GK had the chance to sit down with ABAHOUSE International president Yuichiro Mizukami to discuss all things e-commerce, SDG, and apparel. Throughout the interview for FORTUNE magazine, President Mizukami revealed the direction he plans to lead ABAHOUSE and his thoughts, and plans to mitigate, fast fashion and overproduction within the industry. With plans to establish a luxury brand within Japan to tap into the lucrative inbound tourist demographic, the company is uniquely poised to set future trends.
What strategies is your company implementing to combine product, inventory, and customer information into a single cohesive platform?
We value the emergence of e-commerce as a valuable testing ground for our apparel brand. In an industry prone to overstock risks, e-commerce provides insights into customer preferences, allowing us to prebook specific products and exercise better inventory control. Notably, for high-volume items like furniture and bedding sold online, physical space is unnecessary beyond warehousing.
As pioneers in adopting e-commerce, we initially launched our original online shopping site, navigating platforms like ZOZO Town and United Arrows. Although we faced challenges initially due to a lack of expertise, we are gradually building competence and increasing online sales. While our partnership with ZOZO Town primarily serves marketing and brand awareness purposes, we aim to diversify our sales by introducing cultural items, music products, and cartoons.
How important do you believe e-commerce platforms will be as part of your future overall sales channels?
In the dynamic fields of e-commerce and digital communication, where workforce turnover is common, we have internally established an e-commerce team focused on originality and client needs. Similarly, our digital communications team is structured around salespersons who possess in-depth knowledge of client demographics. Although we faced initial challenges and continue optimizing our digital space, we emphasize that we started this business segment from scratch.
How else is ABAHOUSE looking to promote sustainable circulation of clothing?
Our initiatives at ABAHOUSE include recycling 100% cotton T-shirts, pants, hoodies, and cardigans. By collecting used T-shirts and refabricating them into the same items, we aim to provide customers with the same product for an extended period. While not yet profitable, this approach is innovative within the industry, especially considering the common challenge of recyclability posed by clothes with buttons.
A crucial aspect of our commitment involves challenging the industry’s tendency toward overproduction. We advocate for controlling inventory volume and sales timing to ensure a sustainable inventory level continually.
It’s essential to note that while we strive for sustainable practices, achieving 100% SDG goals is challenging, and a certain degree of waste contributes to the charm of the fashion industry. Our commitment lies in continually finding innovative ways to contribute to sustainability while recognizing the complexities of achieving absolute goals.
