In today’s global business environment firms are increasingly held responsible for the degree of sustainability at their suppliers. Especially in the apparel industry, social sustainability factors (e.g. proper working conditions) are becoming more relevant. Horrific stories regarding hazardous conditions at apparel suppliers such as the Rana Plaza collapse (a garment-factory in Bangladesh, killing more than 1100 workers) has lead to consumers becoming more conscious of how their clothes are made. Apparel firms are well aware of this and for already some time they have been attempting to increase social sustainability at their suppliers with for example the use of code of conducts. Consumers are increasingly demanding transparent information about the origin of their apparel products. Many firms have been starting to respond to this by using socially sustainable supply-chains as a selling point and their competitive advantage. The technology which provides a promising opportunity for this trend is blockchain. While most people associate blockchain with the technology behind cryptocurrencies, it is now making its way to transform the apparel industry by allowing full transparency regarding its production. It is expected that this information technology will add value to the digital business model of apparel companies by significantly enriching product information.
Information regarding the entire production process will be traceable with the use of blockchain. When raw-materials 0r semi-finished products move from party to party along the supply-chain this information would be recorded and thereby provide transparency. Once the end-product is sold in the store, consumers could enter a serial number in a search-engine and would be provided with everything that they want to know: who made my product, where exactly was it made and what were the labor conditions. Apparel firms who take advantage of this opportunity would respond to this increasing demand for transparency, thereby improving the content component of their digital business model.
Sources:
Weill, P. and Woerner, S. (2013). Optimizing Your Digital Business Model. [online] MIT Sloan Management Review. Available at: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/optimizing-your-digital-business-model/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/samantharadocchia/2018/06/27/altering-the-apparel-industry-how-the-blockchain-is-changing-fashion/#67576d7329fb
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-tech/5-technologies-transforming-retail
