12 Stores Opened In One Breath, Why Did UNIQLO Run Faster In China?

Recently, the China Commercial Daily reporter noted that UNIQLO opened 12 stores in China at the same time, and now it has opened about 700 stores in the mainland of China. In recent years, forever, 21, Newlook and other international fast fashion brands have withdrawn from the Chinese market. Why did UNIQLO go the opposite way and expand in the Chinese market?

According to the China Commercial Daily reporter, in August 16th, UNIQLO in Beijing, Tianjin and other cities have 11 stores opened simultaneously, in August 18th, Harbin Wanxiang store opened. In the new store of Beijing UNIQLO, the reporter interviewed several consumers randomly. They said that the discount of new stores was large. Besides the clothing discount, UNIQLO WeChat fans and coupons could be used.

Compared with the performance of some international fast fashion brands in the Chinese market, the Chinese market is becoming an increasingly important driving force for UNIQLO. Up to now, UNIQLO has about 700 stores in the mainland of China, and plans to increase to 1000 in 2020. Ryui Masa, chairman and chief executive officer of UNIQLO group, revealed that the company is stepping up its business model in China, adding more than 100 stores a year, and promoting business and digital services in the light of China's market conditions.

UNIQLO's performance in the Chinese market is also commendable. According to the financial report, the Chinese market contributed 25 billion 600 million yuan in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2019, which rose by more than 20%, becoming the main force for growth in the Asian region. In stark contrast, UNIQLO's domestic market revenue and profits fell by two. In fact, since 2012, the layout of Japan's local market has been relatively stagnant, and the number of stores has changed little. UNIQLO executives have repeatedly said that the limitations of the local market development are large, and the potential of overseas markets is huge. In the future, the strategy of internationalization will be vigorously promoted.

Meanwhile, UNIQLO plans to close a store in downtown Seoul, South Korea, under the influence of boycott Japanese goods.

Experts from the China Clothing Association told the Chinese Commercial Daily that UNIQLO's investment and expansion in the Chinese market, apart from its consideration of the improvement of its performance, also led to the shrinking of the Korean market to the Chinese market.

Statistics show that UNIQLO officially entered China in 2002, accelerated its opening speed in the Chinese market in 2012, and opened a global flagship store in Shanghai in 2013, covering an area of more than 8000 square meters, larger than the flagship store in Tokyo and the flagship store in New York. With the rapid development of China's electricity supplier, UNIQLO entered Tmall in 2009 and launched the online channel. From the "double 11" data over the years, sales of UNIQLO have been rising, breaking through 600 million yuan in 2015, and becoming the champion of clothing sales that year. Since then, the sales of "double 11" in UNIQLO have been stable in the top three of Tmall's "double 11" clothing category, and last year, sales in the 35 seconds of UNIQLO exceeded 1 billion yuan.

The experts also said that the current international fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M and so on all appeared the situation of declining performance and closing stores. Some brands even withdrew from the Chinese market, which is an opportunity for UNIQLO. Although UNIQLO's clothing style is mainly based on the partial foundation, it has been criticized by consumers. However, according to the current development situation, UNIQLO's mode in Chinese market can be said to be quite successful.