Apparel Industry Purchasing Practice Metrics
August 2026
Responsible purchasing practices (RPPs) play a critical role in shaping working conditions, supplier resilience, and the stability of global supply chains. The decisions buyers make—from production planning and forecasting to payment terms and contract management—directly influence whether suppliers can operate sustainably and protect workers’ rights. Yet despite growing recognition of the importance of responsible purchasing, many companies still lack practical ways to measure whether their purchasing practices support or undermine these objectives.
To help address this gap, the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights developed a set of nine Responsible Purchasing Practice (RPP) Metrics that enable companies to assess the quality of buyer-supplier relationships using objective, decision-useful data.
Developed through consultation with more than 70 industry stakeholders—including brands, suppliers, investors, academics, labor representatives, and industry initiatives—and refined through a multi-stakeholder workshop in Hong Kong, the metrics are designed to measure operational outcomes that companies can track over time and compare across suppliers and business units.
The metrics are intended to help companies identify weaknesses in their purchasing practices, strengthen supplier relationships, reduce supply chain risk, and support better outcomes for workers. They are organized according to the apparel product lifecycle—from pre-production planning, through production, to post-production—reflecting the stages at which purchasing decisions have the greatest impact. We advocate for the collection of these metrics by all companies operating in garment manufacturing to help build resilient supply chains in which workers’ rights are protected.
If you’re interested in learning more about this work, please reach out to Senior Research Scientist for Global Labor, Lucy Siers: lucy.siers@nyu.edu.
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