Ten Years Of Warm Underwear Channel Change

From 1997 to 2008, ten years of market baptism and ten years of ups and downs, thermal underwear has gradually become a mature industry market, becoming an indispensable part of China's four seasons underwear. It has become a fast moving consumer oriented product and has achieved more warmth underwear enterprises and brands. However, it is faced with more changes and challenges brought by more market environment, industry competition and consumer demand.

In the actual operation of the market, the key to deciding the sales volume is Golden Triangle, which is the product, channel and brand. The key path from product to brand sublimation lies in the channel. Just like "getting rich first, building roads", there is no smooth and stable network, products and brands are still zero, while the "ten years of fatigue" in the thermal underwear industry lies in the channel network, which is attracting investment every year, and every year is the key point. In the ten years, there are few brands that really cover the national channel network. In the face of the changing environment, fierce competition and low profit, the channel network will become the key node of the thermal underwear's long term operation and competition, and it will also become a fulcrum for the thermal underwear market to break through the bottleneck.

First, the bottleneck of thermal underwear channels: besieged by the besieged city

As a special branch of clothing industry, thermal underwear is characterized by high profit, strong seasonal and short operation time. The crazy operation makes it independent of conventional underwear, and has poor integration with other conventional underwear, bra and household clothes. Therefore, it is doomed to the particularity and instability of its channel operation, forming a vertical vertical agent based channel structure and a regional shopping mall as the main channel terminal.

Facing the challenge of vicious competition overdraft and meager profit competition, the impetuous mentality and non-standard operation of manufacturers, retailers and dealers make the channel relationship deteriorate year by year. The manufacturers are unable to cash in on the promise of excessive advance payment, and retailers are unable to cash in on the overpayment of the prepayment, but the retailer's interests are damaged in order to ensure the seasonal profit and the cost conditions are high. The annual inventory of the dealers is bigger and the delivery price is uneven. The manufacturers are more and more difficult to collect and even produce a lot of support. Retailers are faced with the reduction of profits and the choice of more brands. The space is getting fewer and fewer.

The change of marketing environment and industry development has formed the "mystery of besieged city": the large thermal underwear brand wants to gradually break away from the conventional channel pattern to seek breakthroughs. Small thermal underwear brands still want to enter more shopping malls to get a cake, the warm clothing brand in the channel seeks out conventional channels, and the thermal underwear brand outside the channel seeks conventional channels to go. In the ten year's turning point of the industry, more brands should think before doing so, in order to seek breakthroughs in the channel and long-term development of the market, otherwise the risks will be greater and the gains will be lost.

1, the difficulty of channel structure: simple or flat?

From 1997, the single channel structure of health care products (provincial agent + advertising support) gradually evolved into a mixed channel structure of provincial agency, regional dispersion system and company direct operation system. Although enterprises are taking the market as the center, they expect to gain greater market share and marketing profit through the adjustment of channel structure. But in recent years, they have been trying repeatedly but not leading. In the challenges of mature industry and small profits, different channel structures are encountering shocks.

General agent system: large agents (funds, network Excellence) that focus on mature markets; manufacturers - provincial agents - two level agents - terminal outlets are simple to operate; manufacturers are relatively easy to manage and operate; large households have weak controllability, strong manufacturers' support, high channel pricing, inconvenient market acceptance, and large channel uncertainty; large household operates more brands, needs greater support and has greater control over manufacturers.

Regional agency system: focusing on the development of small and medium-sized agents in an unbalanced market, manufacturers, regional agents, terminal outlets, profit making channels, market acceptance, controllability and stability, operation and operation are cumbersome, requiring strong operation team, strong support and support, small household's strong repetition, low brand loyalty, frequent brand switching, and no sustained market development.

The company's direct operation system: manufacturers terminal network manufacturers can effectively control the terminal, ensure the digestion of market sales and product inventory, short season, high cost, and high capital pressure; the reduction of profits and the increase of operating costs, but the seasonality is very strong, and the proportion of input and output is not high;

2, the difficulty of channel terminal: single or multiple?

Thermal underwear is very seasonal and short time, and there is no continuous product of four seasons to operate. Therefore, in a sense, the thermal underwear industry has not formed its own real terminal selling position. Whether it is a shopping mall, a monopoly store or a supermarket shelf, from the current development of China's underwear industry, a series of mature brands have emerged in the series of conventional underwear, bra, household clothes, socks and Bottomwear, and it is unrealistic for the thermal underwear enterprises to carry out brand extension and development of products that are suitable for four seasons.

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