Will Etam Delisting Be A Countdown To The Chinese Market?

Numerous examples have proved that China's gold market is a touchstone for the Chinese market.

Brilliant achievements can also bring down the valley at an instant.

According to the world clothing and shoe net, in November 2016, Martha, a British department store, withdrew from China.

By the end of the year, American teenagers

Brand American Apparel withdrew from China.

ASOS, the largest fashion business in the UK, has withdrawn altogether only two and a half years in China.

Recently, a foreign brand announced the delisting, the largest proportion of the Chinese market has become the source of losses.

It's a French brand.

AGG.

Once, Only, Etam and Esprit ranked the top three brands in the sales ranking of China's large retail terminals.

In addition to Only, it can squeeze into the first tier now. ESPRIT has been losing money for years, selling parking spaces for sale, Etam is old and outdated, and has been losing money all the year round. It has continued to expand its losses. It closed almost every day in the first half of this year.

Will delisting be a countdown to the Chinese market?

Maybe many people don't know.

It turned out to be a century old brand.

Etam, founded in 1916 by MaxLindemann in Germany, was the main stocking company.

By 1928, Etam's sales network expanded to the fashion capital of Paris. Under the French Martin Milchior's operation, the company set up a company and built a factory. It completely pformed France into a Etam base and gradually became a famous chain store in France and even in Europe.

By 1958, the two families merged and became the ultimate Etam brand.

In 1997, Etam was listed on the Paris stock exchange. There are more than 1000 outlets worldwide, and its business extends to men's clothing, underwear, casual wear, sportswear, etc.

People in the clothing industry say, "Etam and ESPRIT are the initiators and disseminators of western style fashion culture in mainland China".

In fact, it should be said that the Chinese market has completed these brands.

In the first few years of entering the Chinese market, Etam performed badly in the European market, losing its first deficit in fiscal year 2000 and 1 billion 200 million francs in debt.

The British market was also completely withdrawn in 2005.

At the end of 1994, ETAM group set up a branch enterprise in China, Shanghai Ying model Clothing Co., Ltd., in January 1995, Liu Xunpo, a French Chinese, opened the first store of Etam in mainland China in Shanghai.

Etam since then, China has rapidly developed into a well-known brand in the domestic market in 5 years, and has expanded rapidly in the form of franchising. It has opened 723 stores in two years, and its annual sales volume is over 900 million yuan.

From 1999 to 2007, China's performance showed a two digit growth, making up for the shortage of the European region.

In 2007, its performance in the Chinese market was close to 20%.

The complete localization strategy of "French girl"

Leading the operation mode of international brand in China market

LV, Chanel, Dior, Givenchy...

Because the French are both creative and flexible, the number of multinational companies in France is much larger than that in other European countries.

After entering the Chinese market, IgG has been playing the gimmick of "French girls" costumes.

But in fact, since entering China in 1994, IgG has adopted the integration mode of mining, manufacturing and marketing in China, made in China and made in China.

At the same time, the sales outlets were changed from exclusive stores to special counters in famous shopping malls, and soon became well-known brands in China.

Invites designers from all over the world to cater to the Chinese aesthetic, so that most people think that this is a foreign brand bought by Chinese enterprises, or even a Chinese brand with a foreign name.

It can be said that Etam is a leader in the localization of international brands in the Chinese market.

The Chinese market will soon become the most important market for Etam.

At its height, Etam has more than 4200 stores worldwide, with more than 3000 Chinese markets, accounting for about 40% of the group's total performance.

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The fate of being unable to escape and being eliminated gradually

Since 2013, Etam has been on the decline in the Chinese market.

In 2016, the total sales volume of ETAM was 1 billion 292 million 100 thousand euros, and the annual sales fell by 0.3%.

Sales in the Chinese market dropped by 12.3%, from 417 million 300 thousand euros to 365 million 900 thousand euros, with a total loss of 19 million 400 thousand euros (about 151 million yuan), an increase of 162.3% over the year.

In the same period, European market sales increased by 5.3%, and profits increased by 14.3% to 68 million 300 thousand euros.

In 2016, Etam closed 281 to 2596 stores in China, and 945 from 988 in Europe to 192 outlets in the world.

Why is that?

Differential development between China and foreign countries

The localization strategy of Etam, to be more exact, is the "differential development between China and foreign countries". After the splendor, Etam gradually entered the predicament.

