It is an indisputable fact that business will be difficult to do this year, especially in our textile industry. It is not a simple alternation of low and peak seasons. The off-season is always there, but the peak season is far away. Normally, “food, clothing, housing and transportation” are rigid needs, and there should be no ups and downs. But this year, “rigid needs” are no longer available, and the textile market has taken a turn for the worse. Why don’t people like buying clothes anymore?
Clothing and cloth sales both fell, and the decline expanded
By the National Bureau of Statistics The “quarterly clothing sales” published in recent years can be seen that the clothing market is undergoing drastic changes. In the first three quarters of 2017, clothing sales increased steadily compared with 2016, but in the fourth quarter there was a sudden year-on-year decline of 7.69%. This decline continued throughout 2018 and into 2019, and is still continuing. According to comprehensive statistics, the national clothing sales volume in 2018 was 54.06 billion pieces, a decrease of 24.8% compared with the 71.91 billion pieces in 2017.
Tightening of the terminal clothing market , quickly manifested itself in the textile market. National quarterly cloth sales also experienced a significant decline in the fourth quarter of 2017, and the subsequent downward trend in 2018 not only did not ease but became more serious. The year-on-year decline expanded from 10.89% in the first quarter of 2018 to 28.4% in the fourth quarter. The first quarter of 2019 that just passed also failed to escape this trend, with a year-on-year decline of 21.59%. The cliff-like decline in sales of clothing and cloth is obviously not something that can be explained by an “off-season”. What is even more unacceptable is that this decline shows no sign of reversal. It seems that it is a fact that people no longer love buying clothes as much as they used to!
The U.S. trade policy towards China has a greater impact on trade confidence
For the decrease in clothing sales and the decline in the number of orders, the entire textile and apparel industry is reflecting on the reasons. In the first half of the year, the United States imposed additional tariffs on China, covering almost all textile products, and threatened to impose further tariffs on more than $300 billion in goods. This move has been considered by textile people as an important reason for affecting the textile market. At the just-concluded G20 summit, Sino-US trade showed a major turn for the better. The United States gave up its imposition of additional tariffs on US$300 billion of Chinese goods, and trade talks between China and the United States resumed.
It stands to reason that such good news should immediately ignite the textile market, but the actual situation is that the market response is still dull. The reason is that textile people overestimate the impact of U.S. economic policies on China. In fact, trade policies more affect the trade confidence, decision-making time and order speed of both parties, but the demand of end consumers does not. Substantial changes have occurred, so there will not be a large-scale rebound in order volume immediately.
It is understandable to attribute the decline in orders and the deserted market to the U.S. trade war and gain some psychological comfort, but we cannot give up. Opportunities to find real causes, missed coping strategies.
Changes in end consumer demand have led to changes in order forms
The population is still so large and the market is still the same, but why did clothing sales drop by nearly 25%? Some people say that the economic environment is weakening, people have no money, and they will not buy clothes if they can. But “clothing” is a necessity, just like buying a house. If you don’t have money, you can buy something farther or smaller, but you will never not buy it. The same is true for clothes, there are always cheap ones.
Passed From the National Bureau of Statistics’ “Quarterly Per Capita Clothing Consumption Expenditure”, we can very intuitively see that per capita clothing expenditure increases in each quarter compared with the same period last year. Clothing consumer spending has risen instead of falling. It seems to have nothing to do with the weakening economic environment and people’s reluctance to spend. So what is the reason for the sharp decline in sales of clothing and fabrics?
Comprehensive analysis of “clothing and cloth sales” and “clothing consumption expenditure” will clearly reveal the changing trends of clothing consumption and clothing sales. Change is jarring. Normally, an increase in clothing consumer spending should correspond to an increase in clothing sales, or a decrease in clothing sales should mean a decrease in clothing consumer spending. But the fact is that clothing sales have plummeted, but clothing consumer spending has been growing steadily. Further analysis shows that the decline in sales corresponds to the increase in expenditure, which must be behind the sharp increase in the sales price of a single piece of clothing.
Visiting some upstream textile and apparel companies also gave us a deeper understanding of the unusual changes in the market. The popularity of clothing consumption concepts such as fashion, fast selling, and individuality has changed the entire clothing consumption market.field. The “hot-selling” clothing that used to be sold in the past often sold tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pieces, but it is almost impossible now. The new generation of consumers are not willing to “match the same clothes” as others, and they all want their clothes to be customized and unique. New consumption concepts quickly fed back to clothing companies, and the production model immediately changed from “large and comprehensive” to “small and refined.” Paying attention to original design and pursuing special fabrics and novel colors have gradually become the development criteria of cutting-edge clothing companies.
Clothing companies invest a lot of manpower and financial resources in new clothing, but it is difficult to put into mass production as before to dilute the cost of innovation. To expand the benefits, the only way is to significantly increase the sales price of a single piece of clothing. This is also consistent with changes in clothing sales and clothing expenditures announced by the National Bureau of Statistics.
There is actually a phenomenon behind the sharp increase in the price of a single piece of clothing, that is, clothing companies will put forward new requirements in terms of fabrics. Conventional fabrics and processes cannot explain to consumers the reasons for the rising prices of clothing. Only uncommon new fabrics and special processes can make consumers accept the substantial price increases of clothing.
Our textile industry should also be aware of this change and make timely adjustments. We must dare to explore and innovate, rather than The old varieties are firmly entrenched in the areas they are familiar with, and they remain entrenched.
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