In a report published today, McKinsey & Company finds that the fashion industry is poised for change with consumer demand for sustainability in full throttle. McKinsey surveyed 64 sourcing executives, accounting for a total sourcing value of 100 billion, and over the next five years they see sustainable sourcing at scale as a priority.
The report correlates a shift in sourcing countries to demand volatility accelerated by the heightened trade tensions in the U.S.-China trade war.
“The willingness and ability to change is what’s going to be the distinguishing characteristic of the winners and the losers in the next 10 years,” said Edwin Keh, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, in the report.
Process improvements are top-of-mind for sourcing executives because they have to be. Digitization along with consumer demand and a macrostate of change is driving this focus. With severe gross margin losses from a culture of markdowns, apparel companies are making a shift from a focus on minimizing the price of supply to a focus on customer-centric, agile product development to meet demand.
According to the report, “More than 40 percent of respondents named digitization of sourcing processes, consolidation of supplier base, and end-to-end process
The report correlates a shift in sourcing countries to demand volatility accelerated by the heightened trade tensions in the U.S.-China trade war.
“The willingness and ability to change is what’s going to be the distinguishing characteristic of the winners and the losers in the next 10 years,” said Edwin Keh, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, in the report.
Process improvements are top-of-mind for sourcing executives because they have to be. Digitization along with consumer demand and a macrostate of change is driving this focus. With severe gross margin losses from a culture of markdowns, apparel companies are making a shift from a focus on minimizing the price of supply to a focus on customer-centric, agile product development to meet demand.
According to the report, “More than 40 percent of respondents named digitization of sourcing processes, consolidation of supplier base, and end-to-end process