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Among the top 25 global fashion sites by traffic, asos is in the number one spot followed by hm and macys. On fashion e-commerce sites, social media plays a more significant role than non-fashion sites. Fashion e-commerce sites generate 4.3 per cent of traffic from social media channels, which compares to 3.2 per cent for non-fashion sites. By type of traffic source, nonpaid or direct traffic garnered 56.3 per cent of all traffic to these retailers while organic search came in at 30.5 per cent. Traffic generated by referrals was 8.9 per cent.
Social media channels can be useful for fashion apparel retailers. In fashion marketing, using different channels allows brands to connect with niche audiences and diverse demographics. About 57.5 per cent of visitors to the top 25 sites hailed from the US while 12 per cent were from Russia and eight per cent were from Turkey. India had eight per cent of the share as well. It makes sense that the bulk of the traffic comes from the US because the sites are based there.
In regard to spending on e-commerce to drive traffic, fashion lags the industry. Some 28 per cent of general e-commerce businesses with the highest revenue spent more than a million dollars, and 20 per cent spent between 5,00,000 to a million dollars. Only eight per cent of fashion e-commerce businesses spent more than 5,00,000 dollars on paid advertising.
Textile and garment manufacturer Eclat Textile, Taiwan is expecting sales to pick up in the third quarter of 2017, aided by orders from its five new brand customers. Eclat really had a difficult time over the past two years, but I think the worst is over,” company chairman Hung Chen-hai told a media gathering on Monday, citing major customers’ inventory digestion and cautious market sentiment last year in the global apparel industry.
In addition to new brand clients, Hung stated that the company just won a large order from a US-based e-commerce platform operator, but declined to provide details. The new customers, which mainly placed orders for high-margin functional and outdoor products, are expected to raise profitability and contribute revenue more significantly in the fourth quarter, he told the Taipei Times. Computerized jacquard products and functional fabrics used for body-shaping apparel are seen as the company’s next sales drivers, Eclat noted.
Eclat’s gross margin was 26.8 percent last quarter, up from 26.7 percent a year earlier, company data showed. The increasing revenue contribution of higher-priced products is also anticipated to help average selling prices of garments increase by between 8 and 10 percent, the firm said.
Eyeing growth momentum in high-end products, the company said it is considering construction of a new plant for digital textile printing in Taiwan or Vietnam this year, without elaborating. Eclat’s sales increased 7.52 percent year-on-year to NT$1.99 billion (US$65.5 million) last month, ending four consecutive months of decline. Eclat’s sales could achieve double-digit percentage growth in the second half of this year due to the recovery in the US apparel industry and higher revenue contribution from new clients.
The firm’s gross margin is forecast to reach 28.9 percent this year, up from last year’s 28.4 percent on the back of increasing revenue contribution of jacquard products, says Yuanta.
Eclat held its annual general meeting where shareholders approved a proposal to pay a cash dividend of NT$10.5 per share and 2 percent in stock dividends based on last year’s bottom line of NT$3.66 billion, or earnings per share of NT$13.67. The company saw its net profit drop 12.3 percent compared to last year, with sales decreasing 3.9 percent annually to NT$24.5 billion.
Grasim Industries has earned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Product label for its products- Birla Viscose, Birla Modal and Birla Excel. Kate Lewis, USDA Bio Preferred Program stated that the company congratulates Grasim Industries for the USDA Certified Biobased Product label also the products from Grasim Industries are contributing to an ever expanding marketplace that adds value to renewable agriculture commodities, creates jobs in rural communities, and decreases the reliance on petroleum he adds.
The USDA Certified Biobased Product label displays a product's bio based content, which is the portion of a product that comes from a renewable source, such as plant, animal, marine, or forestry feed stocks. Utilizing renewable, bio based materials displaces the need for non-renewable petroleum based chemicals. Bio based products, through petroleum displacement, have played an increasingly important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate global climate change. Bio based products are cost-comparative, readily available, and perform as well as or better than their conventional counterparts.
Dilip Gaur, managing director, Grasim Industries stated that the USDA Biobased certification is another milestone reached in the Sustainability Journey and strengthening. Rajeev Gopal, CMO also commented that the certification reconfirms the natural origin of products improves the confidence of the value chain players in delivering biobased products.
Apparel Textile Sourcing Canada (ATSC) will be held August 21to 23, 2017.This is Canada’s premier international apparel and textile sourcing event. Featuring a wide range of Canadian-made products soon to be launched to the Canadian market as well as products from Chinese and other international manufacturers, the showcase will include the latest innovations by industry leaders.
Show exhibits will include top apparel and textile manufacturers from more than 20 countries, including Canada, China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the US, the UK, Turkey, Switzerland, Spain, Nepal as well as a delegation of 30 artisanal companies from eight least developed countries. China alone is bringing a delegation of 200 manufacturers to display their newest offerings and forge business relationships with local industry players.
Among the products on display are self-heating winter coats and boot insoles, T-shirts that monitor a person’s heart and breathing, leg bands that measure muscle performance and help prevent injuries, LED-backlit apparel and socks that improve balance.
