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In a garment factory in Zhejiang, boxes of down jackets are neatly stacked in the warehouse, and workers are waiting for the arrival of the express truck. In a few minutes, these down jackets will be sent to all parts of the country.
Recently, the down jacket market has been too hot. Yuan Song, the head of the garment factory, finally took a breath, and for a while he and his employees almost slept in the workshop, "Since October, the working hours have been extended from 8 hours to 12 hours a day, and they are still too busy." ”
The weather has turned cold, the down jacket market has exploded rapidly, and "sky-high prices" have once again become a topic. The current market has gradually become a red sea with the entry of many brands, but it also allows Yuan Song and his peers to see the future opportunities, "After all, as long as there is a demand for cold protection and the trend of pursuing cost performance, then low-cost down jackets will naturally have a larger market." ”
With the change of consumers' purchasing concepts, it has undoubtedly given more opportunities to small and medium-sized manufacturers that focus on low-cost down jackets. Yuan Song told the Beijing News shell financial reporter that at present, the company's stockpiling is all snatched up, and it will receive orders and ** from dealers every day.
Thousands of yuan at every turn, military coats and jackets become "flat replacements".
It's not that you can't afford a down jacket, but that a military coat is more cost-effective. "Since the beginning of winter, the stalk of the down jacket has been broken by netizens again.
Down jackets are becoming more and more unaffordable. A consumer who has been working for many years reluctantly complained to the Shell Financial Reporter that he originally planned to buy a down jacket for the winter, but after a walk around the mall, he found that most of these down jackets are in the thousands of yuan, including nearly 10,000 yuan in styles, "Now it is too difficult to find a cheap down jacket of several hundred yuan." ”
According to the data of the China National Commercial Information Center, from 2015 to 2020, the average price of down jackets in China has risen from 438 yuan to 656 yuan, and the first large-scale cold-proof clothing has exceeded 1,000 yuan, of which more than 2,000 yuan accounts for nearly 70%.
This is the down jacket we launched this year, and the style and quality are particularly suitable. In an offline brand store in Zhejiang, the Shell Finance reporter noticed that there were more than a dozen down jackets of different styles and models for men and women hanging on the shelves, most of which were thousands of yuan. According to the shopping guide, these clothes are filled with goose down, and they are also matched with heating fabrics, which are naturally relatively expensive.
Subsequently, the shell financial reporter searched on multiple shopping platforms and found that among thousands of shops, the clothes range from hundreds of yuan to nearly 10,000 yuan according to the style and material.
There is a wonderful mentality when choosing a down jacket, the expensive one can't afford it, and the cheap one is worried about whether the filling amount can keep warm. A consumer who works in a southern city admitted to the Shell Finance reporter that after many considerations, he simply chose winter clothing products such as jackets or cotton clothes, "When the temperature is not too cold, the jacket can also play a breathable and warm role." What's more, these clothes are only two or three hundred yuan, which is undoubtedly more cost-effective than down jackets. ”
In addition to cotton clothes and jackets that have gradually become the "replacement" of down jackets in the hearts of consumers, some student groups have locked their purchase choices in military coats with a price of only about 100 yuan.
According to public data, during Jingdong's Double 11 period, the turnover of cotton clothing designed by military coats increased by 181% year-on-year, becoming a "dark horse" for winter sales growth. On platforms such as Pinduoduo and **, the monthly sales of military coats between 50 and 90 yuan sold by many stores have reached more than 10,000 pieces.
According to the different materials, there are two kinds of prices: 60 or 70 yuan and more than 100 yuan. Recently, it has indeed driven sales because of hot searches**. A ** boss said in an interview, "Almost every day, people consult and place orders, and many sizes have even been sold out." ”
Whether it is a cheap down jacket or a military coat, it can be seen that young people tend to be rational in their consumption choices. Yuan Song said, "And this change in thinking has also promoted affordable down jackets to become the main force in the market." Naturally, it also brings greater opportunities to small and medium-sized manufacturers, after all, as long as the quality is good and suitable, there will definitely be no worries about not being able to sell. ”
The order is hot, and the factory is in a hurry for 24 hours.
Yuan Song obviously felt that the down jacket market has become more and more hot in recent years.
Half an hour ago, he just hung up the channel provider's **. The other party hopes that he can supply another batch of goods in early January, and maybe he will be able to rub another wave of sales before New Year's Day and the Spring Festival.
