E-procurement will destroy industry, says fashion king Banks
Celebrity designer Jeff Banks has hit out at a rising tide of bidding wars in the corporate clothing industry. Banks, co-founder of Coleshill-based Incorporatewear, said that procuring customers in an internet bidding war was “unsustainable and threatens the future of the industry”.
He said that e-procurement was unsustainable for both customers and suppliers, it puts the supply chain at risk and compromises quality.
The ‘reverse-eBay’ style auctions, in which companies bid against each other to set the lowest price for a contract, are becoming more common as buyers focus on cost cutting.
Banks is the former presenter of BBC’s The Clothes Show and co-founder of corporate clothing retailer Incorporatewear.
He said: “E-procurement is driving prices down to an unsustainable level. When suppliers decide they must win a contract at all costs and begin to bid for work at a loss, that is a step towards business failure for them and loss of supply for their customers.
"I understand the need for buyers to cut costs but there are better ways to do that by working with suppliers rather than pitching them against each other in a fight to the death that no-one can win.”
