The demand for garments is increasing daily with the upward trend in the world population. Countries such as India, China, and Bangladesh contribute to garment production and increase market share. While growth is on the horizon, there will also be challenges that apparel businesses need to prepare for.
Below are the top future challenges of the industry that you should know.
- Increased Utility Cost — The apparel industry’s commonly used utilities include electricity, compressed air, water, and steam. Among these, electricity is the primary utility because it is required to run the other three.Â
On top of the expected increase in cost, the disruption is also highly attributed to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, inflation reached an average of 7.4%, the highest since 1996. The energy crisis in Europe, one of the primary energy sources globally, also contributes to the increase in cost.
- Special Skilled Manpower — Industries can’t avoid innovation. Today, special skills are required to ensure effective and efficient operations. It includes Design PLC, use of CAD, and CNC machine. In addition, marketing is now digital. Thus, apparel industries are forced to invest their marketing efforts in digital channels such as social media, email, and search engines.Â
- Adaptation of Automation — Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence is slowly replacing the traditional workforce with advanced computing capabilities. The latest processing machines in factories are now available such as automatic cutters, plasma cutters, and water jets. Thus, forcing industries, including apparel businesses adopt automation.
- An Increase in Labor Cost — Worldwide labor costs are increasing yearly. Inflationary pressures, higher operational costs, rising prices across value chains, and transport still trigger it.
Looking at cost-saving and improving efficiencies can help you manage possible challenges and retain your current sales. Otherwise, you may encounter financial problems leading to a decline in business growth.
The good news is you can utilize offshoring to help you adapt to the new apparel era. You can outsource to one of the top offshoring destinations, such as the Philippines. Several roles and functions you can offshore include:
- Customer Service — The Philippines is known to be a top Customer Service offshoring location globally. Several reasons include:
- Filipinos are polite and respectful — Filipinos are known to be courteous and respectful in all aspects, whether during or outside work. This attitude is innate to them, which is why working with them is easier, especially when it comes to Customer Service.
- English-proficient — 92% of Filipinos speak English. They produce more graduates than most Asian countries, with an average of 350,000 yearly. Filipinos also have neutral accents that are easy to understand and make it easier for them to learn and adjust to different accents as required.
- Flexible — Whether your apparel operation is located in the US, Australia, or anywhere else in the world, your offshore team members can adapt to your operating hours. Filipinos can work in different time zones to cater to the needs of your business. They are also known to perform beyond expectations.
- Digital Marketing — The Philippines has a rich pool of brilliant digital marketing experts, such as Email Marketing Specialists, Social Media Marketing Managers, Content Moderation and Community Managers, CRM Managers, SEO Managers, SEM Managers, and Marketing Analytics Managers.
Investing in your Digital Marketing team will allow your apparel business to boost your online presence and build a solid brand identity and sales growth.
- IT and Development and others —The Philippines has an increasing IT professional talent pool. In Satellite Office, we can help you hire the right talent for Web Development, Mobile Applications Development, System Development, Back-end, API, and software Tools Development.Â
- Reduce labor costs — Offshoring is an effective cost-saving strategy that can help save up to 70% of your labor or fixed costs.
Your offshore partner will take care of the hiring process for the resources your business needs. This will help reduce your time-to-hire and, ultimately, the costs of sourcing and recruiting talent. You can also save on other operating expenses besides recruitment costs, such as infrastructure, rental, utilities, and IT equipment. Your offshoring partner will also oversee day-to-day operational responsibilities, including HR, payroll, and IT support.Â
- Sustainable scalability — Offshoring, when properly executed, is a sustainable alternative to building teams locally for your apparel business. With an expert offshoring partner, it becomes a viable solution to support your business growth. You can rely on your offshoring partner to help you build a successful offshoring strategy that fits your talent needs.Â
In addition, offshore outsourcing provides your business with opportunities to scale and allows you to expand your footprint to regions you want to target.
Start Your Journey with Satellite Office
Satellite Office has a proven track record of assisting businesses to leverage the benefits of outsourcing by building a dedicated, highly skilled, and cost-efficient offshore team in the Philippines.Â
Our tailored offshore outsourcing solutions give businesses full control of their remote team’s productivity, output quality, and targets while we provide comprehensive support that makes managing offshore employees as simple as possible. Experience a full-service model with no hidden fees, including premium facilities, HR, IT infrastructure, account management, and payroll support services.
Looking for an offshore support service partner? Get a free assessment now, and let’s see how we can help.
