Market study: Belle in China

17Nov2012

Belle is a private company group in the shoe industry. It was founded in 1992, and now it has an annual turnover of 23.7 billion yuan (according to 2010 statistics). Now Belle has established partnerships with notable international brands such as Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Bata and Levi’s.

Currently, Belle has ten famous shoe brands: Belle(百丽), Teenmix(天美意), Tata(他她), Staccato(思加图), Joy&Peace(真美诗), Mirabell(美丽宝), Millie’s(妙丽), Senda(森达), Innet(茵奈儿), Basto(百思图), and Jipi Japa(吉皮嘉帕). It is also the agent of eight famous brands: Bata, BCBG, Elle, Clarks, Geox, Mephisto, Merrel and Catepillar.

Belle has the largest distribution network of any company in China’s shoe industry. Its sales network covers over 300 big cities in China, including all of the provincial capitals. By October 2011, it had over 13,500 shops, and its products were sold in China, America, Europe, Japan, the Southeast Asia, the Mid East, and Africa.

Market research for Belle

“Belle” translates directly into “beautiful woman” in French. In addition, its Chinese translation ‘百丽’ means that you have a hundred ways to be beautiful. Belle structures its business model around these two concepts. It targets women that enjoy fashion, likes to travel, and sees multiple ways to be beautiful. It provides shoes for women for different occasions while still remaining fashionable.

Belle mainly focuses in making shoes for females, but it offers some products for males. The major customers are white-collars who receive mid-class salary and in are in between the ages of 20 and 40.

Belle has been the number one women’s shoe retailer for 12 consecutive years. Through acquisitions of companies such as Big Step Ltd, Belle has successfully expanded its business into the categories of sportswear. In 2012, it is predicted that the annual turnover would exceed 30 billion yuan, which will further consolidate its leading position in the industry.

Today, few people would call Belle a simple shoe company. It not only takes the lead in physical retail stores, but also has set up its business online with its Yougo net. By offering multiple mediums of retail, the company expands its already immense consumer base in China.

Belle’s brands are also categorized based on the amount of revenue they generate. The company has one brand that has an annual turnover of more than 5 billion yuan, and has three brands that have annual turnovers of more than 2 billion yuan, and 7 with turnovers over 1 billion yuan. This vertical classification makes its products suit the market needs well.

Daxue Consultant China

Market Study in China

Sources:

Credit Photo:Baidu