Innovating the way brands and retailers connect. Due to the challenging circumstances created by the pandemic and changes in the way we conduct business, brands are trying to operate as close to normal as possible using virtual environments. As added value brands of all kinds have teamed up with Elastic, the best-in-class, B2B commerce and digital merchandising platform to help enhance their virtual sell-in process. Elastic provides a virtual selling platform to global customers that includes a robust digital catalog and PDF catalog creator, allowing for complete print elimination and major bottom line savings (link to case study). This Elastic platform continues to be supported 365, 24/7 allowing brands to enjoy the benefits of this well adopted platform throughout the year.

1. Disrupting the
Medical Clothing,
Workwear and
Uniform Industry
with Digital B2B
eCommerce
How Transitioning to Digital
Merchandising Drives Enhanced
Sales Revenues, Cost Savings and
Sustainability

2. T
he adoption of B2B ecommerce technology
and virtual wholesale purchasing solutions
is growing among many manufacturing
verticals and current market conditions are
accelerating this trend. While this technology
is widely adopted by brands and retailers in
many sectors, such as the outdoor, surf, cycling,
footwear and sporting goods verticals, a large
opportunity still awaits the medical clothing,
workwear and uniform industry when making
this transition.
According to research from Fortune Business
Insights, the global medical clothing industry
alone represents an estimated $71 billion in
annual sales revenue for 2021. The workwear
and uniform sectors together are expected to
generate an additional $37 billion in global
2021 sales according to market estimates
from Research Nester. Based on this data, the
combined medical clothing, workwear and
uniform industry represents $108 billion in
estimated global annual sales revenue that is
expected to grow to $147 billion by 2027.
Opportunity for B2B digital
transformation in a growing
market

3. T
he global COVID-19 crisis accelerated the need for the
medical uniform industry to be able to anticipate, react,
and pivot. With hospitals and essential businesses
requiring massive amounts of PPE in a short period of time,
to be able to track incoming and outgoing inventory and sell
on virtual platforms was crucial.
While this combined industry is expected to experience
continued expansion, even greater sales growth and
profitability await manufacturers and brands with the
adoption of next-generation B2B ecommerce technology.
The following assessment of this opportunity indicates
that the industry could experience an additional $23
billion in estimated sales revenue and cost savings,
growing to an estimated additional $31 billion by 2027,
by making the transition from traditional wholesale
purchasing processes. In addition to these bottom-
line results, manufacturers can also expect measurable
sustainability benefits that are calculated and outlined
in this assessment.
In addition to these bottom-line results, manufacturers
can also expect measurable sustainability benefits that
are calculated and outlined in this assessment.

4. M
edical clothing, workwear and uniform
manufacturers’ reliance on traditional
B2B sales methods (like analog order
entry and printed brand books) creates a
significant drag on their potential sales and limits
revenue growth. In contrast, digital sales and
merchandising technology creates a much more
flexible and immersive purchasing interface
between buyers and suppliers. Providing more
than just static digital catalogs, this technology
is designed to help both manufacturers and
retailers maximize the sale of complex and
diverse product lines through interactive
purchasing features.
An advanced digital merchandising platform, like
Emerald’s Elastic Suite, can generate incremental
B2B sales lift by taking the relationship between
manufacturers and retailers to an entirely new
level in the following ways:
A much more streamlined and collaborative
interface with retailers ensures that mass product
purchases are more strategic and better aligned with
marketplace trends.
Retailers may develop less conservative purchasing
habits and buy more product when using the
technology because they can more strategically
calculate the optimum quantity of products needed
for a particular trend, brand, line or sales season.
A solution like Elastic improves product speed-to-
market while providing considerably more time to
strategically manage product lines and expand the
sales season.
Through a partnership with Artifi Labs, Elastic
provides clients best-in-class product customization
technology that is ideal for creating branded
workwear and uniforms.
Increased revenue through the setup of customer
branded microsites to conduct group sales business.
2
1
3
4
5
End-to-End Sales
Revenue Enhancement

