2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 238 Apparel Brand Plan
The menswear market in 2006 was already highly competitive.

Regardless of foreign brands, among domestic brands, there are high-end brands like Youngor and Shanshan, and low-end brands like Metersbonwe and Yishion.

These are all very established brands, with production mainly concentrated in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and their industrial chains are already very mature.

In a highly competitive market, if you only think about getting a share of the pie, doing things like supply chain work, import and export, OEM manufacturing, or even ordinary people working in factories operating sewing machines, you can still make a lot of money.

However, with so many established brands, it is extremely difficult to carve out a niche for yourself and build a successful brand.

Therefore, we have no choice but to find another way.

Women's clothing is definitely not an option. Although women's money is the easiest to earn, the styles of this product are updated too quickly. Doing foreign trade wholesale is okay, but if you do brand retail, the pressure of inventory will be enormous.

Products that sell well are bestsellers, while those that don't sell well end up sitting in the warehouse, which can be a real headache.

The social atmosphere is still relatively good now, and there aren't many cases of malicious returns. But in a few more years, after live streaming comes out, Taobao stores selling women's clothing will really have a headache.

The girls who do live streams, film videos, and do suggestive clothing changes often leave the tags on most of their clothes intact. Why is that?
It's all for the sake of easy returns, right? Seven-day no-reason return policy, people wear it a few times and then return it after that period. The perverts are happy, the ladies have their costs reduced to the minimum, and the merchants are the ones with headaches.

So this is something that really shouldn't be done. In time, the Taobao store will have to be shut down to avoid these headaches.

If we can't make women's clothing, then all that's left are children's and men's clothing. We can't exactly target the elderly market, can we? We're not an aging society yet, so there's absolutely no need for that. Besides, older people don't care about brands.

Compared to the children's clothing market, the men's clothing market is easier to operate in.

“We won’t go for the high-end, and the low-end is too competitive, so let’s go for the mid-range and price our products around 300.” Tan Jincheng said casually as he analyzed the domestic clothing market for Zhang Xupeng.

Right now, the two of them are locked in the study, and Tan Jincheng is searching online for some clothing brands that he remembers well from his previous life.

Vancl, which was once incredibly popular, doesn't even exist yet? But frankly speaking, this thing was just a capital game, not a serious brand-building endeavor, and it's said that it ended up losing a fortune.

And I don't even have the GXG clothes I used to wear in my previous life!
Coincidentally, GXG mainly targets the mid-range market, with its consumer base primarily consisting of men aged 20 to 35 who pay attention to fashion and styling. The price is also positioned in the mid-range market.

GXG is also a brand from Ningbo. In the early stages, it mainly focused on offline sales, covering street shops, department stores, etc. Later, like other brands, it mainly focused on online sales, with stores on platforms such as Tmall and Taobao.

Then let's copy his design concept. I was used to wearing his clothes in my previous life, so I can still remember some of the styles.

Oh, right, it shouldn't be called plagiarism now, I'm creating original content now.

"Go for the mid-range market? Avoid competition in the low-end market? That's an idea, but can consumers accept a price of around 300 yuan? I can't even earn enough for a few pieces of clothing a month."

"We need to work on both design and marketing. The design should give people a fashionable and high-end feeling, and then we need to put some effort into marketing. We can also do some promotions in the early stages, but we need to define the positioning first."

"Then don't think about how much money you can make in the early stages. You need to establish your brand positioning. When the internet becomes popular, that will be your opportunity."

E-commerce was the future for the next few years. The Double Eleven shopping festival, which started in 2009 and was then called "Singles' Day," completely ushered in the era of internet e-commerce, leaving Jack Ma (founder of Alibaba) in a state of utter disarray.

GXG is actually a foreign brand, but it was acquired by a company in Ningbo through brand licensing. Its classic black and white British style menswear image and the concept of mixing business casual fashion with urban youth have made it stand out through precise brand positioning.

Overall, the brand image positions itself between business and leisure, avoiding direct confrontation and seizing market opportunities. Coupled with excellent quality, good channels, and a strong team, it quickly establishes a foothold in the market.

In the years following the launch of Singles' Day in 2009, the top-selling brands during the Double Eleven shopping festival were all clothing brands, and GXG successfully made the brand more memorable during that period.

By the way, GXG is also divided into the big G and the small G. The two have different design styles. The big G is positioned as a mature and stable series, while the small G has a more individualistic and flamboyant design.

"Okay, then I'll do as you say, we'll position it in the mid-range!"

“What do you mean by ‘listen to me’? I’m just giving you some advice. There’s a lot to do in building a brand, and you’ll have to handle the rest yourself. How can you manage without your own ideas?”

