Migration from physical shopping to online is real and this is not an isolated incident due to the pandemic, but consumers will stay online because the technology enables them to compare price, product specification, quality etc in a convenient, single platform. The change is much evident in the last 5 – 6 months where the online sales have grown multifold compared to the same period in past years.
Another aspect is that the younger generation have started to understand the impact of fashion on the environment. Fashion is one of the largest industry’s polluting the environment and the buzz for sustainability has been around for the past 5-6 years, but with the pandemic situation, consumers will be forced to rethink their spend on clothing which would result in a greater reduction in waste clothing going into landfill. Strategies and technologies are in place to recycle used cloths which is heavily driven by the online fraternity.
In the entire supply chain, the share to the manufacturers to date has been very minimal whereas the larger portion inevitably goes to the retailers, to fulfil their operating expenses. This may change in the near future, where distribution of value may be recalculated. How this happens is yet to be seen. However, with larger Brands and retailers moving into the online channels to reach to the end consumer, is a start.
