Yucherryty's Blog

Beijing Xihongmen Huiju Shopping Mall is very lively. The FOREVER 21 store is full of people inside and outside. Everyone is waiting for the opening number of the opening business at 10 o'clock. It is hot when the Starbucks Cat Claw Cup and AJ Shoe Shoes are sold. Scene.

The event lasted until May 17th, and the Dacoz days before the closing of the store on the weekend will be the “last carnival” of the store.

This is a microcosm of FOREVER 21's announcement to withdraw from the Chinese market. The official announcement said that it will suspend the operation of the official website and Tmall and Jingdong flagship stores from April 29, and has closed more than 200 stores in the past three years.

The fast fashion brand founded in the United States, like its positioning, quickly entered the market and immediately withdrew.

In fact, the same fast fashion brands as FOREVER 21 have similar fate trajectories: rushing in, waving a hand, leaving a mess. ASOS, TOPSHOP, NEXT, and Marks & Spencer have entered China in succession. Before hunting for a huge consumer market, due to insufficient attention, local opponents are too strong, and the rhythm of the Internet era is slow, etc., and finally because of "unacceptable" Lost Maicheng.

Fast fashion has passed

Fast fashion is a simple saying of “fast fashion”. It means that apparel companies respond quickly to the fashion design of the show and make products that are close to the latest fashion trends. The fast delivery time, low price and easy acceptance and keeping up with the trend are Its distinctive features.

In 2006, the Spanish fashion tycoon ZARA opened the first physical store in China in Shanghai, opening up the Chinese people's understanding of fast fashion. The first Chinese store in Nanjing West Road in Shanghai made an amazing performance of 800,000 yuan in a single store in the Spring Festival of the year, which is equivalent to the total daily sales of 80 similar Chinese clothing brands.

For a time, C&A, Forever 21, GAP, H&M, MJstyle, MUJI, NEW LOOK, UNIQLO, UR and other fast fashion brands have become hot.

The new fast speed, fashionable style, price-friendly, fast and unique label, is quite popular among domestic female consumers.

Many commercial complexes in first- and second-tier cities offer relatively low rents in order to attract brands. Real estate developers have taken a fancy to the powerful young consumers behind them, taking the opportunity to boost the overall popularity of restaurants, department stores, etc., while the fast fashion giants are looking at the huge domestic consumer market.

China has become ZARA's second largest market in Spain except Spain, and it is also an economy that UNIQLO is increasingly dependent on. The annual sales performance of the 11-day-old cat flagship store is enviable enough. The real "hands are fast, hands are slow".

At that time, the speed of expansion of first-line fast fashion brands was maintained at 60% to 70% per year, and H&M even opened a new store on average four days.

Compared to traditional retailers requiring a 6-9 month production cycle, Zara and H&M only take 5 weeks, and ASOS completes the product process in 2-8 weeks with an average time to market of 6 weeks. The production models, management methods, sales channels, etc. of these brands have become the object of worship and learning of many domestic brands.

In the past decade or so, international fast fashion brands have earned a lot of money in China, but the trough broke out in the era of mobile Internet. In February 2017, ZARA closed its largest flagship store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. This move was seen by the industry as a node for the rapid development of fast fashion.

In 2018, New Look closed 130 stores in China after entering the Chinese market for four years; TOPSHOP terminated cooperation with Chinese agents and closed the Tmall flagship store on the eve of the double 11 exit, which was originally intended to be in Huaihai Zhong Road The plan to open an independent store has also died. ASOS, which has been acclimatized to China, also stopped operating this year, ending with a loss of 8.6 million euros.

The days of FOREVER21 are not good. From the social media on the FOREVER21, you may be able to see the common problems of foreign fast fashion brands: the quality is too bad and the style does not conform to the Chinese market.

Under the rapid production mode, the fast fashion brand has become the hardest hit area for quality inspection. Some fast fashion brands have become a frequent red light after entering China, and have even become a frequent visitor on the blacklist of quality inspection. Beijing white-collar Asha often bought HM clothes before. "The main picture is cheap, but it is not good to buy it once or twice. It is not cost-effective."

At the same time, fast fashion brands are mainly self-operated stores, but with the real estate dividend period passed, the bargaining power of fast fashion brands in first- and second-tier cities has not been “scented” in the past, in other words, shopping malls and fast fashion. The game relationship between them has changed.

Store rents and labor costs are getting bigger and bigger, which brings a heavy burden. More importantly, “cheap fashion” has been difficult to meet the needs of Chinese consumers for quality consumption.

Changes in consumption upgrades and changes in the Chinese market require fast fashion brands to put down their arrogant body and re-examine Chinese consumers.

Fast fashion giants are not satisfied with the soil

In fact, in the Chinese market, in addition to facing the rising domestic apparel brand, the international fast fashion giants may come from another dimension – the Tao brand that grew up on the Internet, which makes the market competition unprecedentedly fragmented.

