Garment Agents Fight For Retail Market

With the rapid development of China's garment industry, the huge potential of the market has led to continuous changes in the field of clothing business circulation. What course has the agents gone through, what problems they are facing now and where they will develop in the future?

CFW: would you please briefly review the characteristics of the development of the agent mode at different stages?

Miao Zhijian: the development of agents is accompanied by China's reform and opening up, and has gone through several stages.

The first stage: in 1978 ~1988, the private placement stage.

Since 1978, policies in various parts of the country have been gradually liberalized, and some flexible minds have become individual businesses.

In many parts of the country, loose road markets have been spontaneously formed, such as the new Lake Road in Yiwu, Zhejiang, Hanzheng Street in Wuhan and the long Lung Street in Harbin.

The business sector has issued temporary self employment business licenses to individual traders who have been engaged in business activities for a long time.

This period is the embryonic form of China's market economy. Most people can not be called an agent.

They are mainly engaged in trafficking for the purpose of livelihood.

In operation, they have less funds, mostly partners or brothers, and the main products are two grade products or processing products in state-run enterprises, so as to meet the defects of urban and rural differences and supply systems at that time.

It was these controversial individuals who had become pioneers of China's market economy and pioneers of Chinese agents, laying the foundation for the subsequent development of market economy, the formation of wholesale markets and the maturity of agents.

The second stage: 1988 ~1998, the market wholesalers and store development period.

After 10 years of development, China has entered the era of commodity economy.

All over the country, on the basis of the original Road market, under the guidance of the government, the wholesale market of wholesale trade was rapidly formed: the white horse wholesale market in Guangzhou, the five love market in Shenyang, the Lotus Pond market in Chengdu, the screw bay market in Kunming, the Sijiqing clothing market in Hangzhou, and so on.

The self-employed also moved into the professional market from the road market and began to subdivide, from what they earned to do, to start focusing on a certain category.

At this stage, the garment professional market has taken shape, and the clothing agents in the real sense have also come into being.

At this time, the clothing agents have begun to subdivide the clothing categories. There are professional knitwear agents, including professional outfit agents and children's wear agents.

1992 ~1999 is the development stage of clothing stores.

In the early 1990s, while the wholesale market was developing rapidly, clothing stores also began to appear in the commercial streets (walking streets) of various cities.

The earliest stores were mainly selling some famous international brands, such as dreamy, Goldlion, golden shield, etc.

The third stage: after 2000, it is the period when agents are deeply subdivided and pformed to retail terminals.

Since the beginning of the new century, China's garment agents have undergone tremendous changes, and have undergone fundamental changes in terms of management concepts, their own strength, product development and business models.

The operation of agents is more deeply subdivided on products, more focused on the brand of agents, and the strength of business has also been continuously enhanced. Agents selling more than 100 billion yuan a year are everywhere.

Although wholesale markets still exist, wholesale agents still account for a large proportion. However, fashion oriented products, corporatization, standardized management, brand management, and deep marketing of retail terminals have become the common understanding of clothing agents.

CFW: what are the changes in the role of agents in the development of the apparel industry?

Why do these changes occur?

Zheng Jidong: in the process of upgrading China's garment industry, I think it is not only the impact of national macro policies, upstream brand and consumer demand orientation, but also the role of agents and executors in the evolution of China's garment industry.

In the process of changing from "traders" to "traders", the support function of agents in the value chain of clothing industry from upstream production to terminal retail marketing is more and more obvious. They will have more and more language rights in regional market development and cooperation with manufacturers.

The pformation of agent concept and role comes mainly from the great changes in the environment of China's garment industry, the great changes in upstream enterprises and channel structure, and the change of consumption concept. The industrial environment formed by all these great changes is affecting the survival and development space of agents. "Profit exchanging, survival of the fittest" is the principle of iron under market economy conditions, and upgrading is also the inevitable direction for agents to develop in the future.

CFW: what is the impact of China's clothing market and commercial real estate development on the development of agents?

With the further development of the clothing market in the future, how will the agent team change?

Miao Zhijian: once the clothing market in China promoted the rapid development of garment agents, for example, before 2000, the clothing agents could have a good business in the local clothing market as long as they had a good stalls (shops or stalls).

However, with the in-depth segmentation and development of the market, although the professional market will continue to play a role in circulation for a long time, there is no doubt that the pformation of garment management to the deep retail market is a major trend of development. For example, the new terminal models such as clubhouse club are emerging. In this case, agents need to carry out deep placement, apart from setting up counters in shopping malls, and considering the extension of specialty stores to communities and commercial streets.