Debuting last year with great success, ATSC is back in 2017 expanded in size by more than 50 per cent. With two months still to go until show time, exhibits are already 95 per cent sold and attendee pre-registration is up exponentially over 2016.
Resil Chemicals is partnering with Acticell to eliminate the use of potassium permanganate spray in the denim industry. The collaboration is focused on developing a range of sustainable chemical solutions for the denim industry. The idea is to substitute potassium permanganate with Actigo, which enables jeans manufacturers to move to a new process that eliminates the need for potassium permanganate spray and hand sand process.
Resil Chemicals is one of Asia’s leading textile finishing chemicals and auxiliary manufacturer. Acticell is an Austrian chemical research company committed to developing environmentally friendly, sustainable textiles.
Most denim manufacturers rely on hazardous and environmentally damaging chemical processes like potassium permanganate treatments to create effects on denim. Potassium permanganate, considered as a toxic and hazardous substance, is sprayed onto the denim fabric with a hand spray gun, exposing the factory employees to the danger of exposure to micro particles of potassium permanganate.
Actigo is a laser activated bleaching technology and provides a cost neutral solution to switch over from potassium permanganate sprays. Additionally, the new process saves water and energy in denim finishing and eliminates labor-intensive hand sanding and improves the safety of factory employees.
This treatment is now being used by major denim companies in North America and will be offered to the South Asian market.
Bread & Butter will take place in Germany, September 1 to 3, 2017. It is going to be bigger, more versatile and bolder, transforming itself from a trend show into a festival of style and culture. It will be an opinion-forming experience for consumers.
This is a German street wear trade fair. The show enables customers and brands to get in touch directly – online and offline - and experience the best of fashion in the digital age. It focuses on fashion as well as the music and lifestyle areas.
Last year’s motto was Now, referring to the show’s momentum as a digital and thus instant platform. Yet with this year’s topic, Bold, the show wants to dive deeper into a substantive discourse about the confession of who a person is.
Bread & Butter has become much more a platform for engagement and inspiration than for simply shopping. Following this approach, Bread & Butter takes an educational approach by organizing talks and speeches.
Brands are invited to show a more atypical range of products at Bread & Butter to widen the spectrum of perception among the audience. The number of participating brands has increased from 25 to 40, among them Vans, Nike, Adidas and Hugo.
"According to a report by financial services firm Avendus Capital, women’s branded apparel market is set to overtake men’s apparel segment in size by 2025 growing from Rs 99,300 crore in 2015 to Rs 2.77 trillion in 2025, making nearly 40 per cent of the market then."
According to a report by financial services firm Avendus Capital, women’s branded apparel market is set to overtake men’s apparel segment in size by 2025 growing from Rs 99,300 crore in 2015 to Rs 2.77 trillion in 2025, making nearly 40 per cent of the market then.
The report also confirms that the growth in branded apparel for women is coming from increasing artificial obsolescence. This has rapidly changed how women identify brands and maintain loyalty with them, the report said. “Brand association is more with design language today (and) style and design are the top considerations,” the report said, citing data from RedSeer Market research and consulting firm AT Kearney, which showed that most consumers counted style and design as their top or second consideration while shopping for clothes.
Abha Agarwal, director at Avendus Capital says that to create a brand, you need to have a clear positioning. One needs to focus on the designs if you want to grow eyond Rs40-50 crores in size also brands will have to carefully calibrate their throughput and their inventories to control costs, says Agarwal.
Avendus’s report estimates that as brands focus on more complex designs to cater to a demand for rapidly changing trends, 70-80 per cent of garment costs will come from the design choices a brand makes. This will also mean more inventory piled up as trends change nearly 20 per cent unsold every season and more discount sales to get rid of it.
Online (e-commerce) has become easier channel for smaller brands to grow, but anyone who wants to grow beyond a Rs40-50 crore size will have to focus on EBO (exclusive brand outlet),” she stated. EBOs are a network of physical stores that exclusively sell one brand. These are relatively more expensive than multi-brand outlets where more than one brand is sold and concepts such as shop-in-shops (space dedicated to one brand) can help reduce rental cost.
According to Agarwal brands need to be focused on strong design and setting up EBOs if they are looking for long-term growth. All major private equity deals in the apparel space in India in 2015 and 2016 involved companies with high design complexity in their products, the report said.
"A new investigation report has found fast fashion majors such as H&M, Zara and Marks & Spencer are buying material produced in factories that devastate peoples’ health in Indonesia, China and India. Toxic run-off from the manufacture of viscose, a supposedly environmentally friendly fibre used to make clothes, is contaminating water supplies and has been linked to increased risk of cancer. Viscose is a plant-based fibre which means it is sometimes promoted as an ethical choice for consumers."
A new investigation report has found fast fashion majors such as H&M, Zara and Marks & Spencer are buying material produced in factories that devastate peoples’ health in Indonesia, China and India. Toxic run-off from the manufacture of viscose, a supposedly environmentally friendly fibre used to make clothes, is contaminating water supplies and has been linked to increased risk of cancer. Viscose is a plant-based fibre which means it is sometimes promoted as an ethical choice for consumers. However, most viscose is currently produced using a highly chemical-intensive process, reveals a study by campaign group Changing Markets Foundation.
