Artificial intelligence or AI is ruling almost every field in the present world. In today’s reality, one of the most valuable secret weapons is data analysis for future trend predictions, business patterns through AI is aiding global businesses – from giants to startups – greatly and it is no exception in fashion brands, the global apparel supply chain. AI’s impact is immensely felt on consumer market trends, employment. In the context of fashion brands and fashion retail, AI offers some comprehensive packages from the top to the bottom of the apparel supply chain.
Though the fashion industry has not profited from full-fledged use of AI other than profit boost by market trend prediction and some start-ups giving virtual fitting for customers.
Posing an excellent opportunity particularly for AI to transform drive on both profit and sustainable fronts within the retail sector.
By measuring the probability of need, demand and consumption, AI can help reduce waste by preventing products from expiring and avoiding holding onto products that become redundant due to seasonal trends.
There are 5 foremost zones of business in which AI can enhance its skills and a number of subsections within each.
- Marketing and sales to customers
- Realizing competitors’ propositions
- Goods choice decisions
- Supply chains and stock control
- Sustainability
Within the scopes of marketing and sales to customers, AI offers smart personalization machines, to put it in a nutshell – AI makes the prediction of ‘what consumers like and have bought’ and also future like ‘what consumers like to have also bought.’
Keeping the customer buy more with discount offers and ‘buy this and get that free.’ Adding points for future discounts.
Realizing competitors’ propositions and price comparisons, online offerings, leverage from their strategies, market positionings, etc. to greatly aid brands and retailers. Making a close or high competition, ensuring a balance in the market and drive garment price down.
Tough in the apparel suppliers’ side, cheap apparel price a hot issue. As cheap fast-fashion push readymade garment (RMG) workers’ wage down, could not cover the cost of environmental sustainability, and less profit.
Apparel manufacturers, as well as other stakeholders, are voicing heavily on the issue of adopting AI/automation and giving them less price.
In goods choice decisions scopes, by using data analytics AI suggests:
- Offers based on the acceptance of diverse consumer choices for products in different physical areas
- Offer based on past popularity
Supply chains and stock control AI could offer advice on:
How much to buy
From whom to buy
On what delivery timetable
How much to stock
How to distribute it to stores
When to stop selling
When to markdown
This of course after the choice of product, and the decision on the price at which to sell it – the most difficult decision facing fashion management.
Sustainability
However, recent studies find that it can be aid retailers to become more sustainable. PwC research discovered that with AI to make decisions about environment-related zones, such as agriculture, water, energy and transportation could enhance more than $5 trillion to the global economy over the next decade.
Meaning AI can make decisions that achieve sustainability and profits at the same time.
