The fashion industry, being one of the most competitive and quick-moving industries in the world, continuously strives to improve and adapt to customer wishes. Because fashion is a seasonal product, the industry must constantly adapt to new trends. On top of that, the fashion industry is increasingly held responsible for environmental and human rights concerns. This industry thus needs to perform in many areas. One of the essential areas of the fashion industry is its logistics. To avoid the trends, clothing must be delivered fast and on time.
The fashion industry in numbers
To give a better overview of the fashion industry, consider the following facts (source:https://capitalcounselor.com/fashion-industry-statistics/):
- Womenswear is known to be amongst the best-selling apparel globally — its revenue in 2022 amounts to $888.60 billion.
- The fashion industry is accountable for 8%–10% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
- 36% of Gen Z and 35% of Millennial consumers prefer buying “sustainable” and “environmentally friendly” clothing.
- The fashion industry or sector will be worth $759.5 billion in the e-commerce market. This amount is going to reach $1.002 trillion by the year 2025.
- In 2019, fashion accounted for around 66% of all online fashion traffic.
- The textile of amount $67 billion was imported by the European Union in the year 2020.
- Today, modern society consumes 400% more clothing than 20 years ago.
So, it can be concluded that the fashion industry is enormous, impactful, and constantly evolving.
The importance of logistics in fashion
As stated before, to provide what is trendy, fashion brands need to ensure their clothing is delivered in-store on time. Moreover, the prices of raw materials in the fashion industry fluctuate. For example, if a company buys raw material delivered late, the price could already have fallen. This is a pity since the company could have purchased the raw material at that point at a lower cost as well. Without proper logistics, a fashion brand will thus not be able to perform.
Keeping track
Since many fashion pieces are manufactured in countries in Asia, for example, the road to the sales market in Europe or the United States is long. Therefore, companies need to be able to send out products quickly to prevent delays. To keep track, it is advisable for clothing brands to invest in a system that allows the prediction of freight, warehouse resources, and routing. https://triggre.com/, for example, offers custom-made ERP systems that are useful for clothing brands and their partners.
Real-life business example
An example of a company using the Triggre system for logistics management can be found in the case of a fashion third-party logistics company. This company implemented the Triggre system to collect order data automatically. The system of this logistics company contains real-time integrations to add data to workflows automatically. To improve the planning of HR and transport demands, a tool was implemented to calculate the inbound and outbound volumes. Also, barcode scanning enables registering and allocating the goods to the correct location in the warehouse. This prevents losing goods since goods are generally scanned while leaving or entering a warehouse. The Triggre system contains an automated picking and packing list as well to facilitate the order pickers. Lastly, the system automatically generates all deliverables needed for shipments. Think of documents, emails, orders, and updated data. Click here for more information about the Triggre systems. Concluding, with the features mentioned above, this Triggre system enables the logistics company to send out their orders as quickly as possible. This will ensure the clothing pieces will arrive in the store way before the trends have passed.
