Cascading Loop Creation : a case study of how digitalisation brings fashion retail product service systems, business partners, and customers together.

Abstract: Background – Circular economy (CE) is gaining more and more importance in research, based on the great desire to change the linear fashion economy to a circular. A Product Service System (PSS) can contribute to the achievement of CE, as PSSs, such as take-back or repair services, bring back the garments to the fashion retail company into the CE. Regarding, closed-loop goals have been created from which the third goal needs to be recently achieved by the fashion industry. Closed-Loop Goal 3 deals with the cascading flow of garments, which sends a garment into multiple usage loops. To accomplish the cascading garment flow, this method connects several PSSs to close the loop, and fewer garments end in landfill. To achieve that, the involvement of customers and business partners is essential as they are purchasing and repatriating garments and materials into the cascading loops. Purpose – The research purpose is to offer new knowledge regarding how fashion retailers can implement cascading loop systems in the textile Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) and narrow the research gap of cascading loop creations. The study aims to investigate how to involve customers and business partners in PSSs through the digitalisation of cascading garment flow. By doing so, the cascading garment flow intends to achieve improved sustainable performance by allowing used garments to enter a cascading garment flow system.  Methodology – This thesis is a single case study that has been conducted through an abductive approach. The research is built on different customer and business partner involvement theories and the triple bottom line theory. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted as primary data collection. Additionally, the data has been supplemented by secondary data in the form of company documents such as sustainability reports. Afterwards, the data has been analysed qualitatively by thematic analysis and by the SDG assessment tool.  Findings – The results have shown that a mixture of smart service tools, stakeholder and customer communication can achieve customers and business partners' involvement in creating a cascading garment flow. Additionally, the findings offer an insight into the potential contribution of the SDG goal achievement, which is showing that the digitalised PSSs involving customers and business partners in the cascading flow can potentially obtain sustainable performance.  Practical implications & Research limitations – The cascading garment flow as the Closed Loop Goal 3 in CE is still a relatively unexplored area. However, the implementation is essential for sustainable performance and development. Therefore, it is suggested that other issues within the cascading garment flow should be investigated. Additionally, this research was mainly districted by the smaller selection of literature of former research, which did not offer much support.