"But we still have you, and besides, you still own 30% of Jinpeng Trading," Zhang Xupeng chuckled. He didn't know why, but although he was the one who proposed starting a menswear brand, and deep down he preferred a mid-range brand, after Xiao Tan's analysis, his confidence was significantly higher than before.

"No way, I don't have that much time to get involved in the specifics. Or I could transfer some more shares to you, just to leave you a little something."

"Forget about the shares. You're much richer than me now, and you don't need the money to exchange for shares. Let's just forget about it. As for the specifics, I definitely won't need you. I'll set the direction, and you can just oversee it. Is that alright?"

"Hmm, no problem. I can't just take the money for nothing. Here's an idea for you." Tan Jincheng continued fiddling with the computer.

"What idea is it? Tell me about it," Zhang Xupeng asked with a hint of excitement.

She's made her move! Xiao Tan has made her move! Xiao Tan is really good at this kind of planning. Take, for example, her recent "Ten Thousand Miles Journey" plan, which has generated a lot of discussion online and has even inspired some netizens to imitate it.

“Go to France and do some research. There’s a brand called GXG. I remember we have quite a few clients there. Have them make connections and get the domestic operating license for this brand. It would be best if we could buy it. If you need money, I can lend you some first.”

"By the way, this brand was also founded by the two brothers. If it really succeeds, you can use it to brag during interviews, saying that we are also two brothers who are doing business together."

"Damn! What goes around comes around? Last year you were the one asking me for money, and this year it's my turn to ask you? But why this brand? Didn't we say we wanted to create our own brand?"

Nowadays, Tan Jincheng is indeed richer than Zhang Xupeng. He can mortgage the 150-acre land use rights to the bank and get a large loan. Acquiring a niche clothing brand would be a piece of cake for him.

“We’re in business, not raising a son. Does it matter if he’s biologically related or not? The domestic market is so competitive right now. By licensing or acquiring a mature brand, we can enter the market quickly and operate it more easily.”

Zhang Xupeng thought about it and understood Tan Jincheng's idea. This approach would indeed be much faster. With a mature brand and mature design, all he had to do was build a factory and assemble a team to manage it well.

On the other hand, not many people in China know this brand right now. In a few years, who will know who its parent company is? Nobody will care which company it is. Furthermore, directly acquiring a foreign brand makes it easier to export.

Tan Jincheng's design is actually a common model in the current clothing market, somewhat similar to the difference between Carrefour and Carrefour China in later generations, operating the same brand separately.

It was already ten o'clock. In the living room of the Tan family, Sun Yuming had already left after having dinner.

He still had some things to prepare for tomorrow's inspection and visit. For Sun Yuming, this trip was worthwhile. Not only did he visit his boss's family, but he also met Boss Zhang's parents.

Both families are quite kind. The eldest son's mother is even urging him to get married soon; she's a really nice person.

"What are those two talking about? They've been talking for so long!" Liu Huiru was getting impatient.

Dinner ended around seven o'clock. After finishing their meal, the two boys locked themselves in their study and didn't come out for several hours.

Zhang Guolong said, "They must be discussing something important. Didn't Lao Tan and that little Sun just say they're going to Wangjiang County tomorrow to investigate? They both want to set up factories. Such an important matter can't be finished in a short time. Why don't we go back first?"

"Sigh, these two kids suddenly disappeared for several months after graduating from high school. Our two families were so worried at the time. Who would have thought they would have such a big business now?" Zhang Suzhi sighed.

“Who says otherwise? When he came back, my husband said he didn’t want to study anymore and wanted to do business. At the time, I thought his grades weren’t that great, so I figured if he didn’t want to study, he didn’t have to. Then he said Xiao Tan wasn’t going to study either, and I thought it was such a pity. Anhui University is a 211 university now.” Liu Huiru sighed.

"That's right. I was so angry at the time, but there was nothing I could do. My husband always has his own ideas, and his dad doesn't really care about him."

Tan Lihua, who was mentioned, laughed and said, "It's not necessarily a good thing now, especially for Lao Zhang. Your good son has opened a clothing factory in our county, and it's not small. If people from your hometown find out, just imagine what you'll do, haha."

They were all born into state-owned enterprise workers and understood very well what such labor-intensive factories meant to the local area. Five of the seven counties in Yicheng were impoverished, and none of their hometowns were doing well.

As a result, a clothing company with an expected output value of over 100 million yuan settled in a neighboring county, and the entrepreneur was from this county. It felt like a disaster.

Zhang Guolong hadn't thought of this part before, but after Tan Lihua reminded him, he was instantly dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)