Outdoor clothing can lead the garment out of the doldrums

The current status of retail sales for the fourth consecutive year increased nearly 40% year-on-year

In 1911, a fanatical outdoor enthusiast named LeonLeonwoodBean returned from a hunt and his feet were cold and damp. So he hired a local cobbler to sew a leather upper on the rubber boots that the workers wore, revolutionizing the production of shoes that were very comfortable. This innovative hunting shoe has permanently changed the look of outdoor products. As a result, people are paying more and more attention to how costumes can play their best role in specific places. More and more fans have become loyal customers of such products. The true meaning of outdoor products originated in Northern Europe, where there are numerous ski and mountaineering enthusiasts, but today the world’s largest consumer market for outdoor products is not there but in China.

It is not difficult to find that when summer comes, the ladies of beauty love to wear a layer of colorful but transparent skin clothing outside in the summer clothes, and men have replaced the cotton T-shirt in the closet with a quick-drying clothing with better ventilation. The family who is sitting on the grass and leisure will carry equipment such as moisture-proof mats, tents, folding chairs, etc., and wear jackets and quick-drying pants. Outdoor supplies in recent years are like a night of spring breeze blowing into Chinese families.

Liu Yumei, secretary general of the Liaoning Provincial Garment Association, said: “The current use of outdoor products is mostly leisure, such as tourism and vacations, and outdoor clubs and other professional consumer groups with high requirements. Although loyalty is high, it is not a major purchaser. Outdoor products are more popular because the economic income of the residents in our province has increased and the purchasing power has increased.The price of an outdoor apparel is not low, but generally it is more than a thousand yuan. On the other hand, people are increasingly looking forward to it. Natural demand has driven outdoor products."

Manager Zhang Ruifeng of the Department of Sports of Jinsheng Department Store of Jinzhou City introduced: “At present, there are 16 outdoor brands in the mall. The monthly profit is between 100,000 and 500,000. From 2010, the sales of outdoor products at the mall will be 50% per year. Growth.Intra-industry data show that the outdoor supplies retail industry has increased nearly 40% for four consecutive years."

At present, the sales channels of outdoor products mainly include brand agents, monopoly and mall sales, wholesale clothing wholesale markets, and e-commerce. The marketing methods are mainly outdoor products that gradually form their own unique sales channels, and their operations and marketing methods are gradually changing.

According to the Clothing Association of Liaoning Province, large shopping malls are the main places for consumers to choose and purchase goods. Among them, outdoor sportswear sales are also important categories. According to the survey, 30% of consumers buy outdoor sportswear in large shopping malls. Ordinary shopping malls and clothing stores are mainly engaged in mid- and low-end outdoor sportswear, which mainly attracts working-class consumers. Ordinary shopping malls use counter sales or optional sales. Many shopkeepers who previously operated casual wear felt the energy of outdoor sports development and were introduced into their own stores. A lot of reputation with foreign trade stocks, Shanghai's hot air, etc. is to take this development road. 40% of consumers like to go to the store to buy their favorite brand. China's outdoor sportswear specialty stores started late, but they have not yet formed scale. Such as shopping malls supermarkets, chain stores, due to low operating costs, with price advantage, is the most rapid development in recent years, the type of business outdoor sports apparel adopt open-shelf sales, low prices, the sale of outdoor sports apparel mainly in the middle and low , is a good complement to the department store format. Various individual outdoor sports apparel retail stores supported by large wholesale markets currently occupy a small share of outdoor sportswear sales in China. Because there are few links among them, the price is low, and they respond quickly to market changes, and the development prospects are very promising. The profit space is declining from department stores to large wholesale markets.

Response to traditional sports brands have tried to transform the hot selling of outdoor products, mainly diverting the passenger flow of the original sports market. Zhang Ruifeng said: "With many colleagues discussed, in the past few years under the impact of outdoor supplies, the traditional sports market sales have shrunk by about 50%, even big brands such as Adidas, Nike is no exception. But traditional sportswear Will not be replaced by outdoor, waiting for the market to go hot period, sports brands and outdoor products should each account for half of the market share."

Outdoor products are overwhelming, and sports brands will not stand still. A manager of a sports goods store in Shenyang Wuhuan Mall told the reporter: “2008 is the Olympic year and it is also the highest peak in the sales of sporting goods. It should be said that each brand makes a special profit by virtue of the east wind of the Olympic Games. At that time, the high sales were abnormal, and they have been shrinking since 2009. Outdoor products are crowding into this sales gap. Reliance on discount promotions will only reduce the brand reputation, so we plan not to To abandon the original features, develop some products with certain outdoor functions to participate in outdoor product competition."

