Humans have been making and wearing clothes for a really long time, but no one knows exactly how long. Experts estimate that somewhere between 40,000 years ago and 3 million years ago, people started making clothes and putting them on.
The oldest clothing item that has been found so far dates back about 5,000 years to Egypt’s first Dynasty.
Clothing manufacturing has come a long way since the earliest days of textile and clothing production. Similarly, the distribution process has become a global network of producers, distributors, and consumers.
Are you interested in learning more about clothing distribution and other aspects of the industry? Let’s take a look at nine things you should know!
- Where Is Most of Our Clothing Made?
The economies of many countries are greatly impacted by the garment industry. The nations that export the largest amount of apparel are:
- China
- Bangladesh
- Vietnam
- India
- Hong Kong
- Turkey
- Indonesia
China is by far the biggest producer of clothing, manufacturing 65% of clothes that are worn around the world. You might be surprised to find that a number of your favorite apparel brands are actually produced in China, not to mention other types of products.
If you’re learning how to start a clothing company, an important consideration is your supplier. It’s worth doing some research regarding where your clothes are coming from. We’ll dive into this deeper in the next section.
- It’s Worth Choosing the Right Supplier
There are a lot of different things to take into consideration when you are choosing a clothing distribution center to source your products. You will want to consider how close the company is in proximity to your business. You’ll also want to research how inexpensive, quick, and easy it will be for them to ship apparel to you.
Quality is also another important factor. You want your customers to be happy, and one of the ways you achieve that outcome is by selling them high-quality products.
It’s easy to be tempted to try and save a buck by reducing quality. However, this can end up backfiring as it’s hard to get repeat customers when your products are subpar.
If you’re looking for a distributor, check out these clothing vendors.
- How Much Clothing Is Produced Every Year?
Have you ever stopped to wonder just how many articles of clothing are produced in the world every year? Maybe not, but regardless you will likely be astounded by the numbers.
It is estimated that somewhere between 80 billion and 150 billion garments every single year. If you go with the 80 billion number, that means that we have increased our clothing consumption by 400% in just the last two decades. The two countries that spend the most money on clothing are the United States and China.
- How Much Clothing Does the Average American Buy?
Every year, the average American buys 64 items of clothing and roughly 7.5 pairs of shoes. Incredibly, 98% of all shoes and 97% of all clothing that is bought and sold in the U.S. come from beyond our shores.
The average American adult between the ages of 25 and 34 spends somewhere around $161 on clothing every month. Adults that are between the ages of 35 and 44, though, spend a bit more at $209 every month. The average U.S. family spends roughly $1,800 every year on their clothes.
- What’s the Global Revenue of the Apparel Market?
The apparel market is a big deal on a global scale. The revenue of this market is expected to increase from its 2020 number of about $1.46 trillion to about $2.25 trillion by the year 2025.
- How Many Employees Does the U.S. Apparel Manufacturing Industry Employ?
Even though most of the world’s clothing is produced in China and a number of developing countries, that doesn’t mean the apparel manufacturing and distributing industry is anything to scoff at. In April of 2021, there were 91,800 employees working in the manufacturing of clothes in the U.S.
- How Big Is E-Commerce?
People are getting increasingly used to buying things online. Clothing is no exception.
As you might expect, e-commerce was a particularly helpful tool for the clothing industry during the coronavirus pandemic. Of all of the apparel sales in the U.S., online apparel sales accounted for about 46%. This is an almost 16 percentage point jump up from 2019.
- Shipping Is an Important Consideration
When you start a clothing company, it means that you need to think about getting the products shipped to you and then how you are going to ship them to the customer. You have a number of options to choose from, and it’s worth taking the time to find the most effective, efficient, and affordable option.
To answer this question, you’ll need to think about the location of the clothing distribution center and where most of your customers are located in relation to your business. Run the numbers on the shipping costs and decide whether or not you’re going to have your customers pay the shipping on their orders or if you will foot the bill.
- How Much Clothing Does the Average American Throw Away Every Year?
If you were surprised by how many pieces of clothing Americans buy every year, you might be even more surprised to learn how much clothing they throw away in that same time period.
Americans throw away, on average, 81 pounds of clothes every year. It is estimated that, on a global level, humans create 92 million tons of waste in the form of textiles.
Clothing Distribution: Now You Know!
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes when it comes to clothing companies. The process of design, manufacturing, distributing, and disposing of is a major industry in the world.
Did you find this article about clothing distribution and the clothing industry interesting? If so, be sure to check out the rest of our blog!
