In The Case Of "Bottleneck" &Nbsp, How Should The General Clothing Agency Get Out Of The Predicament?

Introduction

A brand is a new transformation from wholesale to new. clothing Brand, its incumbent boss is L, the second generation of young entrepreneurs. L took the lead in the transformation of enterprises soon after taking over. In order to build up the terminal network and reduce the capital risks brought about by the transformation, after the transformation of the enterprise, in addition to building a model market for self built stores in the base area, all of the dealers in the early stage set up a more intensive terminal network quickly with the help of agents. The agents used a number of old wholesale agents with better quality and brand awareness, and at the same time added a group of new agents as substitutes for the old agents who had been cut off. L has successfully opened the store to a large part of the country in the shortest possible time by using the rapid expansion capabilities of agents and huge funds from franchisees.

But soon, L found the problem, that is, management can not keep up with the market, the management of the fake hand agents can not be done more finely, many policies can not be completely landed, and many promotions and promotions can not be implemented in a proper way, making the enterprises want to exert their strength, but they can not help them.

The dilemma of general agency

In recent years, with the increasingly fierce competition in the clothing market, more and more apparel franchisees and agents complain that business is becoming more and more difficult, the operating costs are rising, the sales volume is getting harder and harder, the competition content is constantly refined, and the demand for the external factors of clothing products is getting higher and higher. Under such a big environment, many clothing brand manufacturers that have adopted the double sales mode have taken the road of "flat channel" reform, holding high the banner of winning the terminal, and coming to the clothing dealer's fate in order to reduce the cost of the channel and strengthen the control of the terminal. This phenomenon has been described by many people as: the agent has dragged the big "child" with hardship, and was ruthlessly taken away by his "biological parents".

"Flat channel" according to the channel strategy of manufacturers can be divided into two situations, one is that some manufacturers directly cancel. agent To increase the proportion of direct operation, the other is to abolish the regional general agent, and manufacturers directly face the end customers (distributors).

As a regional general agent, on the one hand, we must bear the pressure from manufacturers. On the other hand, as the downstream terminal customers become more and more full and their profit margins are becoming smaller and smaller, the demand for independence is getting stronger and stronger. Therefore, as the distributor of the sparks in the clothing market, we are now in an awkward situation of being depressed. Therefore, in the past one or two years, many general agents (hereinafter referred to as the "total generation") have been in a dilemma. They are always making decisions and trying again and again. How do they always get out of this predicament?

General agent in special period

Now that we have to explore the way forward, it is necessary to understand briefly the reasons for the total generation and the problems that need to be solved at present.

Simply speaking, regional general agent is a concrete manifestation of extensive management in the early stage of clothing industry. Since its birth, it has given him great freedom and many missions.

First of all, the total is the manufacturer's logistics center in the regional market. Because China's vast territory, logistics distribution network is not perfect, and the regional total generation is basically in the local market transport hub, therefore, through the total generation of large single products into small single distribution to terminal customers, can give manufacturers and retail customers to save a lot of distribution costs and human resources. {page_break}

Secondly, the total generation is the outsourcing of manufacturers' sales. Most of the previous clothing manufacturers did not have their own mature sales force, and some even had no sales staff. Therefore, the regional total generation is the sales leader of the manufacturers in the local market, and completes a series of actions independently such as investment promotion and distribution. Moreover, since the total generation is generally rooted in the local market for many years, the accumulated network of relationships can not be replaced by any garment manufacturer. Even in the Chinese market, even some multinational companies have to admit that the relationship is crucial. Therefore, when stationed in some important outlets, the total generation relationship often plays a decisive role.

Third, the total is the manufacturer's regulator. Many garment manufacturers, especially Women's wear Enterprises have limited funds and shipments at the beginning of their business. In general, the total generation of customers has certain financial strength and sales network, so in this case, the total generation of customers will become the mainstay of some production enterprises and their overall performance.

Fourth, the total generation is the management platform for manufacturers in the regional market. Similarly, because the domestic market is vast, if brand manufacturers are responsible for the management and maintenance of terminal outlets, brand manufacturers will need to spend huge manpower and financial resources. The annual business expenses of some enterprises will reach hundreds of thousands or even millions, and maintenance personnel will be exhausted. But terminal customers are always complaining that it is rare to see a company employee once a year. The total generation is responsible for the regional market, and it can find the problems in the regional market in a more timely manner, and deal with them in a shorter time, and is more economical.

