Wenzhou shoes enterprises stationed in the mall tasted the sweetness

In recent years, great changes have taken place in domestic retail formats, and large-scale shopping malls have gradually become mainstream consumer channels for dominant brands, and have begun to influence the consumption trends of urban residents. As a gathering place for domestic national brands, Wenzhou has a huge scale of shoes and apparel industry and the number of brands. Companies such as Gilda, Aokang, and Annunciation have made new breakthroughs in the overall image and overall strength of the brand.

At present, there are no accurate figures on how many shoe-making enterprises in Wenzhou have entered the market. However, the trend of shoes enterprises entering the market has become a recognized fact in the industry. According to a document provided by the Wenzhou Municipal Economic and Trade Commission, there were 52 companies with 80 Wenzhou product brands entering 792 malls across the country in 2009, with annual sales of 1.0412 billion yuan. Among these, Wenzhou shoes account for more than half. In Tianjin Mai Mai Times Square, 23 Wenzhou enterprises have settled in. Wenzhou brand shoes such as Kangnai are popular with consumers. Wen Lingwen, director of the Trade and Industry Committee of Wenzhou Economic and Trade Commission, told reporters that O'Connell, Spider King, and Gilda have successfully entered the system shopping malls of Northeast China, Beijing Contemporary, Chongqing Pacific, New Century Department Store, Shanghai Bailian and Beijing Wangfujing.

Some well-known shoe companies began to taste the sweetness of entering the mall, and their sales performance has increased by a certain margin. Aokang’s sales revenue in 2008 was 1.45 billion yuan, which was increased to 2.053 billion yuan in 2009; Hongye’s sales revenue in 2008 was 1.706 billion yuan, and reached 1.947 billion yuan in 2009; Kangnai’s sales revenue in 2008 was 2.1 billion yuan in 2009. It was 2.23 billion yuan.

It is not always easy for shoe companies to enter the department store, and it is a long-standing phenomenon that China's brand-name shoes have been rejected by high-end shopping malls in China. It is generally gathered in the second and third line malls. The first-line malls are almost all foreign brands. It is precisely because of this footwear brands mostly choose the monopoly system as a sales channel. However, the high operating costs of franchised monopoly continue to swallow up corporate profits. Shoe companies have been looking forward to breakthroughs in other channels.

Not only that, a person in charge of a Wenzhou shoe company told reporters that the homogeneity of Wenzhou's products is now more prominent, and many brands are “showing up collectively” in a mall, which is prone to homogenous competition. Despite years of development, Wenzhou shoes have gained popularity in the country, but they are comparable to domestic and foreign brands. Another shoe company boss laments: Mature properties are more difficult to find. Judging from the current situation of companies selling in malls, many new shopping malls and commercial streets have been established. Some have just started to “enjoy” good treatment, but once the mall’s “warm-up” period has passed, they are “marginalized”.

For foreign shoe enterprises, the use of department store sales, while establishing a brand image in the relatively high-end retail channels, can lay the foundation for the sustainable development of foreign trade domestic sales. However, foreign trade companies that open up channels for domestic sales will also face many problems that require “going as the Romans do”. The traditional marketing mode through the agent channel cuts the “production, supply and marketing”, and the operating costs are relatively high. The direct operating model helps reduce costs. Therefore, foreign trade companies mostly choose to enter the store directly into the store.