10th ANNUAL BLUECHERRY GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN & TECHNOLOGY REPORT: AI INSIGHTS AND MERCHANDISE DEMAND PLANNING TOP PRIORITIES FOR FASHION AND APPAREL BRANDS
BlueCherry highlights seismic shifts in tech and sourcing strategies over the past decade
NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 – Computer Generated Solutions, Inc. (CGS), a leading global provider of supply chain management software solutions for fashion businesses through its BlueCherry® platform, today released its 10th annual BlueCherry State of Supply Chain & Technology Report.
It provides a decade-long analysis of trends, challenges, and opportunities in the fashion supply chain landscape and reveals two top technology priorities in 2025: cultivating AI-driven insights and optimizing merchandise demand planning.
Over 300 executives across the global apparel, footwear, accessories, consumer lifestyle goods, retail, and manufacturing industries contributed to the new report. BlueCherry reveals how industry priorities have dramatically changed in a decade characterized by shifting technologies, consumer behaviors, and trade environments. Top 2025 priorities include:
- AI and advanced analytics: data-driven decision-making has been a high priority over the past 10 years and is now a must-have capability in 2025. Ninety-one percent (91%) of businesses view AI-driven insights as critical to growth.
- Merchandise demand planning: 77% of respondents cite implementing demand planning technology solutions as a top priority — the highest in four years. This is due, in part, to objectives for mitigating unforeseen supply chain disruptions.
- Nearshoring and reshoring: 45% of businesses are prioritizing nearshoring/reshoring, up significantly from a 14% average over the past four years.
- Top growth strategies remain unchanged: Although the past 10 years have seen dramatic economic, social and consumer behavior changes, prioritizing new customer acquisition, ecommerce and deploying digital process improvements have each been constant priorities.
The BlueCherry report also highlights top industry concerns for 2025:
- Economic and political uncertainty: more than three-quarters (76%) of industry leaders cited economic and political uncertainty as a serious or moderate challenge, up from 68% in 2024. By contrast, just 6% viewed trade policies (including tariffs) as a major risk back in 2020.
- Supply chain visibility: While overall confidence in supply chains remains steady, most respondents (85%) still say visibility is a key area for improvement.
“Our annual State of Supply Chain & Technology Report has helped fashion and apparel brands navigate a decade dominated by tech-driven disruption,” said Paul Magel, President, Business Applications and Technology Outsourcing Division at CGS.
“Our findings underscore the importance of better demand planning and access to AI-driven insights for smarter, faster decision-making. At BlueCherry, we’re proud to empower clients with the solutions and intelligence needed to optimize operations, enhance resilience, and drive sustainable growth.”
The full BlueCherry State of Supply Chain & Technology Report is available for download here. To learn more about BlueCherry and our full suite of solutions, please visit us at BlueCherry.com.
Methodology
The 2025 Supply Chain & Technology Report highlights the results of a market survey of 300 top fashion supply chain executives conducted in November/December 2024.
Respondents include leading voices from the apparel, footwear, accessories, consumer lifestyle, and home goods industries, including professionals from the C-suite, operations, finance, sourcing and supply chain management, product development, retail operations, IT, and e-commerce.
About BlueCherry
BlueCherry is the leading enterprise-grade software suite designed to meet the unique needs of the fashion industry. Offering a comprehensive digital supply chain management solution, BlueCherry empowers brands with real-time, end-to-end supply chain visibility to drive fundamental business processes.
BlueCherry’s unified platform leverages the latest digital technologies to streamline workflows, from planning and product development to manufacturing and sales. For more information, please visit www.bluecherry.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
About CGS
For more than 40 years, CGS has enabled global enterprises, regional companies, and government agencies to drive breakthrough performance through business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services.
CGS is wholly focused on creating comprehensive solutions that meet clients’ complex, multi-dimensional needs, and support clients’ most fundamental business activities. Headquartered in New York City, CGS has offices across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.cgsinc.com and follow us on LinkedIn.