In the blink of an eye, HM enter China as a sign

Blink of an eye, to h&m into China as a sign, this year, that is, 2014, is the fast fashion brands into China's seven-year itch, the surface looks like ZARA, H&m, Uniqlo, Gap seems to be at a similar pace to open the shop non-stop, in fact, These few fast fashions are really different. "Fashion Interview Notes" Please come to good friends, in the world is known as one of the three fashion colleges Istituto Marangoni attended the Caoyang take a look at the four fast fashion brands, what are their own doorways-

I just attended a Zara buyer and merchandising interview in Milan last month and would like to say fast fashion brands:

ZARA

First of all, Zara, the four brands are the most powerful, but also the most successful but the most independent, so may need to waste some words. I would like to say that Zara's brand core competitiveness is currently the world's fashion brands can not imitate. And do not say scale, after all, the scale of everyone can do, here the emphasis on its model can not be reproduced. Zara uses a model called vertical integration, which is shipped vertically. Greatly shorten the shipping time: On average 2 weeks, so Zara as the representative of the fast fashion brand can have 15-20 collection a year. In contrast, the general brand shipping process takes 4-6 months, usually only two collection a year. However, as a result of adopting the vertical intergation model, Zara can control the whole process better and faster than other fast fashion brands (from market research to design, playing board, production of samples, mass production, transportation, retailing), and is 5 days faster than the same h&m, which is known as the speed of shipments. Zara has sacrificed a lot of costs to pursue fast:

1. In the production process, Zara relied on numerous handmade workshops at the headquarters of the H&m, home factories, many of which were produced directly in the local area until only recently in recent years, while 75% of the products were manufactured in Asia in the previous years, and the production is now outsourced. For this reason, however, the price of H&m is about Zara's 50%-70% (regardless of the cost of raw materials).

2. All long-range transport is aircraft, rather than cargo ships, willing to pay high freight costs and unwilling to spend advertising and marketing costs, Zara's marketing costs accounted for only 0.3%-0.4% of the total cost, while other brands accounted for about 3% to 4%. Despite the high cost of pursuing fast, Zara's gross and net interest rates are still comparable to H&m's, and Zara is unwilling to save the cost for higher margins. Therefore, Zara has reached unprecedented heights for all fashion brands and retailers (my Milan teacher never called Zara a brand because it focuses more on production and retail, never designed to position branded products, and does not have a fashion brand brand Identity): 1. Zara Headquarters warehouse all clothing will not stay more than three days, the store weekly to the headquarters of a single two times to supplement the product, inventory turnover is 3-4 times 2 higher than other brands. On average, only 15% of the clothes per season need to be sold on sale, while the other brands are 50%.

3. The average customer goes to Zara 17 times a year, and only 4 times for other brands. At the same time, Zara's quick thanks to their "upside down" design concept. When I attended Zara interview, HR told us that Zara's core is the store, because only in the store can we really contact customers to understand the needs of customers. Therefore, the store provides sales data, then submit it to the store manager, store manager after finishing the results to the design department, design part according to customer demand design style, and then submit it to the business sector to assess costs and prices, then start playing board, sample clothing production, in the handover to the factory production, The final deposit is in Zara's Super Large Logistics warehouse (9 times times that of Amazon), where countless lorries are transported two times a day to other parts of Europe or the airport. In this process, in the design alone, an average of 20 minutes to design a garment, each year can design more than 25,000 new models, is H&m 4-6 times. Because the customer's demand for fashion is changing, the information collected from the store is time-sensitive, so fast is the most fundamental and most important winning weapon.

It is because Zara's maverick model makes the rest of the existing brands completely impossible to emulate, because if it means that the designer of the brand is no longer decisive for the design, it even needs to rebuild the designer team, the logistics system, the production process and so on. But there are drawbacks to this model:

1. Because the full flow of control, resulting in increased operational risk, if there is economic decline or industry downturn, can not transfer pressure to suppliers (such as demand for suppliers to reduce prices ...) )

2. Failure to integrate national advantages and maximize benefits.

3. The store is directly managed by the brand, unable to expand rapidly through the form of agents (such as Italy's San), and the property is also part of the need to invest in new stores and refurbished renovation of existing shops, reducing the turnover of assets (Zara's assets turnover is 1.4,gap as 1.8,h &m 2) 4. As we all know, the problem of plagiarism, Zara has been Ming copy for many years, you sue me to sue, the lawsuit loses you money, anyway, I can earn back (unlike the United States Forever21 was charged after the uproar.) In short, Zara creates a new business model, a business model that is completely based on customer demand. So Zara's current enemy is only its own. Only by fully understanding and controlling the pros and cons can we achieve long-term stable and sustainable development.

GAP

Then the gap, I just want to use a word to describe its current situation: The thin dead camel than the horse. As a former fashion sales hegemon, Gap was named by Forbes in 2014 as one of the 10 fashion brands that could end up in the next decade (you're right, and the recent domestic fire in the United States, where I came home from school and my roommate was gloating over what I said), Gap this year just found our professional help them to do a project in Italy to do brand promotion, after the project also consulted a lot of information on the gap. Now that you ask the competitive advantage, then you do not need to mention the business model, but also saved a lot of nonsense. From the design point of view, the gap, often think of those simple style, jeans, printed on the logo of the blouse. But this year gap advertising has fully demonstrated the purpose of Gap quo, Gap Marketing Department Manager to do presentation, Gap is the hope that it can use simple style to shape the style of everyone. But if you look at Gap's Facebook and Instagram, you'll find that it's a little refreshing route, and many of the designs are more in line with the minimalist fashion forecast in WGSN. Although in recent years gap due to lack of fixed style difficult to meet the continuous novelty of the youth consumer groups, but because of the simplicity of the design and high-quality fabrics and version (especially trousers, I love), or won the favor of many loyal consumers, coupled with the simple function of the trend-oriented style, So that the design is barely found a soul destination.

