Unscramble The Channel Solution Of Clothing Brand

In 2013, the channel change of the clothing industry is recognized as a proposition. The retail environment has changed, and the business model has also changed. Faced with such an environment, Clothing industry Enterprises in all links of the chain are actively responding. How to adapt to changes and how to move forward in the change has become a problem that enterprises in the clothing industry must think about in 2013.

　　 Changes in retail formats lead to channel changes

For a long time, department stores have been the main channel for traditional clothing brand enterprises Clothing brand It has played an important role in the development of more than 30 years. Nowadays, the development of leading enterprises in the clothing industry is inseparable from the full support of department stores. At that time, the department stores industry played a leading role in the clothing industry and had a great influence on clothing brand enterprises. At the same time, the business income of the department stores industry was also increasing at a high level every year.

The situation has changed a lot since 2013. In the middle of August, the semi annual reports of the listed companies in the department store industry began to be released. The department store industry is going through a difficult period due to the slowdown of economic growth, rising costs, sluggish consumption, e-commerce shocks and other factors. The single digit of operating income is growing, the net profit and gross profit margin are hovering at low levels, and the department store industry is hovering in a downturn. Looking outward, there are more than 200 malls in the United States covering more than 250000 square feet, but the vacancy rate has exceeded 35%. China's retail industry is also following the United States. In 2012, the growth rate of China's large retail enterprises dropped below 10%, while in 2011, the growth rate was 20%. Wal Mart, Gome, Wandecheng and other retail giants closed their stores, and foreign capital was particularly serious. Some retailers barely survived the winter relying on real estate and group financial resources. In January 2013, the retail sales of 50 key large-scale retail enterprises nationwide dropped by 12% year on year.

The rise of e-commerce is opposite to the dilemma of traditional retailers. In recent years, Internet retailing has developed rapidly. According to the 2012 annual research report of ComScore, a global Internet information service provider, 40% of the respondents prefer to view goods in offline stores, while purchasing is planned online. Internet related retail sales have soared, which shows that e-commerce has great sales potential. According to the statistics of relevant survey institutions, online consumption is expected to account for 51% of the total sales in the United States in 2013 and 53% of the total sales in the United States in 2014. China's online retail market also shows rapid development. It is estimated that in 2013, the transaction scale of China's online retail market will reach 1568.89 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 32.5%. It is estimated that online shopping will reach at least 2551 billion yuan in 2015, accounting for 8.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

The declining trend of department stores has made many former commercial real estates of department stores look for a way out in the predicament. It is the choice of many department stores to turn to SHOPPING MALL. The shopping center model of comprehensive consumer commerce integrating eating, drinking, playing, entertainment and department stores at one time has become the choice of many commercial real estates. The reporter recently interviewed a middle level of CapitaLand crystal chain business and got the information that catering is the most popular in SHOPPING Mall, and cinemas also bring a lot of passenger flow to Mall, but the department store is still struggling in the shopping center. In 2012, many shopping centers parted ways from their main department stores. COFCO Chaoyang Joy City and anchor store Aeon Department Store rescinded the contract. Aeon Department Store has a business area of more than 20000 square meters and gathers more than 100 international fashion brands. However, it has not won the nostalgia of Chaoyang Joy City; In Guangzhou Zhonghua Square, many collection stores of fashion brands were introduced and Zhonghua Department Store, the main department store, was dismissed; Ganghui Plaza retreats to Ganghui Xinyi Department Store. Such cases are not uncommon in 2012.

As another emerging commercial multi brand integrated store, it is also the new favorite of the clothing industry channel. The predecessor of the brand integration store is the product assembly store and the product franchise store. The current brand integration store is the brand operation of the same type and different categories of products. Many brands with different demand levels and characteristics are concentrated in the same store for marketing. It is the main form of operation in the age of taste to appear as high-end boutiques and realize the rapid marketing of convenient goods. When consuming products, we can enjoy the satisfaction of the brand and experience the comprehensive marketing service of the brand to customers. Brand integrated stores are the inevitable outcome of the development of the store's business model at a certain stage, More importantly, it is the manifestation of the in-depth operation of enterprise multi brand strategy.

Department stores, e-commerce, SHOPPING MALL and brand integrated stores have become the necessity for brand enterprises in the clothing industry to choose channels. Except for a few supermarkets and wholesale markets for low-cost brand clothing, these channel models almost cover all channels of brand enterprises. The channel choice of brand clothing is mostly one or several combinations, and how to choose is different according to the brand positioning and its own conditions.

　　 Changes in consumer behavior lead to changes in commodity operation mode

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"Facts have proved that Chinese consumers are an elusive target group", which is the evaluation of the Chinese consumer market by McKinsey Quarterly published at the end of 2012. Every year, McKinsey Quarterly of the United States interviews about 5000 consumers living in cities and towns of different sizes and belonging to different income levels, ages and regional groups. The survey project is divided into two major items: first, the impact of brand on consumer purchase decisions, and second, what other factors will affect consumer purchase decisions. In this survey, it is obviously difficult for Americans to understand Chinese consumers.

Today's Chinese consumer market has changed a lot from 10 years ago, mainly because the new generation of consumer groups has gradually grown into the main consumer groups, leading the consumption trend. Solomon, a famous American consumer behaviorist, said: "Many lifestyles that change consumer behavior are driven by young consumers, who constantly redefine what is the hottest and what is not."

Today, the post-80s and post-90s generation in the Chinese market have become the main group of Chinese consumers. Studying the consumer psychology and behavior of the post-80s and post-90s young consumer groups has become the only way for clothing brands to surpass their competitors.

