Domestic down jacket sold for 7000 yuan？ The supplier gives the truth behind the ＂high price＂

　　Recently, the report that "domestic down jacket sold for 7000 yuan" attracted attention. As a clothing manufacturer and trader, Meng Zhuo is puzzled by this.

　　"Some high-priced situations are marked, and there are often discounts when actually selling." Meng Zhuo opened the e-commerce platform on his mobile phone and said, "You see that some of them have a price tag of 2,000 yuan, and after the discount, it will be 129 yuan."

　　In his long-term experience, the price of conventional down jackets has not risen for many years, and even showed a downward trend in the price war of involution. The prediction of this year’s warm winter also made the down jacket not rebound obviously when the consumption recovery was not as good as expected.

　　To this end, the first financial reporter conducted an investigation and interview, and the suppliers of winter clothes told the truth: the price tag is not the actual price, and the high price is not the price increase.

　　There is no price increase for the regular basic model.

　　Pu Xiaojuan, deputy general manager of Suzhou Fannuo Textile Co., Ltd., has the same feelings as Meng Zhuo. "The cheap down jacket brand, the overall pricing this year is similar to last year." She told CBN that the sales of most brands in various time periods are discounted, and in the end, they must cater to the psychology of the market. The general actual price cannot be ridiculously high.

　　Suzhou Fannuo Textile Co., Ltd. mainly supplies fabrics for high-end down jacket brands. Pu Xiaojuan said that in terms of fabrics, the price of conventional fabrics has not risen, which is basically the same as last year. The affordable e-commerce and lightweight down jackets corresponding to these conventional fabrics sold well in previous years, but this year they only lasted for a week and ended. The total amount is not as good as in previous years, and there is naturally no motivation for price increases.

　　"The price of down jackets sold domestically is basically more than five times the actual price. Some e-commerce platforms are even cheaper. " Meng Zhuo said that in proportion, light down jackets have accounted for the majority of sales in recent years, and they are also one of the most commonly bought winter clothes by ordinary consumers. The price of this kind of clothing has never risen in the context of rising global prices.

　　Wu Dongming, the person in charge of Hengxin Weaving Co., Ltd. told CBN that the price of the basic down jacket fabric has not changed. "It basically can’t go up, even if it has gone up slightly recently, it may only make the enterprise lose a little."

　　The person in charge of Jiangsu Tianwei Textile also admitted that from the overall supply, the market demand this year is lower than expected. In terms of price, "basically, it can’t go up unless new products and old products are reduced in price."

　　Taking into account the shelf life of the market, Meng Zhuo said that for manufacturing factories, the export orders for down jackets have been delivered this winter, and overseas sales are coming to an end in November, as is the case in China. "After New Year’s Day, there are basically few people who buy them … … Needless to say, the factory for domestic sales has basically slowed down at present, mainly supplying small-scale replenishment orders.

　　That is to say, on the one hand, the tag price is not the actual price, on the other hand, the high price on the market today is only some high-end or differentiated products, which does not correspond to the "general increase" of the industry — — A large number of conventional affordable clothing and even raw materials have not seen price increases.

　　Hu Kehua, deputy director of the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council, told CBN that the overall global economy was tired, and even though the China market was stable as a whole, there was no obvious improvement in terms of the prices of fabrics and clothing. Recently, the lower-priced down jackets have ushered in some sales due to the approaching cold wave, which has led to certain price increase expectations at the end of down and other materials.

　　Supply chain behind high price

　　"Last year, the same thing sold more expensive this year, but this year’s things are different from many before. (The pricing of different products is different) is not called price increase." Zhou Jianchun, general manager of Wujiang Shengwei Bauhinia Textile Co., Ltd. told CBN. Zhou Jianchun, who is also a fabric supplier of down jackets, thinks that the word "material" can describe their products more accurately than fabric. Because the material of down jacket now goes beyond the scope of traditional fabrics, it emphasizes more and more the sense of science and technology and new functions, and also incorporates materials such as nano-breathable film, volcanic materials and parachutes.

　　Wu Dongming also mentioned that there is no change in the basic model, and the price is increased by the deep-processed materials. "The fabrics used in winter clothes such as down jackets this year are completely different."

　　Pu Xiaojuan said that this year’s hot-selling and high-priced down jackets are mainly those with certain scientific and technological content and partial functionality. This is also the differentiation strategy pursued by brands in recent years in order to seize the mid-to high-end market. Correspondingly, it is the change of consumer demand — — From the original emphasis on warmth and appearance style, it has become more and more functional and scientific, and is willing to pay for it.

