3 global fashion houses vie for Shanghai market share

14 Sep '07

2 min read

In the past two-three years, there has been a rise in the spate of international brands' retail outlets in China. Prominent among these are Zara, H&M and C&A.

While Zara set shop in Shanghai in February last year, H&M and C&A entered the local markets on April 12 and April 23, 2007 respectively.

These international giants are able grab bigger market share because of their foolproof marketing strategy. To begin with, they spend hundreds of RMB on creating their garments.

For these brands, pricing is the key to tackling any competition. Hence, garments of these global brands are affordable. For example, a shirt at C&A costs just 100 yuan while a pair of jeans is priced at 200 yuan a piece. A piece of children's clothing will cost not more than 100 yuan.

Most of these brands are also very particular when it comes to designs of their clothing. While some hire top-grade designers to churn out exclusive lines for their stores, brands like Zara believe in fast fashion.

The methodology followed is simple: a new style or stitch is planned, executed and launched in the market in 15 days' time, thus bridging the gap between design and sale as quickly as possible. After this, clothes that don't sell in the following three weeks are taken off the shelf to be replaced by new stock.

Top brands wanting to make it big in the Chinese markets also pay a lot of attention to packaging of their wares. For instance, when H&M opened its first shop in Shanghai, they spent a lot of money on advertisement.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - China

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