Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, textile companies have generally encountered suspension and cancellation of orders, reduction in sales, slow payment from customers, etc. This has made the already meager profits of textile companies even worse. In order to survive, Many companies have begun to change their business models, starting from offline to online, foreign trade to domestic trade, etc. During the transformation, what problems have textile companies encountered?
Is it really feasible to switch from offline to online?
It is true that selling cloth online through live broadcast is a good way now, but selling cloth online is not that easy, except for the ability of the anchor to bring goods. In addition, selling cloth through live broadcast itself has strong limitations. We all know that to distinguish the quality of a piece of fabric, we need to look at the color and feel. The color of the fabric is the basis for determining the clothing. Even the most professional photography equipment will have The color difference is not to mention the hand feel. Without being able to touch the fabric in person, it is impossible to determine whether it meets their requirements. Unless you are selling very conventional fabrics, if they are fashion models or have special requirements, the transaction rate is generally not high. There are also later payment methods, returns and exchanges, etc. that need to be negotiated in advance.
A cloth boss complained to the editor: “In this current situation, many people say they want to go offline Switching to online, we recently started to do this even if we didn’t have any orders on hand. We opened an online store and held several live broadcasts. However, in the end, the transaction volume was basically 0. Basically, we sent samples and there was no follow-up. I originally thought To engage in live broadcasting, switching to online is one way, but now it seems that this way is not feasible.”
Therefore, if you want to rely on online live broadcasts to gain customers, In fact, the degree of difficulty is very high. But the editor also believes that now that the trend has arrived, cloth bosses may as well try this method. Even if they cannot get customers, it is still a good way to promote the company and promote fabrics.
Transfer from foreign trade to domestic sales, change product structure
Due to the frequent cancellation of foreign trade orders this year, many cloth bosses have Aiming at the domestic market, for bosses who have done domestic trade before, there is still business with customers, but if it is purely foreign trade and then domestic sales, it will be more difficult. First of all, you need to have domestic trade customers, and business is relatively poor this year. Many bosses still choose to cooperate with old customers. After all, they know the basics after many years of cooperation, so it is very difficult to develop new customers this year. Secondly, domestic trade and foreign trade orders themselves are very different. Generally speaking, foreign trade orders are large in volume, while domestic trade orders tend to be fragmented. “Small batches, multiple batches” are the characteristics of domestic trade orders.
“The difficulty of domestic trade now is that the order quantities are scattered and the styles are many. This is very different from foreign trade. Especially now some privately customized clothing stores are not very careful about fabrics. The requirements are very high. The overseas orders we did before were large in quantity and were shipped tens of thousands of meters, while many of the domestic trade orders were made in thousands of kilometers. Secondly, the products were also inappropriate. We made recycled fabrics. It is not applicable domestically and it is impossible to sell it domestically,” said a trader.
And there are not a few bosses who want to expand the proportion of domestic trade this year, which makes the already plentiful domestic trade market even more competitive. The most direct way is to start a price war, which has also resulted in many companies being forced to lower fabric prices. Others are lowering prices, but if you don’t, the final result may be that those who don’t lower prices will be kicked out. This has also led to thinner and thinner profits for fabric manufacturers.
In addition to switching from foreign trade to domestic sales, many traders have also begun to change their product structure, not just limited to clothing orders, such as protective clothing, body bags, etc., which are now popular, and some traders are also Looking for orders in a different way, “We recently received an order for packaging bags and bedding. Although the order quantity is not large, at least we have income.”
There is a lot of destocking at a loss, and now production at a loss is also happening!
Now�On the market, there are not only cases of destocking at a loss, but also cases of taking orders at a loss. I heard before that the market price of a piece of polyester-viscose gray fabric is around 4 yuan/meter, but some factories are actually willing to take it at a low price of 2.85 yuan/meter. Next, this is definitely contrary to our traditional business philosophy. Selling goods at a loss may be to reduce inventory and withdraw funds, but what about those who are willing to produce at a loss?
Understand that most of these companies that are willing to take production orders at a loss are companies with relatively loose funds in the short term, and their purpose is also to maintain old customers and attract new customers, so as to provide more products in the future. long term partnership.
But the editor believes that this approach has a certain effect in the short term. If done There is nothing wrong with the quality of the gray fabric that comes out, and the price is so low, which can indeed attract many customers to place orders. However, in the long run, as long as the next fabric does not meet the customer’s requirements or the price cannot be negotiated, the customer will most likely look for a new supplier. So taking orders at a loss before was just a waste of effort!
Editor’s note
The voices I heard when I visited the market this week are no longer the same. , many cloth bosses said that domestic trade has begun to pick up a bit, foreign trade has also begun to resume orders, and even some dyeing factories have begun to get busy. The market consensus is that the darkest days are over and a slow recovery is now beginning.
“The market has improved a little recently. Our domestic trade has received orders for 100,000 meters, and foreign trade has also received orders for 30,000 meters. This amount was compared to previous years. That’s disdainful, but this year, we already feel very good.” A trader revealed.
But even so, many cloth bosses are still worried. They believe that the current wave of orders is not strong enough. After all, the next months of June and July will be traditional In the off-season, although the proofing and sending of samples for many autumn and winter fabrics has begun, it will still take some time before the actual order is placed.
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