On November 22nd, China (Humen) Children, Baby and Maternity Industry Forum 2018: “to be Practical, to see Success” with the theme of “focusing on new pattern in the new retail era” was held during the 23rd China (Humen) International Fashion Fair. This forum is guided by professional committee of childrens wear from China National Garment Association (CNGA), co-organized by Media Center of CNTAC, new media of China Kidswear, Kidswear Vision, and China Textile Magazine, Organizing Committee of China (Humen) International Fashion Fair and Humen Garment Technology Innovation Center.
As one of special industries in famous clothing town, Humen, childrens wear has outstanding performance and becomes one of national well-known childrens clothing industry cluster in recent years. As the textile and garment industry enter into a comprehensive and deep transformation period, and under the requirement of high-quality development, the essential theme of this forum is how to further refine structural adjustment, establish business pattern that adapts to the times and market demand, and obtain the survival winning rule in the fierce competition.
In 2018, China (Humen) Children, Baby and Maternity Industry Forum 2018: “to be Practical, to see Success” has been taken place for four times, which has become a high-profile brand activity during China(Humen) International Fashion Fair. The forum in this year continues the traditional form of “to be Practical, to see Success”, which starts from market orientation perspective, gets full appreciation of the development of children, baby and maternity industry, and makes a new exploration on development pattern of the era of new retail.
Zhou Yiqi, the full-time vice president of China National Garment Association made a speech in the forum. He said: “In the past five years, world economy situation has been adjusted profoundly, a mediumhigh speed development of Chinas economy enters into new normal, and a new round of scientific and technological revolution and consumption upgrade bring about rapid change. Childrens wear is one of the most promising development direction in the garment industry. For several years, childrens wear industry has also experienced from the expansion of emerging markets to the subdivision of specific domain with the reform of the family planning policy and the change of consumption quality. In the new era, the original design, market segmentation, brand positioning, brand image, terminal operation, marketing level, product power, and brand power, operating power and other comprehensive strength and brand concept of children garment brand face with new requirements due to personalized, fashionable, brand-oriented demands of consumers. Therefore, most childrens wear enterprises will restart on the same starting line. Currently, if childrens wear enterprises are determined to achieve sustainable development, they must face new development opportunities, re-examine their positioning, ideas and models, and seek out their core competitiveness and advantages.
Zhou Yiqi said that the theme of this forum is “focusing on new pattern in the new retail era”. After the consumption enters into the new retail age, the enter- prises need to focus on products and consumers, study the real demand of consumers and produce the products what the market really wants. Meanwhile, they should attach greater importance to the quality, to conform to the industry requirements of high-quality development.
Chen Haohua, the deputy town chief of Humen town peoples government in Dongguan city said that they vigorously develop the childrens wear industry, issue Suggestions on Implementation of Vigorously Supporting the Development of Childrens Wear Industry, establish Humen Fumin Childrens Wear Center and create “South China trade and exhibition headquarters of Childrens Wear brand” except for consolidating the development of Humen womens wear and casual wear. At present, there are more than 700 enterprises which produce childrens clothing in Humen town, of which there are more than 100 childrens wear brand owning certain regional influence capability and more than ten billion Yuan of annual sales.
Chen Hoahua believed that the current “new retail” has aroused widespread concern, more and more local clothing enterprises actively seek for the breakthrough of “new retail” and innovate brand marketing model, and are committed to realizing diversified development, transformation and upgrading of enterprises. This forum will gather scholars from inside and outside the industry to discuss together the way of breakthrough for Humen and even Chinese childrens clothing industry in the era of “new retail”. Hence, the childrens wear enterprises especially those in Humen will grasp the trend of market development and rebuild new advantages on the basis of the existing advantages, to promote the regional development of children, baby and maternity industry.
In this forum, three guest speakers analyzed the business model reform in the new retail era from a completely new point of view, and how the children, baby and maternity industry adapt to this change and win in the fierce competition; meanwhile, they discussed the required strategic layout, prediction in advance and practical experience in the general.
“No experience, no consumption”
Speaker: Ma Chunlin, Strategy consulting expert & the founder of Subversive Innovative Retail
Theme: Precision Marketing and Strategy of Children Garment Industry under New Retail Pattern
It is stated that the year of 2018 witnesses the first year of new retail, the advent of any market change will bring about the transformation of thinking and strategy patterns of the enterprises. Childrens wear is still at a relatively early stage in the whole clothing sector. In the last two or three years, many brand enterprises face with the shrinking channels, declining performance of single store, difficult capital flow turnover and other market conditions. In addition, the wholesale enterprises suffer a sharp decrease in the number of agents, reduction in production output, and rising cost and expense, etc.
