The aggregate score for purchasing practices dipped from 67 to 66, with most categories witnessing a one or two-point decline, indicating a lack of forward momentum.
This stagnation comes at a time when the industry is navigating through periods of significant global and geopolitical challenges, including ongoing trade tariffs uncertainty.
Planning and Forecasting experienced the most significant decrease, dropping from 59 to 56 points. Over 37% of suppliers pinpointed this category as the top priority for enhancement.
The Scorecard, which draws on anonymous feedback from more than 1,200 suppliers during the 2025 Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index (BBPPI) ratings cycle, evaluates performance in seven critical purchasing practice areas that influence suppliers' capacity to offer fair work conditions and wages.
The participating suppliers account for over 10 million employees, approximately one-sixth of the estimated 60 million individuals working throughout the global apparel supply chain.
Cascale Better Buying product head Katie Hess said: “The BBPPI scores provide us with a critical baseline on where we are, as an industry, on purchasing practices. I’m pleased to see that brand and retailer progress has been broadly maintained, even during a period of unprecedented global and geopolitical turbulence as a result of the ongoing trade tariffs uncertainty, but at this late stage in the game, stagnation is not good enough. The urgent need for collective, committed, whole-industry action on purchasing practices is starkly clear.”
The release of the Garment Industry Scorecard marks the first since Better Buying became part of Cascale in February 2025.
It provides preliminary data ahead of the comprehensive BBPPI Report, which will offer in-depth commentary and analysis on the underlying factors behind these scores.
The full report is scheduled for publication during Cascale’s Annual Meeting in Hong Kong from 15-17 September 2025.
Cascale board director representing brands and retailers and Marks and Spencer responsible sourcing global head Fiona Sadler said: “With Better Buying now part of Cascale, we have an unprecedented opportunity to drive up action at scale, by bringing together all key stakeholders to embed fair purchasing principles as the norm in global supply chains, and achieve our mission of Decent Work for All.”
