Domestic Vs Overseas Clothing Supplier – Which One To Choose?

Starting your fashion line is both exciting and nerve-wracking. You may have brainstormed a lot of product ideas until now. This is an interesting time for budding entrepreneurs. However, many startups and fashion brands find themselves hitting a brick wall and losing momentum when it comes to selecting the clothing supplier and manufacturer.

Even if you have a killer product and the best product idea, you cannot execute it without a high-quality wholesale clothing supplier.

In this post, we will be covering the following topics:

- Type of garment manufacturing company you are looking for.
- Choosing between Domestic Vs Overseas Clothing suppliers.
- Where to begin your search for women wholesale clothing suppliers?

Determine what you are looking for

When you’re looking to start a fashion company, there are a lot of things you need to take into account. Let’s take an example, what type of products or garments will you manufacture? Are you introducing product lines for women, men, kids, or both? If for women, then will you take care of the manufacturing at your own unit (if you have budgeted) or you would take the help of a women wholesale clothing supplier?

It is also important to get a clear understanding of different terminologies related to the garment manufacturing industry like manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, distributors, etc.

Suppliers, in terms of textile industry, can refer to anyone who can provide you with products, raw materials, and inventory.

You should determine the type of supplier you’re looking for.

- A wholesale garment manufacturing company that can help you from the initial design development to the final completion of the product, till packaging and delivery.

- A supplier to purchase products or inventory. The supplier can also be the manufacturer of the product.

- A wholesaler or distributor to package and ship your products.

Generally, the debate ends on choosing between Domestic and Overseas suppliers.

Domestic Vs Overseas Clothing Suppliers

You have to choose between domestic and overseas clothing suppliers as you begin your new fashion line. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. It is better if you research both mediums and then take the most appropriate decision for your brand.

Domestic Clothing Suppliers: Advantages

- They typically have higher manufacturing quality.

- They follow higher labour standards.

- As they are located domestically, the shipping time and distance is significantly shorter.

- Communication between the manufacturers and your team is easier due to no language barrier.

- Similar time-zones and holidays ensure that you both are on the same page.

- No import duties and tariffs to be paid.

Overseas Clothing Suppliers: Advantages

- They typically have lower manufacturing costs due to cheap labour availability, like in China and India.

- You can get to choose between various clothing suppliers and manufacturers.

- With modern-age communication tools like Skype, language is not a barrier anymore.

While domestic clothing suppliers offer great quality, the manufacturing cost can be too high. In overseas manufacturing, you get a lot of options for men and ladies clothing supplier. You can easily search them through well-established directories like Alibaba.

Where to begin your search from?

The end choice between domestic and overseas suppliers boils down to your preference and budget. Once you have made a decision, you can explore directories, Google, local libraries, and referrals to find a potential garment manufacturing company. Online overseas directories like Oberlo, Alibaba, IndiaMart, Sourcify, AliExpress, etc. list several women clothing exporters and wholesale clothing suppliers and vendors.

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Garment Quality Assurance: why does it matter?

Quality assurance and control is a very challenging and complex part of the apparel and garment manufacturing industry. There always has been a debate on the importance of garment quality and if product quality has an edge over product price with regards to customer satisfaction. 

Quality of a product is undeniably a prerequisite for building customer trust, retention and boosting your ROIs. If a product fails to meet the quality benchmarks of a customer, it basically fails to retain that customer. While a good quality product helps you earn higher ROIs due to fewer defects and field failures. It also means lower manufacturing and service costs. 

But what parameters define the quality of a garment? Are garment quality and quality assurance the same? What is the acceptable quality limit? What should you know about fabric quality? 

Keep reading to know the answers to the above. 

Why is quality important? 

According to a report by First Insight, 53% of the surveyed consumers rated quality as the most important factor when making a product purchase decision.  

Product quality is a competitive market for apparel brands that can affect their consumers purchasing decisions and thus their company’s profitability. 

A good quality product helps businesses build trust with their customers. A poor-quality product can result in the loss of countless potential sales as the brand fails to establish a connection with the end customer. A product that matches the quality standards fuels positive word of mouth and social media recommendations for your product. 

You also face fewer customer complaints and product returns. But the most important point that strengthens the case for garment quality is its connection to profitability. High quality produces a higher return on investment at any given market share. 

This is the reason why garment quality and assurance are becoming important for apparel manufacturers and women clothing exporters. 

Garment quality assurance and quality control

When it comes to the apparel industry, two terms are often coined together – garment quality assurance and quality control. Quality assurance is not the same as quality control, but quality control is an inherent part of quality assurance. 

Quality assurance takes care of quality at every step of the manufacturing process. This includes the initial design concept stage, production, and final product completion stage. 

Quality control accesses the quality of the garments after they have been manufactured and sorted into categories. All apparel and women’s apparel manufacturers assess quality in the pre-manufacturing phase, during manufacturing, and final inspection once the product is completed. 

Things to consider when it comes to fabric quality control 

When analyzing fabric quality, one needs to understand the acceptable quality limit. It is the worst tolerable quality level i.e. the maximum number of quality defects that are acceptable during the random sampling of quality inspection. 

Fabric quality can be accessed by considering its comfort, colorfastness, and durability. 

Comfort is checked in terms of elongation, elasticity, heat retention, conduction, moisture absorbency, waterproofing, water repellency, air permeability, etc. 

Colorfastness defines how well the fabric is able to preserve its color and appearance against time. When testing for colorfastness the fabric is exposed to different acid and alkali solutions and other environmental conditions. 

Durability tests the performance of the fabric under different conditions. 

Takeaway

As an apparel brand, you cannot overlook the aspect of garment quality. Choose a garment or women’s apparel manufacturer who can give you complete garment quality assurance. You should also communicate your product measurements and acceptable quality limits to the manufacturer. 

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