Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), called on large local businesses to start promoting their brands in both home and foreign markets as a reaction to these difficulties.
He recently said, “The big local groups should launch their brands at home and abroad as they have grown significantly over the years.”
He believes that because they are now sufficiently established, three to five major local clothing groups can begin investing in brand development at any time.
Bangladesh uses more than 300 small, medium, and large businesses to export clothing to 167 nations. As Bangladesh’s garment industry tries to go from low-end to high-end products, more businesses have begun entering into international contracts with manufacturers, which typically favor buyers over sellers.
Due to the industry saturation, manufacturers are consequently facing challenges like late payments and persistent demands for payments to be deferred for up to 220 days, payment delays that raise the cost of financing, and a majority of buyers who refuse to raise the price of the items they had previously promised.
Many of the issues facing the clothing industry, according to industry insiders, might be resolved by marketing and selling goods directly to customers. Primarily, it would provide them with increased profit margins by eliminating intermediaries. Additionally, it would provide businesses an opportunity to promote themselves by forging a distinctive character and linking it to their brands.
In addition, as it will circumvent the conventional retail approach, pricing autonomy will be granted, and items can be launched faster. Also, it will reduce the over-reliance on customers, providing an avenue for revenue stream diversification.
Limitations arising from the regulatory framework, particularly in the realm of cross-border transactions and foreign currency policies, serve as an impediment for the apparel industry to tap the burgeoning global e-commerce market.
Revenue in the global e-commerce market is projected to reach US $ 5.31 trillion by 2028, according to Statista, a German online platform that specialises in data gathering.
The lack of international payment gateways, difficulties obtaining working capital funding, laborious export processing for small orders, and an unworkable return policy that classifies returns as imports, according to Hassan, are significant obstacles to the development of a strong digital marketplace.