Because China's clothing market segmentation is very broad, and there are many kinds of clothing products, the future development of garment agents is still varied.

Zheng Jidong: the contingent of agents must be strengthened with the rise of China's garment industry market and commercial real estate, because the market environment and market capacity of Chinese characteristics determine that corporate brand can not be directly run in all markets, and brand channels will largely rely on distributors to build together.

China's garment industry is gradually moving towards subdivision and innovation. Commercial real estate will better satisfy the market demand of this kind of subdivision to a certain extent.

In this market trend, the opportunities and challenges of agents will be the same. Some dealers will be shuffled, some dealers will be stronger, and regional agents will be more concentrated.

CFW: how does the development of Chinese clothing brand affect the development of agents?

How will the future relationship between agents and brands change? Why?

Miao Zhijian: whether a song can become a classic song, in addition to the composer's intention creation, needs the singer's two Creation -- singing well.

Whether a brand can be successful or not, on the one hand, it needs the management of the entrepreneur. On the other hand, it needs the effective operation of the agent.

With the brand of excellent agents, agents can make up for the shortage of enterprises.

Therefore, clothing brand will attach importance to the management and training of agents in the future.

Paying attention to the management training of agents is not simply to send business managers and provide training, but to establish a complete set of logistics, information flow, cash flow operation system, and establish the profit model of agents.

The development mode of agents basically has the following categories: first, integrated agents, spanning multiple product categories and multiple brands of carrier agents (multi product and multi brand); two, professional agents, acting only for one category of products (one product and many cards); three, dedicated agents, and only one brand product (one brand, multi product).

It is not unusual for some successful agents to operate their own brands.

From excellent clothing agents to clothing brand operators, this is not only the result of the development of garment industry, but also the performance of agents.

But the vast majority of agents still take the road of agent sales, which is the mainstream.

Zheng Jidong: any brand development needs system combination operation. Good brand and good product must have good agent team to operate, so that consumers can be loyal to the brand. Otherwise, the good brand is also a castle in the air. Therefore, with the strong rise of the clothing brand, the agents of its channel network will also be strong. The development of the clothing brand will largely drive the development of the agents, and the outdated agents will largely restrict the upgrading of the brand.

In the current market situation, many garment industry brand manufacturers are still in the "trading game" stage of operation, in the face of more intense market environment changes and competition in the future, they can not really release the resultant force of the value chain of the upstream and downstream, nor can they really win the profits and win the market. With the upgrading of operation and concept, the relationship between manufacturers and brands should be "harmonious three families". Manufacturers are husbands, agents are wives, brands are children, manufacturers are masters of strategy, production, promotion, agents are responsible for the operation and management of the region, and jointly foster the growth of brands, so that both sides can go further and cope with the great changes in the environment.

CFW: what is the most important problem facing the current agents?

Where is the way out?

Miao Zhijian: at present, the most important problems facing agents are two: one is internal management and business innovation, the other two is to establish a profit model that suits itself.

The vast majority of agents are now looking for a bigger stage of development. In the process of pformation from extensive management to meticulous management, agents are required to "brand management, standardize management and operate in company".

In addition, as the market competition becomes more intense, agents are required to change their previous ideas of "sitting in business". They should take an active look at market changes and consumer demand, change their business means, and most importantly, establish a profit model that meets their own requirements.

Zheng Jidong: in the agency operation of the clothing industry, many agents get the first pot of gold. But in the face of the changing business environment, how can we get rid of the situation of "meager profits and depressed money" in the new era, facing three main problems: first, the choice of the brand, the two is the channel network, and the three is the management of the company. These three levels of problems are finally embodied in the ability of the agents to control the regional market. That is to say, in the regional market, we should act as agents of several well-known brands, how many monopolies and shopping malls terminals, how many offline customers we develop, and whether we really realize the company management.

The future way for agents is not to make their own products, not to represent many brands, but to control the regional clothing market. This kind of control is to truly build the brand operators in the region, which is the comprehensive embodiment of agents' positioning, brand selection, channel network control and management system.

CFW: now, many brands do their own business directly. What kind of impact do they have on agents?

Zheng Jidong: now many brands do their own business directly. I do not agree with this practice. In fact, the direct consumption of enterprises is the largest consumption of resources. I think the agent should be the main mode of clothing market operation.

If the enterprise has adequate planning and standardization of the market, the direct operation of the brand will have a great impact on the sales volume of the regional market, and it will be beneficial to the agents. It will not increase the market share of the agents, but increase the sales volume of the agent business because of the brand awareness. If the market is chaotic, it will have a great impact on the agents, and the market will be greatly affected, and the agents will lose confidence in the enterprises and brands.