Russia'S Apparel Retailing Industry Ushered In A "Turning Point".

It is reported that since the end of 2014, the Russian economy has entered a period of shock: social and political problems and the depreciation of rouble have affected the market situation.

The import trend and product variety of Garment Retailing industry are constantly updated, so they are particularly vulnerable to instability.

Under such circumstances, a series of foreign middle end brands are forced to withdraw from the Russian market (e.g.: OVS, Esprit, NewLook, RiverIsland) or reduce the number of branches (such as Adidas, Marks&Spencer, Stockmann, Mango).

When some brands lose interest in the Russian market, there is a new bottom brand.

When offline stores do everything possible to reduce the loss caused by the rouble depreciation, online stores are relaxed and optimistic by reducing costs and dividends, simplifying design, localization, changing product varieties and improving service quality.

For example, sales of KupiVip, one of Russia's largest online apparel retailers, showed a 65% growth in May, while sales of Lamoda in another clothing store increased two times in May.

According to DataInsight, despite the adverse effects of the rouble depreciation, the sales volume and sales volume of foreign Internet stores are still faster than that of domestic online stores this year.

China's online store giants are also vigilant and have begun to strengthen their position in the Russian market: speed Mart has built up logistics networks with the help of local businesses, and Jingdong mall and Russian post have also stepped up cooperation in pport.

No matter what the financial situation is, Russians spend 10% of their expenses on clothing and shoes.

Clothing accounts for 60% of the fashion market, 35% for shoes and 5% for accessories.

At the same time, women's wear and women's shoes are the most popular products. Their share in the overall clothing and shoes sector reaches 60%, men's shoes and men's shoes are 25%, and children's shoes and children's shoes are 15%.

According to the latest search data from Yandex, the dress is the hottest type of clothing in women's wear (54%), and the western style jacket (24%) and the dress (24%) are the most popular men's and children's clothing categories.

Under the present circumstances, the company that focuses on the long-term development strategy of the Russian market will gain absolute advantage.

Do not try to save money by reducing the cost of marketing, advertising and customer loyalty programs. This policy will only bring short-term effects; instead, invest in market development, brand awareness and the increase in repeat purchase volume and conversion rate.

Clothing and shoes have always been one of the biggest plates in the online retail market.

According to InSales data, 2014 clothing and

The trading volume of the plate reached 93 billion rubles, ranking second in the top five plates (the first in terms of electronic products and household appliances, and 147 billion rubles).

According to Euromonitor report data, although

The purchasing power is the highest in the country (the share of the online shopping volume in the capital is 40.1%), and the online retail trade is developed by small-scale cities with a population of less than one million people.

This trend is related to the structural characteristics of the Russian fashion market.

The problem is that citizens in big cities have the opportunity to go to the sales centers or free goods centers, and there is no such possibility for local consumers. The market is still dominated by retail trade.

Of course, the share of market trade in Russian consumption mode has been decreasing gradually. In small scale settlements, this channel is often the only place to buy goods.

At the same time, the price of the retail market is often higher than that of the online store.

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Because of this, more and more Russian consumers choose to shop in China.

The problem of consumers' low trust in online payment of bank cards has been solved. The largest online stores in China have opened up online payment methods used by Russians, such as Yandex. payment, Qiwi, etc., and even one of them is ready to release the most popular "cash on delivery" service for Russian consumers.

Children's clothing sector is particularly noteworthy.

In recent years, the Russian children's clothing market has grown at a rate of 15% per year, which is two times higher than the average speed of the children's clothing market in the world (for example, the speed of children's clothing plates in Europe is 1-2%).

This trend is largely related to the steady growth of the birth rate. In 2014, the number of new students in Russia reached 1 million 947 thousand and broke the twenty-first Century record.

So far this summer, retailers still have the chance to sell children's products at a price higher than 2014.

Many retailers ordered goods in advance at the price of 2014, so they have enough stock.

Recently, however, many market participants have been actively looking for manufacturers of cheap products.

For example, in June this year, the Russian children's clothing shop UMKA officially invested in Chinese merchants.

Yandex is no exception. This search giant noticed that the search volume of children's clothing increased significantly, and decided to build children's clothing separately in its own Yandex.Market mall in 2014.