So, what is the obstacle for the development of childrens wear enterprises? First of all, the market analysis is important. From the perspective of consumer market, the retail business has undergone various upheavals for the past two decades. Since 2010, the first generation born after 1980 has become the core consumer group in society, consumer market, namely buyers market starts to focus on consumer demand, and the necessary adjustment is made based on the demands of consumers. In the future, the store will be presented as a platform, online and offline communication will come true, and the real communication with consumption will be realized through big data and intelligence. From now on, the most important core competition is ability of user management, and the breadth and depth management of the user is the most important core of retail. Now, the enterprise begins to study on the consumers born after 1990 to 2000 since the change of consumer structure, all changes must revolve around the consumptive demand. Personalized demand will be regarded as new consumption guiding ideology, and the consuming behavior will also take the form of unplanned fragmented consumption.
“No experience, no consumption”, in other words, the users should obtain extreme offline experience, which is a research emphasis in operational entities of retail industry.
Secondly, the enterprise should have a good positioning. From the perspective of broad environment, the economy is still in an “L” shape currently, which hasnt converted to “V” shape. On account of the rapid development of internet, consumer group has changed, the market has entered into the buyers market. In the meantime, many enterprises still pay attention to the image transformation of physical stores; retail has entered into user operation, while the company is still focused on building and training in-store employees skills. The foundation work still requires to be accomplished, but the parts that need to be improved have not yet been implemented.
Then how should the enterprise look for a way out? First of all, the traditional thinking should be changed: if the enterprise wants to survive, it must save the market; as we all know, only the stores and terminals are saved, the market can be obtained; and only the performance is improved stably, the terminals can be saved. Therefore, the performance of entities should be driven by new retail. Secondly, the direction should be gasped correctly: for enterprises, they should attach greater importance to operational model rather than product management. The stage of product profitability, brand profitability and platform profitability may be over, the enterprise should seize the opportunity of model profitability. The operational model should be innovated: the retail is hematopoietic cell, and the entities are life. For innovative retail today, user marketing is the most important point; meanwhile, systematic processing of big data on commodities should be carried out. The shopping place will become an experience space where consumers are willing to enter, stay and purchase. The expand business for users should be implemented from two aspects including width and depth, the resources behind users should be obtained and integrated into the store.
In internet era, all the operational activities should center on user demand. For entity retail sales, the way to win is to meet consumer demand creatively. The childrens wear enterprises should convert to outside from inside rapidly, the concept of new retail lead by big data model should be utilized, to activate the market. Through integration of the store, the store can enter into the track of new retail really.
“Core of future retail - users, products and scenarios”
Speaker: Lv Yihao, the founder and president of “Top Baby”
Theme: Winning Rules of Online Platform for Childrens Industry in New Retail Era
“Tao Baby” derives from “TOP”, TOP core childrens wear enterprises are integrated on this platform, and the childrens wear industry is practiced and upgraded through internet. At present, the potential of Chinas childrens wear is still not fully excavated, and there are few top enterprises. The development of all industries is bound to be centralized, hence Chinas children industry will generate more large-scale enterprises in the further. In particular, the consumption upgrade caused by two-child policy will exert a huge fundamental impact on the childrens industry.
In 2017, Chinas children industry is nearly 180 billion Yuan. From the perspective of data over the past ten years, annual compound rate of increase of children industry and childrens clothing industry is always optimistic. Meanwhile, the per capita consumption data of childrens wear in our country still lags behind some developed countries, which proves childrens wear market has huge development space.
The essence of new retail is “retail”. We should firmly protect our main business and the essence of products and create our own product and service. In the new era, our striving direction is to deliver the product to the consumer on the premise of manufacturing high-quality products. Currently, internet has become an infrastructure, which has become a kind of kinetic energy for daily life. In future ecology, “users, scenes and products” will be the core of retail. The high-quality products should be delivered to the consumers in a better scenario, to meet a life style of costumers rather than meet the basic necessities of life.
If conforming to consumption upgrade and integrating big data better, the traditional industry will be vibrant with life and provide better products as well as user experience: “Online agglomeration, Offline rendering, deep integration and coordinated development”. Three offline elements are driven by online platform, providing better fusion experience for children consumer group.
“New retail is not a subversion of traditional commerce”
Speaker: Guan Shaozhou, CEO of Guangdong PEPCO Garments Co., Ltd.
Theme: New Retail Strategy Report of PEPCO
In the face of the coming of new retail era, PEPCO has carried out several bold changes for several years.
In 2016, PEPCO cancelled all the franchisees and agents, only direct and joint channels were left. Because of some agents owning poor operational capability, it is difficult to promote the real new retail. On account of the gradual decline of the department store business, PEPCO selects the layout in the shopping center and maintain direct sales; so they can master the big data in their own cashier system. Meanwhile, they pay more attention to motivate the salesclerk during the whole process of promoting new retail sales.
New retail is not a subversion of traditional commerce, which center on consumer demand and pan-retail system driven by the data actually. Therefore, it is an innovation of organizational structure, business model, supply chain building and storeenabled strategy.
The key to the success of new retail lies in superstrong executive force of team, problem-solving ability and innovation ability rather than grand strategy and blueprint, and complete business structure.
Through the successful holding of this forum, the business model cognition of local childrens wear enterprises has been improved, the development of regional children, baby and maternity industry has been promoted, and Humen regional economy has substantial development due to the development of subdivision, which are the purpose and vision of this forum.