The "Good Problems" of Post Covid Apparel and Footwear Businesses

Companies in the retail industry entered 2021 with a strong sense of optimism. Apparel, footwear and accessory businesses alike forecasted steep increases in revenue for the summer months. 

As travel restrictions loosened and COVID-19 vaccination rates increased, shoppers in the U.S. began to load up their shopping carts in preparation for the first summer of outings in over a year. So, why did The American Apparel & Footwear President and CEO Steve Lamar recently describe the industry’s current standing as a “crisis and dire situation?” (Supply Chain Dive).

Resource shortages, shipping delays, and rising costs are plaguing companies across all industries. Apparel and footwear businesses are struggling with shortages of textiles including thread, buttons, labels and leather( Just-Style ). When they do manage to find raw materials, shipping is expensive, and in some cases, impossible. 

The combination of increased consumer demand, manufacturers’ struggles with pandemic-driven closures & shortages and the fact that the number of shipping containers and freight shipping vessels is finite leaves buyers in a losing position. Given the current situation, smaller companies are especially vulnerable. Larger companies are able to reduce cost and time by purchasing shipping containers and means of shipping. Also, they often get preferential treatment from suppliers because their orders bring significant revenue. 

If you are experiencing hardships because of this current disruption, the most important things you can do right now are take control of your inventory management, forecast accurately, and maintain good relationships with your vendors. The ABS software solution provides the inventory management, forecasting, and communication tools you need to avoid disruption.

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT 

Having the right product at the right time is essential for successful customer fulfillment and retention. Lacking comprehensive available-to-sell inventory visibility, along with intuitive inventory reserve and allocation tools will lead to ordering more frequently and facing more disruption. 

Having real time metrics for on hand, in work, and available inventory give companies the insight needed to make sound decisions and avoid supply chain disruption. These metrics also instill the discipline required to put good habits in place, adopting the “right” strategy to manage stock.

Inventory management or the lack of it affects every aspect of your business—from warehousing costs to your ability to fulfill orders both accurately and on time. Unfortunately, inventory is practically impossible to manage effectively if it’s a manual process. It’s also time consuming, and inaccurate as it’s prone to frequent human error. All have ripple effects that negatively impact your business for months even years. There’s very little value organization-wide if you keep inventory on multiple copies of spreadsheets, each representing your staff’s personal view of product management. 

Good inventory management tools are designed to take the guesswork out of what to order and when, especially in complex omnichannel sales environments. Cutting storage costs, selling more, fostering brand loyalty are all added benefits of great inventory management. Apparel Business Systems offer robust inventory management functionality needed to optimize your business and minimize supply chain disruption.

PLANNING AND FORECASTING

Integrated Apparel ERP software allows you to analyze past sales by SKU or product class, so you make better, more informed decisions about what you need to order and when. It helps ensure that you have just the right amount of inventory at the right time. Forecasting tools help you adjust and allow for longer lead times during disruptions.

Forecasting inventory levels means arriving at a reorder point so that you can maintain sufficient stock for anticipated sales. In other words, buying just the right amount of stock while considering how fast you sell it and the time it takes to have it shipped and delivered to your warehouse. Without proper forecasting you likely end up with too little stock arriving too late.

From costing to forecasting and planning, and from inventory control to sales analysis, ABS streamlines key processes and boosts your real time visibility. With ABS ERP - Attach, display, and manage images and other digital assets; Build and cost your products with raw material and component functionality; Track sales and forecast your demands - optimize your entire supply chain.

VENDOR PORTAL 

The sourcing and production process is a notorious pain point for retail, textile and apparel companies. Frequent changes to order quantities, critical dates, styles and more reinforce this “pain”. With so many people and points of contact involved in the process, it’s common for someone to reference an outdated document or miss a pivotal date or important note. 

The aftershocks of COVID-19 make it difficult for vendors to keep up with the high demand they’re seeing from customers right now. As a result, you’re competing for raw materials, production, shipping containers, and freight accommodations from your vendors. You want to ensure that they find it easy, simple-uncomplicated, and fast to do business with you. It’s important to get your information and communications to them ASAP and have all of it in one place so calls to action are quick, concise, and accurate. 

To avoid supply chain woes, it’s important to reduce the time it takes to interact with vendors. How many times have you started to connect with your vendor finding yourself sifting through dozens of emails just as a refresher on past conversations first? Or have you needed to resend order specifications to make sure your vendor has the most current spec? 

The  ABS Vendor Portal contains all your messages and relevant documents in one centralized, secure location. You can stop the barrage of emails, the flood of back and forth communication between you and your vendors. 

A secure, internet portal allows you to promptly place orders, include any attachments or digital assets, and easily, effectively manage all vendor communication in one place. 

Tracking your contractor’s work in process and shipping timeframes reduce many of the unknowns in the sourcing process.

Take the First Steps to Success!

In 2021, surveyed shoppers increasingly list short shipment time as one of their top factors when selecting their retailer of choice. The apparel, footwear and accessory industries are so competitive that customers will look elsewhere if the estimated date to receive their order is missed. 

It’s crucial that every piece of inventory in and out of your warehouse is tracked in real-time from the second you place production orders until the moment your finished product reaches the customers’ hands. The ABS apparel and footwear ERP software solutions offer a slew of tools that make this possible. 

Now more than ever, ensuring a better turnaround time and healthier bottom-line is the only way to survive in the apparel industry. With ABS , you have an experienced team and ongoing development of an intuitive software solution to help companies not only survive but thrive. During this time of shortages and uncertainty find out why our customers swear by ABS to keep them successful.

Schedule a demo today!