Although the hibernation has passed, the “spring” of the apparel industry has not arrived as promised.
Shopping mall closures, road control, community blockades, and logistics lags are all factors brought about by the epidemic, which have led to a continuous decrease in clothing consumer orders.
Li Min (pseudonym), who works in a television station, likes to dress up on weekdays, but she rarely buys new clothes recently. On March 9, Li Min told a reporter from Times Weekly that because he did not dare to go to the mall and it was troublesome to get express delivery, he simply stopped buying it.
Wang Wen (pseudonym), who has been at home for a month and a half, can no longer remember the last time she bought clothes. “Now that I can’t go out, a set of pajamas is enough. What other clothes should I buy?” Wang Wen told a reporter from Time Weekly on the same day.
According to clothing sales data on the Tmall Taobao platform extracted by a third party, sales of clothing, footwear and casual sportswear all declined in February.
The situation in offline stores is even less optimistic.
On March 6, the relevant person in charge of Jiumuwang told a reporter from Times Weekly that due to the impact of weather, season changes and the epidemic, the overall retail sales of the clothing industry declined severely in February. Since the traditional sales peak season, the Spring Festival, falls in February, sales The decline is also expected to have a greater adverse impact on the full year.
“From the Spring Festival to the end of February, the epidemic had a great impact on retail sales.” On the same day, the person in charge of Sanfu Outdoor admitted frankly to a reporter from Times Weekly.
Recently, a report from the Guosen Securities Economic Research Institute showed that in early and mid-February, most brands closed more than 50% of their stores and shortened the operating hours of the remaining operating stores.
“The epidemic has had a great impact on clothing retail. The epidemic has had an impact on product sales last winter, this spring and even summer. Although many brands have launched online sales, the income is only a drop in the bucket.” March 8, Clothing industry expert Cheng Weixiong told Times Weekly reporters.
The pressure has not diminished after the resumption of work
As various places resume work one after another, clothing stores that have been closed for more than a month have finally opened.
On the afternoon of March 5, a reporter from Time Weekly came to a large shopping mall in Guangzhou. At the scene, reporters found that there were very few shoppers in stores such as Uniqlo and Heilan Home, and only a few clerks were arranging clothing.
“As of February 29, more than two-thirds of the company’s offline stores have resumed business, and all middle and back-office employees outside high-risk areas have basically resumed work.” On March 6, the relevant person in charge of Peacebird People told the Times reporter.
On the same day, the relevant person in charge of Ellisi told a reporter from Times Weekly that we would resume on-site operations around February 17.
“Except for Hubei and other epidemic areas, the company’s offline sales terminals have basically resumed work.” The relevant person in charge of Jiumuwang told a reporter from Times Weekly.
However, offline stores did not receive a large number of customers as expected. There are many pressures on inventory, cash flow, operating costs, etc., like the Sword of Damocles hanging “over your head”.
“At this time, there are not many customers in offline stores.” On March 6, the relevant person in charge of Youngor told a reporter from Times Weekly.
The relevant person in charge of Jiumuwang admitted to the Times Weekly reporter that offline retail channels have declined severely, customer flow has decreased, cash flow will inevitably be affected, and there will be pressure on the channel inventory of brand owners and downstream franchisees.
The relevant person in charge of Sanfu Outdoor also told the Times Weekly reporter that there is no problem with rent-free shops rented in state-owned units and some shopping malls; however, many individual street stores need further communication to reduce fixed costs as much as possible. , to relieve operational pressure.
Export foreign trade orders are also almost “stopped”.
“I didn’t even see a single foreigner, and the market and factories were all deserted.” On March 7, Mr. Deng, who specializes in export clothing supply, told Times Weekly reporters that the extent of the losses is still difficult to estimate. , everyone is at their wits’ end.
Langsha, known as “China’s No. 1 Underwear Stock”, also has export trading business. On the 6th, its relevant person in charge told a reporter from Time Weekly that the company’s exports are mainly to Europe, and some are also exported to the United States.
“Exports are currently affected, and coupled with the previous trade war, foreign trade business is relatively difficult.” The relevant person in charge of Langsha said.
On March 6, the China National Garment Association conducted a survey on the resumption of work of garment companies. The results showed that 29.4% of the surveyed companies reported a decrease in orders due to factors such as sluggish market demand and order cancellations. Some companies reported that domestic Orders have fallen sharply, and the replenishment of export orders has also decreased.
