The Better Buying Institute (BBI) has published its Purchasing Practices Index Garment Industry Scorecard, which shows a mixed picture, with some of last year's improvement stalling.

The Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index Garment Industry Scorecard was announced ahead of the full Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index findings and ratings, which will be published later this year.

According to the Scorecard, 1257 garment evaluations were submitted this year, up 37 percent from 918 last year, and from 54 different nations, up from 52 last year.

The Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index Garment Industry Scorecard is intended to measure year-to-year progress and losses in purchasing practice performance.

The impartial third-party effort collects anonymous supplier ratings of buyer buying practices, which are collected, assessed, and made available to retailers, brands, and suppliers with the purpose of driving change and industry-wide improvements throughout supply chains.

Despite the extraordinary challenges of Covid 19, brands and retailers continued to improve their purchasing habits in six of the seven categories examined in last year's 2021 Scorecard. However, this year's results paint a mixed picture, indicating that some of that progress has stagnated, according to the Better Buying Institute.

The overall score for Garments stays unchanged from 2021, at 66, as do the ratings for Design and Development (74) and Management of the Purchasing Process (90). While there were slight increases in Planning and Forecasting (62 points compared to 61 last year), Sourcing and Order Placement (28 points compared to 26), and Payment and Terms (68 points compared to 66), scores fell in Cost and Cost Negotiation (70 points compared to 72) and Win-Win Sustainable Partnership (68 points compared to 66). (74 compared to 77 in 2021).

Dr. Marsha Dickson, president and co-founder of Better Buying Institute, said that 2022 has seen the biggest number of ratings submitted to date. Brands, retailers, and their suppliers have faced enormous obstacles in the last year as they strive to recover from the impact of Covid-19.

Dickson added that it looks that some of the advances they observed in 2021, in the early aftermath of the epidemic, have halted or gone into reverse for garments. Over the following several months, they will thoroughly analyze the data in order to assist brands and retailers in better understanding the most significant constraints they place on suppliers. Their members will benefit from their suppliers' views for adjustments that will enable long-term and productive real relationships.