Previous studies have shown that there are more than 90 million post-80s generation in China. They grew up with the vigorous development of commodity culture, the emergence of the Internet and e-commerce, and have strong adaptability to modern high-tech life. The post-80s generation has been accustomed to the language of film and television and the language of the Internet since childhood, and has responded quickly to fashion advertisements.

Most post-80s consumers prefer products with personality and unique style, which should not be expensive. They hate stereotyping and like changeable, exciting and novel lifestyles. They like new products, but their loyalty is generally not high, and they are used to exchanging various brands. Because they grew up in the immersion of massive advertisements, and suffered from the entanglement of products and various kinds of information. However, they are more confident in their feelings and judgments, and are also good at using search tools to find answers. As the consumer pioneers in many fields of consumption, the post-80s generation pays more attention to quality. They pursue fashion and advocate individuality. Price is not the primary factor for the post-80s generation to consider. They have a strong consumer impulse.

Compared with the gradually mature post-80s generation, the post-90s generation has a very different outlook on values, aesthetics, and consumption. These characteristics make many businesses scratching their heads. The post-90s generation is a perceptual generation, and also a generation that "looks at the mood". The post-90s generation is a self-centered generation. The "good" and "bad" in the post-90s' mind are "my place, my decision". Their perceptual knowledge of commodities is far more than their rational knowledge. If you want to win the favor of the post-90s generation, you should not "move" them, but "excite" them. The post-90s pay more attention to the feeling of "very" and "different" when consuming.

After analyzing the two major groups that are the mainstream of marketing expenses, we found that the common consumption preferences of these two major consumer groups are personalized consumption and online consumption. This can help us understand why e-commerce, brand integration stores with strong personalization and the large and comprehensive consumption mode MALL will become popular in today's clothing brand channels, and also understand that the weakness of the department store industry lies in the business mode of "everyone is one" and the lack of personalized services.

In the face of such changes in consumer demand, the department store industry is also actively responding, and the buyer system has become one of the solutions for the department store industry to seek change. In the forum held by the Department Store Business Association in 2013, buyers became the topic of discussion. It is inevitable for the department store industry to change its business model if it wants to get rid of the situation of one thousand people and one side. "The 'buyer system' is actually a buyout operation and a common way for foreign department stores," said Yao Xiaoyun, a famous domestic buyer expert, "The emergence of 'buyers' in China is because China's retail industry has developed economically, and consumer demand has become diversified and personalized. Even without the impact of e-commerce, the homogenization of the department store industry will not continue. E-commerce has only accelerated the channel competition and the change of consumption pattern."

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Yao Xiaoyun also said that strong brand control is also a major advantage of the "buyer system". The mall can rely on the "buyer" to create some private brands, which can well meet the individual needs of some specific consumers, and also create a differentiated department store industry. In the "buyer system", the "buyer" purchases directly from the supplier, which saves various agency links in the joint venture mode, reduces costs, and has a relatively high sales profit. This is undoubtedly a spring rain after a long drought for many department stores whose net profit is less than 5% today. However, the buyer system is also a high-risk business mode, because once the goods bought out by the buyer are not suitable for consumption, the mall needs to bear the risk of not being able to sell. Therefore, at this stage, most of China's department stores are still in the trial stage for the buyer system.

For the buyer system with high risk and high return, the attitude of most department stores is that they must take this step even if they are very tired and difficult, otherwise they will never be competitive and eventually be eliminated by the market.

In e-commerce and multi brand integrated stores, the buyer system has become the basic operation mode of many brands Channel mode The rise of has played a role that cannot be ignored.

As a clothing channel solution, the buyer system is still very young in China, which is why the buyer talent has become a bottleneck restricting the development of the buyer system. Yao Xiaoyun, the founder of the fashion buyer and commodity management advanced seminar of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, has his own opinion on the training of buyer talents. We founded the advanced seminar on fashion buyers and commodity management of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology to meet the needs of the development of the clothing industry. We also hope to provide more buyers who meet the requirements of various enterprises for the industry. ”Yao Xiaoyun also said that buyers are practical skilled talents, and the teachers of Beifu Fashion Buyers and Commodity Management Advanced Seminar are all senior garment professionals in the front line. They teach methods and skills that are being used and will rise in the front line, which can bring good practical effects to students and pave the way for students to engage in buying in the future.

Yao Xiaoyun also said that the advanced seminar on fashion buyers and commodity management of Beifu is not only to teach buyers' skills and techniques, but also to give students full practice opportunities in the practical part of the course. The practical part runs through the whole course. The students are divided into groups to carry out practical drills, simulate the preparation of purchase budget, physical simulation of ordering, simulation of sales data analysis, etc., so that the students can truly feel the problems and solutions to be faced in the buyer career. "Judging from the learning effect fed back by the current buyer trainees, many on-the-job trainees have been promoted greatly in their posts after returning to work, and the improvement of their working ability has been recognized by the superior leaders of their enterprises. Some students with non clothing background originally entered the clothing enterprises during and after their study, and began to work in the clothing enterprises." Yao Xiaoyun said this when talking about the feedback to the buyers. For the buyer system that is developing in China's garment industry, more talents for the industry will certainly play a positive role in the development of the industry.

Is the buyer system the best solution to channel change? This answer has yet to be proved over time, but in any case, the buyer system is a very important solution for channels and will play a more important role in China's clothing industry with the development of channels.