What does an apparel buyer check before placing a first order?
Answer
They check your social compliance audit status, your product certifications with numbers, and your real monthly capacity by product type. For most Western buyers the audit is a gate: without a current one, the commercial conversation does not open regardless of price or quality.
A sourcing manager is building a vendor list for next season and needs to know which factories can be approved in time.
Information to make clear
Use the fields that affect this buying decision. Leave unsupported claims out.
- Product categories
- Knitwear, woven, denim and technical textiles are different factories.
- Fabric composition and construction
- GSM, count, weave and finish are how the buyer's technologist evaluates fit.
- Monthly capacity by product type
- The number that decides whether their programme fits your floor.
- Minimum order quantity per style and colour
- The most common reason an enquiry fails, and the cheapest to publish.
- Lead time from approved sample
- Season planning runs on this figure.
- In-house versus outsourced processes
- Buyers need to know where the work actually happens.
- Sampling capability and turnaround
- The first practical test of a new supplier relationship.
Documents to prepare
State what can be published, shared on request or issued with an order.
| Document | What it supports | Suggested handling |
|---|---|---|
| Social compliance audit reportMay be requested at: before commercial discussion, for most western buyers | Working conditions verified against a recognised programme: SMETA, BSCI, WRAP or SA8000 | Publish |
| OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certificateMay be requested at: product qualification | Tested for harmful substances, with a certificate number and issuing institute | Publish |
| GOTS, OCS or GRS scope certificateMay be requested at: wherever a sustainability claim is made | Organic or recycled content claims at the factory level | Publish |
| Transaction certificatesMay be requested at: per shipment for certified goods | That a specific shipment carries the certified content claimed | Issue per shipment |
| Test reports from a named laboratoryMay be requested at: sample approval | Colour fastness, shrinkage, pilling and tensile performance | Share on request |
| Factory profile with machine listMay be requested at: shortlisting | Machine types, counts and line configuration behind the capacity claim | Publish |
| Certificate of origin capabilityMay be requested at: costing the landed price | Preferential trade documentation for the buyer's market | Publish |
Details to ask in an enquiry
Collect only the information needed to assess the request and respond.
- Product category and style reference
- Determines which line the enquiry belongs to.
- Fabric and composition
- Decides sourcing and cost.
- Quantity per style, colour and size ratio
- The real driver of feasibility and price.
- Certification required
- GOTS, GRS and OEKO-TEX requirements change the whole supply route.
- Target price and destination market
- Duties and compliance follow the market.
- Delivery window
- Seasonal windows are unforgiving.
Related questions
Should audit reports be public?
Publish the audit programme, the date of the most recent audit and the site it covers. Full reports usually contain commercially sensitive detail and are shared on request. What matters publicly is that a current audit exists and a buyer can ask for it.
How specific should capacity figures be?
Give pieces per month by product category, and say how many lines produce them. Buyers are matching a programme to a floor, and a specific figure they can plan against is more credible than a large round number with no structure behind it.
We work as a sub-contractor for larger exporters. Should we say so?
Yes, and describe what you actually do: the process, the capacity, the quality system. Buyers looking for sub-contract capacity search for exactly that, and a site pretending to be a direct exporter is invisible to them and unconvincing to everyone else.
This is an editorial checklist, not a compliance standard. Requirements vary by market, customer and contract. Confirm current requirements with the responsible technical and commercial teams.
Plact Research. Plact's editorial desk for buyer-evidence guides. The guides organize common buyer questions, documents and enquiry fields. Requirements should be checked against current standards, regulations and contracts.