Fifth, the total is the risk buffer for manufacturers and downstream end-users. The risks mentioned here can be divided into two levels, one is operational risk, and the other is whether the clothing business is making money. In addition to sales volume, it is inventory. Therefore, in terms of sales targets and inventory, the total generation can solve the pressure of some upstream manufacturers and downstream end customers through mutual adjustment in the region. The other level is operational risk. The garment industry is influenced more quickly by the western mature operation concept. Although the overall operation strength and the quality of the employees in the industry are relatively low, almost all the brand manufacturers are already asking the end customers to do the image store, and publicize the franchise. In fact, brand Monopoly and affiliate not only raise higher requirements for terminal outlets, but also more importantly impose more stringent requirements on brand enterprises themselves. For example, we need more precise positioning, richer product lines, better image and so on. Then, when brand manufacturers do not fully have these abilities, they rush to join them. The operation risks of the monopolies on the two sides are relatively large. At this time, some of the total generation seems to be non-standard, and a more flexible way of operation has given the whole distribution chain a buffer process.

Role change has become a top priority.

With the intensification of market competition, many subjective and objective conditions that led to the emergence of regional general agents have undergone great changes. The necessary conditions at that time were redundant today. At that time, the tasks that need to be completed on the whole could be completed in other ways. For example, the rapid development of the logistics industry in recent years is obvious to all. Many brand manufacturers have gradually established and improved the sales team after nearly ten years of market baptism, and have completed the initial accumulation of funds and so on. All the factors are changing. In addition, many regions are not aware of the problem before the crisis comes, and have not adjusted themselves in time, so many problems have also been highlighted.

The crocodile shirt has entered the mainland market for many years, and for a long time, it adopted the regional general agency mode. Since 2006, Lin Weishan, the new chief executive, has made adjustments to this mode: phasing out the agency and increasing the number of outlets. {page_break}

As the executor of this decision, Liang Feng, general manager of Guangzhou branch of crocodile, explained: "it is hard to find a better regional agent, because many agents are relatively short, the brand is ours, and we need to make the crocodile shirt continue to be a hundred years brand."

In Liang Feng's view, one of the most obvious disadvantages of agency system is that Agent There will be problems in the allocation of goods. For example, if you shop a shopping mall, you need 1 million yuan worth of goods. Agents usually only shop 200 thousand, so there will often be broken code, the volume is not enough. "If the company makes the 1 million of its own counters, we may lay 2 million of the goods, so the sales will be easy to rush out."

With a series of standardized, scientific and systematic market means to enhance franchisee's store image and performance, for most of the current Chinese agents, they still do not possess this awareness and ability, conscious and competent, but they use this capability to increase the total revenue by using more brands instead of increasing their total revenue by improving the benefit of a single brand.

"Self run" will invest more in the brand image, many agents will have such an idea, "brand is the company, too much investment in the image, it is better to invest more money in goods", so in the shop decoration will also Jerry built, it needs to spend 50 thousand yuan of decoration, he only spend 20 thousand. And in terms of brand culture, agents will not pay much attention to the training of franchisees. Liang Feng said.

Another advantage of self run mode is that sales promotion is more uniform. Liang Feng said: "the agency discount is very low, and the discount should not be discounted, which is a damage to the brand image."

The crocodile shirt resumed the general agent in North China, and the process was relatively smooth. Because the agent at that time had already obtained the authorization of a foreign brand, they had put their main energy on that brand, "if the crocodile shirt is handed over to them, it will be unfavourable to the brand development." Liang Feng said.

Another main reason for the abolition of regional agency is that market competition is becoming more and more intense. The former general agent is only responsible for the development of the next level agent dealers, and the management of these two tier agents is less. With such a level of development, the competitiveness of the brand will be greatly weakened when it reaches the terminal. "For example, the total agent of a garment is 100 yuan, the dealer at the next level is 120 yuan, the dealer will consider profitability again, the price will rise again, so there are too many levels, and when it comes to the terminal, it will not be competitive." Liang Feng explained.

