Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
The fashion industry uses acronyms to abbreviate terminology, and ETD and ETA concern shipping schedules — important in discussions between production departments and clothing factories, and between wholesalers and retailers; any purchase order between a buyer and a seller has relevance to ETD and ETA dates. ETD is the estimated time the shipment will leave, and ETA is the estimated time it will arrive.
Similar to many other industries, the fashion industry uses various acronyms to help abbreviate certain terminology. The term ETD & ETA are in regarding to shipping schedules. This is important for discussions between production departments & clothing factories and also between wholesalers & retailers. Basically, any purchase order between a buyer & seller has relevance to ETD & ETA dates.
ETD = Estimate Time of Delivery
ETA = Estimate Time of Arrival
The ETD is when the shipment will “leave”.
The ETA is when the shipment will “arrive”.
On purchase orders the shipping dates can be written in a few ways.
Ship date: 2/15 (February 15th) or Ship by: 2/15
Or
ETD 2/15 (February 15th)
The three versions above have the same meaning.
On purchase orders the due dates can be written in a few ways.
Due date: 3/15 (March 15th)
Or
ETA 3/15 (March 15th)
Below is an example of a typical discussion between an apparel wholesaler (importer) and a clothing factory (exporter):
Importer: We ordered t-shirts from you three months ago, where the heck are they?
Exporter: Your purchase order request form indicated that you wanted an 3/15 ETD.
Importer: I sent you an email & revised purchase order changing that requirement. We now need an ETA of 3/15. Please rush our order.
A few additional relevant terms that may be of help to you are as follows:
“Ex-factory”: this is the date product leaves the factory. This can possibly be the ETD date, but sometimes the ETD date may be the date the freight actually leaves the port of origin. It is important to note that it takes time for product to leave a factory, board a vessel, then the vessel complete loading and exit the port. This could potentially be days or weeks depending on how far the factory is located from port and the vessel schedules.
“Due at Port”: it is a good idea to determine if the ETA date quoted by a supplier is the date that freight is due to port or actually due to the warehouse. It is important to keep in mind that after freight arrives at port a few steps need to transpire. The vessel needs to have containers offloaded, security review, customs clearance etc. After that, the freight has to transport to the final destination.
Learn more about apparel shipping issues and freight definitions.
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A purchase order has two ends, and each acronym belongs to one of them. The ETD end is the seller's obligation: the date the goods leave the factory or warehouse, written as a ship date, a ship-by date or an ETD. The ETA end is the buyer's planning date: when the goods are due to arrive, written as a due date or an ETA. The gap between the two dates is the transit time, and it is the number both sides plan around — the factory backwards from the ETD to schedule production, and the retailer forwards from the ETA to schedule receipt, allocation and selling.
Because the dates are estimates, the conversation between a production department and a factory is usually about movement: an ETD that slips pushes the ETA with it, which is why the two terms are almost always discussed as a pair, as they are on this page.
Estimated time of departure — on this page given as Estimate Time of Delivery: the date the shipment will leave. On purchase orders it can be written as a ship date (Ship date: 2/15), as Ship by: 2/15, or as ETD 2/15; all three versions have the same meaning.
Estimated time of arrival: the date the shipment will arrive. On purchase orders the due date can be written as Due date: 3/15 or as ETA 3/15, with the same meaning.
Production departments and clothing factories, and wholesalers and retailers — any buyer and seller working from a purchase order, since every purchase order carries a ship date and a due date.