The current health crisis has led to retail shops closing down, production stopping and a collapse in demand that has severely affected a sector that is fundamental for Italian manufacturing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n With over 500.000 employees<\/strong> and a turnover of over 80 billion euros<\/strong>, fashion represents an irreplaceable component of the country’s economy, now severely damaged.<\/p>\n Forecasts for 2020-2021 estimate losses of between 39 and 52 billion euros<\/strong>, while the figures for the first half of this year show a 28% drop<\/strong> in revenues: unprecedented numbers, with some Italian regions such as Tuscany, Marche, Veneto and Lombardy particularly affected.<\/p>\n The decline in demand for clothing in previous months should not, however, divert attention from other fundamental elements<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Which ones<\/strong>?<\/p>\n All those drivers of change<\/strong> to be adopted in order to restart, facing the future with determination.<\/p>\n First among these strategic assets, digital technology<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The greatest resilience has been demonstrated by companies that have embraced the transformation<\/strong> underway: we are not only referring to e-commerce, but to that broader set of solutions that include the use of Big Data<\/strong> and Artificial Intelligence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In Italy, only 10%<\/strong> of the supply chain has integrated this approach, and these are the realities that have been able to avoid irreparable losses and now look to the future with greater confidence<\/strong>. Some of them have found new consumers outside Europe<\/strong>, diversifying their revenues and reducing their dependence on the internal market: a real lifeline in this period.<\/p>\n We are witnessing a real paradigm shift, in which new technologies are allied to all those companies that have made the protection of Made in Italy<\/strong> a daily practice.<\/p>\n Online sales channels are important, but alone they may not be enough: a complete digital strategy<\/strong> must include broader<\/strong> and more articulated plans<\/strong>.<\/p>\n How<\/strong>?<\/p>\n First, looking abroad: the more than 6 billion exports<\/a> lost by the fashion supply chain during the past months will push companies to take new ways to be present in foreign markets, aiming at increasing efficiency.<\/p>\n This is also confirmed by Michele Castagna, export manager<\/strong> for eleven years: recently he told us how the current scenario has pushed more and more companies towards an internationalization<\/strong> strategy where digital is the absolute protagonist thanks to databases and Artificial Intelligence algorithms<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Matchplat\"](\"https:\/\/www.matchplat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ABBIGLIAMENTO-2.png\" "\\"Matchplat\\"")
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