After the deadly pandemic struck the fashion and apparel world 6 months ago, the whole retail market has been afflicted with chaos and unpredictability arising from store closures, loans and frequent lockdowns. With cases surging at various times in different nations, each nation is on the brink of lockout any time today.
There is nothing more impredictable and frightening than being in such a situation. Retailers are re-evaluating where to buy.
Peek & Cloppenburg (P&C), one of Germany ‘s leading clothing retailers, is also carefully evaluating the market, and is looking at various countries for sourcing.
Further corroborating on the same, Miriam Anlauf, P&C Düsseldorf ‘s Purchasing Director for Women’s Apparel and Boutique Clothing, said that given the abundance of goods, shipping does not happen in many sourcing nations because of the non-availability of port employees. That struck badly on the business!
Although certain ports were not even sailed into, goods were ready in some cases but were never picked up. Stressing further on the same, Miriam clearly stated that these supply difficulties could also continue into next year. “There are many countries where factories are operating functionally with reduced workforce and therefore the delays will continue for another 6 to 8 months,” substantiated Miriam.
Although the situation in China is improving, not all factories are doing well there, too. Many look at Turkey or North Africa, but then China still accounts for 40 % of global demand, so no requirements should be overlooked. P&C, which purchases textiles from China, Bangladesh and Turkey for its own brands, watches carefully every development in all of the countries mentioned. “For the SS’21 season, we are now checking where to place which orders, so that we get some goods in case there’s another lockdown in any of the countries.
