Bosideng Internationalization

On July 26, the first anniversary of the opening of the flagship store in Bosideng, London. In the past year, this first flagship store in Europe was not profitable. Any brand entering a new market will face losses for a long time. As the boss of the domestic down apparel industry, Bosideng after going out of the country must also be cautious in facing the European market.

It is impossible to assess how long it will take to be truly 'self-sufficient in the management of British companies', but the attempt to go abroad is undoubtedly beneficial. After all, this is the basis for Bosideng to become an internationally renowned brand.

"Not profitable" "It doesn't seem like an important opening ceremony, but the store is very large, and the interior decoration is also very elegant." This is ankeeta's impression of Bosideng's flagship store in London.

"It doesn't seem like an important opening ceremony, but the store is very large and the interior decoration is very sophisticated." This is ankeeta's impression of Bosideng's London flagship store.

Compared to London's most prosperous business district and £35 million in development costs, the opening of a London store a year ago was a bit low-key – a small gathering and 120,000 e-mails to Londoners who had consumed medium-to-high end clothing. .

The American Pearl who works in London visits the Oxford Street business district almost every week. For Bosideng, she knows, "That's a Chinese brand. There are Chinese characters on the store." The most intuitive feeling is, "The store is basically organized. , It doesn't seem like there was a busy time, even at Christmas."

Perhaps the price is too high, perhaps it has not been recognized by consumers before it makes the store well-organized.

For the first year of flagship store sales, profits and other data, Bosideng told the new financial reporter: "Temporarily inconvenient to disclose."

However, a Bosideng insider admitted to the new financial reporter: “The performance is still good, but it has not yet been profitable.” In his opinion, the reason for not being profitable is mainly because of high expenditure costs, “backstage management costs, raising a design. Team team's expenses, the entire marketing team's expenses, etc."

Since there is currently only one store in London in the United Kingdom, the cost is high when all costs are used to service only one store. "If there are more shops in the future, these costs will be even and the situation may be better," the insider said.

In fact, as early as 1994, Bosideng's products had already begun to be sold on the British market, and the main thing was to supply them to agents. In 2005, Bosideng men's clothing entered their own brands in dozens of chain stores in Britain's famous greenwoods (Greenwoods), selling suits, jackets, shirts, t-shirts, knitwear, and casual sweaters.

In September 2008, two Bosideng menswear stores opened in Suffolk and Lincolnshire in the UK, marking the first time that China’s independent men’s brand store has landed in the European market.

However, due to conditions such as sales form and location, before the opening of the flagship store, the cooperation with the chain and the two stores have been cancelled.

"These are just touching the market in the early stages, and the back (London flagship store) is an important step." The insider said.

Although the flagship store cost 35 million pounds, but in the eyes of a domestic male company listed company boss, for Bosideng billions of profits, "use this little money to invest in non-down clothing, or overseas shop, this attempt is worth , even if it is not profitable, it will not have much impact on Bosideng."

Xiong Xiaokun, a light industry researcher at China Investment Advisors Co., Ltd., said that there are fewer Chinese local apparel companies that open flagship stores in foreign first-tier cities. Generally, it takes local companies 2-3 years to open flagship stores abroad to make profits. Bosideng has a long return on investment for flagship stores abroad, and it is normal for the company not to achieve profitability in one or two years. The long investment return period is an inevitable risk for domestic brands to face international brands.

In this regard, uta fashion management group ceo Yang Daxuan expressed his approval. He believes that although Bosideng has to go abroad to establish the influence of the Bosideng brand abroad, it is normal to invest in this area. ”

As for how long it will be profitable, Yang Dayuan believes that it is difficult to use time to calculate, depending on the brand's influence in the entire market and the local consumer acceptance of the brand. "Wal-Mart also entered China in the early years. Taking billions of dollars is a plan to lose for several years. This is a normal strategy." In his opinion, every brand entering a new market must have a loss period. And this loss period is within the company's budget, and it is rare for any brand to make money as soon as it appears in a new market. "China's brand wants to enter the international market and feels it is not excessive to use 3-5 years," he told reporters.

