Dynamics Of Demand In The Fashion Industry

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Dynamics of Demand Many people from the fashion industry and research specialists have tried to forecast the demand of fashion products. However, they all agree that the demand in this industry can simply not be forecasted. Instead of trying to foresee the future trends, one need to realize that fashion markets are complex and open systems that very often demonstrate high level of “chaos”. Moreover, efforts might be better expended on coming up with new strategies that would help with the creation, manufacturing and delivery on the basis of “real-time” demand(International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 2004) The main characteristics of the fashion industry are usually the following: Short selling season: because…show more content…
It could be influenced by factors such as weather, events, celebrities, etc.( Demand Forecasting in the Fashion Industry,2013) Very low predictability: because of the volatility of the demand it is very difficult to forecast with accuracy the demand for a certain period( Demand Forecasting in the Fashion Industry,2013). Great product variety: clients are more interested in quality and choice offered, demand is more fragmented( Demand Forecasting in the Fashion Industry,2013). Large variance in demand and high number of SKUs: the volume of sales per stock keeping unit is low and the demand for them can vary. Thus, it is very difficult to predict how the demand would be distributed among the variety of products offered( Demand Forecasting in the Fashion Industry,2013). Supply chain features and main factors of change The fashion industry is characterized by a continuous transition over the past 20 years. This change is due to the following…show more content…
It can reduce the time of the manufacturing process and at the same time decrease the number of the labor force. The more the global competition rises the more the search for new labour saving technologies occurs, especially in developed countries. There are two important technological changes that have great influence on the production process: those that minimize the time a product is made and those that replace manual labor with automated one.(P.Dicken, 2011) Recent trends across the fashion industry supply chain are: Vertical integration and outsourcing: Many companies experience vertical integration in order to increase efficiency and eliminate third parties and better meet customer satisfaction. Other manufacturers choose to have all production outsourced in order to gain a competitive advantage (Revitalising the Outsourcing Discourse within the Boundaries of Firms Debate,2012) Agile Supply Chain: “an agile organization embedded within an agile supply chain performs better than conventional organizational structures and forecast‐driven supply chains that are not adequate for meeting the challenges of the fashion industry” (An integrated model for the design of agile supply chains, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics

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