Tmall’s business business, “E-commerce Online”, said: “The fast fashion brands are mostly deployed in first- and second-tier cities, but it is difficult for users in the cities below the third- and fourth-tier cities to move.”

The data shows that the volume of clothing transactions in the domestic e-commerce channel accounts for more than 35% of the overall consumption of clothing. Amoy brand can learn the fast production mode that fast fashion is proud of, and can rely on the strong e-commerce channel to quickly seize the position. At this time, the attention of fast fashion brand still stays in the intrinsic store mode.

"Zara a lot of T-shirts, to sell one or two hundred, but Taobao search similar styles may only be fifty or sixty, the quality is no difference, the door-to-door can also support free returns." Li Yue, who lives in Shenyang, said.

On the other hand, with the popularity of social applications such as Instagram, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu, young consumers are beginning to pursue individuality and diversified consumption, and are no longer satisfied with the short-lived pleasure brought by fast fashion consumption. Fast fashion brands must be like this. Thinking about the brand's way out in the difficult situation: traditional marketing methods are outdated, following the trend of the times, relying on social media marketing, KOL bringing goods is a new thinking of transformation strategy.

The UNIQLO, the leader in the fast fashion brand, is a model for the successful operation of the e-commerce model. As early as 2009, Uniqlo opened the Tmall flagship store, far ahead of H&M, ZARA and other brands, through the fashion industry. KOL and ordinary consumers create a connection, spontaneously share the brand for the second time, so that the marketing effect is fissile.

In September last year, H&M held the first Tmall Super Brand Day. The new autumn series took the lead in the flagship store. The same day sales accounted for the first three categories of Tmall men's wear, women's wear and children's wear. The “online market” became a natural course. The most frequently occurring keyword in H&M related reports in 2018.

Can quickly pull out the lost line of sight and refocus, whether it is H&M or Zara, Uniqlo, all choose to touch the net, with the consumption mode that young people like, is currently in the critical stage of digital transformation.

But the effect of the e-commerce road is not immediate, and the entry is too late, has missed the best time for the Internet to bring dividends. Zhang Peiying, honorary consultant of the Luxury China Alliance, said that the GAP online small program mall is to expand the online channel, but at this stage consumers have not yet developed WeChat shopping habits, so GAP may not pass. This channel stimulates performance growth."

New country tide is coming

Buying the corresponding one is also faster to abandon. According to McKinsey's latest report, more than half of fast fashion apparel will be abandoned in less than a year. The tide card that is more in line with young people's pursuit of individuality and maverick has ushered in an outbreak.

In recent years, Tide brand consumption has continued to maintain a double-digit growth trend. In 2011, the global tide brand market was 60 billion US dollars, and in 2017 it reached more than 200 billion US dollars. Many forecasts believe that behind the tide brand is the next trillion-level market.

In this market, the national tide is even more unique. In recent years, many brands sought after by young people have emerged. The Internet has become a place for many designers to show their talents, and the e-commerce platform provides a channel for external output.

Some surveys show that although many consumers of Chaopai are gathered in Beishangguang, most of the street-starting places are often in the second- and third-tier cities, such as Chongqing, Xiamen, Wuhan, etc. The regional culture is often the development belt of the national tide. Come to life.

These are all fast fashion brands trying to sink the channel and expand new development space. Since 2013, H&M has begun to sink offline channels to second- and third-tier cities. In 2016, there were 77 new stores in China, 53 of which were in second- and third-tier cities. ZARA also started planning to sink to third- and fourth-tier cities almost at the same time.

“However, the 3rd, 4th and 5th tier cities are also a consumer market that is very different from the first-tier cities. Here, local brands such as Metersbonwe, Senma, Haicang House, La Chapelle, etc., are familiar with the local consumption environment and consumer demand. With the help of opening franchise stores, famous variety shows, celebrity endorsements and other methods to cultivate a group of their own consumer groups, it is not easy for fast fashion brands to integrate. At the same time, the design style is not accepted, different consumption habits, etc. It’s a hindrance to the sinking of its channels,” said Harry, who is engaged in fashion and luxury consulting.

The rise of the national tide, because it has the mission of Renaissance, satisfies the young consumers' "seeking common ground while reserving" consumption thoughts, not only satisfies the pursuit of fashion, the publicity of personality, but also a return to traditional culture. pay tribute. In recent years, the development of the national tide market is faster than the luxury market and the fast fashion market, showing the phenomenon that the late show is straightforward.

In 2018, the Taiping Bird Group achieved revenue of 7.712 billion yuan, an increase of 7.78% compared with the previous year. The net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 572 million yuan, an increase of 27.51%.

With the rise of the new national tide, in 2018, Li Ning's operating income reached 10.51 billion yuan, an increase of 18.4% year-on-year, and the first realized revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan.

How fast fashion brands can meet the more diversified needs of consumer groups under the premise of “fast”, I am afraid it will be an important way to break down sales barriers in the future.