EXCLUSIVE Q&A: Materials matter in your supply chain – here’s why
Retailers often overlook the importance of materials to their supply chain, but changing this mindset is critical to optimizing back-end performance.
Chain Store Age recently had a conversation with Liza Amlani, a veteran merchant who is principal and co-founder of Retail Strategy Group, about materials processes in the supply chain and why materials are such a critical component of developing and merchandising products.
Amlani is also co-author of the new book "The Material Life: Process Innovation for Retailers and Brands" (Routledge, 2025).
What is the materials process and why is it so important to the retail supply chain?
When I talk about materials, I mean product components like fabric, textiles, trims, print, pattern, and color. The challenge in the way that retailers design and develop products is that they don't necessarily have a materials-first mindset. Retailers need to put materials at the forefront of their decision-making from concept to market.
How can retailers break down materials-related supply chain silos?
Silos within retail and brands are common. Process innovation is the most underrated opportunity in the supply chain and in product creation from concept to market, and breaking down silos is part of that innovation.
Not only do retailers need to update processes and how they create product and how they go to market; they really need to change the way they look at cross-functional teams. Imagine a rowing team where each member is out of sync. The boat won’t go anywhere. But when everyone moves in rhythm, a collective force propels that boat forward.
[READ MORE: CSA Exclusive: Partnering for innovation, from source to shelf]
The same concept applies to retailers and brands. When functions are aligned around the same goals, they accelerate speed to market and the coordination of great product at the right time, at the right place.
The coordination of rowers is guided by a coxswain. For retailers and brands, their version of the coxswain would be a chief product officer, because the chief product officer is the person that can speak to product because they are product experts. They are also merchants at heart, so they bring all those cross-functions together, and they break down a lot of silos because they have expertise in different functions.
What role do materials play in assortment planning?
In assortment planning today, materials are almost an afterthought. Retailers will have a concept to market, where typically there is a seasonal strategy, then the design group will present a design brief with sketches.
Afterward, they will ask the materials team to go find that perfect color or perfect material. The challenge with working in that way is that there are no guardrails. The materials department is going to the vendor and developing the materials that the designer will subjectively like or not like.
And what results is excessive and unnecessary over-development and a lot of iterations, and time wasted. But if we innovate that process and flip it on its head, almost is if we start with materials strategy instead of starting with design, then designers would design into them.
That would not only elevate the materials team from a service provider to a partner that collaborates, but it would also help install guardrails when design is developing a product. You're eliminating over-development and unnecessary development of materials that probably exist in the company materials library.
What steps should retailers take to ensure the success of materials processes?
Historically, retailers have obsessed with what to sell versus improving the process behind product creation. As a former merchant, I look at what should be in my product assortment and what my customer wants.
But if retailers start to think about how to create that product, along with the what, they will impact their margins, full-price sales, and time-to-market. The industry does love low-cost sourcing, so there are a lot of cost pressures. If they start thinking critically about how a product is made and innovating that process, retailers can start rethinking the how and eliminate some of the cost pressures.
This is important in the industry today. Some brands are creating an innovative process around product creation and hiring more employees around raw material planning and strategy and operations, which means that materials are being elevated, and the how is becoming more important compared to the what.
What are the biggest materials trends retailers will see in 2026?
I think retailers will see more vibrant colors and a lot more innovation in terms of materials, with more consciousness about the impacts to the climate.
I also think there will be more merchants, designers and leadership teams looking in the rearview mirror instead of always looking forward. They will look at the impacts and consequences of some of the decisions they are making when designing and creating a product and see what's actually happening on the factory floor so they know products are being created in an ethical way.
