Survival of the Stitches

Today, when you walk into a shopping mall, you are most likely to spot a salesman constrained by his duty, folding away, say, a saree in despair, for perhaps he hadn’t had any sale since morning. These days, shopping malls that once used to be filled with throngs of customers, look deserted and desolate. The carnage that took place at Holey Artisan Bakery has left businesses in great loss. Customers too are in fear due to the potential threats in big gatherings, especially in shopping malls and restaurants. In more ways than one, the recent turn of events has slowed down the pulse of the city. Besides for its effect on the livelihood of many, the shock has slowly crept into the fashion industry. ICE Today speaks with a few fashion industry leaders to understand the dynamics of the current situation in the time of worldwide volatility.
Like many other brands, the current situation has certainly been unfavourable for Ahang, a renowned fashion house of Bangladesh. “We’re having a tough time surviving in the market,” says M. A. Hadi, Chairman of Ahang. With sales hitting a new low everyday, the brand was compelled to cut down its production by 70%, a figure too alarming for their book. In circumstances like this, the mantra of survival is to spend less, by cutting down on production or PR budget and sometimes even massive layoffs. Aranya, a brand which solely focuses on making products from natural dye, also felt a jolt from this incident. Nawshin Khair, Creative Director at Aranya says, “The situation has not been favourable for the brand, as it’s affecting both our local and international clientele, so we’re trying to cope with the changes.” Another company to share the same sentiment is Mayasir, a brand popular for its products with exquisite design and craftsmanship. Mayasir has always positioned itself exclusively among the classes: all stores are situated in prime locations, flocked usually by the elites of Dhaka city. “Our overheads are very high and we are very concerned about the recent turn of events,” states Maheen Khan, designer and owner at Mayasir. “The government has asked many fashion houses to relocate showrooms away from the residential areas; which will cause them incur huge losses. If such occurrences persist, many small boutique brands will perish away,” she worries.

Battling the Banes

We’re having a tough time surviving in the market”
M. A. Hadi

In order to brave the challenges put forward by the commotion, there needs to be an immediate fallback plan. Sailor, one of the country’s finest lifestyle brands and sister concern of Epyllion group that produces apparel items for international brands like C&A, H&M, Celio.etc. Rezaul Kabir, Head of Brand at Sailor by Epyllion discusses his strategies.” We are initiating customer engagement programs to battle the abrupt fall in sales. Our marketing and advertising strategy is more focused on effective communication, based on contemporary branding technique. Social media and stakeholder endorsement are also essential means of getting things under control,” he shares. Since people are cautious about operating from their physical stores, they are look into alternatives which help them get back on track with business. When asked about Aranya, Nawshin says, “We are working on a social media strategy which will help us connect with our clients better. So far we’ve revamped our store and very soon we’ll be operating via social media to make shopping more accessible for consumers,” explains Nawshin.

Pioneering the legacy of handloom sarees, Tangail Saree Kutir’s Munira Emdad, shares her thoughts. “Due to the aftershock and restriction caused by the unfortunate event, shopping certainly doesn’t top our priority list,” states Munira. “If we consider the upcoming festivals such as Puja and Eid –ul-Adha, we can see that our production line has also been affected and the business is yet to pick up its regular pace.” The former President of Crafts Council Bangladesh points out that the current situation has had its impact on handloom clothing stores; nevertheless, we can’t ignore the fact that the problem is a global one and is affecting everyone. Munira’s claims echoes with the global instability that has been sending blow after blow to the international fashion industry. Starting from the heartland of global luxury fashion Europe to the biggest manufacturer of apparel industry China, instabilities have been caused by terrorism, economic slump as well as politically detrimental moves like Brexit.