This made Yuan Song nervous, and began to constantly wander around the factory workshop and warehouse, and urged the workers to speed up the production progress, "Now the market is hot, if you can't ship the goods as soon as possible, the orders are likely to be snatched up by peers." ”
Yuan Song runs a garment factory in Zhejiang Province and has been manufacturing down jackets since he entered the industry in 2012. "At that time, the domestic down jacket market was mainly dominated by big brands such as Bosideng and Yaya, and small and medium-sized manufacturers rarely set foot in this field. Unexpectedly, in just a few years, not only the market has seen explosive growth, but also more and more small and medium-sized peers have emerged. ”
In recent years, the down jacket market has continued to explode. According to data from the China Garment Association, the scale of China's down jacket market was 76.7 billion yuan in 2015 and increased to 156.2 billion yuan in 2021, with an average annual compound growth rate of 126%。According to Mojing data, from November 2022 to October 2023, the sales of down jackets on mainstream e-commerce platforms will be 8355.8 billion yuan, sales reached 18.2 billion pieces.
The hot sales of the market naturally promote the production of down jackets into "white heat".
Yuan Song told the Shell Financial Reporter that his factory mainly produces low-cost down jackets of around 400 yuan. Because of factors such as low prices and low popularity, the business was originally very average, but now with the outbreak of the market and the change of consumers' purchasing concepts, the business has grown more and more.
In the past, it was possible to sell up to a few hundred orders a year, but since last year, orders and sales have been increasing. Yuan Song said, "More than 10,000 pieces have been sold this year, and even many channel providers are still asking for goods, and it is estimated that they can exceed 20,000 pieces." ”
Li Fei, who runs a garment factory in Shandong, also told Shell Finance that the factory has been extremely busy recently and is running almost at any time.
I can't get busy at all, and I don't even dare to take new orders. Now a lot of large goods have been sent out, and only sporadic supplementary orders are still being produced. Li Fei said, "Almost all of my peers have not been seen recently, and they are basically nested in the factory 24 hours a day." ”
In order to ensure sufficient production, Li Fei not only spent a lot of money to purchase a new production line, but also reached cooperation with a number of upstream factories that produce goose down, zippers and other materials to ensure the smooth production of down jackets. "Now not only the down jacket factory business is exploding, but the upstream factory is also busy. Usually half a year in advance, manpower, raw materials and other preparations will be made, for fear that there will be a shortage of production capacity and other accidents. ”
A number of garment factory owners said in an interview that the factory has hardly considered other products recently, and all orders and peripheral arrangements revolve around down jackets.
Despite being busy, Li Fei is in the middle of it. He calculated in his heart that according to the current sales volume, he could earn millions of yuan.
Chasing the wind down jacket, recruiting designer fans.
Every autumn start can be especially busy. Not only the outbreak of domestic orders, but also the orders sent by some overseas dealers may even be received. Li Fei shuttled through the garment workshop, taking a down jacket from time to time to repeatedly check the wiring, cufflinks and other details, "This batch of goods is about to be sent to various places, and it is not a little sloppy." ”
Since entering the industry in 2016, Li Fei has been involved in the direction of **, children's clothing, etc., and finally set the development direction in the field of winter clothing such as down jackets and cotton clothes after several attempts. And down jackets are a rare entry point. ”
Li Fei told the Shell financial reporter that although down jackets would usher in a sales climax every winter, the real outbreak of the market was in recent years. In addition to the rise of live broadcast e-commerce, domestic small and medium-sized garment factories have more vertical sales channels, and young people's consumption outlook has changed, and they no longer blindly pursue big brands, which also gives manufacturers opportunities.
In order to design a down jacket that meets the aesthetics of young people, Li Fei bought various fashion magazines to study the trend and recruited a number of designers to design the style, color and details of the down jacket.
A garment is altered at least four or five times. Li Fei said, "Each style is not as simple as changing the color. To avoid uniformity, we often incorporate the latest elements to make the clothes look more stylish. ”
Taking one of the company's best-selling down jackets as an example, while retaining the traditional black appearance, Li Fei deliberately added dark background patterns to the cuffs and collar to make the clothes look stable and not too dull. At the same time, in order to meet the basic needs of consumer groups to keep out the cold, he also deliberately added a higher down content, "In the past, the down content of a garment was more than 200 grams, but now it is more than 300 grams." ”
Shell financial reporter interviewed and learned that usually the production process of a down jacket requires nearly 10 processes, from washing down to filling into the fabric, and then going through plate making, ironing and sewing, and finally packaging and leaving the factory.
