How To Break Through The Strategy Of Private Brand?

How to break through the strategy of private brand? A few days ago, reporters visited the world famous sporting goods retailer, Decathlon deCAThlon global headquarters, to seek answers.

According to the data as of October 20th this year, Decathlon has opened 757 retail stores in 19 countries and regions in the world. In 2013, Decathlon's global turnover reached 7 billion 400 million euros, and the Chinese market has become "Decathlon's most promising market in the world".

In November 22nd, Decathlon's number of stores in China reached 100.

Zhang, President of Decathlon China, said that the number will increase to 180 next year.

The goal of "500 stores" will be completed in the next five years.

Too unstable "rivers"

A half hour drive from downtown Lille can reach the Decathlon global headquarters group, which is almost submerged in the blue sky and green grass with layers of reeds.

38 years ago, the French Michel Leclercq MichelLeclercq was the world's first Decathlon store in the nearby town of Englos.

In this industrial park in the northern city of France, the scene is more like a dynamic Playground: running on the road, a football match on the meadow, and a golf swing in the distance.

This is part of the work of Decathlon employees, experiencing sports and testing sports products anytime, anywhere.

"When an employee suddenly thinks of an idea in his exercise, he can put forward a product idea or make a product directly."

VincentVentenat, director of Decathlon innovation center, told reporters that in Decathlon, every employee in the company can be a participant in innovative research and development.

Finally, the employee's sports experience points to the same destination, and the old products are constantly improved, and innovative products are constantly being developed.

VincentVentenat introduces Decathlon group owns 20 own brand products including all kinds of sports.

Every year, the 20 self owned brands will update and launch 1500 varieties of sports and develop about 2800 new sports products.

This means that almost every day, Decathlon stores will produce about ten new products.

Of course, it is hard to ask Decathlon to give statistical data to directly show the profit that innovation has contributed to its contribution. In Vincent's words, "Decathlon can't find new products with good performance not brought by innovation".

The word "innovation" in French means "not a smooth river".

Vincent said that for Decathlon's 20 private brands, the challenge is to create the value of innovation so that the entire product can breathe underwater and on the surface, that is, both image value and economic value.

In other words, the challenge of Decathlon's own brand lies in providing quality products and ensuring the lowest price.

Decathlon's running brand KALENJI Gu Nol nol Havard, global product line manager, told reporters that for example, a running wrist lamp of KALENJI began with the product manager's idea. The whole team spent a lot of time looking for the highest technology bulb to solve the problems such as tight and bulging and other uncomfortable problems such as lighting and market similar outdoor sports lighting products, and the final price was still civilian price.

As a result, "a project has taken several years, or because it has not found a technical solution to terminate research and development, or to find a breakthrough and reinvest in R & D, is always a problem in Decathlon."

Vincent said that it is not simple to pass an innovative "River", "there are many processes, and passion is needed".

Perhaps this explains why Decathlon has named its own 20 brands as "passionate brands".

But how to ensure that after the adventure of "passion" is successfully arrived at the other side instead of settling down? "Invention is the creation of something that has never been before. The innovation Decathlon seeks is to improve the details on the basis of the original product and optimize the product inspection that is more suitable for the athletes."

Vincent told reporters.

For Decathlon, the difference between "innovation" and "invention" is the core factor to ensure the "innovation capability" of 2800 new products launched every year on the basis of 35000 product lines.

In the words of VincentVentenat, although the details of "improved" products may be very small in Decathlon, it is a "big step" to enhance the use experience of athletes, and the added value of innovation also arises.

Make cheap "technology" products.

However, "innovation is not a commodity with high production price, which is quite simple."

In the 2014 Decathlon Innovation Grand Prix, Decathlon global group CEO emphasized that "innovation is the creation of cheap technology products".

"Cheap price" and "technical content" are the inherent requirements of Decathlon's 20 private brands, and both are considered indispensable.

In China, Decathlon's "cheap" has indeed been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

A knapsack with a price tag of two hundred or three hundred yuan on the market can be sold for less than 100 yuan in Decathlon stores. A cotton Golf T-shirt Decathlon sells for only 59 yuan; a pair of Jordan's men's autumn and winter running shoes are 259 yuan. The men's fitness running shoes in Decathlon Kalenji only cost 89 yuan. The same products are cheaper than the market, 20% or so.

