Recently, reporters learned from some foreign-related companies that many knitting companies are facing difficulties due to various pressures such as the impact of overseas epidemics, sharp increases in costs, and reduction in orders. Whether an enterprise’s traditional channels can achieve transformation and upgrading has become the key to determining the life or death of the enterprise. At the same time, as the “digital transformation” wave sweeps across the country, the knitting industry’s attitude towards digital transformation has also changed from “optional” to “must have” for market competition and future development, because in the face of the epidemic, digitalization is no longer a factor. It’s a multiple-choice question, but a question of life and death.
Online new products to solve difficulties
“If it weren’t for this sudden epidemic, I probably would never have thought of transforming into domestic sales of ready-made garments so quickly.” Ni Jianzhong, head of Jiangsu Xintai Knitting Co., Ltd., said that due to the company Export business accounts for 95% of total sales. Since February this year, orders from old customers have dropped by more than half.
Jiangsu Xintai Knitting Co., Ltd. has a history of more than 30 years. It is well-known in Changshu and has stable annual sales. At its peak, its annual export of knitted fabric products to Europe and the United States exceeded US$50 million. Founded in 1993, the company has more than 300 employees and a complete industrial chain of weaving, dyeing and printing. Its products are exported to domestic and overseas markets such as Europe and the United States, and provides products and services to international brands such as CK, GAP, and DKNY. However, this epidemic has also made Xintai Knitting deeply realize that no matter how stable “one leg” is, it cannot be as strong as “two legs” in resisting risks. At present, only by switching to domestic sales, e-commerce, concept, and opening up more sales channels can we open up a new situation for enterprise development.
After determining the direction of producing ready-made garments, and with the production and research and development capabilities of high-end fabrics, Xintai Knitting tried to produce the simplest and most acceptable “Modal” T-SHIRT”. Since the company has no online sales channels, it can only sell products at cost price by building temporary exhibition halls and renting stores. In just over a month, 50,000 pieces of Modal T-shirts made of “big-name fabrics and affordable prices” were sold and received unanimous praise from consumers.
However, Xintai Knitting also realizes that offline and low prices are not the long-term path for the brand to develop domestic sales. Building an online sales platform and opening up all channels is the way out. Facing the trend of domestic e-commerce shopping and the impact of the foreign epidemic, on May 18, Xintai Knitting’s “Zhongma Clothing” Taobao store went online, and the company officially started its e-commerce journey. Ni Jianzhong believes that although international orders will gradually recover after the epidemic, this epidemic has given enterprises the determination to transform. Now is a good learning process, and enterprises must transform and upgrade.
Like Xintai Knitting, it has embraced digital transformation and upgrading during the epidemic, and there are many companies that have opened online channels. But for brands, industry insiders believe that how to attract traffic is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. Reporters recently learned that due to the global epidemic, the 127th Canton Fair will be held online from June 15 to June 24, 2020 (a 10-day period). This is also the first time that the Canton Fair has moved to an online platform. In order to deeply participate in the first online Canton Fair, effectively promote the company’s business development, and attract the attention of more foreign businessmen, Oriental Litai Company, a representative of the sweater section of Oriental International Group, responded quickly and collected and uploaded 35 representative company exhibits. Including wool knitted clothing, cotton knitted clothing, woven clothing and small commodities, etc. According to the relevant person in charge of Dongfang Litai Company, the company will boldly try the live broadcast function at the first online Canton Fair, hoping that through this new form, high-quality products from various departments of the company will be brought to domestic and foreign buyers more vividly and intuitively.
Affected by the global epidemic, Guangdong Esquel, the largest textile and apparel company in Guangdong Province with an export business accounting for 83%, suffered an unprecedented fatal blow: orders canceled by overseas customers The total volume exceeds 25 million pieces, and the main business profit has suffered its first loss in the 32 years since its establishment. It is expected that the annual turnover will drop by more than 30%.
In the Guangdong Esquel garment workshop, workers are sewing “Shirushi” brand shirts.
Faced with difficulties, Guangdong Esquel actively rescued itself and took the initiative to enter the market to develop the live broadcast economy. Since May, a total of three test live broadcasts have been organized on Douyin Short Video. The anchors are all executives graduated from Tsinghua University and other prestigious universities. According to statistics, the three live broadcasts promoting independent products attracted more than 30,000 views, with a total transaction volume of nearly 400,000 yuan. “We are trying to use this new form to cope with the current situation of reduced foreign orders. At the same time, we can also explore the domestic market and find new development opportunities.” Cheng Peng, general manager of Guangdong Esquel Knitted Fabric Factory, said that currently Guangdong Esquel is independent The “Shirushi” brand developed and produced has been upgraded across the board. Next, Guangdong Esquel will develop a series of products in the health field, including fabrics with antibacterial and disinfection functions, ready-made clothing, etc., and accelerate the research and development of health products.
