Gap Time Catch Up With Cage China'S "Sneak Operation"

Domestic consumers are familiar with Nike, Adidas and other brands. Almost no one noticed Skech, but the latter appeared more and more frequently in shopping malls and shopping centers.

Gap catch up

Skech didn't enter China very early. In 2007, he signed a cooperation agreement with Hong Kong listed companies's Luenthai Enterprises Ltd group, and formally established a joint venture, which means that the Cage brand entered China formally in the same year. But the speed of expansion was very fast. By the end of 2008, Skech had 91 stores in China. As of October 2012, Cage had 170 retail stores. Up to now, the number has increased to 750.

It is worth noting that Skech entered China on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, when the domestic sporting goods market remained at the last moment of Carnival before the dark. From 2008 until now, the sporting goods market has gone through a period of decline after the "golden ten years". Especially in 2012, it cleared the stock market and closed the shop to permeate the whole industry, and Cage's expansion was at this time.

From a numerical point of view, more than 72% of its stores opened in 2012 and beyond. Unlike other countries and regions in the world, the 750 brands in China are covered by direct brands and agents, while Cage's other stores are brand owned. Like other foreign brands entering China, "the landmark shopping district in the city, the most influential shopping mall or shopping center" is Cage's first choice.

In the view of the industry, the decline period of the industry has provided a rare space for the entry of Cage. Nike and Adidas have set up factory stores to clean stock and enter the three or four line city. The first and second line market is actually in an unattended empty period, and the difficulty of entering is relatively low. In addition, Cage's products are partial to leisure. In fact, the background of sports products being abandoned by the market is the rise of leisure fashion products.

Products have selective access.

Skech has all kinds of men, women and children. footwear There are about more than 3000 categories of products, including leisure sports, street recreation, running, basketball and ice skating. Many stores in the US are one-stop family shopping, but when they enter China, they mainly play comfortable and leisure classes. Now they are beginning to highlight their running and so on. Functional types Products.

Chen Weili, chief executive officer of Skech China Limited, introduces Cage's two footwear categories: one is a series of leisure activities that focus on comfort, including the Relaxed Fit leisure fitness series, shoes containing Skech's "Memory Form" technology and Skech BOBS series; the other is the Cage sports functional category, including Sam GOrun running shoes and Sam GOwalk walking shoes series. According to the feedback of sales data in recent years, these two categories have achieved excellent sales performance in China, which proves that Skech can provide corresponding products and services for different categories of consumer demand.

In particular, the hot runners in the last two years have not only caught a brand of straw in the adjusted sports brand, but also made the sports brand quickly known by consumers, and Skech has also benefited from this craze. In Chen Weili's view, running is a popular sport in developed countries, which is becoming more and more popular in China. The popularity of several large marathon events in recent years is enough to illustrate this trend. "Next we will also open some big stores online to bring more and more rich styles to Chinese consumers."

　　 Demand orientation

SKECHERS CEO Robert Greenberg said, "with the three consecutive quarters breaking the sales record, SKECHERS is expected to achieve a new high income in 2014". According to the Beijing Commercial Daily reporter, Cage sales in the three quarter of this year amounted to US $674 million 300 thousand, compared with us $515 million 800 thousand in the same period last year. According to Chen Weili, in 2014, the total sales growth of Skech brand in China's self owned stores, franchises and e-commerce channels exceeded the total sales in 2013 by 62%, and the company plans to have more than 1000 stores in 2015.

In addition to accelerating the layout of offline stores, online channels are also a key point for Skech to ignore. "Now that consumer shopping habits are changing, customers are not necessarily buying things online because of the trend of price advantage. More because of habits and convenience, online customers can take the loss of customers due to the limitations of styles, sizes and skills. Chen Weili said.

Since Cage first entered China in 2007, the domestic sports market has undergone several rounds of updating. The huge population base means huge market potential and waiting for brand development. "We believe that as a sports brand, the most important thing is to quickly and accurately grasp the changing demands of consumers and provide corresponding products and services accordingly." Chen Weili believes that "sports goods industry, like many other industries, will inevitably encounter the ups and downs of the environment in the course of development. For the future of the industry, a new round of industry opportunities will be coming soon after the public is increasingly concerned about the trend of sports and health."