Retail Sourcing and Procurement Strategies in the UK Fashion Industry — An Exploratory Study of Contemporary Supply Relationships

Abstract

The fashion industry defines an industry sector that is unique and global in character. It defines a context that can be characterised as increasingly entrepreneurial, reflecting high levels of complexity and dynamism. The dramatic shift in the scale and power of major retail buyers in the market, the advent of own brands, and the nature of sourcing and supply-chain decisions which are increasingly global in nature, are some of the issues that define this entrepreneurial context. The interactions between those managing the buyer–supplier relationships have, particularly within the past five years, changed substantially as a consequence. At the core of this is the challenge to actors in the buyer–supplier dyad to identify innovative responses to managing these interactions. The aim of this research is to explore the nature of these relationships, focusing upon UK high-street multiple-fashion retailers and their contracted suppliers, many of whom are entrepreneurial, located in different parts of the globe. The research examines implications for supply-chain strategies applied to fashion products. There are a number of important implications for ‘fashion-marketing’ that emerge from this research project. These are discussed under four core themes that emerged from the study, namely: power, process, partnership, and people. The research approach was qualitative, and conducted over a period of twelve months. It involved in-depth discussions with key managers in organizations on both sides of the buyer–supplier relationship. The paper ends with an agenda for future research.