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FASHIONING AGILE SUPPLY CHAINS
Supply Chain Imperatives for Fashion & Luxury Branding in India
At $511b in 2008 the maturing Indian retail market 1 holds promise for retailers globally, especially in light of the current economic turbulence: despite setbacks in the United States and Europe, GDP growth in emerging markets like India is still expected to top 7%.
In addition, households with real earnings of more than 1,000,000 INR a year (classified as global by McKinsey 2 ) will comprise 2% of the population by 2025, but earn almost a quarter of its income. Burgeoning disposable incomes & heightened awareness have created a discerning, global consumer who demands from Indian retail, and gets, the same experience as anywhere else in the world. Targeting this audience is opportunity, and challenge, for India’s luxury & lifestyle retailing industry.
In order to understand the supply chain imperatives governing fashion and luxury retailing in India, it is necessary to understand the various trends that are the zeitgeist today.
KEY TRENDS AFFECTING RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN
Faster Fashion Traditional four seasons have given way to offering fresh merchandise every two to three weeks, giving the shopper a fresh, new look regularly. Zara offers an average 11,000 articles in a given season compared to 3,000-4,000 for peers, resulting in average annual customer visits of 17 compared to 3- 4 for competing chains 3 . Underpinning this ability is Zara’s “design-to-shelf” supply chain capability of 3 weeks.
Offering new merchandise every two or three weeks, Chico’s business model focuses on producing less quantity of an individual product, but more types of merchandise to satisfy its customer. Customers know that if they like an item, they need to purchase it when they see it otherwise it might not be there on the next visit.
Last Updated On:7/11/2011 5:29:40 PM
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