If there is one thing that affects how your customers see you, it’s a single weak point in your supply chain. How well an item fits. What time does your launch happen? What price tag will be attached to your items? Even though you will be confident in predicting sales for your next collection.
While creativity is crucial in the world of fashion, sourcing can determine if your creative vision can withstand competition.
Your Choice Of Suppliers Determines Your Profit Margin
Unforeseen expenditures arise when you buy merchandise from vendors without first learning how they do business. Some examples are waste, late shipments, inconsistent sizes, expediting shipping costs, poor communications, etc. All of these factors can affect your profit margins.
When you use strategic sourcing, you will look at items to purchase by more than just the price per unit. Strategic sourcing requires that you ask better questions. For example, is this vendor capable of providing me with a consistent quality product? Can this vendor meet my growing demand? Does the vendor understand what I expect as far as quality goes? Are the vendor’s lead times clearly communicated?
So why is strategic sourcing important? In addition to competing on style, fashion retailers compete for customer loyalty (dependability), value (cost), quickness of delivery, and trust.
Savvy Sourcing Provides The Flexibility To React To Shifting Trends Without Being Overly Reactive
You are able to have an initial volume of lower production testing orders. You will be able to identify those wholesale jeans manufacturers who can supply you with consistent repeat orders.
In time, you will be able to build a long-term relationship with that wholesale manufacturer. Ultimately, your goal should not be to try all trends. Your ultimate goal is to create a foundation from which you can source products and then make good decisions based on fluctuations in product demand.
Product Quality Protection Maintains Your Brand Integrity
A delay in a product’s release date can lead to consumers forgiving you for a short period; however, there is no way they are going to be forgiving if a product is poor in terms of quality, does not fit correctly, or falls apart shortly after being worn. This is an example of a real-world method to protect your company’s image. Every time you deliver a product to a customer, you are educating the customer on what to expect when they make future purchases.
Stable Long-Term Supply Chain Partnerships Produce Business Stability
Even though the nature of fashion may be unstable, the partnerships you form with your suppliers shouldn’t be. You are able to have increased stability in planning for future collection activity, as well as times of high demand, by providing a stable supply chain through communicating with your supplier(s), meeting the agreed-upon timeline, and being open about how you view your relationship with your supplier. This can also provide you with an opportunity to establish more trust in the way you communicate with each other.
Successful Competitive Fashion Businesses Make Strategic Decisions Off-Stage
Prudent sourcing creates additional avenues for decision-making. It enhances your ability to protect margins and assure the quality of products while enabling you to produce them in a more predictable manner within a rapidly changing environment.
Therefore, as your overall sourcing becomes more stable, your brand will possess more confidence in growing and expanding into new markets.
Photo by Chris Reyem on Unsplash
