Distribution refers to the shipping and logistics of raw fiber, materials, components, and unfinished items in the process of manufacturing and subsequent delivery of final products to the end users via retail outlets or e-commerce. The global character of the fashion supply chain means that raw materials may originate in one country but are likely to be spun into yarn in another, then they will be shipped to be woven into fabric elsewhere and later transported for finishing into yet another location, different again to where the final product will be manufactured. The rapid shift to offshore manufacture since the 1990s means that most of these processes typically take place away from the geographic location of the commissioning company and its target market, and so finished products are shipped yet again to where they are sold. All this is not without impact, the collective travel and distribution further increases the CO2 emissions and the overall ecological footprint of fashion products. Despite this, the impact of distribution is estimated to be relatively low in comparison to other stages of the fashion value chain.(1-4)
DISTRIBUTION
