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elephant news reporter zhang dichi

the e-commerce women's clothing industry is becoming increasingly difficult to operate. just a few days ago, zhang dayi, the "no. 1 taobao salesperson" who once claimed to have made 300 million yuan a year, officially announced the closure of her store.

on september 19, zhang dayi, co-founder of ruhnn holdings and internet celebrity model, posted a long article on weibo saying that the launch of new products in wo huan xi yi zhang, skirt jun, and jupevendue stores will be delayed indefinitely in order to adapt to the market and find the next target.

when he was at his most popular, he revealed that he could earn 300 million yuan a year

before the advent of the live streaming era, zhang dayi was an internet celebrity known as the “no. 1 live streaming influencer in e-commerce.”

public information shows that in 2014, feng min, the founder and chairman of ruhnn holdings, and zhang dayi jointly established the taobao store "my happy wardrobe", with zhang dayi responsible for shaping the store's style and internet celebrity brand. a year later, the store became one of the top women's clothing merchants on taobao.

the following years from 2016 to 2018 were the peak of zhang dayi's career. when she was at her peak, she revealed that she made 300 million yuan a year.

on november 11, 2016, her online store became the first women's clothing store on taobao to achieve sales of over 100 million yuan. zhang dayi has since been known as "the first taobao sales promoter".

zhang dayi said that the interest rate for clothing is very low and no one in the taobao system has successfully switched to another platform

in a long post on weibo, zhang dayi recalled the process from starting her business with ruhan in 2014 to the listing in 2019, "i felt that my energy was consumed in advance." "i experienced betrayal by people around me, the washing of major public opinion, and the adjustment of my body," zhang dayi said that she would undoubtedly choose to spend more time with her daughter.

she also talked about the development of various internet platforms. "so far, i have not seen any taobao-based company successfully switch to another platform, because the meager gross profit margin of the clothing category cannot support various operating costs, and switching platforms will result in losses." "influencer e-commerce is wonderful, but it is suitable for small and beautiful, small and exquisite, otherwise it will be an assembly line product." she said that she did not want to let her fans down by making assembly line products, "so she might as well stop it at this moment."

dozens of stores closed, women's clothing e-commerce ushered in a wave of store closures

it's not just zhang dayi's store. just a few months ago, the top women's clothing store "lola code" with 5 million fans on douyin chose to close before 618. in july, the taobao women's clothing store "sinking into the deep blue losvlue" with more than 500,000 fans also announced its closure. in addition, the internet celebrity women's clothing store "girl kayla" with more than 5 million fans on taobao was also exposed this year for owing hundreds of suppliers.

according to incomplete statistics, dozens of taobao women's clothing stores have closed or stopped stocking new products since the beginning of this year. among them are small stores with hundreds or thousands of fans, as well as some women's clothing stores with hundreds of thousands or even millions of fans.

why is it becoming increasingly difficult to do women's clothing e-commerce business?

why is it becoming increasingly difficult to do business in women's clothing e-commerce, which was once regarded as a "blue ocean for entrepreneurship"?

a netizen broke the news on a social platform that his friend sold women's clothing on a live streaming platform and achieved sales of 10 million during the 618 period. of this, only 3.5 million were refunded and 3.8 million were returned for refunds. the remaining 2.7 million still had to wait for market reaction, which means that the return rate of his store was close to 80%.

in recent years, taobao, jd.com, pinduoduo and other platforms have launched a "refund only" policy. although this policy is intended to protect the rights of consumers, it has invisibly aggravated the survival difficulties of merchants. some merchants said that the high return rate of women's clothing has brought a lot of hidden costs. it is understood that the return cost of a women's clothing order is about 15-20 yuan.

nowadays, many problems caused by returns have become a major concern for women's clothing e-commerce sellers. in june this year, a piece of news about "collective returns after more than 400 performance skirts were purchased online" attracted widespread attention. the store owner said that the buyer first placed an order for more than 400 skirts in his online store for a group performance by students, and within a week, all of them were returned. the returned skirts not only had a peculiar smell, but also had obvious signs of use. they could not be sold again and had to be scrapped, resulting in a direct loss of more than 8,000 yuan.

although women's clothing e-commerce sellers often complain about the high return rate, some consumers believe that the relevant responsibilities should not be entirely pushed to the platform and buyers. some consumers said on social platforms that in the past, when buying women's clothing, they only had to worry about whether it fits, but now they have to worry about pre-sales, fabrics, styles, sizes, color differences, workmanship... what's the difference between this and playing minesweeper?

netizens believe that women's clothing e-commerce sellers can only remain competitive in the fierce market competition and win the trust and loyalty of consumers by providing a more transparent, efficient and user-friendly shopping experience.

(source: elephant news)