5. B
y transitioning to a next generation B2B ecommerce
solution, as seen across numerous verticals already
utilizing Elastic, manufacturers can boost their overall
commercial sales revenue by a combined average of
21.2%. To achieve this potential lift it requires complete
adoption of the Elastic technology and fully implementing
each of the associated improvements for maximum ROI.
To do so also requires strong organizational leadership
to implement the needed sales process changes when
making these improvements.
A breakdown of the various impacts from each of
the Elastic functional benefits and the corresponding
potential percentage lift on sales revenues is summarized
as follows:
Across the global medical clothing, workwear and uniform
industry with current estimated annual revenues of $108
billion this potential lift equates to nearly $23 billion
in additional annual sales, growing to the potential of
more than $30 billion in added annual revenue by 2027,
according to research estimates.
21.2%
Elastic Functional Benefit
& Potential Sales Lift
Creating segmented sales capability

6. I
n addition to sales lift, the Elastic platform also provides
measurable efficiency-driven cost savings that can reduce
manufacturers’ combined sales, marketing and customer
service budgets. By far the largest source of cost savings
comes through the elimination of printed product catalogs
and sales workbooks. Printing B2B sales materials is a
significant line item within the sales and marketing budgets of
leading manufacturers that is now being eliminated entirely
by Elastic clients.
Based on proprietary data from manufacturers that have gone
100% print free using Elastic’s digital catalog feature, the
quantity of catalog printing that is eliminated averages 29,850
pages (equal to 298 catalogs 100 pages each) per $1 million
in B2B sales revenue. With an average catalog printing cost of
$0.067 per page, this translates to $2,000 in printing costs per
$1 million in revenue.
Because the medical clothing, workwear and uniform
industry is heavily reliant on printed catalogs and
sales workbooks, the average could be considerably
higher than the verticals currently served by Elastic.
But even when applying this likely- conservative
estimate across this industry, it represents a
potential cost savings of $216 million annually that is
estimated to grow to $294 million in annual savings
by 2027.
Cross-Functional
Measurable Cost Savings
2020
2027
By making this B2B ecommerce transition, both
brands and retailers also benefit from the efficiency-
driven cost savings of a much more strategic,
streamlined and paperless procurement process
through feature-rich, interactive digital sales materials.
Across the verticals currently on the Elastic platform,
manufacturers are seeing an average savings equal to
3.1% of their B2B sales and marketing budgets from
B2B print elimination alone.
$216M
$294M

7. I
n addition to print elimination, manufacturers can
potentially reduce their overall sales and marketing
expenses by a total of 10.3% on average through
complete deployment of the Elastic solution. A
breakdown of the total potential sales and market budget
reductions from applying each of the Elastic functional
benefits is summarized here:
I
n addition to cost savings and increased sales
revenue, the Elastic platform helps manufacturers
strengthen their commitment to sustainability
through measurable “green” business practices. As
more and more end-user clients are becoming aware
of the importance of following sustainable choices,
their preference, affinity and loyalty to brands that
follow similar business practices will increase as well.
The biggest contributor to sustainability provided
by Elastic is the complete elimination of printed B2B
catalogs and sales workbooks. There are significant
negative impacts to the environment associated
with producing, transporting and disposing of these
materials that are erased when fully deploying the
Elastic solution.
Greater Sustainability
through Print Elimination

8. B
ased on the industry average from other verticals of
29,850 catalog pages produced per $1 million in B2B
sales revenue, the medical clothing, workwear and
uniform industry produces an astounding estimated 3.22
billion catalog pages annually, projected to grow to 4.38
billion by 2027 if current business practices continue to be
followed.
The negative environmental impact from this massive
printing of B2B sales materials is equally astounding.
This amount of printing is equal to 32.2 million 100-
page catalogs that consume 40,284 tons of coated free
sheet color printing material annually. Consider these
environmental impacts every year by the medical clothing,
workwear and uniform industry when producing and
eventually disposing of these materials calculated using
scientifically verified methodology provided by the
Environmental Paper Network.
All of these negative environmental impacts can be
eliminated entirely if the manufacturers within the medical
clothing, workwear and uniform industry adopted the use
of digital catalogs through a wholesale merchandising
technology solution. The entire report from the Environmental
Paper Network detailing these estimated negative impacts on
the environment from the printing of B2B product catalogs
within this industry is available upon request.
Forest Destruction
Consumes 135,000 tons of
virgin timber from 811,000
trees while disrupting nearly
13,000 acres of forest.
Partical Matter (PM) Emissions
Creates 3.94 million persons
x hours x pounds per cubic
meter equivalent of PM 2.5
particulates, which compares
to 149,000 gasoline powered
passenger cars.
Energy Consumption
Uses 987 billion BTUs
of energy, equivalent to
1.17 million residential
refrigerators..
Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
Emits into the atmosphere
348,000 pounds of sulfur
dioxide equivalent to
113,000 eighteen-wheel
diesel powered semi
trucks.
Solid Waste
Produces 47.8 million
pounds of solid waste,
equivalent to 29,863
people living in the United
States.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Emits 762 million
pounds of CO2 into the
atmosphere equivalent to
69,200 gasoline powered
passenger cars.
Water Consumption:
Uses 936 million gallons
of fresh water, equivalent
to 675,000 residential
clothes washers.
Ocean Acidification
Creates 99.3 million
pounds of carbonic acid
that enters the world’s
oceans equivalent to 25,600
passenger cars.
Source: Environmental Paper Network

