"A recent report on State of Fashion 2019 by Mckinsey/BOF notes the top challenges for the fashion industry are: volatility, uncertainty, speed of changing consumer preferences and sustainability. To tackle these, the reports advises industry leaders to be nimble, digitally skilled, experiment with new trends Mckinsey predicts a lower growth rate of 3.5 per cent for 2019 over 4.5 per cent in 2018. However, this growth rate is likely to differ by geography and segment. This calls for building resilience and productivity improvements."

A recent report on State of Fashion 2019 by Mckinsey/BOF notes the top challenges for the fashion industry are: volatility, uncertainty, speed of changing consumer preferences and sustainability. To tackle these, the reports advises industry leaders to be nimble, digitally skilled, experiment with new trends Mckinsey predicts a lower growth rate of 3.5 per cent for 2019 over 4.5 per cent in 2018. However, this growth rate is likely to differ by geography and segment. This calls for building resilience and productivity improvements.

New products, business models to tackle novelty issue

According to a survey in Britain, one in three young women considers clothes to be old after wearing them once or twice. Also, an average person buys 60 per cent more clothes compared to 15 years ago. They are also retained for only half as long time. To solve the challenge of newness, the brands need to respond quickly to changing trends, launch the right products and innovate their business models.

Technology, social media to reduce gratification time

From in-store assistants of brands and retailers, consumers’ inspirations have shifted to multiple sources like the social media, influencers and celebrities. According to a 2017 study, about half the respondents were influenced by bloggers, influencers compared with just 20 percent placing faith on the in-store assistants. To minimise the time between the want moment to have moment, players need to use technology solutions. Also, offline retailers need to promote products in-store with social / influencer credibility with real-time intelligence.

Emphasis on key areas to guarantee returns

With a potential slowdown in global economy by 2020, players will look for key opportunities to boost productivity compared to previous years. They need to work on certain key areas to get maximum returns on invested capital. This can be achieved by using technology/big-data to drive decisions along with human intuition, using cutting-edge prediction model to decide volume bets, shifting to sophisticated stock deployment using cognitive technology enabled replacement or replenishment models.

Start-ups to improve market relevancy

As per Mckinsey millennial survey, young generations are more likely to follow up-and-coming brands. These brands show high saliency and engagement in social media. The incumbents need to build a way to stay relevant by learning how to think small, working with start-ups, building innovation bandwidth internally or through an incubator

Exploring demand model through data analytics, automation

Innovations in the data analytics and automation will enable players to explore "on demand" model of fulfilling demand. However, with the help of social media consumers are establishing trends as opposed to brands and retailers. To retain their brand identity players need to induct data based demand sensing tools in the development process and nearshore products