Explore U.S. Retailers’ Sourcing Strategies for Clothing Made from Recycled Textile Materials

Abstract

This study explored U.S. retailers’ sourcing patterns for clothing made from recycled textile materials. Based on a statistical analysis of over 3000 such clothing items for sale in the U.S. retail market from January 2019 to August 2022 at the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) level, the study found that U.S. retailers adopted a diverse sourcing base for clothing made from recycled textile materials, covering developed and developing economies worldwide. Additionally, an exporting country’s economic development level and geographic location had statistically significant impacts on U.S. retailers’ sourcing patterns for clothing made from recycled textile materials regarding assortment diversity, product sophistication, market segments, and pricing. The study’s findings revealed the broad supply base for clothing made from recycled textile materials and suggested promising sourcing opportunities for such products. The findings also indicated that sourcing clothing made from recycled textile materials may help U.S. retailers achieve business benefits beyond the positive environmental impacts.

Importing Clothing Made from Recycled Textile Materials? A Study of Retailers’ Sourcing Strategies in Five European Countries

“…Specifically, according to the factor proportion trade theory, countries should specialize in producing goods that intensively use their abundant production factors, such as labor and capital [18]. In general, developing countries abundant with cheap labor are typically involved in making labor-intensive products, whereas developed countries, rich in capital and technology, generally focus on making capital and technology-intensive goods [19,20].…”

“…However, companies usually rely on expensive and specialized machinery to mechanically or chemically transform sorted textile waste into recycled fibers and further process them into new yarns and fabrics [22]. Further, studies found that cutting and sewing recycled fabrics into clothing is not significantly different from making clothing using virgin fibers, and it remains a labor-intensive process [20,23].…”

“…As EU retailers typically treat clothing made from recycled textile materials as part of their product assortment, companies' sourcing criteria and strategies for regular clothing (Note: In this paper, "regular clothing" refers to apparel items that use virgin fiber only and do not contain recycled textile materials.) could also apply to clothing made from recycled textile materials [4,20]. In general, EU retailers' apparel sourcing strategies have several unique features.…”

“…Thus, it is likely that EU retailers may rely on a diverse souring base that collectively meets their sourcing demand for such products. On the other hand, retailers mainly treat clothing made from recycled textile materials as part of their total product assortment and apply the same vendor selection criteria as regular clothing using virgin fibers [20]. Therefore, similar to the case of regular clothing, sourcing diversification would more easily allow EU retailers to achieve essential sourcing objectives, ranging from costs, speed to market, and flexibility to compliance risks when importing clothing made from recycled textiles [56,57].…”

“…The cutting and sewing process of making clothing from recycled textiles has no significant difference from using virgin fibers [20,23]. Thus, based on the factor proportion trade theory, a country's economic advancement level theoretically could affect the characteristics of the recycled clothing it produces [60].…”