Is It Also Worth Noting That Lululemon, Another Competitor Of China'S Sports Brand, Will Rise In China?

At the end of last year, Canada

brand

Officially enter the mainland of China, though this

In the North American market, even Avril was reluctant to part with it. But after the fierce competition in the Chinese market, many people could not help asking: will Lululemon rise in China?

Recently, the answer given by Lululemon is: starting from the electricity supplier, expanding the Chinese market.

According to the world clothing and shoe net, the Gateway Canada project forum was held in Canada in the last week of September. At the forum, Ma Yun, President of Alibaba group, appeared as the main speaker, and discussed with the CEO of Laurent Potdevin of Gateway for the Chinese market.

The Gateway Canada project is designed to help brands or small businesses expand sales and marketing channels in China, whether direct sales to consumers or distributors.

Potdevin said at the Forum: "Lululemon's sales on Alibaba Tmall platform are still in its early stage, and the company is still exploring what the retail component of the entity store should be."

Lululemon advertising film

Lululemon is a brand originated in Vancouver, Canada in 1998. Its inspiration comes from yoga's high-tech sportswear. In the field of yoga, Lululemon can be said to be the forerunner of the industry, and even for a period of time no longer can find second.

In the Canadian and North American markets, the company launched a radical expansion, resulting in the neglect of product quality. After several recalls of quality problems in 2013 and 2015, the brand image began to move down the altar.

Like many other companies that want to save their revenues, they are eyeing the vast market in mainland China.

In December 15, 2016, Lululemon opened the first store in the mainland of China in Lujiazui international financial center of Shanghai. Subsequently, two stores in Shanghai Jingan Jiali center and Beijing Sanlitun opened one after another. In July this year, the expansion of Lululemon went to Chengdu, becoming the third city in the mainland of China after Shanghai and Beijing.

"The potential of the Chinese market is huge", so everyone will say so, but so there are more and more brands coming to the Chinese market. "Where is the potential? How should each brand develop according to its own situation?" is what every company needs to worry about.

Lululemon, a bottleneck in the North American market, has shown strong Internet thinking after coming to China. It is difficult for many overseas brands to adapt in a short time. Many brands are even surprised by the developed cashless payment service in mainland China, while Lululemon is not acclimatized on this side.

In addition to being stationed in Tmall mall early in the morning, Lululemon is very good at using community concept for online and offline marketing at the same time.

"Now there is no obvious demarcation line between online and offline, and today, the standard configuration of shopping malls is no longer a good choice for brand development market. Instead, it is a huge growth space for experience and service."

Potdevin told the women's Wear Daily that with Lululemon, intensive yoga has been applied in the field of yoga, and the company has launched yoga courses accordingly.

On the occasion of the opening of the first store in Shanghai, Lululemon held an experiential activity under the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, and nearly 1000 people did yoga training in outdoor venues. The same practice also appeared in the North American market and was touted by consumers.

Lululemon Shanghai Xintiandi store

In its external interview, Lululemon calls this practice "community building", which is also the brand gene brought by the brand founder Chip Wilson.

By gathering local and grass-roots Yoga groups, a brand loyal customer network is established -- a location and a community.

Similarly, the online platform Lululemon will actively rally the community. Since 2011, the number of Lululemon followers on Twitter has increased by 621%, and the followers of Facebook have increased by 200%.

Lululemon yoga class activities in Beijing

According to Potdevin, the performance of Lululemon so far in China is due to the efficient productivity of new stores, in addition to the growth of Tmall's business. It is reported that Tmall's online sales alone have risen by 175%.

The Chinese market occupies the overwhelming majority of the growth of the brand's international market business, which is also the most important part of achieving the total annual sales target of US $4 billion.

However, the Chinese market has the particularity that other markets do not have. For the Lululemon still in the "outsider" stage, the challenges it faces are actually more than opportunities.

The popularity of sportswear is no longer a novelty, and such a trend is slowly weakening.

Tom Nikic, an analyst with Wells Fargo securities, has said that the development of sportswear and sports shoes is slowing down and there is little room for growth.

Besides professional sports brands such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, there is little left to divide the market, not to mention fast fashion brands Zara and H&M are providing sportswear.

Lululemon is aware of this, but Potdevin does not like to classify her brand as "sportswear casual". He believes that sports brands such as Nike, which sell wholesale channels, all sell the same things - they are not competitors at all.

In response, analysts agreed: "we are still optimistic about Lululemon's" story ". From the company's second quarter earnings report, we can see that they are isolated from the wider sports industry.

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