Can UNIQLO'S $50 Billion Marketing Succeed?

Tokyo, Japan, looks out from the 33 floor of midtown tower in Tokyo, the global headquarters of UNIQLO, which is as grand as the ambition of the company's founders.

Ryui Masa, chairman, President and CEO of the fast retailing company of UNIQLO, hopes to pform UNIQLO's colourful and well designed basic company from Japan to the world's number one fashion giant in 2020, achieving annual revenue of US $50 billion (about 300 billion yuan), surpassing Zara and H&M, becoming the world's largest and second largest clothing chain.

In the fiscal year 2014, the sales revenue of the H&M report was 151 billion Swiss kroner ($18 billion, 109 billion 500 million yuan), while the sales volume of Zara's parent company Inditex was 18 billion 100 million euros (20 billion 400 million US dollars, 121 billion 100 million yuan).

Sales in 2014 were 13 trillion and 800 billion yen (13 billion 300 million US dollars, about 81 billion yuan), of which the contribution rate of UNIQLO was 82%.

"This financial goal is unrealistic for them.

To be more precise, this goal is only a manifestation of their long-term vision or strong will, "Murata Taro, an analyst at J.P. chase Japan bond, Morgan, cautiously analyzed.

Mr. Ryui Masa specifically released the data to encourage executives to think about business from a completely different perspective and try new and innovative approaches instead of following the beaten track.

Indeed, the goal of achieving $50 billion in annual income in 2020 may be more symbolic than practical.

But it is certain that if you want to achieve this goal, UNIQLO must win the market outside the home market. UNIQLO has 840 stores in Japan, and the market is saturated.

"One very important thing is how we can expand and succeed in foreign markets," Katsuda Yuki, senior vice president of UNIQLO global research and design, confirmed.

"We plan to open stores in more countries and push them to every country successfully, which is the key to achieving our 2020 goal."

UNIQLO has made great progress in Asia.

There are 400 stores in Greater China (mainland China, Hongkong, China and Taiwan). In 2014, the first time in fiscal year was over 200 billion yen ($1 billion 600 million, 9 billion 800 million yuan), and sales increased by 66.5% over the same period last year.

The medium-term plan of UNIQLO is to increase the number of stores in Greater China to more than 1000.

UNIQLO opened more than 140 stores in South Korea, and achieved remarkable results in 2014, while the Southeast Asian market (UNIQLO stores in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia) also grew less than 100.

"The performance of China and South Korea is very strong and they are growing," Katsuda Yuki said.

"I am very optimistic about the Asian market.

Our business in Asia is just beginning to expand.

We have a list of target markets, including Singapore and Malaysia.

And we have not yet entered India.

We have achieved great success in Asia and have great potential in the future.

But the test of reality still exists.

Can UNIQLO conquer Western markets?

"The United States and the European market also have huge implications for UNIQLO.

But the nature of these two markets is different from that of Asia.

So it is not easy to develop these two markets, "said Murata Taro of JP Morgan chase.

In 2014, European UNIQLO performed more than expected and achieved profits. Despite the high cost, last April, UNIQLO opened a flagship store of 29000 square feet (about 2700 square meters) in Berlin, Germany, which made UNIQLO's share in Europe bigger.

At present, UNIQLO stores are distributed in Europe: 10 in the UK, 8 in France and 5 in Russia.

This autumn, UNIQLO will open its first store in Belgium, and Spain and Turkey are also expected to open shop.

At the same time, UNIQLO's branch in the United States did not perform well.

As the largest consumer market in the world, the United States determines whether the ambitious goal of UNIQLO will eventually be realized or vanished.

"The United States is the biggest consumer in the world, providing the most exciting opportunity for UNIQLO outside Asia.

But deciding how to develop the brand and make profits is a great challenge, "Ryui Masahito wrote to shareholders in January, which was published in January, entitled" becoming a real global company ".

"Achieving the growth of the US market is crucial for UNIQLO to achieve the goal of becoming the leading apparel retailer in the world," Ou Rui's clothing and

Analyst Benadette Cassain said.

"But by the end of 2014, UNIQLO had only 39 stores in the United States and had no significant influence.

In addition, the brand influence of UNIQLO is still limited to big cities.

In contrast, H&M has more than 350 stores in the United States, and it has infiltrated the central part of the United States and has its retail outlets from Denver to North Carolina.

Last month, H&M announced plans to open a new store in the green tree mall in Clarks, Indiana, after 6 stores in Indiana.

UNIQLO stores in the United States are now mainly concentrated in the developed cities of the East and the west, and their brand acceptance is uneven.

"New Yorkers are very fond of the brand of UNIQLO," wrote Larry Meyer of CEO Larry of UNIQLO in the company's annual report.

Indeed, sales of three flagship stores in New York, Suzhou, Fifth Avenue and thirty-fourth street have achieved two digit growth.

But when UNIQLO was extended to the suburbs of New York, New Jersey and conai Dick and San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston and Losangeles, "the performance of stores was uneven," he added.

This fall

It is planned to open stores in Chicago and Denver. This is the first time that the company has entered the heartland of the United States and will face greater challenges.

UNIQLO's popularity in the central United States is lower, and its recognition of value proposition may not be high, because customers there are less valued in design and quality, and are more used to shopping in discount stores such as WAL-MART and Taghit, while UNIQLO has no advantage in price.