Apparel Sourcing Week, 20 - 22 February 2020 - Bengaluru, India
20 - 21 July 2023
Bengaluru, India

Press Release 19 November 2019

Panel discussions at ASW 2020 are more wide-ranging and deep

The opportunity to hear industry experts debate on hot topics that are influencing and giving shape to the fashion retail industry on one side and the manufacturing community on the other, is of value to every stakeholder looking for direction and growth. ASW 2020 is gearing up to put together the best minds in the business from retail, manufacturing to consultancy, research and technology from around the globe on to a discussion platform for meaningful exchange on subjects that are in everyone’s mind, but not everyone has the answers!
Here’s a rundown on what is in store for participants at the panel discussions
@ ASW 2020.
1
OPPORTUNITY BUYING
Convert ‘opportunity buying’ into business opportunity
Retailers have to constantly watch out for hot-selling products in the market and react quickly to the same by twitching ongoing programmes to nail the trend; this instant reaction is termed as ‘opportunity buying’. Retailers then search for the manufacturers and suppliers who can cater to this sudden change in their sourcing needs and deliver them relevant products in less than a month’s time due to this open-to-buy model.
2
MANUFACTURING SMALL QUANTITIES
How to address issues related to MOQ
Smaller MOQS are here to stay as ‘More Designs, Less Quantities’ has become the new retail business model for most of the retailers. To do smaller runs, that too mostly in short delivery schedules, requires the re-engineering of systems. Concepts such as smart factory, on-demand business model and agile production have emerged to cater to small quantity manufacturing in the most efficient way.
3
GLOBAL TRADE ENVIRONMENT
Navigating the uncertainties in global trade today to decide where to source
Factors such as trade policies, tariff rates, political stability, political relations, flickering currency exchange rates and inflation rate massively affect trade between countries. These unknown after-effects of trade environment are pushing the retailers to rethink about finding right manufacturing partners and it has become difficult for even industry experts to predict the performance of major manufacturing hubs in upcoming years and to lay out long-term sourcing strategy amidst ever-changing trade scenario.
4
SUSTAIN BUSINESS WITH SUSTAINABILITY
Panel to discuss the significance of sustainable practices in the factory and how to balance cost
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?
5
SELLING TO OMNICHANNEL FORMATS
A perspective from the manufacturing and retail side
Omnichannel 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 omnichannel, the previous infrastructure can’t ensure accurate inventory, warehousing and order management across all channels, leading to a failure in omnichannel execution.
ASW 2020's Panel Discussions
Promise To Be Extensive, Explorative And
Thought-Provoking
6
NEW PRODUCT CATEGORIES FOR THE FUTURE
A discussion on athleisure, activewear and smart garments
Athleisure has rocked the fashion world in recent years. 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 the need of the athletes nowadays. However, these product categories have their own challenges such as fabric composition, electronics, manufacturing difficulty and washing cycles.
7
RETAIL DISRUPTION AS WE ENTER THE NEXT DECADE
What are the factors that will disrupt the market over the next decade
Changing consumer shopping preferences, digitally transforming businesses, on-demand approach, rise of the millennials as consumers, more technology integration and consumers’ shifting loyalty towards brands are key factors which will further pose great challenges to the retailers in the upcoming decade. While consumers will play a major role in deciding when and what to be produced, technologies like artificial intelligence, chatbots, blockchain, augmented reality are already changing the game of retail.
8
THE CHALLENGES OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
How reuse, reduce, recycle, repair, share are creating their own challenges
Despite a lot of talk 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 in brands finding it a challenge to grow in the longer run. The question then arises – with less being bought, what is the future of retail and how will retailers and manufacturers adapt to the challenge?
9
UNDERSTANDING TIER-2 AND TIER-3 MARKETS FOR FASHION RETAIL
How to tap growth of fashion retail which is coming from the interiors
While retail growth is slowing down in metropolitan cities that have driven the industry in the last decade, the baton has now passed on to the smaller towns that were earlier considered as not ready for organised retail. Wide digital exposure and opening up of the retail market has taken fashion to the roots. Today, not only Indian brands and retailers, but even international retailers both from bricks-and-mortar and online platforms are gunning for a piece of the pie. But are the right strategies in place, because the consumer demographics is very different than that in the bigger cities?
10
RETAIL TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION IMPACTING RETAIL
Understanding the changing face of retail with innovative technology interventions
As organised retail is gaining ground, technology suppliers are also gearing up for addressing the needs of retailers as well as consumers. While existing solutions for point of sales, inventory management, customer loyalty, visual merchandising are getting feature-rich day by day, smarter solutions are evolving for article surveillance, footfall counting, shelf labelling, to name a few. Even consumers are pampered by digital and virtual trial room, personal styling, proximity marketing using disruptive technology. Every retailer is now spoilt with choice with regard to solutions for content management and retail analytics, warehouse management and omnichannel retailing. This session will discuss how technologies are disrupting the retail landscape, while augmenting consumer experience.

About Apparel Sourcing Week 2023

Apparel Sourcing Week 2023, a three-day Sourcing Show not only provides the Asian manufacturers a platform to showcase their products & manufacturing capabilities to the Brands & Retailers from all over the world including India, but also extends them a chance to attend the multiple seminars (headed by industry experts), workshops, open-house discussions and networking opportunities organised during these three days, which would help the manufacturers get a better understanding of Indian and International Retail and evolving dynamics of sourcing in various markets and retail formats.

About the Organiser

Apparel Resources is well known for its benchmark publications – Apparel Online, FashTech Journal and Resource Guide published from India, Bangladesh and Vietnam. These publications have been around in the industry for over 35 years, supporting, guiding and standing by garment exporters and the retail industry globally, providing them a platform to source better