The Big Interview
Changing the face of textiles
Phil Oakley
Phil Oakley has been an integral part of Kornit Digital’s UK team since he joined in February 2020. P&P editor Melanie Attlesey speaks to the man himself about how the textile industry is changing and what part Kornit is playing during this ongoing transformation.
A
lthough Phil has only worked in the textile industry for the last 18
months, he has actually spent the best part of three decades working in print.
Recognising that the textile industry is on the cusp of change, or as he puts it in its ‘teenage years’, Phil left his role at HP and joined Kornit on the eve of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“This market does not feel as mature as the retail, point of sale and large format graphics market, which was where I came from,” says Phil. “I feel that there is still a lot of industrial maturity yet to happen.” It was the onset of the pandemic that Phil says has truly accelerated not only Kornit’s business, but the textile industry as a whole.
The IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Sales Index reported that online sales in the UK fell by 9.1% in May 2021 versus a year earlier. However, this most recent comparison is measured against a 61% boom in growth recorded in May 2020, which was driven by the first peak of the pandemic. If you take bricks and mortar retail as a comparison, a study by management consultancy Alvarez & Marsal, in partnership with Retail Economics, found that pre-tax profit margins for retailers in six European countries, the UK included, fell from 6.4% to 4.5% in the last 10 years and is forecast to drop to 3.2% by 2025. It is likely that the growth in e-commerce is the main contributing factor to this fall. This study also forecasts that, if the pandemic had not have happened, the profit margins in the countries studied would be 3.7% by 2025.
“Cracks in retail shopping were already showing prior to the pandemic, but it was just decimated during the pandemic with everyone forced to shop online. Coming
| 56 | September 2021
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Kornit completed the acquisition of Custom Gateway in August 2020 to provide the complete solution for on-demand printing
out of COVID retailers have recognised that they need to make the online shopping experience better,” says Phil.
Changing climate
T-shirt Central’s Kornit fulfilment centre in Florida
It’s in this changing climate that brands and retailers are having to adapt. When the consumer now wants a garment they head online, order several different styles and sizes, and return what they don’t want. In the same token, wanting next day delivery and free returns. But how do retailers and brands provide this service in a quick, sustainable and cost-effective way? Phil says the answer lies in on-demand printing. When Phil first started at Kornit his main role was to speak to the fulfillers about what benefits Kornit’s range of direct to garment printers could bring to their business. Instead, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the change in consumer buying habits, now means he spends much more of his time speaking to brands and retailers to bring about a shift in their manufacturing process and educate them on how the on-demand printing method can benefit their business model.
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