They also alleviate many of the retailers’ reordering headaches and help them buy as close to the selling season as possible. For manufacturers today, quick response has become key to survival. (Kumar, 2006)
One such system to link retailers and manufacturers is called electronic data interchange (EDI). An EDI system employs interconnected computer terminals throughout the entire manufacturing and sales systems. At the retailer’s checkout counter, electronic point-of-sale scanners read the bar code attached to each item and record the product sold, its price, and even such details as its color and size. This up-to-the-minute report on a given store’s sales is then relayed to the manufacturer.
Quick response and EDI technologies have proven successful with basic goods, which are relatively simple to produce, require shorter lead times, and increasingly are being manufactured in highly automated factories in the UK. These systems are more difficult to implement for seasonal and fashion apparel, however, because such goods require more labor input and thus tend to be made in the Caribbean or Southeast Asia. (Kumar, 2006)
Technology also is playing a crucial role in apparel procurement (or reverse auctions) through the rising popularity of business-to-business (B2B) exchanges—online marketplaces that allow trading partners to conduct real-time business communications with each other.
他们也减轻了许多零售商重新排序的头痛和帮助他们购买尽可能接近销售旺季。今天的制造商，快速响应已成为生存的关键。库马尔2006。
这样一个系统的链接零售商和制造商称为电子数据交换（EDI）。EDI系统采用计算机终端在整个制造和销售系统。在零售商的结帐柜台，销售点电子阅读扫描仪连接到每个物品的条形码和记录产品出售，其价格，甚至它的颜色和大小等细节。这为在一个给定的商店的销售分钟报告然后中继到制造商。
快速反应和EDI技术已证明是成功的基本用品，是生产相对简单，要求缩短交货时间，并越来越多地被高度自动化的工厂在英国制造。这些系统是更难实现的季节和时尚服装，但是，因为这些货物需要更多的劳动力投入，因此往往是在加勒比海和南洋。库马尔2006。
技术也发挥着至关重要的作用，在服装采购（或反向拍卖）通过业务的日益普及，商业（商对商）交流的网上市场允许的贸易伙伴与对方进行实时通讯业务。
