Tight Export Funds, Clothing Business Early "Season Discount"

In August, Hangzhou was still "scorching summer", but in the Hangzhou department store and Hangzhou intime department store, autumn clothes and even winter clothes have become the leading role of clothing counters, and T-shirts, skirts, shorts and other summer wear have been labeled "discount".

At the end of July, most of the counters began to dispose of goods on a large scale, more than a month earlier than the summer wear in previous years.

The summer dress discount season and the early fall season appear to bring "benefits" to consumers, but some economists say the real reason for the "premature" in the discount season is the tight chain of funds caused by this year's foreign trade export slump.

The "summer break" war started early in the major department stores in Hangzhou, and the counters sold the brands of "autumn listing", and some customers wearing short sleeves and short skirts tried on jackets, windbreaker and other winter clothes.

At the ZARA clothing store in Hangzhou's national department store, autumn clothes and even winter clothes have taken up the main shelves of the main stores, and summer wear has been hung in the corner of the store and marked a discount.

Women's clothes shop assistant at the ZARA store said they began the summer clothing discount in early August, with a discount as low as 70 percent off, and the autumn outfit in the store was on the shelf in mid August.

The reporter saw in Yintai department store that the autumn dress which was only listed in the middle of September has been put on the spot now.

Customers can often see the "summer wear discount" notices and the "new product listing" billboards at the same time.

The discount for most counters is 50 percent off, 1 to 70 percent off.

Consumers are attracted by the low discount of summer wear.

Industry insiders say that it is now a good opportunity for consumers to "Taobao".

What is the reason why the "season change" is premature? What causes the summer discount season?

Economists believe that this is related to business capital chain tension.

Ye Hang, a professor at the school of economics, Zhejiang University, thinks that this year, whether it is spring clothes, summer wear or autumn clothes, the listing speed is faster than in previous years. This means that the discount season for each time period is earlier than in previous years. The purpose of business is to solve the problem of capital chain tension and reduce inventory pressure.

"Because of this year's RMB appreciation and raw material prices and other factors led to a sluggish export, in this case, exports to domestic sales is a good choice for businesses to avoid financial risks," ye said. "Moreover, the weakness of consumption has led to increased inventories and tight funds, so we have to promote sales earlier and strive for more capital to return."

In line with international standards?

Some people in the industry said that the new clothing was listed and the discount season was ahead of schedule, in addition to reflecting the current tense situation of business capital chain, it also showed the pace of China's clothing retailers accelerating the integration with the international market from one aspect.

At present, many new brands in the international market tend to be listed one or two seasons in advance. The purpose is to lead the trend and display the brand strength.

It is understood that in June, some brands of international brand PRADA began to discount; GUCCI's new shoes also began to discount.

In the Hangzhou department store, the famous brands such as Montagut and classic cars sold 4 to 40 percent off discount earlier.

Liu Xiaojie, President of the Wangfujing department store office, said that in addition to solving the problem of tight capital chain, shopping centres also hope to ensure that the speed of goods loading is in line with international standards through the early discount season, "after all, the international first-line brand represents the prevailing vane of the year."