Why the Fashion Industry should transition from Secondary to Primary Data

When first evaluating environmental impact as part of a sustainability strategy, it's common to turn to secondary data sources. Existing data from external institutions is easily accessible and requires minimal effort to obtain. However, while secondary data may save time initially, it presents significant limitations in accuracy and relevance.

Collecting primary data directly from your suppliers is a far more effective approach. It provides the most accurate information for assessing environmental impacts and creates a strong foundation for building a robust sustainability strategy.

Secondary data should only be used when primary data is inaccessible, or as a temporary solution while you prioritize establishing a system for primary data collection.

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Why is Primary Data crucial?

Primary data is collected with a specific goal in mind, tailored to your business’s objectives and regulatory requirements. When developing an environmental management strategy, data sourced directly from suppliers provides a precise snapshot of the current situation, ensuring that goals are aligned with your actual environmental impact.

In contrast, secondary data often fails to offer an accurate baseline. Its collection may not align with your specific needs, and it is typically too broad or outdated to provide meaningful insights. For instance, relying on secondary data for carbon emissions from a region where your suppliers operate will only give an estimate, potentially leading to misinformed decisions that could undermine your sustainability efforts.

A system that regularly collects primary data offers an ongoing, accurate understanding of your supply chain’s environmental footprint. Secondary data, on the other hand, may not reflect the current state of your operations and could lead to assumptions driven purely by production volume or material shifts.

Moreover, secondary data is often collected for different purposes, meaning it’s unlikely to be relevant to your specific needs. Without precise data, making informed decisions regarding design, procurement, or even public relations becomes challenging.

Tracking the progress of your suppliers also relies heavily on primary data. Accurate data collection from suppliers is essential for setting credible emissions reduction targets and monitoring ongoing performance. Without it, you're unable to gather key insights into each supplier's operations or identify areas for improvement in your sustainability strategy.

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Leveraging technology to enhance Primary Data Collection

Primary data plays an indispensable role in conducting reliable environmental impact assessments. Leveraging technology solutions that provide real-time, high-quality data insights can significantly improve the planning and execution of your sustainability strategy.

There is a growing recognition that data is not just a marketing tool but a critical enabler of the sustainable transition. Shifting the focus to data ownership and sharing is vital for real progress. As Delman Lee, Vice Chair of TAL APPAREL, emphasized during the Global Fashion Agenda Summit, suppliers who are committed to sustainability likely already have access to their data. What’s needed now is a harmonized approach to data requests from brands and a data infrastructure that allows for efficient sharing between stakeholders—whether they are brands, suppliers, or other partners.

At Sustainable Brand Platform, we are dedicated to making this vision a reality. Our suite of tools supports brands and suppliers in managing and accessing their sustainability performance data. We’ve also developed a data infrastructure that enables seamless data exchange across the supply chain.

Suppliers gain full control over their sustainability metrics, accessing detailed KPIs, assessing the impact of their investments, and using data to strengthen customer engagement. Meanwhile, brands benefit from an integrated solution that combines product- and company-level assessments with a powerful data collection system for their supply chain.

Whether you're a brand or a supplier, working with Sustainable Brand Platform is the simplest, most effective way to maximize the value of your primary data 🙌

Ready to start? Book a free demo of our solutions today!

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