It’s time for knitting marketing transformation
More and more companies are adopting Online live broadcast to seek performance growth points in the digital economy era. Cheng Peng said frankly that the use of Douyin, live broadcast and other methods can accurately transmit consumption information to customers, allowing everyone to place orders according to their own needs, making online customer traffic higher than offline.
In fact, traditional knitting manufacturing companies are also rushing to enter the “online time”. Hongdou Home, an underwear brand from Wuxi, Jiangsu, has also been increasing the frequency of “electric shocks” since February. In early April, a live broadcast of Hongdou Home attracted nearly 180,000 users and placed more than 2,400 orders. A week later, Hongdou’s home live broadcast achieved new breakthroughs. A 10-hour live broadcast attracted 430,000 online viewers. The total sales of the live broadcast reached more than 300,000 yuan, and the total sales reached 4,293 items. After the outbreak, Zhejiang Kaishili Technology Co., Ltd. launched the Taobao Daren live broadcast platform, and each person can live broadcast for no less than 8 hours a day. Zhejiang Zhuji Calamela Brand Management Co., Ltd. responded quickly and adjusted the irregular live broadcast to 12 hours of online live broadcast every day. Zhejiang Dongfangyuan Knitting Co., Ltd. has specially set up a live broadcast team and opened multiple live broadcast rooms and multi-platform live broadcasts. The epidemic has accelerated the pace of more traditional sock companies to expand their online business. Jinan’s well-known knitwear brand Yuanfang Group is also undergoing digital transformation, changing from spectators to makers, and continues to explore experience in practice. On May 22, Yuanfang Group received more than 300 orders for more than 10 high-quality products during a more than one-hour live broadcast of the brand. During the live broadcast, Zhang Jihong, chairman of the Head of State Group, turned into a host to endorse his own products. Through the form of “factory visit + sales and delivery”, he showed the company’s production activities, technological processes, home clothes, business T-shirts, quick-drying vests and other features at close range. products, allowing consumers to quickly understand the company’s business philosophy and the brand transformation of youth, fashion, and outerwear during live interaction.
Government departments in various regions are also actively building online platforms to promote the digitalization of traditional industries and jointly create digital development momentum. In early April, JD.com’s Jingxi Live “Industrial Belt Traceability Tour Plan” entered Datang Socks Industry, using live broadcast to bring goods, allowing merchants to endorse their products, and providing traffic promotion support to participating companies. In the live broadcast unit of this “Industrial Belt Traceability Patrol Plan”, Zhejiang Dongfangyuan Knitting Co., Ltd., Tian Haibin, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Datang Street, took the lead in entering the event live broadcast room and introduced the development history and special products of Datang Socks Industry to netizens . The live broadcast attracted 60,000 online viewers and more than 3,000 orders were completed. Tian Haibin said that online live streaming not only promotes the expansion of consumption, but also effectively attracts traffic to the real economy.
Tian Haibin, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Datang Street, walked into the live broadcast room to promote the characteristic products of Datang Socks Industry.
According to reports, with the continuous development of the live broadcast economy, Datang Street has promptly adjusted the focus of the company’s “three services”, and relevant measures have also been launched in full swing. During the epidemic, the China Post Datang Intelligent Logistics Sorting Line Project completed commissioning and was officially put into operation. The “new retail” service project of China’s knitting raw material market with a registered capital of 200 million yuan has also been introduced and implemented. In the future, it will be used for domestic e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce. The business’s enterprises provide professional “one-stop” services such as photography, art, live broadcast, warehousing, and direct mail. “A series of software and hardware services will effectively lower the threshold for enterprises and merchants to transform and upgrade, and also allow Datang Socks to maximize the potential of its online market,” Tian Haibin said.
“Leveraging the new trend of online live broadcasts, the real economy is taking advantage of the trend to unlock new skills and bring efficient order conversion to brands.” said a person in charge of a knitting company.
Industry insiders believe that my country’s knitting industry is ushering in a new marketing model that combines online goods delivery and offline sales, relying on the development advantages of the knitting industry and Alibaba, JD.com, and Dou The advantages of platforms such as Yin, Meituan, etc., on the one hand, can help foreign trade companies expand orders, stabilize production capacity, promote export-oriented companies to achieve coordinated development of domestic and international markets, and enhance the confidence of entrepreneurs; on the other hand, they can guide companies to realize the transformation of traditional business circulation models. The shift to new retail models such as “online + offline”, “sales + experience”, and “display + transaction”.
</p
