Pre-ordering, the new advantage for brands to green the world of textiles<

"About 200 billion pieces of clothing were produced in 2018", "60% of the clothes we buy are thrown away in the first year"... William Hauvette does not lack figures to illustrate the current production madness of the textile industry as well as the bulimia of consumers. To fight against these phenomena, he decided to launch a brand, Asphalte, surfing on a new trend: pre-ordering.

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The concept is simple. Instead of producing and then putting on sale as is the norm, these brands wait for the object to be paid for to start manufacturing it. Concretely, they regularly organize order campaigns, which can last between a few weeks and a month, on a specific article. Buyers pay but do not immediately receive the product. Because it is only at the end of this order phase that the company, which knows exactly the demand, launches production.

An ecological approach

The main argument put forward by the companies concerned is the eco-responsible dimension of the system. By agreeing to wait, the consumer allows the brand to better adjust the quantity manufactured and avoid overproduction.

But it is also, according to the players, a powerful lever to encourage consumers to make a thoughtful purchase that they will keep. "This feeling of waiting avoids impulse buying," says Katia Sanchez, founder of the eponymous sweater brand. To further reduce the risk, this designer makes it a point of honor to give the customer the option of returning to his purchase free of charge: “he can cancel during the entire order period and even a few days or even a few weeks beyond. I am very conciliatory on the subject”. Finally, the claws seek to eliminate the windfall effect: “we don't have sales and we relaunch the same products every year”, agrees William Hauvette. Thus, an interested person will not be afraid of missing an opportunity. If she likes the item but hesitates, she can always buy it later and at the same price.

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Brands are also encouraged to make more sustainable products. “We pass batteries of tests on our materials to ensure the quality of our clothes,” highlights the founder of Asphalte. The message is to produce less but better. Which applies to the number of collections developed. All players in the sector prefer to bet on a limited diversity of articles, rather than launching hundreds or even thousands of references every six months: “in three years we have only developed 25 different garments”, illustrates William Hauvette.

Obvious economic advantages

The arrival of pre-ordering in the ready-to-wear world is a recent trend: the menswear brand Forlife was founded in 2018, Asphalte in 2016... The practice is also starting to appear in other branches. . Wopilo, a French brand specializing in bedding items founded in 2017, has launched a pre-order bed linen collection. Because beyond the ecological dimension, pre-ordering has enormous economic advantages.

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This system allows in particular a significant reduction in production costs for the brand: no stocks, no intermediary... The risk is also much less present: little or no overproduction and above all no obligation to sell on sale. which eats away at the margins. "Pre-ordering allows us to try new products, even to launch ranges in small series, which would be impossible to make profitable in a standard circuit", says Thomas Hervet, founder of Wopilo. All these advantages make it possible to sell products that are often 30% cheaper. This makes quality much more accessible.

But above all, the ecological argument is a formidable marketing tool. As a result, many stories in the form of success stories. “We had launched a first brand of clothing that worked on a standard production model. We haven't had much success. Then we launched Asphalte in parallel, which from the first year beat the turnover of our first brand, which had existed for more than 6 years,” recalls William Hauvette. Same story with Wopilo, which launched thanks to pre-order and which has grown by 60% per year on average since.

A cost to the customer

The practice is not new, however. It has been used for a long time in the luxury industry: “haute couture houses make a version of the outfit in size 32 for the parade and afterwards it is possible to order it for yourself by changing the dimensions or even other details. “, points out Audrey Millet, researcher at the University of Oslo. On the other hand, in ready-to-wear, it initially suffered from a negative image: "for a long time, using pre-orders was a bad sign", she adds, "it was adopted by new designers who had no not have the means or the success to make standard sales".

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It must be said that the pre-order has a cost for the customer: the wait. “You order a garment in April and you don't receive it until June. It requires a good dose of foresight and anticipation,” emphasizes Marie, who has recently made several purchases through this channel. If she appreciates the ecological dimension of the system, she points out certain limits: "the dress I ordered was too tight but I didn't want to wait two more months and the summer would be over, so I didn't not returned, ”she points out. A risk anticipated by many claws, which often produce a little more than necessary to give dissatisfied customers the opportunity to request a change without having to wait too long.

Conversely, waiting can also be good for the customer: “it offers double satisfaction”, underlines Katia Sanchez, “at the time of purchase and at the time of reception”. An opinion confirmed by Marie: “you are waiting for it impatiently, the day you receive it you are super happy”, she laughs.

Beware of greenwashing

"We are faced with a business model of brands that want to sell," clarifies Audrey Millet straight away. A reality quickly visible with the use of cookies on the internet. Just after visiting the site of several pre-order brands, we are invaded by advertisements for their products on social networks. A fact that is not denied by some players: "We can't reinvent everything", we stress at Asphalte, "we are only present online so to bring people back we have to advertise. We invest a lot on Facebook, Instagram…”

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“In reality, brands often produce a certain quantity of items before the pre-order campaign,” warns Audrey Millet. She gives several ways to avoid being tricked: "if you see that the brand is increasing private sales, or has sales, you have to ask yourself questions", she begins, "even if the delays between the ordering and receiving are very short”. In this case it is unlikely that the company really had the time to warn the manufacturer, to launch production, to receive it and to dispatch it between the customers. Finally, as a general rule “the smaller the company, the more likely it is to find a truly clean actor”, concludes the researcher, for whom this system is incompatible with mass production. But even if everything is far from perfect: “it's positive that this way of doing things is essential. This shows a real awareness on the part of consumers”.

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