Fashion Retail Procurement Consulting & Supply Chain Management
Strong Procurement Management in the Textile Retail Sector
The high-volume textile retail industry is constantly faced with new challenges. E-commerce and growing multi-channel concepts are increasing customers’ requirements for fashion retail, while different channels are adding to the competitive environment. This makes it all the more important to develop strong brand partnerships and build a reliable supplier structure. We support you to develop a procurement strategy and put together a suitable supplier portfolio.
Our projects are individually tailored to our clients’ needs. We implement innovative processes, which work successfully in practice, including the international sourcing, sustainability or organisational structure of your procurement.
A strong negotiating position for better terms
Optimal supplier management and strong brand partnerships are particularly important in textile retail. Targeted preparation for performance reviews can significantly improve procurement conditions when working with brand suppliers.
How do we do it?
Performance evaluation of brand suppliers
Firstly, we analyse brand suppliers’ performance indicators. Using data from your ERP system, we calculate metrics such as revenue per m², gross yield per product or stock turnover rate, which we then analyse in detail. We evaluate your suppliers’ performance and conditions based on product group benchmarks, among other factors, and the results enable us to identify important negotiating levers.
Negotiation preparation
The next step is discussing your negotiating position with your procurement department and defining your requirements (e.g. warehouse management combined with a costing guarantee of 58%). Our negotiation strategy and tactics are tailored to your individual goals and explained to your buyers.
Negotiation and drafting contracts
During the negotiation process, which is made up of several rounds, we work closely with your procurement department and ensure that as many of your requirements as possible are met. The improved conditions are then recorded in written agreements with suppliers.
Optimising and implementing global sourcing strategies
To build an optimal supplier portfolio and unlock potential savings, we analyse your current global sourcing activities. We then use this analysis to demonstrate which procurement markets are best suited to your individual needs and requirements and which procurement markets it would be advantageous for you to change. Our global sourcing index enables us to quickly record changes in all relevant global procurement markets and quantitatively assess the markets in terms of quality, logistics and infrastructure, as well as compliance with standards. We work with you to develop an optimal global sourcing strategy before implementing it for you. We provide information on procurement market developments in our regular newsletter.
The growing shift towards sustainability in textile procurement
Sustainability in the textile industry is gaining in importance and sales of organic and sustainable textiles are growing. A study by market research firm Nielsen found that around 40% of consumers are willing to pay higher prices for such products. To ensure the sustainable sourcing of textiles from environmentally and socially sustainable production, there are a number of different textile labels to look for. Buyers therefore face the challenge of keeping track of certification marks, approved suppliers and reviewed processes. If needed, we help you to achieve transparency in terms of textile labels and their meanings and identify suitable labels for your procurement, considering not only sustainability, but also quality standards and potential savings.
We support you in establishing and developing multi-channel retail
As you become a multi-channel provider or set up multiple channels, we create important foundations for making decisions about the structure of your procurement organisation. We also check the division of tasks between procurement and category management with the aim of making the new organisation as efficient as possible. When setting up a new sales channel, we identify the best, most cost-effective providers for you in IT, digital media, marketing, logistics and new suppliers in terms of product range procurement.
The results:
- Optimized procurement conditions
- Stronger brand partnerships
- An optimised supplier portfolio with a well-balanced international procurement quota