However, Decathlon does not want its own brand's "low price" to be misunderstood as "cheap goods".

Although some professional sports or outdoor forums often have discussions on Decathlon, Decathlon is considered a paradise for entry level sports products, but most of them have some complaints about high-end products.

In response, Lili, an engineer in the R & D center of Decathlon group headquarters, said, "that is the lack of knowledge of Decathlon among consumers."

Lili told reporters that in Decathlon innovative R & D center, from the early pioneering basic experiments to the later development of commodity development, there are 300 different positions, 1 internal design departments, 50 researchers, 530 engineers and 150 designers' technical support, and some of Decathlon's laboratories are even topnotch in the global professional field.

For example, the Decathlon basic research department is divided into four laboratories, including sensory, biomechanics, human morphology, human thermal comfort and so on. There are 40 engineers, and 350 engineers in the later development department work together to improve product technology and reduce the price by means of cutting-edge new product development.

"Simple products contain a lot of technical content."

The designer of the innovative rock climbing main lock, who won the runner up of Decathlon innovation award this year, said that the brand usually first put forward the innovative value of a new product in use, and when the whole team was approved, it would start looking for a technical solution for the product, which must include the execution of technology and the most competitive price.

"Innovation is free for consumers."

The OXELO brand leader, who created the children's scooter, told reporters that although the cooperation between OXELO team and psycho therapist was almost "revolutionary" to solve the safety problems of children's scooters and create a new patent steering system, the scooter in Europe only sold for 19.95 euros, while the price in China was about 149 yuan.

"Technological innovation is to enable more people to afford our products," said Decathlon global CEO. Decathlon's innovation is not only to pursue high technology, but to improve product safety, improve user experience and simplify user life.

In 2013, a total of 40 patents were registered in Decathlon group's brand. The main purpose of these patent technology research and development is to make products better and cheaper.

Of the 10 innovative products nominated for this year's innovation awards, a total of 6 products are priced below 20 euros, or less than 160 yuan.

To ensure that the role of technology is brought into full play, the whole industry chain of Decathlon is beginning to spare no effort in reducing all possible prices.

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Its own golf brand Inesis center, InesisGolf Brand Communication Director EmilieMOUCHET takes out a pure cotton Golf T-shirt sold to China. The price on which it is posted is so low that it is unbelievable: 59 yuan.

How do I do it? "I know all the suppliers and the prices they offer. We put the design in France, which can largely guarantee the comfort and fashion sense of the products. Our raw materials come from Monaco, and are manufactured in Bangladesh or India and other countries with low manpower cost, or in France, which are sold in French factories. Some of the products sold in China are finished in Chinese factories."

InesisGolf production department official told reporters that as the whole process flow from design to production, quality management and raw material supply were fully mastered by InesisGolf, the high-end sports products such as golf were also acceptable to the general public.

Inesis's Golf T-shirt is only a microcosm of Decathlon's grasp of product development, design, production, circulation and sales.

Decathlon's own 20 brands all work together with this logic.

Because of the grasp of the whole industry chain, Decathlon gained strong bargaining power when negotiating with suppliers.

Decathlon's optimization of cost reduction involves every aspect of production.

In Lille, which produced more than 6000 B'TWIN bicycles a week, JEromeRibadeau, director of regional production department of B'TWIN bicycle, told reporters that their factories were almost "zero inventories" because of the "first order, then production" mode.

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The more direct way to save costs is to move the design and research offices directly to the store.

In order to shorten the distance between R & D and production to consumer demand and reduce the physical cost and time cost of listening to customers' voice, Domyos has set up a Domyos Sporting Club Hotel with the same low price to provide customer experience, 7 sports hall and 50 sports courses receive a steady stream of French sports enthusiasts every day.

BrunoPERNETTE, a brand new project manager, said that in the "three in one" mode of "office + shopping mall + club", customers who love fitness or interest in fitness have come to Decathlon. They enjoy a sporting experience that is much better than the market price in the club, and then buy products directly home in the store. Any demand for product improvement can even be directly reflected to the R & D designers of Domyos.