Almost 90% of clothing and footwear manufacturers will invest in digital product development

Digital product creation is higher on the list of investments from 2020 among retailers, footwear and apparel manufacturers. But how far has this trend been able to advance in terms of full-scale adoption and the business results that can be achieved with 3D and digital solutions?

Since 2016, Kalypso, which is part of Rockwell Automation, has been working with industry research groups and educational institutions to survey organizations from the retail and footwear and apparel industries about trends in digital solutions. The latest survey results include insights from more than 40 brands and retailers.

Survey participants rated their organization's current and future level of development in these areas on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is no steps taken, 2 is a strategy developed/ has a plan, 3 is a hypothesis testing method developed/ has a pilot, 4 is implementation beyond simple hypothesis testing and pilots, and 5 is full implementation including a learning process for all parties involved. Below we present 5 key findings of the study.

Finding #1: Companies are "stuck" in the proof-of-concept phase

While 2020 data shows a moderate increase in the current level of digital solution development, few companies are successfully scaling beyond the hypothesis testing stage.

Solutions such as 3D product design and integration of customer voice analytics had the highest adoption rates (2.43 out of 5), but the prevalence of projects such as virtual showroom/store planning and virtual assortment review/line planning received an average score of 1.8 on the scale.

Finding #2: Lack of technical and operational fundamentals slows down scaling

The industry does not yet fully understand how to turn instant wins into long-term transformations, and in most cases it lacks the technical and operational foundations needed to scale.

Finding #3: Companies have big plans and expectations for digitalization

The survey data reveals big plans and expectations for brands and retailers in relation to the future level of digitalization in their companies.

Here are the survey results, which tell us where companies will be investing in the next two years:

- 85% in digital product development;
- 78% - in 3D product design;
- 78% - in virtual usability testing;
- 71% in visual line planning.

Conclusion #4: COVID-19 has triggered an accelerated development of digitalization, but companies lack a clear and coherent strategy

Almost all companies surveyed believe that the pandemic has accelerated the need for digitalization in design, development and merchandising.

- 93% believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for digitalization in
- Only 59% believe they have a clearly defined strategy for future digitalization.

Conclusion #5: Barriers to success are about people, NOT technology

It's a misconception that the main barriers to digital transformation for companies are process and technology. In past surveys, respondents answered that their main barriers to digitalization were related to motivation, 2020 data tells us that 44% do not have the necessary skilled digital talent, such as 3D designers.

As digital product development in apparel has the potential to be the most significant career change for many people, there are now many questions about the impact on training, roles and responsibilities within end-to-end product development teams.