On October 31, Descente “moved” its sub-brand DESCENTE BLANC brand concept retail space to Beijing’s Sanlitun North District, which is also its No. 1 store in the world outside of Japan.
In more than 4 years, Descente (China) has grown from one store to more than 130 stores, and its annual revenue has grown from 0 to nearly 1 billion, a commercial success. It also brings Descente more and more into the public eye. As its popularity increases, its reputation is also increasing day by day. Judging from the data released by Anta Group, Desante is most likely to become the “next dark horse”: Although the total number of stores is only more than 100, Desante’s retail sales in the mainland Chinese market last year were nearly 1 billion.
What factors allow Descente to develop so rapidly in China?
The reason behind this is Descente’s “unique” layout from product strategy to channel logic.
Seize the mid-to-high-end core business district
Focus on offline store consumption experience
From an offline perspective, Descente opened about 50 new stores in China in 2019. This expansion rate is slower than outside expectations. The shopping characteristics of high-end consumers determine Descente’s store location strategy. Descente’s store layout is mainly in first- and second-tier cities, and the shopping malls and floor locations will be determined based on the characteristics of target consumers.
If post-80s consumers’ requirements for innovation are standardized, clean, tidy, and comfortable, then Generation Z’s requirements for innovation are more about subversion, breakthrough, and self. Descente’s innovation is also in line with It is to rewrite the “rules of the game” based on the understanding of consumer needs.
Descente also made a unique design for the newly opened DESCENTE BLANC concept retail space in Sanlitun. Consumers may find that this store covers an area of 295 square meters, and the store integrates display, storage, and event space.
The store makes full use of the floor height, adopts a three-dimensional display method, and is equipped with 65 mobile lifting display systems. The traditional hidden storage space is placed on the ceiling, and no additional storage space is required. In addition, the store is also equipped with 14 horizontally movable storage cabinets, the first of its kind in China. When not in use, they can all be pushed aside, leaving an open space in the store where small events can be held.
Of course, such innovative displays are closely related to the characteristics of Descente’s customer groups. According to Descente, returnees, financial investment banks and entrepreneurs are the main consumer groups of Descente. The characteristics of this group of customers are obvious: they pursue a healthy sports life, pay attention to brands and whether products are truly high-quality and value-for-money, and pursue differences and like to be different.
One of Descente’s typical dressing scenes is to wear Descente clothes at the airport or business occasions, carry a LV bag, and wear luxury shoes. This makes Descente more selective in channel selection. Focus on high-end shopping malls and department stores in first- and second-tier cities.
85 years of accumulation
Building a high-end outdoor sports brand
Descente was founded in Osaka, Japan in 1935 Founded with a history of 85 years, it was formerly Ishimoto men’s clothing retail store. In 1954, founder Takeo Ishimoto invited Japan’s first professional skier Kazuyoshi Nishimura to become a brand consultant, and launched a series of professional ski wear. This was the brand’s first association with ice and snow.
In 1961, Ishimoto Taiko registered the DESCENT trademark. Since then, the brand’s positioning has changed from a pan-men’s wear to a high-end professional sports brand.
DESCENTE is taken from the French word meaning “descending”. The three arrows in the brand logo represent three important skills in skiing – “high-speed straight sliding”, “crossing” and “side sliding”.
Descente’s ski clothing is famous for its professionalism. Some innovative designs of ski clothing once led the trend and even set the tone for future ski clothing standards. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Descente provided competition uniforms for the U.S. speed skating team, helping Eric Heiden win the “five crowns” in speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics. At present, Descente is the equipment sponsor of many European and American ice and snow national teams such as Switzerland, Spain, Canada, and Germany, among which it has cooperated with the Swiss National Alpine Ski Team for more than 40 years.
In addition to skiing, Descente is also constantly expanding the brand’s professional fields, extending to cycling, comprehensive training, running and golf. The most notable collaborations are with the British, Swiss and American triathlon teams. Triathlon Olympic champion Nicola Spirig and world champion Jesse Thomas are both professional athletes sponsored by Descente.
Descente’s daily clothing for the general public also focuses on high-end, technology and professionalism. For example, the “Mizusawa Down Jacket” born in 2008 adheres to the design concept of the all-terrain series “Form Follows Function” and discards all unnecessary elements. This series contains multiple cutting-edge technologies and can be said to represent the brand’s years of professional knowledge and industry experience. Seamless thermal bonding process, Dualzip sandwich ventilationTechnological investments such as the surface system, PARAHOOD parachute cap, and Block Fit Adjuster have kept Descente’s price at a mid-to-high level among similar products.
Build a membership system
Closely capture high-net-worth users
If it is said that building brand power through product power is a great step for Descente In chess, community building is also crucial. This is the most important way for Descente to connect with consumers. Through the new member development plan, Descente has established its own loyal consumer group at a low cost. In order to build a good membership CRM system, Descente has broken the brand boundaries and started communicating with luxury goods and beauty products. As of now, the number of Descente offline members has reached nearly 600,000, and these members are also Descente’s high-quality members. member.
Unlike traditional clothing, which invests heavily in advertising and marketing, Descente’s marketing mainly relies on “circle culture”, and circle promotion has a great influence on the development of Descente. Such member loyalty plays an important role in Descente’s future membership growth and fission. Social activities have also become a link between online and offline.
Descente has successively carried out in-depth cooperation with ski resorts, ski coaches, and high-end gyms, and reached new users through skiing, yoga, comprehensive training classes and other courses. Especially during this year’s epidemic, Descente also responded quickly, launching more than 200 online Descente fitness classes and communicating directly with members through online live broadcasts. Community is a long-term project that requires deep cultivation. There will be no direct business returns in the short term, but it is still very important for establishing a direct connection between the brand and consumers.
In the digital age, it seems too slow to become popular overnight. The same is true for apparel companies. How to quickly achieve from 0 to 100 has even become the ultimate pursuit of the brand. This makes brands like Descente that have patiently polished their product, marketing, and brand power become “rare”. However, it is undeniable that behind the massive expansion, product professionalism is still the strongest moat for the brand, especially for Fang. In the sports industry, time will tell whether Descente can create a legend in the Chinese market in the future. What Descente has to do is to more “perfect” the industrial chain.
The sportswear market is about 300 billion. In recent years, the compound growth rate has exceeded that of children’s clothing, approaching 20%. It is the fastest growing segment of the clothing industry. Other listed apparel companies basically faced the impact of consumption iterations in 2019, with revenue and profit growth slowing down or even declining significantly, while sportswear brands grew rapidly across all categories and channels. Product upgrades and high-end brands are important reasons. The underlying driving force is the country’s emphasis on sports, the introduction of various policies, and the corresponding population base for running, fitness, cycling, swimming, ice and snow sports and other sports. Rapid improvement, so sportswear will still have a good growth trend in the long term. </p
