Celebrities boost demand for clothes

When a celebrity wears clothing from a well-known brand, it creates a high demand for items and this can cause stock control issues.

In the summer of 2019, Holly Willoughby wore a Phase Eight navy blue dress on the ITV program This Morning. Earlier in the year, Christine Lampard wore a flower print dress also by Phase Eight on the Lorraine program.

After these appearances on TV, fans of the two presenters took to social media to post favourable comments about their dresses. This created a high demand for the dresses both online and in stores that stock Phase Eight clothing. High demand causes issues of stock availability when clothing lines sell out. Customers are frustrated if they have seen clothing worn by a celebrity and cannot purchase it because it is out of stock and awaiting resupply.

To cope with surges in demand The Foschini Group (TFG) that owns Phase Eight has invested in radio frequency identification technology which tracks inventory and re-stocks the garment rails quicker. TFG have also introduced a system of dispatching clothes from stores as well as their warehouses to increase stock availability.

Clothing retailers need flexibility to cope with fluctuating demands. A garment rail supplier can quickly supply extra rails to hold high demand stock, but clothing brands need systems to monitor the whole supply chain to minimise the number of out of stock items. They must liaise with their manufacturing factories for the quick re-stocking of items to meet demand surges.

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