The direct consequence of localization is the fact that there is no difference between Etam and China's local clothing brands at the same time. Many consumers regard it as "another domestic brand that is designed to be out of date", and even know that there are even topics such as "Ai Ge was bought by the Chinese" two times ago.

Senior people in the clothing industry also pointed out that "many people regard Etam as a domestic brand, because it appears, the hot timeline is very similar to the local clothing brands such as Smith Barney and Semir, and the quality is similar."

The localization of Etam, from another perspective, is the differentiation development of a brand in different markets, because the Etam clothing on the Chinese market is totally different from the French market Etam in two aspects.

At that time, in the Chinese market, most Etam shops sold the clothing of the Japanese and Korean wind girls, which was on the low aging stage. In spring in Paris, France, Etam sold mature women's wear and underwear. The exquisite and obviously personalized design was favored by highly successful career women.

It's hard not to be considered the two brand.

In order to cater to the Chinese market, Etam has lost its own characteristics in the process of becoming French.

Perennial discounts, self damage

In addition to localization, Etam also adopted a strategy that was not fully recognized by the Chinese clothing industry at the time, such as discounts.

In different regions of the same market, the merchantability of products is always limited.

The Etam's practice is to keep track of its dynamic inventory turnover days for several weeks after the product is launched, and fail to expect the products to be processed quickly.

That's why you can always see discount sales information at Etam stores.

Since Etam controls the entire supply chain well, the discount does not make Etam passive and its overall performance is healthy.

But this way is very damaging to brand image.

Miss fast fashion

When Etam entered China, the representative was compared with the authentic European and American fashion concept. In the apparel retailing industry, there was no Chinese market with a brand scale and no absolute fire, and it had brand scarcity.

They are competing against similar brands such as Esprit, Vero Moda, Only, lady house, and so on, but they are also in a benign state.

But the development of Chinese market is fast and the pace of change is faster.

Around 2005, foreign fast fashion brands such as ZARA and H&M entered and developed rapidly.

The ONLY and VERO MODA of the group, which also rely on fashion design and rapid updating, gradually open up the distance from Etam. China's own brands such as Ou Shi Li and Taiping bird also follow the "quick attack" routine.

Actually Etam China has long realized that there will be some changes in the market and layout has been made.

From 2004 to 2007, Etam made a fast fashion pformation plan, specifically to the internal supply chain, products and quick response mechanism.

With the support of the internal system, we can do 12 new products at the same time and go online in the shortest time.

In 2012, when Etam CEO, a Chinese District, paid a media interview, she said that Etam is a fast fashion brand.

However, no matter the industry or ordinary consumers, it is hard to agree.

On the one hand, from the speed of new products, Etam does not have ZARA or H&M.

On the other hand, its style is not as original as ZARA and H&M, and its product design is out of date, which is not very suitable for young people nowadays.

The strategy of completely localization in the early years has exposed the problem of homogenization of products.

The rapid discount greatly weakened the brand image, and the attractiveness of the brand itself to the main consumption crowd plummeted.

As early as 2008, Liu Shen Po, the elder of Etam, left the company. Most of his gold team chose to leave.

As a result, the layout of Etam China to deal with brands such as H&M and ZARA has been disrupted. The new plan made by the new management is equivalent to a new start.

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Go back to business and sell underwear without mentioning the Chinese market.

Exit countdown?

Etam sales in China began to decline in 2013.

At that time, Etam group hoped to speed up the clearance of commodity inventory in the past quarter, reduce personnel costs and marketing structure adjustment, so as to achieve the goal of stopping the decline of China's revenue in 2014.

But the effect is almost none.

Under the unanimous agreement of several major shareholders of the group, Etam is forced to withdraw from the market, rather than the privatization of the willingness of the brand owners.

Etam group said it will shift its focus from ready-made sector to underwear sector in the future, especially in emerging markets such as Mexico, Chile and South Korea, and will focus on the European market.

In the first half of 2017, Etam added 21 new underwear sales outlets worldwide.

But none of this has anything to do with the Chinese market.

Although Etam currently has 3767 stores in the world, 2/3 is still in China, and 29% of its sales are from China.

In the first half of 2017, Etam has closed 154 stores in the Chinese market, meaning close shop almost every day.

In contrast, in 2016, H&M opened 427 new stores, and in the first quarter of this year, ZARA added 93 stores in 30 countries.

Etam forced the delisting and returned to Europe to reclaim its old business, but only the Chinese market only closed shop.

Is this the start of a countdown for a brand to withdraw from the Chinese market?

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