who says it won’t sell? one merchant sold out 300,000 down jackets in one summer!
2024-09-19
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in pinghu garment city, jiaxing, zhejiang, merchants are creating a peak sales season against the trend.
who says it won’t sell? one merchant sold out 300,000 down jackets in one summer!
severe homogeneous competition, rising prices, and changing consumer fashion concepts... in recent years, voices have been heard from time to time that down jackets are not selling well and are being ignored. however, this summer, in jiaxing, zhejiang, the down jacket business at pinghu china garment city, the country's largest professional down jacket market, is extremely hot. merchants are actively exploring the market, making off-season clothing hot, providing a reference for other local clothing operators.
it does not produce down, but it produces more than half of the country's down jackets. as the country's largest professional market for down jackets, pinghu china garment city has been busy recently, with carts full of goods everywhere. the entrances of merchants' stores are filled with newly arrived down jackets, ready to be shipped all over the country.
severe homogeneous competition, rising prices, and changing consumer fashion concepts... in recent years, there have been voices saying that down jackets are not selling well and are being ignored. however, yang long, the brand manager of moshang, doesn't think so. this summer, he was busy receiving merchants from all over the country and taking inventory of sales.
"we have been selling off-season down jackets since march." yang long calculated that 300,000 off-season down jackets were basically sold out this summer, with sales of more than 30 million yuan. "off-season sales have brought us back a certain amount of funds, so we can better prepare for winter."
not only down jackets, but also sweaters, leather jackets and other winter clothes "made in jiaxing" have also been selling well against the trend in the past summer.
seize the low-cost "window" of production and sales in the off-season
"my dear friends, this cashmere sweater feels very comfortable and is very light when worn..." although it is a scorching hot day of 35 degrees celsius outside, in the tongxiang puyuan woolen sweater market, autumn and winter clothes have long been the main focus in the xige cashmere live broadcast room. anchor zhang shujiao is working hard to recommend a cashmere long-sleeved sweater.
"now in the live broadcast room of dan xige cashmere, we can sell thousands of cashmere sweaters and cashmere coats every day, with an average daily sales of 700,000 yuan." yu xiaoqing, executive vice president of zhejiang xige industrial company, told reporters.
unlike offline stores where the seasons are distinct and it is difficult to buy winter clothes in summer, the live broadcast room has long downplayed the change of seasons. down jackets are the hot-selling items in xige's summer live broadcast room. a down jacket, plus out-of-season pants or inner wear, is sold as a set for 999 yuan. this summer, the live broadcast room sold nearly 6,000 down jackets.
winter clothing sales are highly seasonal, and inventory pressure is a long-standing problem. yu xiaoqing is calculating this inventory account for off-season promotions. "out-of-season goods will take up a lot of inventory space and generate space usage fees. by selling out-of-season products at a discount, we can quickly clear inventory and make more space for new products."
in summer, yang long, who sells down jackets, calculates the cost of off-season and peak season. the off-season models sold by yang long are all last year's best-selling models, which are different from the main season models with "90% duck down" (i.e. 90% down content). the off-season models mainly sell "50% duck down". although the warmth and comfort are slightly inferior to "90% duck down", it has the advantages of low raw material costs and low processing fees in summer, and the price is naturally more affordable, which satisfies consumers' psychology of buying off-season products to "get a bargain". because of this, yang long's 300,000 off-season down jackets were sold out.
rely on the foreign trade market to fight against "time difference and price difference"
in pinghu china garment city, many merchants began to sell off-season products in 2017. zhang huiling, the head of yijiayi brand, was one of the earliest entrants, and she calculated the manual accounts.
"the down jacket business has obvious peak and off-seasons. for example, from november 1 to the end of last year, we sold more than 100,000 pieces and more than 30 million yuan worth of goods. we did most of the year's business in one month, and workers are most in demand during this period. but if we only do this season, then in the summer, the workers making down jackets will leave, and where will we find them during the peak season?" zhang huiling said that the main reason for insisting on making off-season down jackets is to maintain a stable team of workers, but the rewards are more than that.
last year, zhang huiling sold 200,000 off-season down jackets with sales of more than 20 million yuan, which is equivalent to creating another small peak season.
zhang xiaolin, a business operator at honghe zhongchuang sweater boutique market, takes advantage of the "time difference" between domestic and overseas markets. from focusing on domestic sales alone to focusing on both domestic and overseas markets, the transformation into foreign trade is his secret to ensuring that sweater sales are not slow during the off-season.
"sweaters are highly seasonal, and the domestic peak season is basically in autumn and winter, which is quite limited." zhang xiaolin told reporters that relying on foreign trade can create "time difference" and "price difference."
"the best-selling places in the summer are nepal, libya and other places, where the weather changes are similar to those in china. we start taking orders, production, packaging and shipping at the end of june. after two months of sea transportation, the products are ready for sale when they arrive." since this summer, zhang xiaolin has sold about 500,000 sweaters, with sales of nearly 10 million yuan.
strengthen original design and improve product quality
behind the “selling coats in summer”, the market operators are showing their determination and wisdom in facing challenges. however, to truly break through the seasonal limitations of winter clothes and realize the sale of “clothes” in all seasons, the way out lies in getting closer to the needs of the consumer market, improving quality and expanding product categories.
"only selling wool sweaters" was once the stereotype of many people about the puyuan wool sweater industry. now when you walk into the puyuan wool sweater market, "all categories" are the eye-catching words on the billboards.
yu xiaoqing told reporters that nowadays, sweaters are only a part of the company's business segment. others include goose down coats, jackets, windbreakers, short-sleeved shirts, etc. the trend of full product category is becoming more and more obvious, which is also a microcosm of the development of tongxiang's sweater industry.
in the view of peng zhen, deputy director of the puyuan knitting industrial park management committee, the hot sales during the off-season reflect customers' pursuit of high cost performance, eliminating middlemen, and going directly to the source of the factory. "the market is the best teacher. we are keeping up with the changes in demand, promoting market transformation, and promoting the transformation of the sweater market from a distribution center to a quality display and trade center." peng zhen said.
"at present, most business entities are improving product quality by strengthening original design, so as to better break through the restrictions of the peak and off-season of down jackets." chen jie, operation director of pinghu china garment city, told reporters that the garment city has launched a registration system for original design styles to protect the original designs of merchants in the market. the number of registered original design styles increased from more than 800 in 2019 to more than 2,200 last year. originality has brought stronger competitiveness and achieved long-term sales.
develop new models after the spring festival, make plates and samples in the spring, hold order meetings in may, sell off-season models in the summer, hold order meetings in august, enter the peak of procurement in september, and sprint sales at the end of the year... nowadays, "orders in all seasons, no idle time in any season" has become the norm for practitioners in the pinghu down jacket industry.
our reporter zou tiran, our correspondent tan luomin and zou tan, workers' daily (page 04, september 19, 2024)
source: workers daily
