Sustainability is something which every retailer and even consumer demands in today’s time. On one hand, compliance improves a manufacturing unit's working standards, but on the other hand, it is an additional cost for factories for which only a few of brands contribute. Thus, the question is – how to sustain in the business with sustainability? There is no doubt that the garment factories that are built compliant from the very beginning have the cost factored in from the initial investment but what about the ones which are now transforming their business structure to become more compliant and sustainable as per the buyers’ needs? This panel discussion will talk about the significance of sustainable practices for the manufacturing industry and tell them way to sustain for a longer term.

Omni-channel has become an important retail format in recent years which allows consumers to combine store visits and online interactions during their shopping journeys in search of the best product. However, when a business transits to Omni-channel, the previous infrastructure can’t ensure accurate inventory, warehousing and order management across all channels, leading to a failure in Omni-channel execution. The panellists will discuss case studies of how online is going offline and vice a versa and the requirements of a complete integration of all channels will be talked about.

Athleisure has rocked the fashion world in recent years by taking stretchy leggings out of the gym and into everyday life as a cultural shift in the workplace has made it more acceptable to wear t-shirts and yoga pants to the office. Smart Garment is equally gaining attention of the consumers, especially athletes, with its ability to track heartbeats and other body parameters which have actually become need of the athletes nowadays. However, these product categories have their own challenges such as fabric composition, electronics, manufacturing difficulty and washing cycles. Athleisure and smart garment brands will enlighten the audience as to how these categories are going to evade the market and what difficulties the manufacturers and brands might face when catering to these segments.

Changing consumer shopping preferences, digitally transforming businesses, on-demand approach, millennials rise as consumers, more technology integration and customers’ shifting loyalty towards brands are key factors which will further pose great challenges to the retailers in upcoming decade. While consumers will play a major role in deciding when and what should be produced, technologies like artificial intelligence, chat bots, block chain, augmented reality are already changing the game of retail. Going forward, technology will be even more significant to manage complete supply chain within a retail store and in the digital space. Collectively all these factors will impact product, sourcing, manufacturing and retail as a whole. Catch up with top retailers to know how they see retail business shaping up in next decade.

Despite a lot of talks about sustainability, the fashion industry is still one of the most polluted industries in the world. Circular economy aims to reduce this pollution by various methods such as reducing cloth consumption, reusing the products and recycling them thoroughly by giving more space to brands catering to newer and more sustainable business models such as ‘rental’ model. However, this approach will certainly impact mass production resulting brands find it challenging to grow in a longer run. The question will arise – with less being bought, what is the future of retail and how with retailers and manufactures adapt to the challenge? The panellists will discuss all pros and cons of fast fashion and how circular economy can control considerable environmental damage by fashion industry.

Private equity firm have resources and experience to provides leadership, management, and capital that many young and native retailers may not possess. These firms can seamlessly bring in a retail strategist and highly-experienced C-suite talent with the know-how to scale and develop the business with quick decision-making. A discussion by the panel curated among the equity firms on how a native startup should first identify its needs and than choosing the right private equity firm to address those needs and what it should bring to the table....