Consumer demand for clothing businesses to disclose all aspects of their production process, from the beginning of the supply chain to the point at which the final product is in their possession, is growing.
Customers want to know that the businesses producing their apparel are mindful of the environment and that the brands they buy from are making an effort to lower carbon emissions worldwide and produce waste- and pollution-free goods.
However, how can companies expedite this procedure while guaranteeing that clients have access to the data they require? How can companies demonstrate that they employ moral labour standards and produce goods in an environmentally friendly way?
By utilizing blockchain in fashion industry, businesses can ensure that they meet customers’ demands and are as transparent as possible in their practices.
How the Fashion Industry Uses Blockchain Technology
The blockchain provides a reliable platform for companies in the fashion sector to provide this information to customers.
However, what is blockchain really, and how is it used? Although many people associate the term “blockchain” with cryptocurrencies, it has numerous other applications and is employed in a variety of sectors. In general, blockchain refers to information distribution and sharing technologies.
In Simple Terms, Blockchain:
- It functions as an accessible, secure, and unchangeable ledger for keeping track of assets and recording transactions inside a company network.
- It enables the tracking of assets, including various tangible goods like apparel and intangible assets like trademarks and copyrights.
- Gives a range of stakeholders, including manufacturers, brands, and end users, access to this monitored information.
Blockchain is frequently used in the fashion industry to track the manufacturing of apparel and offers a transparent and safe record of each stage in the process.
How Blockchain Enables Fashion Item Traceability
Blockchain technology provides the fashion industry with an open and safe means of recording and monitoring every stage of the clothing production process, from growing cotton to sewing, dying, and shipping finished goods to customers.
While many businesses, such as Adidas, make their complete supplier names available to the public, it can be challenging for buyers to look through lists of hundreds of factories that might have been involved in the manufacturing of the particular sweatshirt they’re purchasing.
Blockchain traceability software for the fashion sector, however, gives firms a reliable means to monitor each product or garment’s whole lifespan.
How to Convey This Information to the Consumer
Track and trace data which is only stored on the blockchain as a first step. Additionally, brands need to figure out how to provide customers access to the data. In order to act as the product’s interface with the blockchain, smart product platforms like Blue Bite are useful in this situation.
Through the use of a linking technology such as NFC or QR, a smart goods platform is directly connected to the actual article of clothing.
- The Near Field Communication (NFC) tag allows users to access blockchain technology and other digital experiences by tapping it with their phones. The “tap to pay” functionality on your phone is made possible by the same technology.
- Quick Response (QR) Code: To access the digital experience, just scan these codes, which are currently quite popular, using your phone’s camera.
A user can access a range of data stored on the blockchain by launching a smart product platform on their phone. To name a few, they are:
- Where the cotton came from, how the clothing was made, and other details.
- Particulars that highlight a company’s sustainability initiatives, such as the fact that a pair of jeans was constructed with 75% recycled denim or that a pair of exercise leggings was produced entirely of recycled materials.
- Details on your brand’s carbon-positive initiatives and how they surpass net-zero greenhouse emissions.
- Confirmation of the product’s legitimacy.
With the use of this technology, customers may obtain information while in-store browsing and making purchasing decisions, as well as when they go home and begin wearing and caring for their purchases.
Why this is important to the Customer
Customers are becoming more interested in learning about the origins of the products they buy, including the nations and factories where they were produced, as well as the environmental effects of the businesses that developed them. Most of this information is not easily available, though.
Customers are more likely to trust businesses when they have an easy and safe way to find out how the clothes they own were created.
According to research from NYU Stern and IRI, the packaged goods market for sustainable products increased by 50% between 2013 and 2018 even though the category only held 16.6% of the total market. Products that were promoted sustainably grew 5.6 times quicker over the course of the five years than those that weren’t.
The Sustainable Revolution in Fashion
With the growing demand for sustainable products, blockchain technology will play a bigger role in the fashion sector. It gives brands more authority and strengthens their bonds with customers.
Customers know they can trust businesses to provide information and take care in producing apparel that they can be proud to wear since they are open and honest about their business processes and sustainability initiatives.