Li Ning was the first domestic sports brand to sniff out the outdoor prospects. Its outdoor brand Li-Ning Adventure outdoor series has emerged, which shocked the industry. With the addition of such brands as Li Ning and Anta, the outdoor products industry will continue to heat up.

Not only is the traditional sports brand, some clothing brands also want to test the water outdoors, domestic brands have emerged one after another. What does this professional think about it? Manager of Shenyang Outlet Marketing Department Wang believes: “Although outdoor apparel is popular, clothing manufacturers still need to think twice before producing outdoor clothing. First, outdoor apparel is in production design. Different from traditional clothing, some foreign companies have years of research experience and design accumulation. From a functional and qualitative point of view, it is difficult for local companies to compare with foreign brands, and the current popularity of outdoor clothing will inevitably lead to hot money influx. In the following, companies that have just converted will face fierce market competition, and sales of outdoor products may continue to rise this year, but if apparel companies take a profit and take a go, it may instead slow down the growth rate of the company's output value. Choose carefully."

“Even if they turn to the outdoors, clothing companies must consider whether they can do OEM or branding,” said Lu Xin, deputy director of the outdoor apparel R&D center in the province. “Although it is profitable to do OEM, it is not a long-term strategy for the development of the company. But creating a brand requires more investment and a longer period of time.He suggested that garment companies can first introduce advanced production management, business operation and marketing promotion experience from the coastal areas, make good use of e-commerce and other ways, improve logistics channels, from generation to generation. The start of work, gradually taking the road of brand intensive development."

Investigating the technological content is the core competitiveness of products, said Zhang Ruifeng, “One of the main reasons for outdoor products successfully occupying the popular clothing market is to take the “differentiation.” The pattern of outdoor products has not changed much, but its function is changing with each passing day. There is no strong research and development. The ability of outdoor brands will eventually be eliminated by the market. Brands that unveil new functional products can be sought after. High technological content is the core competitiveness of products."

Xiao Chen, a salesclerk at Shenyang Wuhuan Sporting Goods Store, told reporters: “The consumers pay most attention to the functionality of outdoor products. Compared to traditional clothing, outdoor products have unparalleled advantages in terms of functionality, because these products were originally intended to It is designed to deal with extreme weather and complex terrain, and even if it is not possible to meet those special circumstances in real life, people need to have a clothing with this function, such as the fabric of this jacket, using GORE-TEX film, microporous Structure, with waterproof, breathable, windproof and other comprehensive performance, wearing comfort is obviously better than ordinary fabrics.In wet weather, quick-drying T-shirts are washed dry after drying in the room for two hours to dry, and ordinary Clothing for at least two days."

The reporter interviewed some consumers who came to pick clothes at the Wuhuan Shopping Mall. Ms. Liu said: “The entrance examination will take children to play. In order to protect the skin, I pay special attention to sun protection goggles and hats.” Liu Xiaoliu said that when he purchased clothing for the weekend climbers, More emphasis on safety.

Many words such as “DuPont”, “3M”, “Bamboo Carbon Fiber”, “Cool Jade Fiber”, “Dongli”, and “New Safeguard” have never heard of, and they have many functional outdoor products. Key technologies. Some brands with strong R&D have even changed the ever-changing technical terms into a fashion that attracts consumers, a fashion that chases the latest technology. Of course, such technology, the value content is also expensive. Zhang Li, head of the outdoor plucking mall at Zhuo Zhan Shopping Mall in Shenyang, said: “Our clothes materials are constantly being updated, and each season’s new products have innovations. As sales personnel, we also have to constantly Memorize these special words and explain their functions.We even want to explain what each zipper is used for, let customers know that the 4,000 yuan jacket is worth the money.Not only domestic consumers, in mature Europe and America In the market, similar propaganda work has continued, because the change is too fast."

If the outdoor product is simply specialized in design, the market will undoubtedly be a very small minority. Therefore, the outdoor product will use public functions to reduce costs and take the pro-population approach.

This reporter learned that there are some outdoor brands, such as only a walking shoe prices will be more than a thousand dollars, lights, kettles and other small items are also in a price of one or two hundred yuan. A rough estimate, a set of lines down as much as a few thousand dollars, if well equipped, the price will exceed 10,000 yuan. The price of these equipments depends mainly on the technological content and design input of the materials. However, if it is only used for outings, or if you are visiting a tourist attraction, it may not be so high. Therefore, some manufacturers also produce some low-end products that not only meet people's outdoor requirements, but also save costs and reduce prices. Zhang Li pointed to two seemingly insignificant Jackets and said: “The performance of these two clothes is very good, but the price difference is a few thousand dollars, because one of them can be worn at an altitude of 8000 meters, one is It can only be worn at a height of 3,000 meters above sea level, but the latter can be kept cold, water-proof and breathable in winter, so the sales situation is much better. Although there are not many buyers in the former, it is a very good care. Prove that our technology is very hard and the technology is very high, it is to attract consumers."

Zhang Ruifeng introduced: “One of the characteristics of outdoor product sales is that it is rarely discounted. This is a marketing tool, but at the same time, the stores also have difficulties. Take Qiansheng Department Store as an example, generally known as some outdoor brands, the purchase price is 5 to 5.5. Between discounts, due to the high cost of scientific research, the cost cannot be reduced, compared with the purchase price of only 20% or 30% of other apparels, the price price expansion space is very small, then the cost of logistics and personnel, and the 20% deduction point of shopping malls are eliminated. Profit margins of around 10% are good, so it is difficult to discount. Many stores are up to 20% off, 70% off for inventory clearance, and there aren't many replacements for outdoor brands, so inventory is relatively easy to sell."

Thinking about re-development of domestic brands can stand out from the outdoor clothing market, resulting in the influx of fast money, quality is difficult to guarantee, especially in the absence of product accumulation, no manufacturing experience, some manufacturers quickly converted, it is more difficult to ensure product quality. It is understood that for the establishment of standards for outdoor clothing, the relevant departments have begun to act. When outdoor clothing standards have not yet been established or sound, it seems that the only thing that allows consumers to trust and rest assured about quality is only the "brand" of the product and the "reputation" of the company.

At present, there are no national standards for outdoor sportswear that have been issued, which has, to a certain extent, restricted the healthy and orderly development of the industry. Domestic outdoor clothing enterprises are mainly based on processing, and brand-oriented outdoor clothing enterprises are not highly specialized. In particular, the level of protection function is not high. It is not just the backwardness of material science and technology, and style design, plate making, and technology are also relatively backward.

“In the face of the gap, we can only strive to break through, learn to communicate with foreign countries, and send technical personnel such as designers to foreign companies to study. We have established related majors in professional colleges and universities, hired domestic and foreign experts to teach lectures, and cultivate professional talents. The development of space, strengthen independent research and development capabilities in order to make domestic brands come to the fore, breaking the monopoly of high-end foreign brands market situation." Lu Xin said.

Simplicity is the consistent design style of outdoor products. In fact, from GPS to flashlights, from ski straps to outdoor bedding, products must be versatile and easy to use, as the saying goes: Less is More, simple is beautiful. At the same time, many outdoor enthusiasts are technology enthusiasts who demand high-quality, multi-functional products.

Judging from the overall trend, specialization, functional, and scientific content are still superior to outdoor sportswear and other apparel, and will continue to flourish in the future. Lu Xin said: “However, in the face of competition within the industry, besides continuous innovation in functions, satisfying the living needs of consumers and letting urban people have the comfort of being in the countryside is an important direction for outdoor brands to continue to improve.” In the future, many people in the industry believe that the coexistence of diversification and popularization will become the development trend of future outdoor product design.

Outdoor products will give modern urban people more different experiences, which can be suitable for outdoor use and suitable for urban leisure. At the same time, they must also take into account the aesthetic needs of people. It should satisfy people's natural and harmonious emotional appeal, urban forest product experience, convenient and comfortable use value and other multi-dimensional needs.

Liu Yumei said: “Most new generations of the 80s and 90s are not urban boredom. They need convenience and comfort. They are open-minded and willing to accept fresh technological innovations and services. From windbreakers to heated sleeping bags, the outdoor market must consider Each product can also provide what kind of potential service value, in order to attract more consumers to become a high degree of loyalty to fixed consumer groups."

Background According to the 2012 Annual Survey Report on China's Outdoor Products Market released by the China Textile Commerce Association, domestic and international brand retail sales reached 14.5 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 34.94%. Last year, the overall growth rate of China's textile and apparel companies was only about 5%. From 2010 to 2012, the number of outdoor product brands active in the Chinese market has reached 717, an increase of 29%. Among them, the number of domestic brands reached 334, an increase of nearly 46%, and the number of foreign brands reached 367, an increase of 13%.

As can be seen from the data, outdoor products can be described as outstanding in the continuously depressed apparel market. In September last year, the province’s first outdoor product production base was established in Dandong, and more and more manufacturers are involved in outdoor activities. How large is the domestic outdoor product market? Why are outdoor products attracting many customers? Why do garment companies try water? Are they short-term cyclone or outdoor water? Can outdoor clothing lead the garment market to the bottom?