　　Zhou Jianchun also said that consumers’ demand for clothing has changed obviously, and the pursuit of technology and functionality of a garment has become a new fashion trend. "This year, the fabrics of the technology series and the corresponding down jackets sell particularly well."

　　"In the past few years, the prices of some conventional down jackets went down, and the involution was seriously playing a price war. However, the prices of down jackets of some brands have been raised all the time, and it is true that things have been done better. " Zhou Jianchun thinks that 70% of the differentiated competition of brands comes from the difference of fabrics, and "more functional and technological fabrics are needed to meet the needs of the consumer market". More functional needs to be realized by science and technology. For example, some down jacket materials can not only prevent wind, store heat and keep warm, but also prevent dirt and oil. When the materials originally used in parachutes are used in clothing, the strength can be improved by more than 1.5 times compared with the traditional ones. A nano-scale film can let water vapor out, but liquid water can’t enter, and at the same time, it has the functions of perspiration, ventilation and waterproof.

　　In addition to functionality and technology, under the global trend of low carbon, high-priced down jackets and fabrics usually need low-carbon environmental protection and renewable elements. These are directly reflected in the product structure, order volume and profit rate of the supply chain.

　　"We started this year, and the conventional lining materials are all renewable materials." Pu Xiaojuan said that today’s materials must have their own characteristics, and they cannot follow the crowd. Those traditional homogeneous materials are highly competitive and have little profit. To this end, since 2019, they have given up their original customers and conventional products, added independent R&D and sample management teams, changed the passive mode of doing development with business, and actively transformed into renewable and technological fabrics. After several years of running-in, they have also gained a doubling of the order amount in these two years. "This year’s orders are expected to increase by 1.75 times, and last year’s increased by 1.2 times." Prior to this, the annual orders were almost flat.

　　Traditional fabrics are declining instead of increasing, but for Pu Xiaojuan, the price of their new materials is more than 30% higher than that of conventional fabrics, which is a rise in volume and price. "Some friends’ enterprises also achieved the performance of last year in August this year."

　　Pu Xiaojuan revealed that they have a vest heating lining jointly developed, and one meter of cloth can be used on several down jackets. The recent orders have been added. "The original order should have ended in October, and now the scale of replenishment has doubled. A domestic brand of this down jacket may have sold more than 1 million pieces. "

　　Zhou Jianchun said that the company’s overall sales this year were the same as last year, but the sales increased by more than 30%. "The price of some (new) fabrics is 2-3 times that of the conventional ones".

　　Jiangnan, head of Romulan Group Outdoor New Materials Co., Ltd., told CBN that since 85% of the company’s orders are mainly for export, this year is inevitably affected by geopolitical and weak market factors. "Originally (this year’s sales) were expected to increase by 20% this year, but the actual forecast is only 8%." However, this growth is in the case of constant quantity, which also means that the price has been significantly improved because of the innovative transformation of outdoor fabrics and the introduction of new products.

　　Not only the high-end functional down jackets, but also the changes in the market and supply chain have made outdoor-related jackets sell better this year. "Many listed textile companies may not meet the overall performance standards, but the related sales of jackets are good". However, Jiangnan believes that, like down jackets with functions such as coping with extreme cold, this kind of clothing is a product with a small customer base in scale, and it is also a high-end subdivision that is less affected by the transfer of traditional textile and clothing production capacity.

　　Whether it is clothing or material manufacturing, another motivation to support high prices lies in branding. As enterprises in China pay more and more attention to brand building, the polarization of the consumer market will become more and more obvious.

　　"Now more and more brands and garment manufacturers are using the design concept of Chinese and foreign integration, and at the same time, they are more and more concerned about the brand effect, which will be expensive." Jiangnan feels that, more accurately, brands have brought about an increase in the added value of products, and there will be two extremes in the future — — Cheaper and more expensive.

　　Zhou Jianchun said that, like clothing brands, the development and transformation of fabric enterprises also need brand building, and in recent years, with the brand transformation of local industrial chain and the introduction of designers, they have also achieved certain brand effects, which is one of the reasons for raising prices. "Some similar fabrics can be sold a little more expensive than their peers."

　　In terms of design and style, Wu Dongming said that Chinese style elements have also become popular recently.

　　Regarding industrial transfer, Jiangnan pointed out that compared with Southeast Asia, China’s manufacturing industry still has certain advantages. First, the demographic dividend is not as good as before, but it still exists. Secondly, the completeness of China’s industrial chain is the most important reason, especially the functional fabric and clothing innovation, which takes time and experience to accumulate. Thirdly, China has a vast domestic market. Even if the export uncertainty increases, it can find a greater balance in the two-legged walk of domestic and foreign trade. Therefore, in addition to adapting to changes in market demand and brand transformation, they will also make a more rational global layout.