This section serves as a way of consolidating all of the vital industry information and analysis of future trajectory and making informed recommendations that will sustain the industry as well as create growth for the future. You can find a summary of our conclusions from the analysis of the industry in the overview page.
For Manufacturers
- In the future years, as consumers become more aware of social and environmental issues pertaining to the apparel industry and shift their preferences, the niche market of fair trade apparel will continue to rise, allowing for more production and high value-added segments in the global value chain. This would mean that in order to capture a significant amount of the market share, the manufacturers should work with the government and the retailers to work on the social and environmental factors related to the industry.
- Manufacturers in the countries apart from China should work on diversifying the material they use to produce apparel, increase the diversity of the products they offer as well as diversify the end markets they export to. The key to being competitive in the apparel in the future years would depend on how well these manufacturers predict the type of clothing that China might stop producing in the recent years, and capture those markets.
- As we can see in the chart above, policies matter in each of the stages of the apparel global value chain. In order to be as competitive as possible, countries should work with their governments to ensure that the trade policies of the country, and its relationship with other countries is best suiting the apparel industry’s needs.
- Countries who are in the bottom half of the chart above should work on upgrading various parts of their value chain in order to capture more value form the global industry of apparel.
- With the advent of wearable tech and 3D printing, manufacturers should also look into the potential market and decide on if that is something they would be able to pursue.
- A lot of the countries with increasing population with larger disposal income, such as Bangladesh and India, have significant domestic markets that are currently untapped due to the lack of an established retail segment. Manufacturers in these countries should look into the potential and work with appropriate partners to capture most of that value.
For Retailers
With the popularization of online shopping in the recent years, the retail segment should work on better reaching the tech savvy customers in order to remain competitive in the future. As consumers become more aware of social and environmental issues related to the production of the clothing they wear, the retailers would benefit significantly if they work with their manufacturers to create a positive brand image of doing social and environmental good. This would involve negotiations on the number of hours that workers work per day, working conditions, etc.
