Businesses and consumers have long valued their ability to buy apparel both in-store and online thanks to the industry’s early adoption of ecommerce solutions. But 2020 accelerated that ecommerce shift, with the global pandemic halting in-store sales and skyrocketing at-home spend. In a few short months, retail business models were forced to shift dramatically as the industry grappled with and reimagined their supply chain and digital transformation objectives.
The longer the pandemic wore on, the greater online demand grew not only for traditionally B2C retail operations but also B2B, despite the fact that the latter lagged technologically. Some new challenges also needed to be addressed, including an inability to use historic sales figures to forecast future demand. Meanwhile, several B2B-focused brands started to see a need to incorporate new B2C channels into existing operations.
Further challenging retailers is the speed at which new ecommerce capabilities or innovations would need to be deployed to meet demand while also working around the obstacles inherent in existing outdated tools, such as WordPress enhanced by a rudimentary WooCommerce plugin or Shopify. Unique to the industry, too, is the need for a configurator to help manage multiple sizes, colors, and style variations for each item without having to assign each a unique SKU.
“We recommend TRIMIT Fashion,” explained Dominick Zappia, Principal at Admiral Consulting Group, “an advanced solution designed specifically to meet the needs of the apparel industry.” Built on Microsoft Dynamics NAV/Dynamics 365 Business Central, TRIMIT provides both on-premise and cloud-based administration for B2B and B2C webshops along with in-store functions, sales, and supply/product management. “Backed by TRIMIT technology, retailers are able to optimize all areas of production, including product and variant management, while notably enhancing efficiency. It also provides fashion manufacturers and brands the ability to integrate a B2B portal that enables partners to place orders online.”
Contact Admiral Consulting Group to learn more about TRIMIT or to see if it’s right for your apparel business.