Why does business have problems with clothing labeling?

With sales, giveaways and even giveaways, retailers are wondering what to do with unmarked clothing. From September 15, it is no longer possible to trade clothing items without Honest Sign system barcodes. Manufacturers have exactly one month left to apply the necessary labels to their products. However, the business warns it will likely not be able to meet the deadline. Why? And how will this affect customers? Ivan Khorushevsky sorted it out.

Clothing manufacturers were required to label inventory as early as April 1 and were given three months to do so. The business had to apply barcodes to literally every item of clothing: from scarves and ties to dresses and ski suits. Market players immediately complained that the task was impossible in such a short time. The authorities thought about it and at the last moment moved the deadline by 2.5 months, that is, to September 15. However, this time was not enough for the sellers. Difficulties arose with the labeling of clothing, which had already been put into circulation and stored in marketplace warehouses. Companies had to take these products to their own factories and only label them there. The process turned out to be slow, said the owner of the pick-up point chain, Artem Bobtsov:

“The so-called return flow of marketplaces is very poorly adjusted. Some of them return goods through pick-up points, that is, 200 boxes can arrive there, and the work of the pickup point is paralyzed. Some sites offer to process returns directly from their sorting or distribution center. This takes a lot of time, the machine can lose a whole day just to receive several boxes of goods.

In addition, it is cheaper for suppliers to agree to dispose of goods at the marketplace warehouse than to pay for its return transportation and receipt. These figures are sometimes comparable to the cost of the product itself.”

There are a lot of leftovers in the warehouses of marketplaces, they are scattered across all regions and sometimes lie like dead weight for several years, Kommersant FM’s interlocutors note. Manufacturers still have the opportunity to label their products, but they must do so before November 1. Whether in a month it will be possible to track all the lost shipments without barcodes, return them back to the factories and put them back into circulation is an open question. At the same time, marketplaces met sellers halfway and offered to take over the labeling of clothing. However, for example, Ksenia Ryasova, CEO of Finn Flare, was not impressed by this gesture of goodwill:

“Wildberries and Lamoda brand for money, Ozon doesn’t do this at all. Each marketplace has its own capabilities. Let’s say that relabeling in my warehouse will cost 16 rubles. per unit of goods, in the Wildberries or Lamoda warehouse - 50 rubles. That is, it is expensive, especially considering the fact that this needs to be done in relation to tens of thousands of units of production.”

There is one more important nuance: from October 1, the authorities will stop issuing new labeling codes to sellers. It turns out that if the company did not manage to submit a request before this date, it will have to write off inventory. Another option is to arrange a sale at your own risk under threat of a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles. Businesses are at a loss as to what to do, shared Sergei Vikulin, director of the Raschini fashion house: “Everyone will look for the best solution for themselves, based on the cost of the product. You can imagine many options here, from donating things to charitable foundations and ending with gifts to customers. But I am sure that a certain way out of this situation will be found, because most companies really have problems. The state will meet halfway, and some measures will appear on what to do with those goods that they did not have time to label.”

The government has not yet responded to business complaints. But the deadlines have already been moved once, so anything is possible, Kommersant FM’s interlocutors say. In any case, buyers should keep an eye on the announcements - it is possible that a series of drawings and gifts awaits them in the near future.

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