With dipping business abroad, Indian apparel exporters are thinking of focusing on the domestic market now. The European Union and the United States are traditional and core markets for India, but they are not doing too well. Many fashion retailers in the US have closed stores or have filed for bankruptcy. In the past few months over 18 fashion brands have shown negative results.

Struggling Indian exporters are creating an alternate client base. Fabric suppliers especially are focusing more on the domestic business and less on the export-oriented business, which requires certain compliance standards to be met. Other alternatives are China, the Middle East and African countries.

Exporters have different opinions on exploring emerging markets. For example, the Latin American market was seen as an alternative but that is also in trouble as their currencies are becoming weaker against the dollar. Exporters are wary of entering unknown territories and taking risks. They insist on analysing buyers before doing business as most insurance covers only post shipment and not the work in progress production. They want export associations to come up with a proposal of hiring financial experts, who can forecast any market and give proper guidance to members. In any case, the entire ecosystem of the supply chain will get affected.