Every person at some point in their life has been in awe of the fashion industry all over the world. In fact, the USA is the largest apparel market in the world with an approximate revenue of 317.6 billion dollars in 2021. It would not only be safe to say that it is a rapidly growing industry but also a driving reason to invest in it for better revenues.
If you are already a part of this industry or intend to venture into it, you must know that now is a great time for the B2B wholesalers to swoop in and help the sector recover from the severe pandemic blow. Find out the top trends for the fashion industry in 2022 and how B2B will be shaping its future of it in the USA.
Wholesale Fashion Industry Trends in 2022
From a striking focus on B2B to automation and post-pandemic recovery, here are the most important trends in the wholesale fashion industry in 2022.
Dealing with the Inventory Bubble: Retailers have been battling Covid 19 in recent years as consumers switch from in-store shopping to online shopping due to store closures, sharply reduced workforces, and supply chain issues caused by factory closures and shipping shortages. In a WWD article “What to Watch: Retail in 2022 – Still Stronger but Tougher,” Greg Petro, founder/CEO of First Insight, a tech company that helps retailers create and market products through consumer insights, predicts, the US retail industry will see an “inventory bubble” in the first quarter of 2022.
With the influx of inventory, Petro expects retailers to offer more services and conveniences, such as resale, repair, as well as buy online and in-store pickup, to improve the customer experience and increase profits. Retailers should deploy an all-encompassing B2B platform equipped with tools that allow them to relocate and move inventory to reduce losses and provide customers with more flexible shopping options.
Make-up for the Lost Traffic: If you are just getting ready to step into the fashion arena, you must join the side of wholesale rather than retail. High-end brands continue to struggle with decisions like getting involved in fashion and trade shows with a surge in cases every now and then.
However, it is a great time for brands to rely on B2B platforms to capture missed online visits. With your B2B solution, you can make market appointments, share new collections and enter orders from your desktop. It is definitely a reliable way to make up for the lost in-person traffic faced in the past two years.
Lookout for Wardrobe Makeovers: With the back-to-office segment now on the loose, pandemic loungewear will have to take a back seat in wardrobes. The demand for nightwear and activewear has already started plummeting in comparison to the sharp rise we had seen in 2020. The fashion industry must be hands-on in stacking up on professional wear, party wear and any other collection that speaks outdoors. It is also important to rely on data-driven products in the inventory rather than building a fortress of every product that is out there.
A Move to Metaverse: Metaverse and NFTs are trending right now and many fashion brands have already started building their communities with the tech. It can be expected that Metaverse will be engaging people to a deeper level of creation while NFTs will be serving as exclusive collectable pieces for fashion connoisseurs. It is imperative that as a B2B wholesaler in America, you create a digital community transcending boundaries and opening avenues for expansion at every possible opportunity.
Preference to E-commerce & Automation: The USA has been a leader in digital commerce. Hence, wholesaling and fashion have also shifted vastly to the internet, especially with walk-in retail facing a severe blow. B2B wholesale fashion companies are also shifting to sustainable management options like order automation and advanced tracking systems. Hence, e-commerce and automation are definitely driving the fashion industry wagon in 2022.
How to Evolve Your Apparel Business
Once you are into the wholesale fashion industry you need to remember one golden rule – keep up with the trends or succumb to it. It is a top-of-the-list concern for B2B fashion wholesalers to keep track of changing trends, update their inventory accordingly and supply their clients with apparel that sells quick.
You can integrate your e-commerce business management with tools like OrderCircle that help in tracking orders, payments, inventory and so much more. The specific templates for the apparel industry make it easier to simply fill in the details and get the show running without spending hours and days on manual tracking and inventory management.
Additional Perks of OrderCircle Apparel Management
With OrderCircle’s apparel management facilities, you get benefits like:
- Timely order fulfillment.
- Reduced reverse logistics risks caused by faulty orders.
- Optimized fulfillment costs with comparable shipping and automated payment reminders.
- Access to insights at the account, order, and transaction levels.
Still, deciding? Start with a trial package and upgrade to a better package once you get habituated to the convenience!