Apparel outsourcing is the current trend in the textile industry. Developing countries outsource to international buyers for higher competitiveness. Global fashion brands and retailers changing their strategy for sourcing to meet their demand, quality, and price point.
Apparel sourcing world transforming its approaches based on the trade structures and tax regulations among the countries. Let us discuss the steps to choosing the right apparel sourcing company.
Need for sourcing & market research
Analyze your business goals, competitions, your business size, and understand your customer needs & requirements. Identify why your business needs apparel sourcing consider the current business scenario and plan accordingly. Set realistic targets and look at the cost for international sourcing.
Research the market, collect information across the countries, and do compare. Find the potential markets for your products.
Analyze the supplier market
Any apparel business needs to evaluate its supplier’s market and its data. Analyze their websites, financial statements, credit reports, previous performances, client testimonials, employees, and working style. Assess their overall experience in the apparel field.
Before finalizing with any supplier, gather and maintain all possible information about the supplier. The better you know about the supplier, the better reach for your products.
Develop an apparel sourcing strategy
Based on the supplier’s potential and your company’s target set your apparel sourcing goals. A supplier’s inability can end up with the wrong products that can set you in trouble.
Keep in mind some internal factors and external factors listed below
Internal factors:
- Give more importance to the quality of the material used, and processed. The final quality of any product depends on the raw materials used.
- Consider the labor cost, manufacturing cost, and logistic cost.
External factors:
- Calculate the supplier’s flexibility, sustainability, and stability to handle any situation.
- Choose the right destination for apparel sourcing to reach your organization’s goods and services in the right market.
- Consider the supplier relationship management for any supplier you choose
- Another factor to check is the pricing structure of the supplier, time of delivery, two-way communication skill, and team & working condition.
- Negotiate with the supplier for getting maximum value in a minimal budget.
Final thoughts
Sourcing is the most important activity in the textile & fashion business. Things we discussed in this article will be eye-opening for any apparel business in choosing the best apparel sourcing company in the right sourcing location.