Given this ordeal, how can brands sustain such massive injuries? Brands need long-term strategies to survive, suggest global pundits.
Since the commotion was at its peak during the last Eid-ul-Fitr, it was likely for sales to eventually slow down after. Hence, whether there is any correlation between the aftermath and sales is difficult to ascertain. However, something as big a buzz ought to affect people emotionally and mentally, eventually slowing down businesses and entrepreneurs. “Out of respect for the victims, we did not pursue the aggressive marketing plans we usually do at that time. However we were happy to have still experienced heavy footfall in all our stores,” added Sumbal A. Momen, Manager, Marketing Communications, Pride Group Retail and Director at Pride Group.
Due to the unrest in the country, it is compelling for companies to rethink the entire marketing and advertisement strategy. Sumbal expresses her deep sorrow and quotes the incident as being one of the greatest tragedies and threats to our national security. “We have minimised our initial plans for marketing events purely out of safety concerns. However, if you live and work in Bangladesh, you will eventually be prepared to face any calamity; the local economy must sustain and thrive through the hurdles,” she emphasises. She believes that the only revision to our strategy is to observe this mourning period and pursue our course when the time is right.

Emboldening the Digital Footprint

We talked with Yellow, a lifestyle brand of BEXIMCO Industries Ltd., which has dealt with the adverse effect of the incident by adapting to digital marketing strategies through their website and Facebook page. “We believe that social media makes us more transparent towards our customers in creating higher customer value and trust,” says Binesh Balakrishnan, Head of Merchandising and Production, further elaborating. “With the support of both foreign and local designers, along with a strong manufacturing setup, Yellow has successfully created a strong bonding with their loyal customers all over Bangladesh and thus depends very less on marketing and advertisement,” he shares. To offset the loss, Reluce, a fashion and lifestyle brand of Partex Star Group, is focusing on volume sales and offering a 25% discount to the customers during Eid. “We believe this offer will attract the customers to our outlet and they will get good quality products for a reasonable price,” Tarek Aziz, Deputy General Manager of Marketing, Partex Star Group, reveals.
On exploring the digital media to tackle the current situation, Maheen Khan strongly feels that it is time to modernise the fashion house with means of Internet and revaluate its international acceptance worldwide. With an aspiration to enter a new arena she adds, “Creating e-commerce business, website, mainstream online promotion is something I would definitely be focusing on next.”
At a time like this, the most effective tool to boost sales and promotion are online footprints via e-commerce sites and social media. In Bangladesh, internet users (especially for social media like Facebook, Instagram, etc.) are increasing dramatically from the time of launching 3G technology by different telecom companies. On this regard, Tarek shares that a survey among prospective customers show that the frequency and duration of using online social media are growing faster than traditional media like, TV, radio, newspaper and magazine. This survey was conducted for branded readymade garments. Hence, Reluce, a concern of Partex, is taking the opportunity to promote their online selling platform through their website and Facebook page.
“Our present objective is to review the online traffic and compare sales percentage based on our findings. Hence, we rely on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to make ourselves noticeable in the market,” says Rezaul from Sailor.
Pride Group, which has been at the forefront of digital innovation in Bangladesh, has 54 million active Internet users and 21 million Facebook users in the country. “Given that our population is young and 71% falls in the median age group of 24, social media is an obvious choice for retailers to invest more time and effort, like we have been doing with both our brands Pride Limited and Urban Truth,” Sumbal reveals further saying that through these portals, they are able to convey their message directly to customers, and therefore plan to keep innovating via multiple digital channels.
The threat to national security has heightened safety concerns, with buyers asking to meet outside Bangladesh and reducing factory visits for the time being. Despite that, Sumbal believes that buyer confidence in Bangladesh is strong because Pride still maintains their position as a global leader and has learnt to persevere with all fluctuations that have been faced by our industry and country. “Our industry has been recovering strongly with an overall 10% growth and $28 billion in export revenue. If we can maintain overall security and stability in the nation, investor and buyer confidence in our country will continue to grow and that will bolster the industry faster towards our 2050 goal of $50billion in knitwear and woven exports,” Sumbal explains. “In the context of the export division of Pride Group, we are constantly innovating in terms of products and design technology, with superior and revolutionising fabric blends. Our 50 years in textile design, manufacturing, and retail, has given us a unique competitive advantage, which we continue to leverage,” she adds.
On the contrary, President of Bangladesh Business and Professional Women’s Club, Munira confirms that Tangail Saree Kutir has not contemplated about any marketing or advertisement strategy for boosting sales as of yet. In fact, she believes that time heals everything, even the deepest of traumas. With the loyal customer base always rooting for the brand, Munira is confident of a turnaround in sales soon. As for Tangail Sari Kutir, Munira reveals that BDSHOP is maintaining their digital platform. “We don’t have any direct association with any e-commerce site as of now, however, we do plan to proceed with grandeur in the near future,” mentions Munira. Since she single-handedly looks after the nitty-gritty details of the business, she did not found the time to jump on the social media bandwagon. “We have a loyal customer base that keeps coming back for new designs and motifs,” smiled Munira. People are keen on making online purchases to avoid the traffic snarl-up. “Considering the demand and wave of change, we will be initiating an e-commerce site soon,” she states.
This too shall pass

