The apparel industry has faced difficulties amid brick-and-mortar store closings due to the coronavirus outbreak. The new work from home routine as well as a steep reduction in the number of social gatherings has not necessitated new outfits. The high seasonality of fashion coupled with a decline in consumer demand has left many stores struggling with inventory and supply chain problems.
These difficult and unprecedented times, however, have experienced a surge in entrepreneurial activity across businesses – big and small. As we are facing something unknown, we have had to rethink business and marketing strategies. We have been both amazed and humbled by the demonstration of American entrepreneurial drive amidst these challenging times.
Re-thinking Innovation at Ames Walker
As part of our upcoming webinar on Official Retail eCommerce Covid-19 updates 4.0 on Thursday, April 23rd at 2 PM ET, NetElixir will share a story of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit seen in the apparel industry. We will be joined by the inspiring Kaki Zell, Co-Owner and Vice President at Ames Walker.
Kaki will join NetElixir’s Founder and CEO Udayan Bose for a Q&A session on how Ames Walker transformed their company’s manufacturing capabilities overnight to produce protective masks, which are manufactured with ISO 13485 standards. These masks are washable, for up to 30 washes. Ames Walker also redesigned their supply chain and demand generation means to re-engineer a turnaround in their business during this pandemic.
“During these uncertain times, many consumers, especially our older demographic are on an E-commerce roller coaster ride,” says Zell. “People are being forced to shop online for everything from groceries and household goods to apparel and other discretionary goods and services. As a seller in the apparel market, we are optimistic about the future and how this will accelerate the shift from traditional retail to E-commerce. For many, this is a “crash course” in online shopping.”
About Ames Walker
Ames Walker sells high-quality compression hosiery made in the United States from carefully selected fabrics and the highest medical standards. In business since 1995, Ames Walker has faithfully served and supported their customer base.
In announcing their masks on Facebook, Ames Walker says, “We’ve been working hard to supply you with the product you need so we have decided to transition some of our sock manufacturing to make protective masks for you!”
Kaki will be joining NetElixir’s webinar on Thursday, April 23rd at 2 PM ET to share how Ames Walker switched to mask manufacturing and share what she has learned during these times of crisis. To participate, register now.
Additional Insights
Join BWG Strategy with NetElixir’s webinar on studying the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, live on Tuesday, April 21 at 3 PM ET.
While we have covered an extensive dataset, it is by no means exhaustive. If you are interested in discussing specific insights for your category, please email us at shareinsights@netelixir.com.
You can watch our March 11 webinar here, which was the first of the series on tracking the impact of the coronavirus on ecommerce sales and online shopping behavior.
Our March 26 update webinar featured our first Retail Superhero, Parag Shah, the Vice President of Grocery at Wakefern Food Corporation for Shoprite, and detailed over a month’s worth of research.
The third webinar in our impact of Covid-19 series, which aired on April 9, featured UPS’s President of SMB and US Marketing, Gerard Gibbons, for a live Q&A.
Further Reading on Ecommerce Updates During Coronavirus
Our Founder and CEO Udayan Bose emphasizes the importance of real data. Real-time data, gathered daily by our Retail Intelligence Lab, shares a glimpse into how people are coping day by day. For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:
- Ecommerce Opportunities During the Coronavirus Outbreak, from Friday, April 17
- Ecommerce Grocery Shopping During the Coronavirus, from Wednesday, April 15
- Supply and Demand: Navigating the Coronavirus Outbreak, from Monday, April 13
- Updates on Coronavirus Impact on Ecommerce Sales and Shopping Behavior, fom Friday, April 10
- What is COVID-19’s Impact on Retail Ecommerce, from Wednesday, April 8