9. E
lastic is a next-generation B2B ecommerce and digital
merchandising solution that transforms wholesale
business from the ground up.
From idea to inventory, simplified. Elastic enables brands
to present a curated product mix with a software tool
that inspires engagement and collaboration between
manufacturers and retailers. The days of heavy print catalogs
and wasted sales and marketing resources are over.
Elastic’s B2B ecommerce, digital catalog and merchandising
features virtually eliminate the need for the classic brand book
and in-person sell-in meetings.
Elastic inspires the right type of collaboration and
engagement for retailers with tools that not only drive sell-in
but improve sell-through at the retail point of sale. By focusing
on building relationships between brands and retailers, we’ve
created a solution for tried-and-true processes, built for our
users, with updates and upgrades driven by our users. Native
integrations also mean that Elastic isn’t just another tool,
but brings together inventory, ship-to locations and pricing
strategies all in one place.
A
key differentiator is Elastic’s powerful product
customization feature. Built directly into the ordering
platform, brand reps can work with their retailers
and dealers to create, design and order personalized
products - not just embroidered t-shirts, but hardgoods too.
Creating these specialized products adds even greater value
to workwear and uniform manufacturers, strengthening
relationships with retail partners and the end consumer, too.
but brings together inventory, ship-to locations and pricing
strategies all in one place.
What is Elastic Suite?
Powerful Product Customization
Across channels and verticals, Elastic’s B2B is the ultimate sales
platform leveraged by brands of all sizes and varying business
objectives. From main street shops to massive big-box retailers,
Elastic is built to scale. With customized solutions like product
personalization, multi-branded dashboards, sales forecasting,
product bundling, sales programs and discount management,
we’ve created a world-class B2B solution that exceeds the needs
of our customers.

10. B
ecause we are the most widely-adopted solution
in our key verticals, we have become more than
just the standard, but we are the leader in solving
enterprise-level business problems. Below are just a few
of our clients that are helping us lead the way in digital
B2B ecommerce transformation.

11. A
considerable opportunity awaits manufacturers within the medical clothing, workwear and uniform industry
as they begin to transition from traditional commercial sales processes to next generation B2B ecommerce
technology like Elastic Suite. The associated benefits of this shift include increased sales revenues, measurable
cost savings and a much more sustainable approach to wholesale merchandising and purchasing with their retailers.
The medical uniform and workwear industry is seeing massive
growth and is expected to reach $147 billion by 2027. Ripe for
disruption, the industry will benefit from transitioning to digital
B2B solutions by saving on internal costs, increasing sales
revenue and realizing sustainability goals.
With the possibility of more than a 20% incremental sales
lift, digital B2B solutions can build the relationships between
manufacturers and retailers to an entirely new level, driving
even greater revenue possibilities for the growing market.
Learning Summary
Accelerated Industry Growth Sales Lift
Cost Savings Environmental Benefits
Digital B2B platforms provide measurable efficiency-driven
cost savings that can reduce manufacturers’ combined sales,
marketing and customer service budgets. By allowing for
cross-functional streamlining, digital solutions can save
manufacturers nearly 10% annually.
The elimination of printed catalogs through use of a digital
merchandising tool can save an estimated 3.22 billion catalog
pages annually. The environmental savings of reducing
these catalogs is realized across paper production, water
consumption, solid waste and emissions creation.

12. For more information please visit
www.elasticsuite.com.
Jared Jerotz
jared.jerotz@plumrivertechnologies.com.
To schedule a demo of the
Elastic platform, contact: