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Our reporter Zhong Chuhan and Jiang Zheng reported from Shanghai

The industrial chain integration of the wool industry has ushered in further development.

"Chinese consumers generally have a high desire for pure wool and merino wool fabrics. In addition, Chinese consumers have a clear understanding of the various properties of wool. They are well aware of the superiority of wool as a natural fiber and appreciate its renewable, biodegradable and temperature-regulating abilities. These perceptions not only reflect consumers' recognition of the quality of wool, but also provide strong support for clothing retail brands that focus on promoting wool materials," said Ma Jie, Executive Vice President of Greater China and New Markets in Asia and General Manager of China at The Woolmark Company.

Recently at the "2024 Pure Wool Mark Franchise Annual Meeting and Summit Forum", relevant professionals in the Chinese and Australian wool industries, including government officials, academic experts, benchmark companies, and representatives of brands and e-commerce platforms, shared insights into the latest trends in the wool industry and discussed corporate development strategies to promote cooperation and development upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.

Wool consumption is changing

Zhan Yan, a well-known business manager in the women's clothing industry of Alibaba Tmall, pointed out that after 2022, the recovery of online physical retail is better than that of many other industries. According to statistics, the proportion of physical goods retail sales in online channels in 2023 is close to 28%, and the total amount has increased by 8.4% over the previous year. Among them, the consumption of clothing products has always been the core driver of online growth. In March 2024, the growth rate of online physical clothing product retail sales reached 12.1%. Among them, women's clothing occupies a very important position.

Regarding the changes in wool consumption users, Zhan Yan said: "First of all, women are still the core shopping group of the entire wool market. Of course, they not only buy for themselves, but also for their families. Therefore, the shoppers we face are women first. From our current user data, we have found that the user population has tended to be high-quality, high-end and younger in the past two years. Consumers under the age of 35 contribute more than 50% of our users. Secondly, this group of shoppers is increasingly moving towards some fashion trends. In addition, young people and fashion people now have an increasing interest in high-quality materials."

In terms of user purchasing factors, "for younger users, such as those born after 1990, they have higher demands on clothing design styles, such as fashion and multi-scenario wear. Young people have a demand for diverse styles, and at the same time they are more sensitive to marketing keywords with content attributes, such as IP co-branding, designer co-branding, etc. These are key points in marketing that can attract young users. Therefore, we encourage brands to add more of these content elements to their marketing to enhance communication and interaction with young users. In addition, "machine washable" has been repeatedly mentioned in user surveys in the past two years. We found that users have made similar demands for cashmere and wool products." Zhan Yan said.

A reporter from China Business News learned that in terms of categories, the three categories of women's clothing that are most closely related to wool are wool coats, sweaters and suits.

Zhan Yan believes: "Wool coats are a very important category in the autumn and winter women's clothing industry. It has a very wide range of extension. In the category of knitwear, it has gradually expanded from the original autumn and winter category to a four-season category. In addition, we have observed that the growth rate of knitwear categories is very fast, and it will extend to traditional summer categories such as T-shirts, knitted skirts, suspenders, etc., and achieve a very obvious growth rate."

The outdoor market has a broad space

According to the data from iiMedia Research, the share of China's sports industry in GDP and its forecast from 2010 to 2025 will continue to increase, the market size of the sports industry will continue to expand, and the market development prospects are good.

Among them, the rise of outdoor sports has provided opportunities for the development of outdoor wool products. Xue Fei, general manager of outdoor sports wool brand SN, pointed out: "In the development of outdoor sports, the number of events has increased dramatically, such as cross-country races, mountaineering and other events. The reason for the rise of outdoor sports is that the epidemic has pushed everyone to go outside. China's outdoor sports also have their own characteristics. China's outdoor sports pay great attention to fashion and trends because they are sports that young people like. With the development of the sports industry and outdoor sports, consumers have begun to have demand for outdoor products. For example, there will be these different functional requirements, which is an opportunity for outdoor wool to stand out from many raw materials. Consumers have a demand for high-quality, functional wool products."

At present, outdoor is a scene where wool products are widely used. "Offline young people will emphasize that clothes can be worn in multiple scenes, not only in commuting, socializing or leisure and entertainment scenes, but also in scenes such as outdoor. So we can find that more and more outdoor is mentioned in some recent keywords. Outdoor not only includes some extreme sports, but also some light outdoor such as cycling, fishing and other very popular tracks." Zhan Yan said.

Regarding the characteristics of outdoor wool products, Xue Fei, general manager of outdoor sports wool brand SN, said: "Wool products can provide excellent comfort and protection in extreme weather conditions. Wool products are very suitable for the outdoors and have the function of regulating body temperature. When the temperature is high, it can lock in the high temperature and prevent the high temperature outside from coming in, which is a bit like the effect of water. At the same time, outdoor wool products have the advantage of moisture absorption, because wool has the highest moisture absorption rate among all fibers. In addition, wool is flame retardant. Polyester is easy to burn, but wool stops burning and turns into ash."

Xue Fei believes that there is a bright future for outdoor wool. "There are already many sportswear brands that have launched wool products, which is very helpful for the overall development and growth of outdoor wool. At the same time, the number of brands that specialize in wool will also increase. In general, the growth of the wool market in outdoor sports is foreseeable."

(Editor: Yu Haixia Reviewer: Li Lin Proofreader: Zhai Jun)