The evidences
The report found evidence that viscose manufacturers are dumping untreated wastewater into local water supplies. For instance, in West Java, Indonesia, locals were found washing viscose products in the river, directly exposing themselves to toxic chemicals contained in the fibre. Near another plant in Jiangxi, China, viscose production had apparently turned the water of the Poyang Lake black, killing fish and shrimps, and stunting crop growth. In Madhya Pradesh, India, which is home to a large viscose plant, families were found to be suffering cases of cancer and birth deformities after their groundwater and soil was contaminated by industrial pollution.
Cheap production, which is driven by the fast fashion industry, combined with lax enforcement of environmental regulations in China, India and Indonesia, is proving to be a toxic mix. Unless the garment industry acts to clean up production the damage caused by viscose production will get worse, according to the report.
Viscose, the main polluter
An unprecedented increase in demand for clothing worldwide, boosted by population growth and the emergence of middle class consumers in China and India, is leading to more viscose being produced. Natasha Hurley, Campaign Manager, Changing Markets, says some of the world’s biggest brands are turning a blind eye to questionable practices within their supply chains. With water pollution increasingly being recognised as a major business risk, shifting to more sustainable production processes should be high on retailers’ agendas.
Large fashion brands have significant purchasing power that they could pressure suppliers to clean up their methods with relatively little effort. The organisation calculates 10 companies control around 70 per cent of global viscose production, meaning there is a clear opportunity for rapid and transformational change across the sector. The group called upon big brands to only buy viscose made in an environmentally friendly way, and to assist producers with any transition costs.
"The number of countries experiencing physical violence and threats against workers has risen by 10 per cent in just one year, says the annual ITUC Global Rights Index. Attacks on union members have been documented in 59 countries, fuelling growing anxiety about jobs and wages. The report shows corporate interests are being put ahead of the interests of working people in the global economy, with 60 per cent countries excluding whole categories of workers from labour law."
The number of countries experiencing physical violence and threats against workers has risen by 10 per cent in just one year, says the annual ITUC Global Rights Index. Attacks on union members have been documented in 59 countries, fuelling growing anxiety about jobs and wages. The report shows corporate interests are being put ahead of the interests of working people in the global economy, with 60 per cent countries excluding whole categories of workers from labour law.
Denying workers protection under labour laws creates a hidden workforce, where governments and companies refuse to take responsibility, especially for migrant workers, domestic workers and those on short-term contracts. In too many countries, fundamental democratic rights are being undermined by corporate interests, says Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary. The ITUC Global Rights Index 2017 ranks 139 countries against 97 internationally recognised indicators to assess where workers' rights are best protected in law and in practice.
Working people are being denied basic rights through which they can organise and collectively bargain for a fair share. This, along with growing constraints on freedom of speech, is driving populism and threatening democracy itself, said Sharan Burrow. The report ranks the 10 worst countries for workers' rights in 2017 as Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Bangladesh, an example
The country’s garment industry produces low-cost items and massive profits for a range of international brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Gap. The industry employs about 4.5 million workers, 80 per cent of whom are young girls from rural areas. In fact, one in every eight Bangladeshi directly or indirectly depends on the textile industry. Bangladesh’s garment workers are the lowest paid in the world, receiving just 5,300 takas ($68) per month. While hazardous roads and chronic power shortages are a serious problem for the garment industry, international retailers and investors are attracted by the country’s poverty-level wages.
Despite many promises from employers, wages have not improved in the past four years. A recent report cited, one of the employees, Ashik and his wife Rahinur, who worked in a factory producing clothes for international retailers such as H&M and Zara, were sacked for joining demonstrations demanding wage increase last December. They worked 14 hours a day but earned only $193 a month between them. Their wages were just enough to cover food and rent but not health care. Having lost their jobs, they could now only afford rice and some dried fish.
Need for stringent government policies
The challenge is for governments to accept their responsibility to govern for people, not just in the interests of big business, by making laws that respect international labour standards. Even under the most oppressive circumstances, workers will continue to organise unions, and it's time that politicians stood up for them instead of trampling on their rights, said Burrow.
The US has urged African countries to fulfil their obligations under the terms of Agoa, a preferential trade program of considerable benefit to Kenya. More than 66,000 jobs in Kenya are linked to Agoa, which earned the country a huge amount in textiles and apparel exports last year. Kenya is a member-state of the East African Community.
The US feels countries currently benefiting from trade preferences granted by the African Growth and Opportunity Act should continue complying with eligibility requirements established by US law.
The US-based Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association has lodged a complaint with a US trade agency alleging that EAC countries violated Agoa’s terms by deciding to bar imports of used clothing from the US beginning in 2019. The association wants the EAC countries declared ineligible to take part in Agoa.
The US has hinted that Agoa, which gives 37 countries duty-free access to the US market for many products, may not be the preferred instrument for trade relations with African nations. It feels that bilateral trade agreements rather than large multilateral deals can be very effective tools for African development.
The US further wants African countries to treat US companies favorably and ensure they are in the best position possible to enter African markets.