Since its establishment in 1976, Bosideng has been leading the sales of down apparel for 18 consecutive years from 1995 to 2012. According to the data compiled by the China Industry and Enterprise Information Distribution Center, Bosideng's four major down apparel brands accounted for 40.1% of the total market share in China in terms of sales in 2012.

However, in addition to the domestic feather industry leader, Bosideng’s greater dream is to become an international apparel brand that sells worldwide.

He once stated that internationalization is an inevitable choice for Bosideng's long-term development. Therefore, the London store is regarded by Gautaka as an important step in the process of Bosideng's internationalization.

Xiong Xiaokun also believes that the starting point of Bosideng London stores is not just to increase brand influence through overseas stores, but to use London as a support point to expand to other international metropolises and take the international route.

If Bosideng can gain a foothold in the UK market and gradually make profits, Bosideng's next landmark will likely be Fifth Avenue in New York, followed by France, and Italy will eventually spread all over the world. However, doing so well in China does not mean that success can be simply copied to the international market. The previous practice in the UK market has fully demonstrated this.

The open media reported that when the two specialty stores in Suffolk County and Lincolnshire opened in 2008, Gao Xiaodong, the person in charge of the company, once said that within 3 years, the men's wear market in the UK will be discussed and that there will be a Bosideng men's brand; Five years later, Bosideng men's clothing will appear throughout the European market, realizing the dream of expanding the Chinese men's clothing brand in overseas markets.

However, four years later, before the opening of London's flagship store in 2012, both greenwoods stalls and other city stores have disappeared.

Bosideng’s current situation in the UK market is also slightly slim. Some Chinese who have long-term study or work in London generally stated to the new financial reporter that the price of the flagship store is high. “There is a huge psychological gap, and the price in the country certainly will not be that”, so apart from the occasional impulse to support domestic products, They do not often visit.

For locals in London and foreigners living there, although most of them know that there is a Chinese brand in the Oxford Street shopping district, there is not much known about the brand itself. This is still a long way from the expectation that "there will be Bosideng when men mention men's clothing in the United Kingdom" that was supposed to be achieved two years ago.

In the face of the United Kingdom and even the entire European market, Bosideng had to admit that it was not easy for the brand to penetrate the hearts of consumers.

The person in charge of the flagship store once told the media that although the market is large enough, apart from the style of the product, including the influence of the shop, management and service are methods to increase brand awareness. In these respects, "although there are successful experiences in the domestic market as a basis, in the face of an international market, we really hope that we will put in extra effort."

It is not easy for European consumers to understand. According to Yang Dayuan, the first gene of a brand is determined by the country. “The inherent concept of Chinese products is cheap, and this is difficult to change.”

Another gene is the region. Xiong Xiaokun said that Britain is the birthplace of suits, and British men's companies have a unique advantage. Bosideng men's clothing has not yet established a foothold in China. It is eager to develop abroad and there are not many competitive advantages. .

But this does not mean that Bosideng has no chance. Yang Dayuan pointed out that Europeans pay more attention to cost-effectiveness. First of all, quality and quality are the brands and other measures. So there is an opportunity for Bosideng. “But this kind of opportunity is ultimately up to the consumer. The trustworthiness of the brand is determined, and this trustworthiness needs long-term training."

In his view, the most crucial factor for domestic brands is whether they can enter the mainstream of the new market, really enter the consumer field of consumption, rather than open a few foreign stores or international brands. "Of course, it's an effective way to increase the market share by using stores, and it also includes participation in fashion shows, expanding brand influence, and other ways, so that it may be slowly recognized by consumers."

This process will be a long one. “The international fast-fashion brand Uniqlo has been losing money in London for many years before it began to slowly gain a foothold. It is only after two to three years that h&m has formed a continuous purchasing power among young women in Beijing. This definitely takes time," Yang Dazhao said.

Bosideng's cfo Mairunquan once said that the company has a detailed business plan that includes a series of indicators such as sales profits to ensure that Bosideng can develop its own profits and losses in the UK. No one can predict how long it will take to achieve this goal, but it must be acknowledged that “Bosideng has gone out and can open flagship stores in the top business districts of London. It has already been very effective. This means that first of all, it means that we have come and can not be finally marketed. Accepting and staying up is not a problem, it is a continuous issue,” said an industry source for the new financial reporter.