Also, it seems that Zara and H&m have been charged with environmental pollution, and Gap's co-founder Doris and Don Fisher have deliberately launched the "Do more THAN SELL CLOTHES" initiative, It seems that the use of organic cotton to promote sustainable agricultural production, hoping to brand social mission to arouse people's brand awareness, to re-establish brand image. Finally, use that manager to do presentation when the exact words bar--gap is confident not boastful; Simple notboring; Optimistic not delusional; Courageous not radical; Inclusive not lofty;youthful spirit; Smart not smart-ass; Current not trendy; Classic notconservative; Accessible not exclusive; Liberating not revolutionary; Human Notheroic. These words are a very comprehensive embodiment of the gap's brand positioning and image.

H&m

H&m, another giant. The same very good fast fashion brand, in the mode above, is more inclined to take into account the shipping time and product costs, so the speed is less than Zara, but rely on cost-leading advantages in this industry occupies a place. Fashion degree is also less than Zara, after all, other people Zara is also copied big-name ah, but also copied the essence. H&m is Europe on this side of the first choice, the recent design of the street, what big print, cowboy, big letter, big camouflage .... Product shortcomings are also very obvious, quality is not flattering, fabric is the worst of the four brands in the bottom of the (Wash once know). But like Zara, it is the innovator who transforms clothing from consumer durables into FMCG, so quality is less important. One of the most h&m of the place, when the sports clothing, this series is not sold in China (at least when I go abroad at home not), it is estimated that people do not love sports. In fact, H&m's sportswear is very professional, the classification is very fine (there are running, tennis, and even yoga), cheap, cheaper than Andy Nike is not a little, so popular, sales are very good. The following figure is the H&m sportswear in 2013 replenishment Rate (replenishment rate? Not sure how to translate), reached 36%, the final sale of the last discount accounted for 10.4% (Zara's inventory turnover is so high also 15% need to sell at a discount), In contrast, sportswear is definitely a highlight of h&m.

On the other hand, H&m has more choices in size choices, and even a lot of it is tailored for expectant mothers. The following figure is a comparison of the additional size statistics of the UK's h&m with the local major competitive brands:

Therefore, it can be said that H&m and Zara are in different ways to meet customer needs, the former is in the day-to-day wear and use, the latter is in the design. In operation, h&m pay attention to Low-cost, Zara focus on product update speed.

Uniqlo Uniqlo

The last one, Uniqlo. This is my favorite brand in the country, cheap, comfortable, fabric quality, simple and easy to match, and then added the UT series, I once bought their home a summer 13 T-shirts, is for different artists to create the design, and some particularly like not even willing to wear. In the gap to do competitor analysis of the time I first thought of is Uniqlo. I once bought two Yanai books for liking Uniqlo and the book he recommended for Japan's management and economist Da-ku, all benefited. If you want to say the core competitiveness of Uniqlo, there are a few to mention:

1. Fabric: This has to do with the history of Uniqlo, when the fire all over Japan and still the annual autumn and winter will be the introduction of a new style of the velvet jacket so that Uniqlo tasted the benefits of fabric, since then, Uniqlo has been innovating in the use and development of fabrics, such as a sheep in Inner Mongolia that specializes in feeding the fabric of Uniqlo, As well as the thin Heattech series of warm underwear, are Uniqlo for high-quality fabrics constantly pursue the product.

2. Service: This does not need to say more, I a friend once work in Uniqlo, all of you pass by the customers all want to say hello, one day down the parched. This single point of greeting to customers is not comparable to other brands. Other services can be realized.

3. Details: And no printing good products, the details of the store requirements to the extreme, all the way of folding clothes are very exquisite, such as can make customers easily see the fold of the width of the leg. Another detail I have to say, I believe many people have overlooked, is the mirror. At home, the people in Uniqlo's mirrors look like gap,h&m and Zara's mirrors. Part of it is because of the display of mirrors and partly because of the light. Because the yellow contour, especially the facial contour is not deep, compared to Europe and the United States more "flat" so in fact, the yellow people are not suitable for lighting directly from the above hit down the effect, it will be the face contour defects through the shadow completely show out, but the contours of the European and American people can show a solid skeleton contour. Therefore, in the mirror when the lights from the front or back shines down more suitable for the yellow people. At the same time, the choice of lighting is just right, not yellow, not dazzling, light soft, can contrast or even beautify the skin.

4. Process, I have carefully observed the Uniqlo shirt craft, chest bag sewing stitch Reverse triangle is entirely a suit of process requirements, this detail is required, there is no reason to question the craft of Uniqlo? 5. UT series. T-shirt is the most simple and direct way to convey the culture and art, UT this series is the cooperation with the artist, the art of the design directly displayed in the T-shirt, reducing the original role of the T shirt, and will be cheap products sold a trace of art flavor.

Finally, these brands are able to stand in the fashion industry, or because they found different positioning and advantages and to carry forward, whether it is the pursuit of cost-h&m, or to update the speed of the pursuit of Zara, or the details and quality of the relentless pursuit of Uniqlo, are believed and determined their own, Just can do today's scale, the gap is in the reorientation phase, and began to gradually transform, looking for a new self, because the previous advantages have been zara,h&m and Uniqlo different degrees of coverage, and developed a new advantage. For the rest of the similar brands, such as C&a,topshop, Ovs,forever21, and so on, are more or less the shadow of these brands, but because of the development of different regions, using regional advantages and local style to gain market recognition. Believe in the future, in the benign market competition, these brands will be based on different product positioning and user needs, with cheap prices, so that more people enjoy the fashion to bring people fun and self-confidence.