Sluggish sales have affected the apparel industry chain.
Zhang Xiao (pseudonym), who owns a clothing manufacturing OEM factory, sat blankly at the door of his factory for several hours. She never imagined that during what was supposed to be the busiest time of the year, she would only receive orders that she could count on her fingers.
On March 7, she told a reporter from Time Weekly that it had been almost a month since she resumed work, and there were only 9 companies requesting goods, and fabric suppliers were unable to supply them in time.
Jin Hao (pseudonym), who sells fabrics at the Zhongda Cloth Market in Guangzhou, has not yet waited for notification of the market’s resumption of work.
“The warehouse is currently closed and the products available are limited.” On March 7, Jin Hao told a reporter from Times Weekly that if he could not sell goods, he would have to pay rent and salary costs of nearly 200,000 yuan per month. .
Recently, some merchants told Times Weekly reporters that they have decided to abandon the production and sales of spring and summer clothing.
Cheng Weixiong told a reporter from Times Weekly that the epidemic disrupted the original rhythm of clothing sales.
“The epidemic hasThe production plan for summer and autumn next year will also have the impact of reducing or not producing. “Cheng Weixiong believes.
Social marketing is booming
The offline “road” is blocked, and clothing brands are exploring online channel models one after another, among which social sales are the most popular among enterprises.
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“Babys, are you all here?” The appearance of this sentence means the start of a day’s flash sale. Cao Yi (pseudonym), who runs a certain clothing brand, established a WeChat membership group in the early stages of the epidemic. In March On the 8th, she told the Times Weekly reporter that the group was all regular customers of the store, and every day before releasing the flash sales, she would give out a red envelope and shout out.
The person in charge of Sanfu Outdoor told the Times Weekly reporter He said that after resuming work, we will switch from store sales to WeChat mini program sales, and offline store sales employees will participate in it and do some live broadcasts through various channels such as WeChat.
“The company promotes all-employee marketing, and employees Everyone began to use their circle of friends to sell goods, including shirts, suits, jackets, socks, bedding, etc., even our boss was no exception. “The relevant person in charge of Youngor told the Times Weekly reporter.
In addition, Jiumuwang, Peacebird, and Ellisi brands also told the Times Weekly reporter that they have entered the field of community marketing on the WeChat platform.
“In the era of cloud consumption, the traditional dealer path model has evolved from an advantage in the past to a burden due to excessive costs, while the cloud model can span the intermediate links of circulation. “On March 8, Lai Yang, director of the Beijing Jingshang Circulation Strategy Research Institute, told a reporter from Times Weekly.
On March 8, Mr. He from the clothing industry told a reporter from Times Weekly that online operations require With mature operating processes and systems, it is difficult to achieve high online performance in the short term through significant price reductions of online products.
Times Weekly reporter noticed in the Youngor WeChat mini-program mall that the monthly sales volume is more than 8,000 pieces Men’s long-sleeved shirts are discounted by 4.6% off the original price of 580 yuan for a limited time, and the price during the discount period is 269 yuan. The prices of other men’s clothing that sell more than a few thousand pieces per month are almost half of the original price.
On March 7, Li Qiang (pseudonym), who is in charge of online store promotion, also told Times Weekly reporters that e-commerce is not easy to do and it will be difficult to increase sales in the short term.
Sanfu Outdoor The relevant person in charge admitted frankly that the purpose of doing online is to alleviate the current sales situation, and there is still a certain gap between the sales volume of physical stores.
“Through this epidemic, in the future, the company will pay more attention to new retail-related product operations, Research on smart warehousing logistics, smart manufacturing and other businesses. “The relevant person in charge of Jiumu King said.
Gelisi said that during this epidemic, they have reflected on their business model, and now pay more attention to some design marketing and online sales.
“Use Due to the epidemic, clothing brands have gradually begun to consider the long-term transformation of the industry. “But Lai Yang believes that the occurrence of this force majeure event has instead provided an opportunity for the transformation of the clothing industry.
Cheng Weixiong also believes that the current contradiction in user demand is not a price game, but a supply of quality and useful products. Cost-effective and personalized products, maximizing user value and diversifying experience services are greatly satisfied; online and offline interconnection of retail stores, driven by big data, the ecosystem of brands, products, stores (platforms), users, etc. More closed loop.
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