Scope of Statistics in the Fashion Industry

BUSINESS STATISTICS

SCOPE OF STATISTICS IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

                                                                  SUHANI  KAPOOR  (FMS)

                                                                                                          Prof. GULNAZ BANU

ABSTRACT

Statistical techniques have been used in the fashion industry, production and quality management process and other industries for over more than 25 years. To achieve and analyse the objective decisions, statistical methods are used, based on data collected about a product or market. There are a number of practical and managerial issues related to the application of statistical techniques in studies aimed at improving the brand performance. This report is a summary of the application of statistical techniques on the several aspects of fashion industry. The objective is to learn the scope of statistical tools in analysing the pattern of sale, interrelationship between data variables and defining a successful business strategy in a very volatile industry like fashion industry.

INTRODUCTION

Throughout history, fashion has greatly influenced the “fabric” of societies all over the world. What people wear often characterizes who they are and what they do for a living. As Mark Twain once wrote, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society”. The fashion industry is a global industry, where fashion designers, manufacturers, merchandisers, and retailers from all over the world collaborate to design, manufacture, and sell clothing, shoes, and accessories.

The industry is characterized by short product life cycles, erratic consumer demand, an abundance of product variety, and complex supply chains. What’s hot today is blasé tomorrow. Innovation becomes retro. Seasons change. Hemlines rise and fall and so do your sales figures. A celebrity makes a fashion statement on the red carpet and suddenly your financial statements are covered in red.

Therefore launching a new fashion brand or streamlining a production process or evaluating current vs. prospective customers, today’s business managers face greater complexities than ever before. Running a shop on instinct no longer suffices. Statistics provide managers with more confidence in dealing with uncertainty in spite of the flood of available data, enabling managers to more quickly make smarter decisions and provide more stable leadership to staff relying on them.