۱- Changing the game

۲- What constitutes a disruptive business-model innovation?

۳- Three disruptors in the fashion industry

۴- Conclusions and implications

References

Abstract

Unprecedented competition and emergent technologies have posed a challenge to many traditional retailers in recent years. Yet within this competitive environment, emerging innovative business models have thrived and successfully disrupted the industry. We analyze the nature of disruptive business-model innovations and the ways they disrupt the fashion retail industry. To that end, we examine three disruptors in the industry: born-digital brands, AI-enabled demand forecasting and product design, and collaborative consumption. After introducing the concept of disruptive business-model innovation, we discuss the three disruptors’ effects on the fashion industry. We find that all of these models keenly answer fundamental needs unmet by current business models, such as offering quality products at a competitive price, curated services, and sustainable consumption. At the same time, all three disruptors suggest effective operation models for handling demand uncertainty, inventory management, and timely responses to the market, all of which are inherent issues for current push supply chains and forecast-based, inventory-driven systems. Based on this analysis, we discuss important implications for both academics and industry practitioners.

Conclusions and implications

We have analyzed three areas of disruptive business-model innovation in the fashion retail industry: born-digital start-ups, AI-enabled demand forecasting and product design, and collaborative consumption. Each disruptor has great potential to influence key players in the industry by challenging long-held assumptions in current business models via their specific value-creation and value-capture models. The companies we’ve examined create value for their consumers and deliver that value profitably in ways that are considerably different from those of traditional retailers. They all keenly address growing consumer needs that have remained unmet by prevailing business modelsdoffering quality products at competitive prices, one-on-one style services, and sustainable consumptiondall of which are important trends that have received a great deal of attention from both the media and the academy (Todeschini, Cortimiglia, Callegaro-de-Menezes, & Ghezzi, 2017).