“Whether it is an agent or a company, one of the main tasks of last year was to go to inventory, and the current stock situation has basically returned to normal. The sales of spring equipment in 2013 were also good.” Vice President of Senma Garments Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Semir), Secretary of the Board of Directors Zheng Hongwei told reporters.
On April 23, Summa, one of the domestic casual wear giants, announced the 2012 annual report: In 2012, it achieved operating income of 7.063 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.98% from the previous year; and net profit of 761 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 37.81. %. However, from the perspective of fourth-quarter net profit, although the year-on-year decline of 30.83%, but lower than the annual decline, and from the fourth quarter, operating income, net profit and other indicators have gradually improved.
According to Semir's third quarterly report in 2012, Semir has an inventory of 1.439 billion yuan. In the just-announced 2012 annual report, this figure has dropped to 1.085 billion yuan.
New image shop try
For more than a year, the domestic footwear industry has suffered from high inventory. As the consumption upgrade and consumer segmentation characteristics of the Chinese market have become increasingly apparent, the apparel industry as a whole has seen a slowdown in growth, an increase in inventories and a drop in benefits.
Zheng Hongwei revealed to reporters that Senma will continue to shift from a simple and extensive extension of growth to an endogenous growth approach that enhances comprehensive management capabilities. "For example, the new image shop currently being explored is both Senma adult products and Balabara children's clothing."
At present, the main business of Summa apparel is Summa brand's affordable youth casual wear and Bala Bala middle-end children's wear. “At present, the Semir brand casual wear is ranked among the top three in the domestic casual wear industry, and Balabala children’s wear is the first in terms of popularity or market share in the domestic children’s wear industry,” said Zheng Hongwei.
From Senma's 2012 annual report, it can also be seen that children's wear has become a bright spot for Semir's growth. Its leisure apparel realized a main income of 4.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.64%; and children's clothing realized a main income of 2.11 billion yuan, an increase of 3.02% over the same period of last year. Zheng Hongwei disclosed in December last year that the brand sales of the second-ranked children's wear in China were still around 1 billion yuan.
Or, out of the eye-catching performance of the industry and its children's wear, Semir started to test the new image store in some cities from the end of last year. “These new image stores are located in the gold shopping district in the heart of the city, with a single area of ​​more than 2,000 square meters. However, at present, the Sunma brand dominates, and Balabala children's wear only occupy an area of ​​about 200 square meters.” Zheng Hongwei introduced, Senma In 2012, it opened such a new image store in Guangzhou and Changsha. In March this year, it opened a new store in Tangshan. However, he stressed that such a new image store will not become the mainstream of the future. Most of these new image stores also choose to be located in the second and third tier cities.
Learn foreign brands
Zheng Hongwei frankly stated that most of China's garment enterprises had previously been boosted by demand and had grown by expanding the number of stores. “In the past two years, with the formation of a balance between supply and demand in the market and the entry of foreign brands, more and more capital has entered the apparel industry, including more and more OEMs have turned to domestic sales, and the apparel industry is highly competitive. The next step in the development must be to expand from the simple extension of management to improving the core competitiveness of products."
“I think foreign brands entering the Chinese market have a positive impact on domestic casual wear companies. Domestic brands have the opportunity to learn positively from foreign brands. Through positive competition with foreign brands, domestic brands have also learned advanced methods of operation. ZARA responds to the rapid design and supply chain system, UNIQLO fabric manufacturing technology, global supply chain system, etc.” Zheng Hongwei told the China Economic Times reporter that China’s leisure has a market scale of 600 billion, and several rankings include Semir, Smith Barney and Yichun. The front-end casual wear brand sales scale is about 100-15 billion, while H&M, M, ZARA and other foreign brands currently do not reach the top ten in the domestic market, and the market still has considerable space.
Zhu Qingyu, a light industry researcher at China Investment Advisors, suggested that domestic casual apparel brands must first improve the quality of their garments, increase their creativity, and continue to meet the individual needs of consumers; second, establish a good brand image and expand brand influence; at the same time, try to expand online sales. Channels, optimize sales structure.