Buyer’s helm

"China is a big country in clothing, but it is not a strong country in clothing," said Wei Lin, vice president of the China Garment Association.

With the increasing attention of the entire industry, the buyer model is no longer an empty theory in China's garment terminal. For buyers, the buyer is a mirror that can directly reflect the market demand. March 28, 2011 The two-day “CHIC2011 China Apparel Business Forum - China Apparel Buyers Forum & Apparel Retailers and Retailers Joint Conference” was successfully held at the new China International Exhibition Center.

The forum featured the theme of “Buyers Integrate into China” and invited senior international buyers such as Shioda Hiroshi, Hamamatsu Taiguang, and long-term overseas buyers to work in China and engaged in research on commercial terminal models in the country. Chen Hao, Yao Xiaoyun, and Shao Ligang , Zhou and other experts, combined theoretical and practical cases, conducted multi-angle, three-dimensional presentations and experience sharing on “Buyer Integration in China” on topics such as smart product construction, optimization of profitability, retail performance support, and interpretation of popular trends. .

Buyers are integrating into China At the CHIC2010 China Apparel Buyers Forum last year, the “Buyers in China” theme for the first time puts the international apparel industry’s end of the popular market operation model in China. The CHIC2011 China Apparel Buyers Forum inherited the concept of serving high-end apparel dealers. The theme of the conference was upgraded from "buyers in China" to "buyers into China."

“This is not a simple change in the word,” the organizer’s official told reporters. “This change shows that after the popularity of new ways of thinking in the past year and the buyers and sellers of companies and dealers tested the water, the buyer model in China Clothing terminal is no longer a hollow theory."

With the rise of branded companies' direct operation and hosting model, the position of brand agents as the dominant terminal mode of the apparel industry has gradually declined. Buyers, as a popular market operation mode for international apparel terminals, pay more attention to “commodity planning capabilities” in the sales cycle, thus giving products a second life.

Taking the neighbor as a guide, we can see the gains and losses and can measure the future.

When traditional commercial terminals such as Japanese department stores and specialty stores have shown signs of decline, the performance of buyers of integrated stores has been increasing. The development of a successful buyer model in Japan has become an issue that we urgently need to explore in order to realize the current Chinese apparel terminal model.

In fact, the emergence of Chinese-style buyers has already reached a certain level. However, in the face of the reality of China's industrial environment, can foreign successful buyer thinking and buyer-integrated store models be directly copied to China?

“Foreign procurement fashion concepts and buyer-integrated store models cannot be completely copied,” said a senior buyer of Shanghai Liyang Trading Co., Ltd., “The foreign popular stuff can’t be moved directly because many foreign popular buyers’ models and In some styles, the people of the country cannot accept it and they need to improve it."

Shanghai Yigu Fashion Co., Ltd. as a partner of this forum, its exploration and practice also gave the answer: the use of "acquisitionism", combined with its own characteristics, innovative absorption.

Ni Ming, the company’s sales director, stated that in the Yigu brand operation, the essence of the buyer model was introduced, and the “commodity department” was set up according to its own characteristics. This department completely subverted the traditional functions of “control” and “distribution”. Extend the design proposals and planning proposals forward, and extend the goods to follow-up and retail strategies in the later stages. Fully monitor the overall commercial operation of Yigu Brand with the uniqueness of the buyer's functions and bear the overall gross profit margin of Yigu Brand. Control, so that most of the brand headaches of inventory problems no longer become a corporate burden.

Not a simple deal For a garment company, the buyer is a mirror that can directly reflect the needs of the market.

If designers are creating fashion, then buyers are promoting fashion. According to the company's different operating habits, garment buyers will buy products for sale in the next season six months or more in advance. Therefore, buyers are the masters of fashion and fashion trends.

Chen Guoqiang, executive deputy director of the China Institute of Garment Industry Economics, said that buyers can't buy products based on their own feelings, and they should be more responsible when making profits from simple sales. To buy products for customers, we must not only understand, To guide the needs of customers, but also to reflect the consumer trends in apparel companies.

"China is a big country in clothing, but it is not a strong country in clothing. There are big benefits and great difficulties," said Wei Lin, vice president of the China Garment Association. Many people have already experienced the benefits of a large clothing country; the big difficulty is that they are easily targeted. Therefore, for the sake of industry safety, the upgrading of the garment industry has become inevitable.

The decade from 2010 to 2020 is the new “golden decade” of China's garment industry. While China’s carbon emissions will gradually decrease, low-carbon clothing will become a hot spot for the Chinese apparel industry.

With the concept of low-carbon economy, the concept of apparel consumption has become more and more popular. Buyers also play an increasingly important role in the transformation and upgrading of the apparel industry.

"** Fibers and bamboo fiber, linen and other fabrics are more environmentally friendly than traditional cotton fabrics," Sun Yalin of Shaoxing Boyu Textile Co., Ltd. told reporters. "This year, some of the merchants we order from our factory require raw materials and environmental protection. All are cotton fabrics, some of them require fiber, and some want linen."

"The market is relying on buyers, so that fabric companies and garment factories must also keep up with environmental protection technology." Sun Yalin said that the current demand for low-carbon raw material clothing business is not a minority, with the trend of environmental protection clothing, he estimated that the future demand is low There will be more and more businesses of carbon raw materials.

"In a sense, the buyer is completely a decision maker with market representativeness, and the buyer is at the helm of the direction of Chinese clothing." Sun Yalin concluded.

Buyers must have the necessary active skills. When a hot topic in a market or an individual gas shop appears, the buyer must be able to do it immediately and go to the actual scene to confirm with his own eyes.

Professional commodity knowledge Clothing is a fashion product. Knowledge of fashion trends need not be said. Knowledge of raw materials, colors, sizes, and even washing considerations are all essential for buyers.

Information Collection, Analysis and Forecasting Professional garment buyers need to collect information on trends of consumers, trends of suppliers, fashionable styles, colors, and material trends, and do effective data analysis.

The plan proposal ability collects the necessary data beforehand and analyzes one by one, and analyzes and analyzes the ability of the company's commodity plan by fully analyzing the market's dominant position and comparing with other brands' differential data.

Management capabilities Buyers promote the execution of their work through the assistance of designers, exhibitors, store managers, shopping guides, logistics, and upstream suppliers. In other words, it is the buyer’s focus to achieve coordination with the relevant department’s work. ("Fashion Industry" article / Wang Jinfeng)