South African fashion retailers can expect more competition with the entry of British fast-fashion chain Topshop into SA later in 2012. As reported in Business Day on 31 July 2012, the rollout of Topshop will begin with the first standalone flagship store, to be opened in Sandton City by the end of November this year, followed by a second store, in Durban, before year-end. Edgars will also stock Topshop & Topman products in the new year, the report said.
Following on from the 2011 introduction of Zara to the South African clothing market, Topshop will put even more pressure on local retailers to up their games and begin to adopt the internationally successful fast-fashion model of clothing retail. According to Nedgroup Securities analyst Syd Vianello, it is unlikely that Topshop will be the last global fashion player to set up shop in SA. "Zara started it, now comes Topshop. H&M will probably be the next one on the line. Another name that's been mentioned is New Look," Vianello said.
The Foschini Group (TFG), whose brands include Markham, Exact, Foschini, Donna-Claire, Fashion Express, Luella, Due South and American Swiss, among others, has already adopted the change and has seen impressive growth figures as a result. TFG increased its sales for the year ending 21 March 2012 by 17%, outperforming the rest of the industry and gaining significant market share over its competitors. TFG CEO Doug Murray says the supply chain initiatives undertaken by the group assisted in achieving these results by enabling TFG to meet the demand for seasonal fast-fashion merchandise (FMCG Supplier News, 31 May 2012).
In order to compete effectively and achieve the shorter lead times required, South African retailers will need to move towards local manufacturing; TFG having already done so with its recent purchase of local manufacturer Prestige Clothing. A new directive from the National Treasury will further enforce this, as it issued an instruction on 31 July 2012 ordering all government departments and state-owned enterprises to purchase their clothing, textile, footwear and leather from local manufacturers (Business Report, 1 August 2012).
For information on how SA's leading ERP software system, Sync, facilitates fast-fashion, see the iSyncSolutions press office, or visit www.isyncsolutions.com.
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