Business model of garment enterprises: a scientometric review

Abstract

The research on the business model of garment enterprises (BMGE) has expanded rapidly in the last decade. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive reviews of it, let alone visual research. Based on scientometrics, in this paper 118 papers and their 4803 references from Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Conference Proceedings Citation Index—Science, and Conference Proceedings Citation Index—Social Science & Humanities for the period 2010–2020 about the BMGE were analyzed by visualizing the co-cited references, co-occurrence keywords, burst references, dual-map overlays, and more with CiteSpace, Google Maps, and VOSviewer. The research revealed the intellectual landscapes of the BMGE for the first time and mapped the landmark papers, hotspots and trends, national or regional distributions and their cooperation networks, highly cited authors, and prestigious journals and disciplines related to the BMGE. The results show that the biggest hotspot is the fast fashion business model; social responsibility, smart fashion, Internet of Things, and sharing fashion are the main emerging hotspots; and the research focuses has evolved from traditional business models to business models driven by new technologies, then to new issues such as circular economy models. The institutions are mainly distributed in China, the United States, and Western Europe, and there is cooperation between more than 11 countries. The most popular disciplines are economics and politics, while psychology, education, and social science are the essential basic disciplines. The Journal of Cleaner Production and Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, among others, actively promoted the research.

Industry 4.0 Technologies Promote Micro-Level Circular Economy but Neglect Strong Sustainability in Textile Industry

“…Evidence of a relationship between I4.0T, CECP, and SS was also verified by Jin et al [16], who investigated circular business models based on product-service systems that use IoT in apparel companies targeting sustainable manufacturing. Chen et al [27] proposed integrated strategies based on big data and IoT to promote green chemistry in CECP and eliminate toxic products.…”

“…Six studies addressed I4.0T and CECP through a systematic literature review. Jin et al [16] reviewed the business models of apparel companies. IoT drove CECP practices through product-service systems and online platforms.…”

“…As mentioned, the adoption of I4.0T in manufacturing stimulates CECP. For example, big data provided material regeneration through end-of-life clothing repair [13]; autonomous robots generated technological improvements in wastewater treatment and waste collection [14]; simulation favored post-consumer waste collection [15]; IoT promoted a circular business model of online apparel commerce [13,16]; Cloud Computing promoted renewable energy and dematerialization of products [13]. Additive manufacturing stimulated the use of by-products as raw materials and waste reduction [14]; augmented reality reduced waste by incorporating digital tools for selling and manufacturing apparel [17].…”