Self‐planning functions within the Japanese apparel wholesale industry

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify what factors affect the recent trend of having self‐planning functions within Japanese apparel wholesalers.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was conducted involving Japanese apparel wholesalers and applied the probit and multinomial Logit regression analyses.

Findings

The main findings are as follows: large‐scale wholesalers who are located in urban areas tend to have their own planning functions, whereas small‐scale wholesalers who are located in rural areas tend not to have self‐planning functions and handle goods planned by other suppliers; wholesalers who handle a wide range of apparel and conduct business with retailers located in the same area tend not to have their own planning functions; the apparel wholesalers who have business dealings with many suppliers have the ability to promote themselves to the retailers; and the apparel wholesalers who have self‐planning functions tend to obtain goods from within Japan and other countries and sell goods throughout Japan.

Practical implications

Small‐scale and rural apparel wholesalers face difficult circumstances due to their size, location and lack of self‐promotion ability. In contrast, large‐scale and urban wholesalers are able to ensure greater independence due to their size and location.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on the important role of wholesalers in the Japanese apparel industry and, by using the empirical approach, can clarify factors affecting the recent trend of having self‐planning functions within Japanese apparel wholesalers.

Citation

Urakami, T., Komiya, K. and Inoguchi, J. (2009), "Self‐planning functions within the Japanese apparel wholesale industry", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 311-324. https://doi.org/10.1108/13612020910974465