Internal And External Troubles: Performance Decline Of Department Stores

Back in the past, every weekend or holiday, the scene of customers wearing a masked shoulder in the most fashionable and high-end department stores in Taiyuan was still vivid. Especially when it comes to the discount and refund season in the shopping mall, it is even more difficult for female consumers to stop. Where discount and discount? Smart and smart shopping experience is an important part of many women's lives.

Who can think that the traditional department store industry has been developing in full swing for more than ten years. Under the impact of the electricity supplier and the economic environment, no matter for the traditional old department store or the new fashion shopping center, the reduction of passenger traffic, the decline of business income and profit growth have made the once bustling field cool and clear, and the profit statement that has made full profits has been declining year by year.

As a matter of fact, since 2012, the growth of new channels such as new shopping centers and electricity providers has brought negative growth in China's department stores, and the downturn in the economic environment has also led to a lack of consumer confidence.

A group of data from the Shanxi Bureau of statistics showed that in 2014, due to the weakening consumer demand and weak sales, Shanxi's consumer goods market was facing many difficulties. The retail sales of clothing, shoes and hats and knitwear increased by 17.9% over the same period last year, the growth rate dropped 7.1 percentage points year-on-year, and the pulling force on retail sales dropped 0.55 percentage points over the same period in 2013.

A sharp contrast with this: the new format represented by online retailing has maintained rapid development. In 2014, the total retail sales of Enterprises above Designated Size reached 740 million yuan, an increase of 135.9% over the same period last year, and became the "Star" of the growth of the consumer goods market in the whole province.

Statistics from authoritative departments in China also confirm this fact: in 2014, the total retail sales volume of the whole country was 27898 billion yuan, an increase of 49.7% over the same period of last year. In 2014, the scale of the mobile terminal shopping market reached 929 billion 710 million yuan, the annual growth rate reached 239.8%; in 2014, the "double eleven" electricity supplier sold 57 billion 100 million yuan, an increase of 58%; as the 70% Chinese mainland women favored online shopping, the clothing was the largest category of online shopping market; in 2014, the retail sales volume of the national 100 large retail enterprises increased by 0.4%.

"The social dividend of traditional retailing is gradually disappearing." For the current situation of traditional department stores, Du Yongchang, manager of MAE department store marketing department, analyzed that the retail department of traditional department stores had only a part of regional consumers, and the shopping habits formed by consumers over the past decades were gradually changing under the attack of electricity providers and new shopping centers.

Li Li, general manager of new world business in North America, said that while the Internet and mobile retailing were strikingly developing, the traditional retail industry was really struggling. On the one hand, all kinds of costs such as labor and logistics in the retail industry remain high, and the profits of the industry are seriously squeezed. On the other hand, the electricity supplier is rapidly gaining the share of the traditional retail market through cheap prices, convenient payment systems, and door-to-door services.

In fact, relative to Department store Offline consumption, many young consumers believe that online shopping is more convenient and fast, for example, in payment and courier, especially for repeated purchases, online shopping time and energy is lower than the line. The offline department store industry seems to have become a competitor's product display window for the electricity supplier.

Although the worry that traditional department stores may be completely replaced by electricity providers, there are still positive and optimistic support voices in the industry. Dong Zhilai, director of marketing planning department of Huayu shopping center, believes that although the environment is not good, it is traditional. business There is room for development. For example, Hua Yu. Shopping Mall The self positioning is between the 35 to 60 years old middle age high-end customer group. Improper fit, quality and style are their first choice. Compared with shopping experience in the shopping mall, online shopping clothes also involve unstable factors such as return.

"Huayu two level gathered the songs of the song, white collar, Baozi, and long posture are high-end brand women's clothing. These clothes are different from luxury brands, and they are of sufficient scale and moderate price, so customers who consume these products will not give up the scene experience because they are one hundred or two hundred yuan cheaper online. Dong Zhilai believes that the impact of the electricity supplier on traditional business is a catalyst to promote the transformation of traditional business. It can let all the families pay more attention to how to better serve the customers and retain customers. The traditional department store industry can fully foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses and still have vitality.