What made Li Fei excited was that when he saw the design drawings he sent, in addition to the inherent channel providers who wanted to purchase goods, many e-commerce anchors also specially contacted him for consultation and cooperation.
Now the daily production capacity can also reach tens of thousands of clothes, but it still does not meet the steady stream of orders. Li Fei told the Shell financial reporter that now he no longer even accepts the "first order" sent by new customers, and focuses on the production of "tail orders" from old customers.
Shell financial reporters learned that the so-called "first order" is the first batch of orders sent by merchants, which usually accounts for the majority of annual orders, while the "tail order" is an order for merchants to carry out additional production according to market sales.
In previous years, the number of down jackets was only about 20% of the first order, but this year's number has doubled. If you take a new order, you won't be able to get busy at all. Li Fei said, "Now workers take turns working overtime until 11 o'clock at night every day. Sometimes the family members are called to the workshop to help check the quality or pack the bags. ”
Mainly targeting the three or four hundred yuan market, the factory live broadcast monthly sales of more than 10,000 pieces.
Entering November, Yuan Song rushed to the workshop and the live broadcast room, "Every day I have to receive dozens of reminders and orders, even if the ex-factory price is one or two hundred yuan higher than in previous years, there are still many partners to place orders." ”
Since entering the industry, Yuan Song knows that the mid-to-high-end market of down jackets is controlled by overseas big brands and domestic old brands, and he can only cut into the low-price field if he wants to break through.
After many market inspections, Yuan Song locked the price of the down jacket at the level of three or four hundred yuan. Although this decision leaves the factory with fewer competitors, it also means that there is not much profit.
Shell financial reporters learned that the pricing of down jackets mainly depends on factors such as fabrics, down and manual logistics costs. According to Huachuang**'s "In-depth Research Report on the Down Jacket Industry", duck down and goose down as internal fillers account for about 45% of the total cost of a down jacket.
In recent years, the cost of down, especially goose down, has been rising. According to data compiled by the DT Research Institute, from 2016 to November 2022, 90% white duck down rose from 200 yuan per kilogram to about 360 yuan, and 90% white goose down rose from less than 400 yuan per kilogram to about 640 yuan.
In addition, the national standard for "Down Clothing", which has been implemented since April 2022, also requires that the filling standard for down clothing be changed from "down content" to "down content", and its content is not less than 50%. This means that the down and feather silk that do not have a small effect on warmth cannot be included in the down content in the future, which avoids the manufacturer from taking down waste as shoddy, and will also indirectly lead to an increase in the purchase cost of down jackets.
The cost naturally makes the product increase, and the down jacket that costs thousands of yuan at every turn is prohibitive, and they begin to choose more cost-effective small and medium-sized brands. This naturally gave Yuan Song a greater opportunity.
Yuan Song, who saw the turn of the market consumption trend, began to make continuous efforts. He deliberately launches a different style every month in the hope of being noticed by more young people. In addition, in order to avoid price increases due to channel providers, he also started a live broadcast in the factory and launched products as soon as possible.
Now it will be broadcast live for 8 hours a day, and in addition to the two anchors taking turns to play, I will also go up regularly to introduce them. Yuan Song told the shell financial reporter that in order to meet the needs of consumers, he priced the clothes at 300 to 400 yuan, "although due to the increase in cost, each piece of clothing is on average less than 50 yuan more expensive than in previous years, but it can sell tens of thousands of pieces every month, and the sales volume increased by 30% year-on-year." ”
Since the opening of the live broadcast, the sales channels that used to focus more on wholesale and offline have gradually tended to be online, and the good quality and low price of down jackets have not only attracted more individual customers for him, but also promoted the continuous increase in orders from channel customers.
At present, the production volume is about 30,000 pieces per month. Yuan Song said, "Since November, we have received orders from customers for 'tail orders'. At present, more than 2,000 additional pieces are produced for almost each model. Nowadays, 'Double Twelve' has received orders from many customers. ”
Beijing News Shell Financial Reporter Qin Che Editor Wang Jinyu Proofreader Lu Qian.