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Grande Garedrobe |
In direct extension of the research project International Distributors, the
company International Distributors Ltd. wished to start a research project with
the purpose to demonstrate that one could achieve great advantages for both the
recipients/customers - poor people in the Third World - and the seller. This
would be done by using the same methods for research into sales methods as the
ones used in the rich part of the world, including customer service and service
level - especially with reference to sale of used clothes. AND this could
initiate new development. "The existing trade with used clothes is unorganized, undeveloped, and with an eye for short-term profits only. It is our intention to develop and refine the methods by which this trade is carried out, through investigations, research, and the development of models. For the benefit of the individual customer/recipient, primarily in the third world. For economic advancement of the commercial sector. Charitable in particular, in that research in and development of this trade from the customers/recipient’s side will mean advantages and a better utilization of the actual value of the goods. It is our belief that the products to a higher degree will end up in the right places, and thereby benefit many people, especially in the Third World." The idea for the project occurred when the company began to study the global trade in used clothes: "Large quantities of this commodity are transported across oceans and borders, packed, moved, exchanged, mistreated, and soiled. These commodities do not, according to the opinion of this company, obtain their actual value on arrival to their destination, because they are neither at the right place on the right time for the right buyer, nor sold in an appropriate fashion. In this regard research is required. It is accessible. It is known. It is developed down to its smallest detail in some parts of the world. In other parts of the world it is unknown." IFAS processed the approach from Distributors
International Ltd., and worked out the guidelines for their research task, as a
basis for an application to the Foundation for 642,000 Dkr. "In this case IFAS is facing a project where the applicant wishes to have the question clarified of how far it actually is from the common knowledge and state of science to the general population benefiting from it, especially in the Third World. In this specific case: the trade with one product: Clothes. An everyday life amenity. An amenity which exists in large quantities and is consumed in large quantities in some parts of the world. In such large quantities that it has been calculated that people in some countries of the rich part of the world on average discard 11 kg of clothes per year. Thrown away, because it is worn out? Is not good enough any longer? This is rarely the case. More likely, the clothes are squeezed to the side and down into the waste bin by a more and more developed and aggressive marketing of "the new". The new clothes, the new colors. What is suitable right now - for you. Because you are under pressure. Constantly more friendly and invitingly the customer is offered the product. Refined and thoroughly researched methods are used to sell every single product. Years of well-paid research. For the benefit of the seller? Of course. But also for the benefit of the buyer. Research has been used. Funds used. The key words are: Marketing, customer service, customer information, brand names, sales technique, sales methods, upgrading, demand analysis, organization. If we turn our eyes towards another part of the world, the picture is different. Here, the same words are unknown phenomena. Buy clothes here from my pile! Push and shove until you reach there. Pay the prize and the over prize. And a little bit extra since you were allowed to buy. Did you get what you wanted? Maybe next time. In this present case IFAS sees, in agreement with the applicant (Distributors International Ltd.), an area where the research elements are well-known, but where the results and similar research are unavailable for people in the Third World." The Practical Course of the Project Firstly, they made investigations and studies of the global trade of used clothes: Which amounts are sold to/from which countries? Which countries are the largest and most typical buyers of the product? Which circumstances influence this trade? Import restrictions, customs regulations, monetary policies, etc.? Secondly, they mapped the trade of used clothes in a number of countries: Based on the investigations into the global trade of used clothes, a number of countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe were chosen, and these were visited, traversed, and examined for these questions, for example: The amount of clothes imported and exported. The plotting of the road from supplier to consumer. Is this adequate? Can it be altered? Is the product available to the buyer? Always, rarely, never? A price overview - the sales price, the purchase price, and the prices in between. The product on its way. Arrival to the country, to the harbor. The road from here to the market, to the buyer. How is it organized? Is it adequate? Can it be changed? Marketing. How is the product presented to the buyer? Under which circumstances does the customer buy the product? Are the products adjusted to the needs/demands of the buyer? Are they adjusted to the ease/comfort of the seller? Thirdly, the researchers carried out market analyses and further investigations based on the interests and wishes of the buyer: Which are the buyers’ interests and wishes? How can they be fulfilled? Are the current supplies living up to the present demands of the market? Why not? Are there groups of potential buyers for the product? Groups, which do not have access to the existing market? Or groups which are not considered potential buyers, because they do not know the product? Fourthly, the researchers carried out a comparative investigation with the trade of other products: Products from large fashion houses. Products from international chains of shops, food supply chains and department stores. Brand names within clothing and fashion Fashion clothes Other "every day products" All of this extensive material was processed, written up statistically and graphically, and made available for further studies and the creation of models of how the trade could become thoroughly modernized in all aspects through the utilization of the newest methods. These models described the sale, the organization of the sale, and the places of sale as they appeared in the different countries. They included budgets, material lists, drafts of action plans, and laws and regulations which the different models would face when they were carried out. The models were put in relation to different consumer categories, such as individuals, groups, governments, and wholesalers. Two models were chosen and carried out in practice in Togo and Benin, West
Africa.' Instead of the customer being allowed to rummage through a random pile of used clothes of very different qualities and perhaps finding something useful, people were instead met with a display of decent quality clothes, clean and whole and with the right amount of buttons, sorted by types and sizes, and with a seller who was interested in what they wanted to buy - and thereafter made an effort to actually provide this. The same was true for the wholesalers. The agreement to deliver a certain amount of clothes to a certain type and quality was lived up to, which resulted in new deliveries and the development of good business contacts. In many cases new local traders came into the business - people who still today trade in second hand clothing and are building on the principles which were introduced at that time - in combination with the new developments and refinements in its wake. Confidence was created for the benefit of both parties in the trade, for the area as such, and for all the many people who both got good clothes to wear and were treated well and respectfully. By bringing good market manners and business ethics from the rich parts of the world into the trade with used clothes in the poor parts of the world, the whole situation was turned in a trade, which, frankly speaking, often had been strongly marked by the opposite. The new praxis, created on the background of thorough investigations and innovative thinking focusing on the desire to improve people’s lives in Third World countries, has spread enormously within the entire global trade in used clothing - not the least in the new east European market which has gradually been opened with respect to these experiences - and with the same humanitarian outlook on man and life as its definite foundation. We are talking about an advanced and far-sighted research project, which had vast consequences. The Foundation can be proud to have contributed to this development. |
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