TECH‘S IN FASHION FOR B2B DISRUPTER
WHILE it’s an industry which prides itself on leading trends, the fashion sector is arguably playing catch-up when it comes to new technology.
This presented an opportunity for entrepreneur Alice Fitch, who drew on experience in the sector to launch business-to-business portal Whola in 2020, addressing a key shortcoming in the fashion supply chain.
Previously the fashion industry relied heavily on trade shows and label representatives meeting with retailers in person to strike deals.
It was a time-consuming process for the now more than 4500 retailers that now purchase through Whola, where they can select new designs and sort by price.
Ms Fitch said there was a clear opportunity to build a better way for retailers and fashion labels to interact.
“Before this business I had bricks and mortar agencies here and in Sydney, and doing that, I just saw that the whole process was broken, and it wasn’t customer-focused,” she said.
“It annoyed me that there was just so much legwork that buyers had to do to actually confirm an order and get it in store.
“They would have to leave, go and do their buying, which is expensive and time-consuming, and there was no central place where they could go and find all the best brands. I thought ‘this has to be easier’, which is, in essence, why I created Whola.’’
Ms Fitch said the traditional model involved a lot of risk for retailers, who would have to order stock six months in advance.
“You have to be quite skilled to forecast the trends, to forecast what your trade is going to be, what your cash flow is going to be like,” she said.