Mourning the Gulshan incident, Maheen Khan says, “I hope it’s a temporary setback and I am very optimistic about my country and its people because we have an extremely efficient workforce.” Since Eid-ul-Adha is around the corner, Maheen is very busy with the production of her new Eid collection. “Our production is working in full swing to deliver a rack full of gorgeous ensembles for Eid,” she states. She also sums up that we have enough potential in developing our design industry especially as globally there is a niche market for green products and hand-made artefacts. “The clients are more concerned about the facilitation and footprints of these products on nature and Bangladesh is an ideal place for green and eco-friendly designs,” Maheen looks on at the possibilities whereas industry veterans like Munira advises to have some patience for the dust to settle. “I am hopeful that time will run its course and everything will fall back in place. All we need is a bit of patience to help us get through this difficult phase,” she beams with hope.
While hope is always there to keep us afloat, what we badly need is a foolproof strategy to face any sort of calamity. Business as usual is no longer an option. With a proper business model consisting of seamless supply chain, appropriate pricing strategy and adequate brand exposure, specifically in the digital forefront can help us move forward and stand the test of time.

Problems in the market

In recent times, the world has seen a series of turmoil which affected various aspects of business, one of which is the apparel industry. Since the purchase of luxury products is influenced by global cultures, a natural or manmade disaster can certainly affect its sales.

Right after the Gulshan attack, it was initially the restaurants who endured a fall in their customer base. However, it didn’t take too long for the impact to shift its gears and haunt the RMG industries. Clothing stores which operate in high-end shopping malls in diplomatic zones, bear the brunt of this national crisis. As a result, the footfall among luxury clothing brands automatically spiralled downwards.
Where originality is concerned, we tend to fall behind due to our consumption of mostly Indian and Pakistani styles when it comes to designer wear. We have very few styles that represent the individuality or uniqueness of our cultures. This gives rise to the trend of replicas and the mushroom growth of fashion houses which lack a proper business model.
Boutiques are also known for importing dresses from neighbouring countries and selling it at an exorbitant price. While some may choose to buy those dresses, others tend to seek their value for money by making their purchases directly from abroad.

Solutions
In light of this event, boutique owners should try to engage their customers so that they understand customers’ behaviour and how they were affected by this national crisis. This in turn will allow them to evaluate the change in their demographics and consumer habits.
When it comes to digital marketing, clothing brands need real-time engagement via Facebook or Instagram. This will give both customers and stores the two-way communication they need in order to give and take service. It will also help build goodwill for stores in the sense that their client base will always get assistance for the purchases they make.
Once they get valuable service along with quality products, they will recommend those stores to people. In the long run, this strategy will gradually generate traffic for clothing lines.