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Is "Consumption Downgrade" Really Scary?

2023/12/11 18:44:00 0

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　　 For some time, "consumption degradation" has become a popular word frequently appearing on the Internet. Some financial and economic media pay close attention to it and discuss it seriously, while some young people play tricks such as "military coat" on dithering and small red books. Some people are therefore pessimistic about the future consumer market. In fact, the fundamental definition of "consumption degradation" is to pursue more cost-effective goods. The current situation is that the public will be relatively cautious in spending money, but there is always a willingness to spend. Consumers still pursue higher quality of life, want to have a better product experience, and the demand side is still enthusiastic, but they need to use new logic to capture opportunities. Therefore, it is inappropriate to regard the consumption trend as a "decline".

　　 "Little Lucky" products won the hearts

　　 As long as you carefully observe the clothing market, you will find that people's requirements for products have not declined, but are more sensitive to the premium of the brand. As domestic consumers gradually leave the worship of big brands, the trend of pursuing "cost performance" will also bring more opportunities to local brands. If you buy one less luxury bag, you can buy many national fashion clothes with personality and quality at the same time.

　　 In this case, "small lucky" products with relatively controllable cost and can bring people happiness will gain more space. What garment enterprises need to do is to make timely response according to their own conditions - such as adjusting the product structure, better integrating the supply chain and channels, which is of course a clich é. Today we are going to talk about two other ways to break the situation. One is to aim at category differentiation and function upgrading, and the other is to go overseas.

　　 In recent years, we can see the rise of many new commodities, such as disposable underpants, wet toilet paper, functional skin care products, etc., all focusing on category differentiation and functional upgrading. Even if the overall environment changes, the differentiation and upgrading of categories is irreversible, but the growth rate will be affected.

　　 This example has existed for a long time, and will only be more obvious in the future. Once, lululemon was a brand differentiated from the rise of white collar yoga in North America. At the 2023 World Fashion Conference held recently, Riccardo Braccialini, executive chairman of the Italian Fashion Industry Federation and chairman of the Italian Leather Manufacturers Association, also pointed out that, "One of the main tasks of the world's fashion industry in the future is to understand the way young people know the world. When we talk about fashion trends, we are actually talking about a lifestyle, including what food to eat, how to exercise, travel and accommodation, etc. This lifestyle is led by young people. Their pursuit of quality is actually the pursuit of the overall quality of life." The future opportunities of the clothing industry will also come from careful observation of lifestyle.

　　 If the category differentiation brought about by lifestyle is difficult to grasp in a short time, then functional upgrading can be regarded as a more normal breakthrough idea. This made the reporter think of a shopping experience a few days ago. When selecting thermal underwear, I was attracted by the skin care concept of a brand named "Jian Yun". It was introduced that the product was lined with wool, cashmere and silk, which ensured that 100% natural fibers were in contact with the skin, and increased the proportion of silk to nourish the skin. Consumers in the north know that the dry and cold winter will lead to dry and cracked skin. Who doesn't want more nourishment besides body milk? After gladly placing an order, I noticed the sales volume of the brand. When the price of the product was slightly higher than that of the first-line thermal underwear brand, the monthly sales volume of several single products reached 5000+, which was close to the sales volume of the top products of the first-line brand, while the number of fans of Jane Yun was only 190000, far lower than the number of fans of the first-line brand of 35 million. Perhaps this is the power of enterprises to focus on a "function upgrade" through product fine-tuning.

　　 Today's Chinese consumers have reached a very high level of mental maturity and screening ability, and their brand recognition is no longer just superficial image, which is especially obvious in the first and second tier cities. This is a healthy development trend, and consumers' recognition of the brand that provides quality products and services and their willingness to pay a premium remain unchanged.

　　 It's time to go out and have a look

　　 Now the "inner scroll" is a little stiff.

　　 After decades of global development, Chinese garment enterprises have strong capabilities in supply side manufacturing, cost control and other aspects. The more they go to the sea, the more they can experience this strength. Now the industry is also mature in brand building, so going global is also a great opportunity for garment brands in the future.

　　 A few months ago, CHIC (China International Garment Expo) organized a sea exhibition, which greatly inspired the confidence of brands and sponsors. CHIC led nearly 20 Chinese clothing brands to participate in Paris WHO ` S NEXT Exhibition for the first time, which became the "NEXT". Once Chinese brands appeared, their quality and sense of design shocked the whole exhibition and became the most crowded area during the exhibition. The audience was surprised by the design concept of Chinese clothing brands, and even a platform dedicated to star dress planning wanted to cooperate with the brand in depth; Another Middle East buyer was shocked to repeatedly confirm that Chinese brands can deliver conventional models within 7 days, and finally signed a contract and placed an order on site.

　　 "It turns out that Chinese clothing brands have become so powerful that there is no such strong feeling without going to sea." Since previous years the exhibitors are all upstream enterprises, this trip has given a shot in the arm to the Chinese clothing industry. In the process of "rolling in" for many years, the supply chain coordination, channel management, scale efficiency and even design concept of Chinese brands have become so powerful. Maybe Chinese clothing brands have more price and product competitiveness than overseas brands. It's time to go out and have a look.