Post-disaster reconstruction of clothing market channels brings difficulties but also opportunities

Post-disaster reconstruction of clothing market channels brings difficulties but also opportunities

A sudden earthquake not only destroyed hundreds of villages, towns and millions of happy families, but also dealt an unprecedented blow to the southwest clothing market and sales channels that were in a period of rapid development. As the reconstruction of disaster areas gradually unfolds, the reconstruction of clothing markets and channels has also begun to be put on the agenda.

On May 12, a strong earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, my country. The earthquake was felt to varying degrees in many areas, including Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, etc. The unprecedentedly strong earthquake not only caused huge casualties, but also razed many villages, towns and cities to the ground almost instantly, displacing the victims. At the same time, it also dealt a huge blow to the southwest garment industry, which was experiencing strong development momentum. Among them, the clothing sales market and sales channels have suffered particularly heavy losses.
Neither building suffered major damage, and the earthquake had little impact on the clothing market. However, in the hardest-hit areas represented by Wenchuan, Dujiangyan and other places, not only have housing buildings suffered a devastating blow, but the interruption of transportation has also caused insurmountable difficulties in logistics. Goods in Chengdu and other places cannot reach the sales terminal at all. The nationwide comprehensive disaster relief efforts have completely brought the clothing market sales and channels in the disaster areas to a standstill. In a period of constant aftershocks, people’s attention is focused on earthquakes and disaster relief. As representative large clothing markets in the southwest, the business hours of Kowloon Clothing Wholesale Market, Shangdu Clothing Plaza, Taihua Clothing City, etc. have been greatly shortened. , transactions were light, consumer popularity was not as good as before, and the prosperous scene disappeared without a trace in an instant.

According to Yang Shuqiong, secretary-general of the Sichuan Provincial Garment and Apparel Industry Association, clothing dealers in the hardest-hit areas such as Mianyang and Dujiangyan were severely harmed at that time. The collapse of stores, casualties, traffic interruptions, and communication interruptions all affected The blow to local clothing business sales is almost fatal. If a house falls down, a new one can be built, but the loss of employees in the clothing industry, especially the loss of agents and dealers, and the loss of clothing channels, are indeed difficult to repair and rebuild in a short period of time. The original marketing channels of some well-known domestic and foreign brands in Sichuan were basically destroyed, and most of them suffered unprecedented setbacks. In an era when channels are king, such losses can be said to be a serious blow to the vitality of clothing brands in this region. .

Although the several large clothing markets mentioned earlier did not suffer major losses, sales channels, as a crucial link in the field of clothing circulation, were not spared. According to Yang Shuqiong, the biggest impact of the earthquake is on trade and channels. A considerable number of enterprises or brand channels suffered varying degrees of losses during the earthquake. Sometimes this loss cannot be calculated with a simple number. Especially the loss of channels cannot be measured with quantitative indicators. Every clothing dealer, wholesaler, and agent is a channel. The loss or even absence of relatively mature channels has a great negative impact on clothing brands and companies reopening after the reconstruction of the disaster area is completed. The re-establishment of channels is not only a test of the hardware environment, but also a test of agents and dealers to a greater extent. This is also a long and tortuous process.

Most of the professional market merchants located in Jinjiang District, Chengdu operate both wholesale and retail operations. Their customers cover most areas in Sichuan, and some even radiate outside the province. Due to the severe disasters in Dujiangyan, Deyang, Mianyang and other northern Sichuan markets, the secondary market and sales Almost all terminals were wiped out, which directly caused most wholesale merchants in several major wholesale markets to lose nearly a quarter of the market in Sichuan. In addition, some non-local dealers also left Sichuan to avoid the earthquake. According to incomplete statistics, after the earthquake, more than 200 individual industrial and commercial households in several large markets in Jinjiang District successively went through the procedures for closure or cancellation, and more than 90 households were missing. The merchants who persisted in business could not avoid the pain caused by the earthquake.
The organization invited a large number of clothing companies, department store retailers, wholesalers, and agents from France, Italy, South Korea, Japan, and some African countries, as well as Jiangsu, Shandong and other places in my country, to carry out very pragmatic industrial development and channel development. On the one hand, the matchmaking meeting is to directly carry out procurement trade; on the other hand, it is to find suitable distributors and agents for clothing companies through the “matching” of the matchmaking meeting, and to re-find and help companies and brands whose channels were hit by the earthquake. Build sales channels. Throughout the entire “matching” process, the association not only provided professional services in translation and reception, but also made participating companies, brands, dealers, and agents feel…After all, this is a very pragmatic event.

At the same time, the “China Sichuan First Buyers Conference” was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government in Chengdu from October 27th to 28th as an important special event of the 9th Western China International Expo. It has also brought a rare opportunity for many textile and garment enterprises to rebuild their channels. The conference, with the theme of “Building a Trade Platform, Expanding Internal and External Markets, Expanding Trade Cooperation and Promoting Economic Development”, not only builds the best information platform and cooperation for buyers and suppliers. The exchange platform also provides opportunities to promote cooperation and exchanges between buyers and suppliers, help Sichuan’s characteristic and advantageous products develop domestic and foreign markets, and accelerate the post-Wenchuan earthquake recovery and reconstruction and the development of an open economy. Pragmatism is one of the major features of this conference. The buyers conference does not have an exhibition venue, but is focused on buyers. Negotiation tables are set up, and suppliers bring samples to negotiate with buyers one-on-one. As one of the key projects of the buyers conference, corporate brands, dealers and agents in the textile and apparel industry have benefited a lot from it, and many apparel companies can also take this opportunity to rebuild market channels.

According to Yang Shuqiong, as the post-disaster reconstruction work gradually unfolds, the government is planning a new industrial park in the textile and garment industry. For the planning and construction of the garment industrial park, relevant departments have given full support and provided support for the industrial park. Enterprises in the market provide multi-faceted services; while the clothing market, whose main function is circulation, suffered varying losses in the earthquake, and the secondary markets in some hardest-hit areas suffered relatively serious losses. At present, in the new urban construction planning, I believe that transportation, logistics and other aspects will be given priority consideration. With the development and completion of various infrastructure constructions, some merchants who left due to the earthquake and new dealers and agents entering the clothing sales field will gradually come back as the business environment slowly recovers, and the channels and trade in the disaster areas will also Will recover soon. Objectively speaking, for some brands, dealers, and agents that have not entered this region before, the establishment of new markets and new channels will help them conduct business in the southwest region and open up the market. It can also be said that A rare opportunity and now is the time to start planning and implementing it.

Postscript:

An earthquake has brought immeasurable losses to some clothing companies that once had complete market channels in the local area. The reconstruction of channels is also unforeseenly difficult; but at the same time, post-disaster reconstruction has also caused immeasurable losses to those who have never set foot in the area. Corporate branding brings opportunities to get a piece of the pie. According to the reporter’s understanding, many companies whose sales channels were damaged by the earthquake have provided certain support to local dealers and agents in various ways and have begun to repair the damaged channels. At the same time, on the occasion of the West China Expo, the matchmaking meeting led by the government and associations also introduced many new companies, brands, agents, and distributors to Sichuan, walking on many legs, and revitalizing the garment economy in the earthquake-stricken areas of Sichuan. Brought a new dawn. At a time when the country is vigorously supporting earthquake relief, the construction of clothing market channels in disaster-stricken areas has both difficulties and opportunities. Multi-party cooperation among governments, associations, enterprises, dealers, and agents is an indispensable condition for the market to recover.

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