news

interface news reporter | shi yiying

interface news editor | lou qinqin

in mid-september 2024, canadian sports lifestyle brand lululemon took advantage of tmall super brand day to release this year's new wunder puff down series, kicking off the competition for the autumn and winter down jacket market in the chinese market this year.

soon after, at the end of september, bananain, which is positioned as a somatosensory scientific clothing brand, also launched a series of h₂ hydrogen down jackets. domestic sportswear giant anta brand launched anta three-layer quick-warming down jackets to join the battle.

in the down jacket single product market, the domestic clothing brand bosideng has become popular with the help of the national trend in 2018. in recent years, it has been the undisputed king of this market. taking into account the seasonal use characteristics of down jackets, double eleven, the most important promotional season in the second half of the year, is a microcosm of its market situation: on double eleven in 2023, jd.com platform data showed that the overall transaction volume of the down category surged 120% year-on-year, making it the largest clothing market in the world. the category with the highest sales; data released by tmall platform shows that bosideng topped last year’s double eleven apparel brand sales list (cumulative total merchandise transactions), yaya brand ranked among the top five, and xuezhongfei brand also ranked seventh.

however, it is a thing of the past that a series of domestic down jacket brands led by bosideng have firmly grasped this market. in the past two or three years, sports brands are increasing their competition for this track, especially after the cold winter from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023.

in the product matrix of nike, adidas, anta and li ning, there are new down jacket products released at the end of september and early october every year, with as few as three to five models and as many as eight to ten models. the north face, which specializes in outdoor sports, has become popular this time because of the reproduction and renovation of classic down jackets. in the cold winter from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, the north face's down jackets were almost worn as "school uniforms" in northern china ".

as of last winter and the upcoming autumn and winter this year, almost all sports brands have joined the down jacket track, targeting mid-range market items to expand categories and consumers for the brand.

with sports brands experiencing huge growth in the past few years, and with collective growth beginning to slow down last year, finding new growth points has become the key to maintaining growth. at the beginning of this year, dong li, vice president and executive director of north face asia pacific, said in an exclusive interview with jiemian news, “it is consumers who ultimately determine the brand’s growth rate. we cannot be 100% sure that we can maintain high growth in the next three to five years. from the logic of the entire enterprise's operation, the larger the scale, the natural growth rate will decrease. product innovation, market promotion and channel improvement can help the brand maintain its growth rate."

sports brands entering the down jacket market to compete for market share have technical backgrounds. the two most important technologies for jackets that major sports and outdoor brands are good at are warmth and waterproofing. therefore, when it comes to down jacket products, sports brands have many years of research and development reserves in terms of warmth technology.

take anta's new three-layer quick-warming down jacket this year as an example. the first layer is made of volcanic hot spring gauze, the second layer is high-loft down, and the third layer uses quick-warming technology printing. this is the application of its fabric insulation technology. at the same time, this this down jacket is waterproof, oil-proof, stain-proof and windproof, which is consistent with the waterproof and windproof requirements that conventional jackets need to achieve.

although there are many new entrants, the current domestic down jacket market also has an obvious trend of cautious consumption: down jacket products under 1,000 yuan are still the mainstream of the market. according to data from vipshop last winter, domestic brand down jackets priced below 400 yuan are the most popular, with sales increasing by nearly 20% year-on-year.

this trend will pose a certain test for sports brands. whether it is anta or lululemon, jackets and down jackets are basically the items with the highest unit prices in the entire product matrix of sports brands. take anta as an example. this summer, the price range of anta's regular t-shirts is below 239 yuan. in autumn, the price range of its sweatshirts is also in the range of 369-449 yuan. however, the tag prices of its main down jacket products are basically above 899 yuan. the men's and women's down jackets in the joint series of anta and chen peng, with a tag price of 3,999 yuan, are the highest-priced items currently sold by anta.

in lululemon's mini program, the same is true. the wunder puff long down jacket, long down jacket and stretchseal waterproof down coat priced at 3,280 yuan occupy three of the five items in the store with a price of more than 3,000 yuan.

therefore, the current competition in the domestic down jacket market can be distinguished by price range: except for bosideng, which covers almost all price ranges, in the mass market with a single product price of less than 1,000 yuan, competition is mainly between domestic down jacket brands such as xuezhongfei. the price range of 3,200-3,600 yuan in the mid-to-high-end market has become a battleground for long down jackets from sports brands. the long down jacket products of sports brands such as beifang, descente and lululemon are all in this price range. . in the high-end market priced above rmb 6,000-8,000, canada goose and moncler are still the main brands. however, the attitude of luxury brands towards down jacket products is similar to that of sports brands. almost all luxury brands have down jackets, but there are not many styles and categories. , as long as the main focus is there.

however, unlike the stable product strategies of luxury brands for many years, looking at bosideng's advantages, sports brands are testing the waters and gradually investing in down jacket product types such as short, mid-length and long styles, including down vests, thin down jackets, etc. , and at the same time broaden the price range simultaneously with the products.

the price of north face’s popular “school uniform” down jacket will not increase this winter and will remain at 2,988 yuan. "at the same time, we also provide more products. the price range of our main down jacket products this winter covers from 2,198 yuan to 3,398 yuan for down jacket products, and even clothes with high elastic fabrics for more than 4,000 yuan," said an exclusive interview in early 2024. , dong li told jiemian news.

what’s interesting is that unlike the general public perception that down jacket products “depend on the weather”, sports brands are more differentiated in their down jacket and autumn and winter product layouts, trying to keep the initiative in their own hands as much as possible.

dong li told jiemian news: down jacket sales in the north will be relatively high. but the south also has its advantages. for example, when a cold wave comes, the best sales of down jackets in the north are in the south, and in guangdong province. however, for us, we cannot bet all on heavy clothes. there is a big difference between the north and the south in terms of our product display and purchasing focus. "