Home Textile E-commerce: Do or not?

In recent years, the rise of e-commerce has opened up a new path for channel construction in the home textile industry. Many companies have become members of home textile e-commerce. According to statistics, in 2011, Chinese netizens spent more than 3,750 yuan per person on the Internet, and this number will continue to grow. At present, the annual sales volume of the home textile e-commerce industry has easily exceeded the 10 billion yuan mark. Experts predict that in the next few years, the Chinese national textile e-commerce business will have a net increase of 100 billion yuan in the market. From the above data, it is not difficult to see that the e-commerce market has become a delicious "cake" for the fierce competition in the home textile industry.

However, is this true?

Recently, the reporter found through investigation that although the e-commerce industry has been in full swing in the home textile industry, some companies do benefit from it, but there are still some home textile brands in the field, the sales performance is not satisfactory Some companies even lost their lives. Those home textile companies that have not entered the e-commerce platform are troubled by the question of “do or not”: to do it, fear to take risks, and not to be afraid of being eliminated by the market.

So, for home textile companies, should e-commerce be done in the end, and what should we do?

Industry perspective

Lin Guofang, chairman of Fu Anna Home Textiles, said: “E-commerce presents a pattern of two lows and one high.”

E-commerce is the shopping trend in the future, and more and more consumers, especially young consumers in the post-80s and post-90s, prefer the online shopping. At the same time, e-commerce is also an important supplement to traditional sales channels.

At present, the e-commerce market mainly presents a "two low and one high" pattern. The first low is the low barrier to entry for e-commerce; the second lowest is the low proportion of online sales per brand to total sales; the highest is the high proportion of home textiles in e-commerce sales. According to statistics, the growth rate of the home textile industry in the e-commerce sector is relatively fast. The main reason is that consumer demand for home textile products is increasing.

Wu Qifeng, general manager of Marketing and Planning Co., Ltd., Shanghai: “Online sales, instead of adding in traditional channels, is multiplication.”

At present, the promotion of e-commerce to the home textile industry has begun to take shape. However, as far as the current market environment is concerned, our national textile web site is still in its infancy. To a certain extent, the use of e-commerce in the home textile industry has a transformative role and significance for the traditional home textile enterprises, especially in solving the bottleneck problem of the home textile industry, which is a new technology. To develop online sales, it is not the addition of traditional channels but multiplication. The network is not a sales channel that is opposed to the traditional channels, but cooperates with various channels and supports each other. The interactivity, immediacy and diversity of the network make it the lowest cost and most efficient channel to contact with customers. Network channels are both new channels and can also transform and upgrade traditional channels. The ultimate goal of developing online sales is not to sacrifice traditional channels, but to use the Internet to increase overall sales and profits.

success case

Bo Yang Home Textiles: "Online and offline must be split."

Mentioned in the home textile e-commerce leader, non-Bo Yang home textiles.

Boyang Home Textiles started to embark on e-commerce in 2009. Like other traditional enterprises, Boyang Home Textiles initially operated e-commerce as a channel to clean up inventory. The e-commerce business is only responsible for an online shopping department under the company. However, on November 11th, 2010, Taobao’s “single bachelor festival” activities led Boyang Home Textiles to change its attitude towards e-commerce. The sales of 20 million yuan suddenly made Boyang home textile the focus of industry attention. At the same time, Boyang Home Textiles has also set up an e-commerce company to conduct independent operations on network sales products. In 2011, Boyang Home Textiles continued to focus on the official flagship store of Taobao Mall, and also successively landed on the well-known e-commerce platforms such as Jingdong Mall, Dangdang.com, Mai-Net, and Vanke V+, which achieved significant sales growth. On November 11 last year, Boyang Home Textiles continued its stunning performance during the 2010 Double 11 event. The sales revenue of the day exceeded 40 million yuan.

Wu Ronghua, general manager of Boyang Home Textiles E-commerce Co., Ltd., said that the independent operation of the e-commerce department is a key factor in the success of Boyang Home Textiles in the area of ​​e-commerce. "Online and offline must be split. E-commerce must be operated as an independent company, otherwise it will definitely lose its competitiveness."

He believes that e-commerce must not be mixed with traditional channels. If e-commerce is treated as a department of an enterprise, then when e-commerce channels conflict with traditional channels, the reality that traditional channels are in a strong position is determined. Inevitably, e-commerce channels must make sacrifices. Under such circumstances, e-commerce will never be able to develop. However, the independence of organizational structure is only part of the road to e-commerce independence. More importantly, entrepreneurs must establish the concept of allowing e-commerce companies to operate independently. Otherwise, organizational independence can only end up in form.

Failure case

Jiaxing, Zhejiang, a textile company: "For e-commerce, I do not know whether to insist on, or give up?"

During the interview, the owner of a small home textile company in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, who asked not to be named, told reporters that he had encountered difficulties and confusion in doing home textile e-commerce.

His company has shifted from exporting to creating its own brand since last year. Although this export will continue, he believes that "creating a brand is the way out."

Because he has never had experience in domestic sales, and he has heard that there is relatively little investment in online channels, he began to conduct B2B transactions on Alibaba.com since last year. At the beginning of this year, he opened an online shop on Taobao Mall. He said: "After joining Taobao Mall, we learned that to allow customers to see your products, you have to compete for advertising space, keywords, click fees, and through trains. My store has been in operation for five months, but the turnover is less than two. Ten thousand yuan, but the previous period has been a lot of investment. For e-commerce, I do not know whether to insist, or give up? Give up, the loss is controllable. If you persist, you may succeed, or you may have nothing."

In fact, regarding the development of e-commerce channels, the business owner also admitted that the current investment is actually not too much, and he does not have a systematic strategic plan. At the same time, he also realized that bad business may be related to the operating capabilities of online shop staff. "In the final analysis, it is a problem of talent." As a person born in the 1960s, he admits that he is very amateurish on the Internet and that professional talents do not know where to look. To continue, he does not know how deep the e-commerce water is.

Reporter's notes

"Not following, not blind; to be individual, be rational"

From the interview, the reporter learned that there are two major modes of operation of e-commerce in domestic textile companies: one is the establishment of a brand new online brand, and the other is online sales; the second is the parallel sale of physical brands and online and offline sales. Pattern. Both models have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of creating a network brand is that it can make the product more personalized, while not being constrained by the traditional sales channels; the disadvantage is that the funds and energy invested are more, and there is a need for stronger funds. Chain support. The advantage of parallel sales with physical brands is that the funds invested are relatively small. The disadvantage is that they will impact traditional channels and affect offline sales.

In fact, whether or not to implement online sales is just a multiple-choice question for the home textile enterprises. Enterprises should take "not follow, not blind" mentality to make judgments, according to the company's current development strength and product characteristics to make choices. In the path to success, it is not only Huashan that can walk. At the same time, for home textile companies that are about to embark on an e-commerce model, they should embrace the business philosophy of “being individual and rational”. "To be personal" means that product design and brand promotion should be individualized, so as to stand out in the vast network of the army; "reasonable" means that home textiles policy makers can not be a headache, feel that the e-commerce market is profitable Unprepared to rush in, companies should rationally handle and make decisions cautiously. All funds, talents, market research and other aspects are prepared and coordinated, and then there are plans to proceed, so as to reduce the risks of e-commerce.