recent investigate work by the organization has demonstrated that such instances of violence are apparent in both exotic animal farms and those breeding alpacas.

Recently, both Uniqlo and Marks & Spencer banned alpaca wool from their apparel lines after the largest farm of its kind in Peru, Mallkini, was found to tie alpacas to stretching devices, almost dislocating limbs, before roughly shearing them.

Brands such as Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, Jil Sander, Vivienne Westwood, and Brooks Brothers have all subsequently banned exotic skins. According to a survey by YouGov and Commissioned by Human Society International, consumers deem brands using animal product as being unethical, cruel and out of touch. Only three per cent of participants in this survey said they would wear real fur.