TWOTHIRDS is not your average brand. We introduced the PRE-ORDER system before made-to-order was even cool! It has always chimed in with our sustainable mission to minimise waste and maximise quality, in the form of premium ecological textiles. PRE-ORDER basically means that you, an ocean lover, purchase our sustainable garments before they are made. This helps us to estimate the right amount of eco-friendly fabric to order, and the right number of items to produce. Which in turn stops overproduction in its tracks!
Did you know? Overproduction is one of the most damaging facets of the global fashion system. It follows the “linear” model that only has one thing in mind: profit. To make things more appealing for the customer, clothing is produced en-masse before brands know who is going to buy their stock. Inevitably, much of it doesn’t sell. Excess stock is either landfilled or left on shelves, unused.
That’s the issue that our PRE-ORDER system resolves. So why, when you browse the TWOTHIRDS website, do you sometimes find eco-friendly products that are ready to ship?
There are a variety of reasons for ready to ship - none of which undermines the efficacy of our PRE-ORDER system. Let’s get stuck in.
1. Scenario 1 - PRE-ORDER Has Finished
The first reason for TWOTHIRDS items being ready to ship will be that the PRE-ORDER period has finished for that style. The date that the garments were due to be dispatched has already been reached. That means our PRE-ORDER products are ready to ship! To account for extra demand or any latecomers to our new collection, we can be a little generous with our factory orders. Our fabric orders also need to factor in margin for error, so we always have some stock left-over at the end of the PRE-ORDER window.
Make no mistake: to get your favourite garments in the right size, we always recommend pre-ordering.
2. Scenario 2 - Cancellations
Customers who order through TWOTHIRDS have the right to cancel within 14 days. That’s normal, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. But of course it does run contrary to our system, meaning that we will have produced a style that no longer has an intended owner.
Once the PRE-ORDER window has ended, this style will be ready to ship.
3. Scenario 3 - Sales
While we may be perfectionists, we recognise that no system is actually perfect. There are errors, there is excess stock, there are times when our estimates have missed the mark. To both a) provide a sustainable alternative to fast fashion sales and b) shift any excess styles, we put our items on Sale at the end of every season. Put simply: PRE-ORDER helps us work out the numbers, then Sales take care of the rest. The result? Hardly any overproduction.
Sale items are ready to ship products that have usually been put on PRE-ORDER to begin with. That means: no compromising on quality, the same great eco fibres, and excellent craftsmanship at an even better price.
4. Scenario 4 - Limited Edition
We’ve recently made Limited Edition collections part of our seasonal repertoire. What are Limited Edition styles? They’re hugely popular low-cost designs that embody the TWOTHIRDS way of using up all material resources. Limited Edition collections are made from eco-friendly deadstock that is taken from our own partner factories in Europe. Deadstock is small amounts of fabric that is either left-over from another brand’s order or has been cancelled and is therefore no longer desired. We collaborate with our factories to reduce this waste by producing styles that have a limited production run. Which makes them even more unique.
We’re able to make Limited Edition styles on a ready to ship basis because 1) thankfully, we know they’ll sell! And 2) they turn an already finite quantity of textiles into garments, so we don’t need to get accurate estimates on the production volume.
5. Scenario 5 - Children Of The Ocean
We made the decision to release our kids clothing line, Children of the Ocean, on a ready to ship basis. Not only did this help us promote our first major release of kids clothing - by making it more immediately available to parents everywhere - it also prompted us to launch a smaller number of styles, keeping consumption at the lower end.
Using market analysis, we calculated that putting Children of the Ocean on PRE-ORDER would actually do more harm than good - causing a reduction in sales of around 30%. This would not make it commercially viable, which would have been a huge disappointment.
Our Overproduction Rate in 2023
The 2022 TWOTHIRDS Eco Report recently landed. This is the home of the latest data from the inner workings of our sustainable brand. Each year, we update you about the amount of clothing we sold versus the amount we produced. Our aim, as always, was to hit a target of 99% or more. Unfortunately we fell a little short of this mark, coming in at 96.4%. That gives us an overproduction rate of 3.6%, which is still way below the industry average of between 10%-30%.
The goal of our PRE-ORDER system is really to make our overproduction rate as low as possible. And it works! For the past 3 years we’ve recorded a sales rate of 96%+. In 2020, a critical year for the planet, it was as high as 99.9%! Amazing.
What To Know More About PRE-ORDER? We recently answered your most burning questions in an informative explainer article. Check it out here!