Lucrative Market, Overseas Showroom Is Opening The Door To Chinese Buyers.

7 years ago, when Ding Naiyun Meimei Ding, founder of Shanghai DFO Showroom, went to the international fashion week to meet with international brands and Showroom, it was still a different world.

Although China was already a booming luxury market at that time, there were few Chinese multi brand buyer shops, and it was hard for Ding Naiyun to open the doors of European fashion capital.

"There are many prejudices in the international fashion world, especially in the early days when we had to overcome their stereotypes that every person from China came to steal design or cheat in some way, but over the years, things have really changed," she explained.

Part of the reason for this change is, of course, the absolute strength of the Chinese market.

But Jillian Xin, Labelhood's buyer director, said another important reason for the change is that international brands and Showroom are conducting due diligence to better understand the differences between retailers in the rapidly changing Chinese market.

Xin has gone to the international fashion week as a buyer of its multi brand stores since 2012, and later became a senior buyer of high grade department store Crawford. "In the past, overseas brands and Showroom were totally unaware of the Chinese market," she said. "Now that they sell products to China, they are actively seeking Chinese buyers."

　　 From refusal to recognition

The latest figures from the China Fashion Designers Association show that over the past 5 years, the number of multi brand stores in China has increased from 70 to more than 500, an increase of 6 times.

Although these retailers provide huge opportunities for global brands, some buyers are still experiencing the suspicion and snobbery of their predecessors.

Renee Lu is responsible for international sourcing of The Fashion Door in 7 retail stores in Guangzhou, Suzhou and Shenzhen, and has recently developed retail K11 for Hongkong's new K11 Musea. During last year's fashion week in Paris, she wanted to make a reservation for a famous Showroom, but she was rejected.

Although Showroom may have various reasons for not accepting an appointment, she thinks that until recently her store network added a store in Hongkong, China, and they thought she was trustworthy.

"I think big Showroom will welcome Chinese buyers now because they can see our image and see our growth," she said. She stressed that she sold Rick Owens, A-Cold-Wall* and Ambush brands in Hongkong stores. "With the increase in the number of shops, we have the opportunity to go to the largest Showroom order."

Showroom, a fashion business accelerator Tomorrow Ltd, is a famous organization whose customers include A-Cold-Wall*, Ader and Ambush. Elena Troulakis, the business director of the company, estimates that 35% of the company's revenue comes from Asia. China is one of the most noteworthy growth drivers.

"We have seen the growth trend of new multi brand stores in the three or four tier cities, as well as the growth of demand for high-end brands and products," she said. In terms of buying behavior, they may focus on something: fit Chengdu, length, color... Brands need to satisfy Chinese and Asian buyers at these three points.

Some diligent Showroom have begun adapting to these new situations. Troulakis pointed out that Tomorrow's Chinese team has already used WeChat as a communication platform to make customers work easier. Ding Naiyun and Jillian Xin have discovered that over the past two or three years, many international Showroom have increased salesmen who speak Chinese, and have added models of Asian people. These can help buyers find products suitable for their customers.

　 Sinking opportunities for buyer shops

Although the wholesale business mode has encountered trouble in many mature markets abroad, this mode has entered the mainland late, which means there is still room for growth in China. In China's 120 123 line cities, almost every city has a local market, attracting enthusiastic fashion consumers and moving to influential multi brand stores.

In Shanghai and Beijing, SKP and Bailian concept store The Balancing have expanded from consignment to purchase mode. Paris's Lafayette department store opened stores in Shanghai and Beijing, and joined the ranks of Lane Crawford, Joyce and I.T, the Hongkong retailers who entered the mainland earlier. It has formed an influential top buyer team in the Chinese fashion industry. Undoubtedly, they will become an indispensable force in overseas fashion week.

In recent years, Eric Young, a sophisticated fashion public relations firm, has also joined the ranks of Le Monde de SHC. The retailer in Shanghai sells men's wear, women's wear, accessories, children's wear, beauty products and books in its three-storey space, all of which come from Yang Xiaohe Liang Lihui's choice.

"For me, their store is a suitable concept store, with good taste," Julio Ng, director of Seiya Nakamura 2.24, a creative consulting firm, said. Seiya Nakamura 2.24 operates Ryodan Showroom in Paris, acting We11done, Namacheko, Holzweiler, Fumito Ganryu and Mame kurogochi and other brands. This year, Ryodan will cooperate with Paris's Lafayette department store in Shanghai to create a grand opening device.

"They are really outstanding in communicating with customers about tasty products. They spend time and energy importing products that are not bought by all stores, and are also responsible for educating consumers. "

According to the Boston Consulting Group, more than half of China's luxury consumers live outside the 15 largest cities in China. By 2030, consumption in the first tier cities is expected to increase two times to 6 trillion and 900 billion dollars.

This means that western Showroom needs to become more familiar with smaller cities, such as Nantong, where the buyer Jaci Vela is located, or Guiyang, which sells Joseph, MSGM, Sonia Rykiel and Tibi in The Art Gallery's retail outlets.

In Urumqi, An Meiling runs ANZI+; in Qingdao, Ru Zhang and Belinda Zhao are the owners and buyers of Vanzone, which began selling Chinese fashion brands in 2010 and has now expanded to include international brands such as Self Portrait and Chinti&Parker.

Meanwhile, in Taiyuan, Shanxi's industrial heartland, Wang Na, founder and buyer of Masstone, sells Marni, Jill Sander and Jonathan Simkhai for local fashion lovers.

　 A two-way learning process

Although international brands and Showroom are already familiar with many of the pioneers of China's retail industry, it is still a challenge to understand the overall landscape of the retail industry scattered in this huge country. As Xin said, "if you want to visit every Chinese city with many brand stores, you will need about 6 months."

Similarly, Ding Naiyun understands that it is difficult for Showroom to reach out to new Chinese customers whom they have never heard of. They come from places they have never heard of. They have different English and Chinese names, a WeChat account, and a bunch of QQ numbers of an email, but there is no network station or Facebook.

At the same time, she saw the frustration of Chinese buyers and retailers: it takes a lot of time to get international business done, and the frenetic speed of policy-making and networking in China's business environment is somewhat inconsistent with the traditional European business models.

"Chinese retailers are working at a very, very fast pace, mostly in Chinese or on WeChat, which is a burden for them when they feel they have to learn English by e-mail," Ding Naiyun said. In addition, the long delivery cycle of international brands gives local and Korean brands a place in the market, so international brands can only compete with these peers by making consumers "enough to wait".

This is also one of the reasons why Showroom has noticed that Chinese consumers tend to buy famous brands instead of venturing to buy unknown products.

Although both sides are constantly improving mutual understanding to achieve the right transaction, this is not always a simple road. For European brands, even knowing when and how to enter the Chinese market is not a trivial matter.

Ng warns the brands to think deeply and not rush in. "The Chinese market is a great opportunity for everyone to do their best, but patience is very important," he warned.

"Before we try to sell to retail buyers, we need to know what Chinese people need, because in the final analysis, it must be meaningful for the end consumers."