Buying Houses’ focus on product development to increase business and enhance value

As the competition in the industry intensifies, there is an increased focus on effective monitoring and management of product development in the RMG sector. Building a product development team requires substantial investment. However, it provides a new user experience, addresses needs, offers solutions to problems, broadens a company’s customer base and market share.

Serving as middlemen between suppliers and retailers, buying houses play a crucial role in the apparel industry. They help buyers to identify and evaluate suppliers. Approximately 850 out of 1,500 member buying houses are actively engaged in operations within Bangladesh, states Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

There’s a trend amongst them: product development. According to Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association (BGBA) data, in the last fiscal year alone, buying houses facilitated US $ 8 billion in garment export orders. Product development is essential for building customer loyalty and staying ahead of the competition. It’s also important to ensure customer satisfaction and reduce the risk of returns. It’s the process of setting seasonal goals, brainstorming, creating, executing, researching market and trends, bringing new products or services to consumers, improving on existing ones, developing new product styles through technical design, creating product samples to complete product styles with standardisation, selling the line and displaying the line. In short, it’s complex and time consuming.

As the competition in the industry intensifies, there is an increased focus on effective monitoring and management of product development. In today’s highly competitive market, any buying house will not be able to survive without having a well-coordinated product development team, says Kazi Iftequer Hossain, Total Apparel’s CEO and former President of the Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association (BGBA). He further adds, “A good product development team strengthens the relationship between the buyer and the manufacturer and makes it more enduring.”