Market research: Underwear in China
Underwear, a once private topic that people did not often talk about, has now become an indispensable component to modern life. For most young fashionable ladies, they know a lot of underwear brands, such as EmbryForm, Aimer, Ordifen, Gujin(古今), MarieClaire and A-Fontane, etc. According to statistics, the underwear market in China has been growing at an annual rate of 20% over the past few years. Authorities estimate that in the period from 2010 to year 2014, the market of underwear in China will have a potential marketing space of 500 billion yuan. Due to the recent growth of the underwear industry in China, it is one of the few unsaturated sectors in the Chinese garments industry.
Top Five Underwear Brands in China
EmbryForm: It entered the Chinese market in the early 1990s and ranked as the most popular brand for ten consecutive years from 1996 to 2005 in underwear sales. Now, the company’s bras, underpants, tights, and sleeping suits are very popular among all Chinese consumers.
Aimer: In 1993, Aimer was born in Beijing(北京). Today, it built up its national sales network and has over 300 stores in big malls. It satisfies females customer’s need for fine details, good quality and soft colors.
Maniform: Established in April, 1996, Maniform took less than ten years to be distinguished as China’s most famous brand in the undergarment industry. Its products are most notable for their comfort.
AB: AB is a trans-regional underwear giant that is responsible for its own research and development, marketing, and product processing. Its over 100 types of products are now sold in America, Europe, Japan, Russia and the Middle East.
Chinese Brands should be more competitive
In a survey held by a website in 2007, among the responses in Beijing(北京), Shanghai(上海), Guangzhou(广州) and Shenyang(沈阳), 80% of females did not know the size of their underwear and over 90% believed that it was a waste of money to spend large sums of money on their underwear. This lack of interest in underwear may discourage underwear companies, but it shows that there is potential for companies if they can correctly market underwear as another essential garment in a woman’s dress.
According to industry insiders, there are in fact many OEM enterprises in China. These companies use modern technology and produce high quality goods; some of which can even match international big brands. However, Chinese products lack the brand image of better known international brands. Also, the relatively weak development of sales channels and lack of marketing management prevents them from competing in the international market. Thus, in the future, as the market becomes more and more subdivided, the underwear industry will focus more on building up consumers’ brand recognition. This will allow these companies to distinguish themselves from the ever increasing number of competitors in the Chinese market.
Daxue Consulting Market Research in China
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Picture Source：163bolg