The four direction of total transformation:

The total popularity of self catering stores is welcome.

Quite a lot Leisure clothes Brands such as Giordano, Baleno and so on are now doing direct operations. More than 70% of the market in the country is directly operated. Only in remote areas will they consider the general agent.

Giordano now does not set up provincial agents at all, unless the province can directly run the province directly.

"Giordano has no longer developed two tier agents, the two tier agency has not much profit. The original clothing profit is high, the shopping mall is not so ruthless now, the three level agent still has money to make, now can not. What is needed now is agents that can develop terminals instead of batch ones. " Liang Feng, who is well versed in domestic clothing marketing, said. {page_break}

Wang Lei, the general agent of Zorro's family in North China, has already set up a self run store. "We can change the decoration and personnel, but it is very difficult to change people's quality and ideas. It is not the first place to open a self run store to promote the brand in one area."

Wang Lei believes that the involvement of self run stores is conducive to shaping the brand image and expanding franchised stores after the recognition of a regional brand. In addition, by managing self operated stores, operators can feel the hardships and find problems in order to better manage franchisees. In addition, self run stores can also serve as training bases, and regularly call franchisees to private shops for training.

Branch farewell general function

Although clothing brand owners have set up branches in various localities for a long time, their functions have quietly changed in recent years. The original regional branches are generally synonymous with local agents. They earn the same Commission as the general agent.

The crocodile shirt divides the mainland market into several major regions and sets up branches in each region. "The branch company at that time played only the role of the bridge. It was only an office, which was mainly responsible for coordinating and communicating with the lower level agents and distributors." At that time, the head of Beijing branch was the general agent in North China. "Because our headquarters in Guangzhou is too far away from Beijing. Sometimes management is out of line."

After recovering the original agent in North China, now the crocodile Beijing branch has a retail department, doing retail business, and developing terminal stores.

Professional agencies with multiple cards surfaced.

Guangzhou road is a professional clothing brand agency. Now it represents Switzerland's golf apparel brand and a French brand. Wang Jiageng, general manager of the company, believes that the agent will not disappear, but has begun to transform. Gradually withdrawing from the stage of history is the former single brand agent, instead of a more professional agent, acting several different brands at the same time. "This is an integrated marketing concept, bundled sales mode. Usually, an agency can get more than half of the location of the local shopping mall. For example, I represent Louis Weedon, and at the same time I represent another non famous brand. When I enter the shopping mall, I can ask two brands to go in at the same time. This model may have advantages for brands that are growing up.

However, in the view of Liang Feng, the crocodile shirt, its weaknesses are obvious.

A professional brand agent will act as several brands at the same time, so their capital flow will be dispersed and the order will not be ordered. Generally, 20% of the brands will be reserved to reduce inventory. This is not a good thing for a single brand.

Implementing self management in the agent area

At the beginning of this article, L, a brand owner, said to the consulting company and his existing confusion, the consultant's advice was to implement self management in the agent area. The specific method is to discuss the decision by the agent and the enterprise to choose an executive manager. The executive manager directly assists the agent to manage and follow up the franchisee's overall work in order to manage the procedures of the direct store, and make the market of the agent area meticulous and thorough, so that the franchised terminal will operate according to the wishes of the enterprise, so that the market of the agent area can be directly put into operation.

And the advantage is:

1, through the executive manager, the terminal management and implementation policies of the brand system will be implemented in the agent area. Even if there are some die hards who do not recognize this management mode, they believe that the agents will have to soften in front of the example.

2, although the vast majority of franchisees are collude with the agents of the franchisee, they will be completed by the staff of the agent side, but their collate procedures and methods will be carried out in accordance with the standards of the enterprises. They will timely and accurately convey the operation mode and means of the company to each franchisee, and collect the feedback from the franchisees, take the initiative to understand the problems existing in the franchisee's business and help them solve them, so that the franchisees and enterprises can surpass the intermediary agents in the direct interaction state, so as to achieve the accurate and timely information of the two parties, thus enabling the terminal execution and control of the enterprise to get the closest distance, the most clear and clear supervision, follow up and guidance.

3, at present, several pilot projects have been tried in the East, West and North and south to try this management mode. The feedback information shows good results.