The 2020 China International Textile Fabrics and Accessories (Autumn and Winter) Expo continues to attract visitors from all over the world The eyes of the world. This year, the exhibition ushered in a large wave of powerful super buyer groups who organized centralized purchasing to bring more business opportunities to the exhibition.
At the super buyer group matchmaking meeting, facing the clothing purchasing booths, fabric exhibitors were pushing carts, pulling suitcases, and holding samples and were constantly working with them in batches. Buyers chatted and the atmosphere was lively. During the matchmaking meeting, the reporter interviewed relevant persons in charge of many companies, and they talked about their feelings and opinions on the situation of the fabric market this year.
From large batches to small orders
An unexpected epidemic It has changed people’s lives and profound changes have taken place in all walks of life. The changes in fabric companies have also been noticed by clothing brands.
“This year’s fabric companies are more talkative.” Jiang Chunjing, founder of the Ge3.21 brand, lamented that as a designer brand, the brand often cannot find high-quality fabric factories to take orders due to limited order quantities. But this year, due to the special market conditions, many fabric companies have put aside their status and begun to actively strive for small orders.
Ding Ling, Purchasing Manager of Hangzhou Feisen Clothing Co., Ltd., also has the same feeling: “In the past, some fabric manufacturers disdained small order business, thinking that profits were limited. But this year the situation is different. Fabric companies have begun to realize that they must pay attention to small and medium-sized clothing brands. They can feel that orders from fabric companies have begun to shift from large batches to small batches, and even approach retail order delivery methods.”
“Today’s consumption It is easy to be planted by Internet celebrity anchors and designers, and these are usually operated by small teams, and the order volume is not very large.” Jiang Chunjing believes that in the era of personalization and customization, small orders in multiple categories are inevitable trend.
In this regard, many relevant persons in charge of fabric companies said that under the special background of this year, companies are trying a new business model, and their profit sources should no longer rely on traditional “big brand customers”. Rather, it comes from niche brands that have a large number of orders and are easily overlooked.
“Enterprises should break the past thinking model of relying on large orders to support factories, and start to learn to rely on fragmented orders to accumulate small amounts into large amounts, which can aggregate into a huge market effect.” Jiangsu Jinchen Knitting and Textile Co., Ltd. Zhou Weigang, director of the company’s third sales department, said that in the future, fabric companies must adapt to the flexible minimum order quantity requirements of downstream brands.
Of course, relying on large customers to secure stable large-volume orders is still the main idea of fabric companies. Zhan Lingjuan, the relevant person in charge of Shaoxing Jiarui Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. said: “The epidemic has not had a big impact on us. Although the company’s business is mainly foreign trade, because of its long-term and close business relationships with large supermarkets such as Wal-Mart, this year’s orders are still very large. Stable, the factory is also operating at full capacity to ensure that orders are delivered on time.”
From “price war” to “value war” ”
But not all fabric companies are as lucky as Gary Printing and Dyeing. Due to the obstruction of foreign trade, there are many fabric companies that want to expand the proportion of domestic trade business, which has further increased competition pressure in the already plentiful domestic textile trade market. The most direct means of competition is to fight a “price war”, which has also resulted in many companies having to lower fabric prices.
The relevant person in charge of Huzhou Boys and Girls Brand Management Co., Ltd. said frankly that price is indeed the biggest issue between fabric companies and clothing brands, but he does not agree that the “price war” has resumed at this time. “Some clothing companies purchase fabrics at low prices in order to maximize their own interests. One situation that occurs among fabric companies is that they insist on their own prices, which leads to clothing companies looking for other suppliers to imitate the fabrics in order to reduce procurement costs. This harms the interests of fabric manufacturers; another situation is that fabric companies promise to lower prices on the surface, but the actual products they produce are ‘short of quality’.” He analyzed that this will inevitably make the clothing style and The effect is greatly reduced, thus affecting the sales of clothing, leading to inventory backlogs that are not uncommon. In his view, fabric and apparel companies should be honest with each other to achieve long-term development on the premise of maintaining a certain reasonable profit distribution.
“Although ‘price war’ can quickly attract customers, it can also cause price dependence on consumers, making them only expect promotional prices, or creating the wrong impression that the company’s products are only worth this price. Fabric companies It’s the same.” Wang Long, the relevant person in charge of Zhejiang Grammy Clothing Co., Ltd. said: “For relatively cheap fabrics, manufacturers usually have relatively weak development capabilities, and other suppliers are easy to follow suit, and they are only suitable for mass production. We prefer fabrics Suppliers can provide customers with more, better, and more attractive products, focusing on fashion and fashion, rather than developing purely according to incoming samples.”
“Fabric is the soul of clothing, and quality is always the key. Guarantee that fabrics will not become outdated.” Wang Huaguo, manager of Nantong Huakai Textile Co., Ltd., said that research and development of new fabrics will indeed add a lot of costs to the company, including the cost of imported raw materials, production costs and professional institutions.Testing costs, etc., but it is all worth it because companies must take the route of innovation. “Our R&D team designs and develops up to 100 new varieties a month. In our business philosophy, the inspiration we want to provide customers is not only a collection of creative ideas throughout the year, but also extends to every month. Creativity and foresight.”
Exploring new business opportunities from new needs
2020 This year is destined to be a restless year.
As for where the market will go in the future, Chen Song, regional manager of Guangdong Qianjin Denim Co., Ltd., said: “Improving standardization has been the focus of upgrading the entire apparel industry in the past 10 years, but next, it is likely to shift to functionality. Product development.” He said that even without this epidemic, some functional fabrics have shown an upward trend in market sales. “With the improvement of living standards, everyone has also put forward higher requirements for the functionality of fabrics, such as lightness, warmth, quick drying, etc. In the context of this epidemic, some functions will be tapped to do more Application.”
At the matchmaking meeting, the reporter also saw Epson (China) Co., Ltd. Epson business specialist Huang Chaoying told reporters that the company came to the China International Textile Fabrics and Accessories (Autumn and Winter) Expo to visit downstream customers. “The pace of overall economic development has slowed down in 2020. Faced with such changes in market demand, digital printing has become more and more obvious with its green, customized and other advantages. Downstream customers have reported that their business in digital printing has bucked the trend this year. Fabric companies are very optimistic about the subsequent development of this business.”
The market will not always linger in the trough. According to a McKinsey survey report, compared with before the epidemic, the outbreak of this year has actually caused some orders to return to China this year. According to the survey before the epidemic
No buyers plan to increase procurement from China in the next five years, and now 13% of procurement directors expect the share from China to increase, that is, the epidemic has slowed down the transfer of procurement quantities out of China.
As for the subsequent trend of the market, many heads of fabric and clothing companies said that with the successive introduction of various policies and measures to promote consumption, my country’s economy continues to improve, and consumption power has steadily rebounded, sales are improving. “The impact of the epidemic is only temporary, and we are still full of confidence in the textile market.”</p
