On the one hand, the dynamic zero-clearing epidemic prevention and control policy and the flexible adjustment and recovery of the national market economy on the other hand have been in constant run-in and balance in the past two years. Among them, the fashion industry has carried out many moves around the dimensions of cultural value shaping, product innovation, business model and supply chain upgrading and adjustment, etc., and is the most active.
But in the face of the spread of the Aumechjong virus since this spring, and the haze of the epidemic that has lasted for more than two years, the future is becoming unknowable, uncontrollable and uncertain, and consumers will use actions to alleviate their worries about the uncertain future. As Sun Pan, a partner at PwC Consulting Services, said in an interview with WWD China: "Consumers may be transformed into increasing savings and restricting consumption due to the sudden epidemic, so as to prevent future accidents and enhance the family's ability to resist risks." People's consumption concepts may change from emotional consumption to rational and secure consumption due to the epidemic. ”
BFC Delivery of Supplies During the Closed Loop at the Bund Center
In addition, Sun Pan also believes that with the fermentation of the epidemic, the "hoarding" boom spread in Shanghai, Beijing and other provinces and cities, and in a specific period, especially during the social lockdown period, people's demand for daily necessities surpassed all other consumer goods, and home isolation almost completely restricted the demand for fashion luxury goods.
Adrian Peh, general manager of fashion and beauty at Gusto Luxe, a marketing management company, also told WWD China that consumer expectations and assessments of the future have definitely changed since 2020.
Through the observation and reporting of WWD China in recent months, as well as follow-up surveys around Generation Z and mature consumer groups, it is not difficult to find that since the spring of this year, the spread of the epidemic at multiple points has inevitably had different degrees of impact on those fashion and luxury consumer groups that originally gathered in Shanghai and Beijing and other cities, especially Generation Z, which has attracted the most attention from the fashion industry in the past few years, in terms of lifestyle, consumption concept, and value judgment of luxury goods.
Reflected in the concept of fashion and luxury consumption, the interruption of social and consumption scenarios and the dilemma of the logistics system are bound to cause the interruption of consumption opportunities and even the reduction of consumption desire. Yu Qinrun, the manager of FIU Gallery and also a member of the hard candy youth seed candy master, said to WWD China: "Because many logistics can not send goods, the frequency of using e-commerce apps has been significantly reduced a lot, even if orders have been placed, in the long waiting period, it will not feel very necessary, and their consumption concept has become much calmer." Penny, who works as a visual director on the designer e-commerce platform, also said: "Buying luxury goods is a scene demand, and if there is a lack of use scenarios, it will lose value." ”
Pedestrian Street of East Nanjing Road, Shanghai
Public relations Sean, who now lives in Shanghai and is engaged in marketing work, has been paying attention to the consumer areas such as fashion and skin care products before the closure, before every quarter, or even every month, he would buy clothing through various channels, while paying attention to some niche brands, but due to the long period of home work, he said: "Now I can't go out anyway, there is not much demand for these, eat first." ”
Changes in consumer psychology such as these have not been uncommon in the past few months. But on the other side of the coin, the unknowable, uncontrollable and uncertain external environment is not entirely gray. According to the feedback from the follow-up survey, it is not difficult to find that the long-term closure control also enables more consumers to calmly examine their hearts and surrounding environment, and realize the uncontrollable nature of life and its more essential significance. This point, from a longer-term perspective, may be able to release a more accurate objective demand for the future fashion luxury market, and also provide a more constructive reference for the rebound after the epidemic.
Among them, a large number of voices told WWD China that in the face of the current psychological state and living environment, they have learned to cherish and change many of the habits of extravagance and waste in the past, and have begun to pay more attention to environmental protection and energy-saving lifestyles; at the same time, in the face of long-term space restrictions, the high desire for travel has not stopped, and the personal health and physical exercise have gradually increased their attention. Among them, Sun Pan said to WWD China: "We observed that after the last round of the epidemic, consumers pay more attention to their own health, hoping to enhance physical immunity through exercise, whether it is fitness exercise or the corresponding expenditure on sports shoes and clothing equipment has been significantly improved, and secondly, consumers pay more attention to quality, and will pay more attention to green environmental protection and sustainable development." ”
Just past the May Day holiday, outdoor camping has become a keyword of social platforms
Yang Tushen, who studied D&I environmental design in the School of Design and Creativity of Tongji University and is also the head of tongjin materials, told WWD China that his consumption in the fashion category in the past has always been accompanied by travel and sports. When it comes to post-epidemic consumption plans, the product categories that Yang Tushen most hopes to supplement are concentrated on some summer clothes and outdoor equipment. Z by HardCandy HardCandy Youth, the initiator of the sustainable fashion and lifestyle communication platform Peter Pan also said that he is a very fashion-oriented person, different occasions will consider different dresses, and now he will pay more attention to comfort and quality, and the most important consumption plan after unblocking is also focused on travel and sports.
Jeremy, a media personality who has been in the fashion media industry for many years, told WWD China: "There is no 'retaliatory' consumer demand for a single product, but the desire for travel is obvious. He added that in the past two years or so, the shift of the focus of consumption to the domestic center of gravity is obvious, he is a very love of travel, so in the special period of outbound travel and domestic tourism, in order to break the existing space restrictions, more attention has been paid to buyers and ancient stores, such as Mingtang, SKP Select, IT, etc., which have greatly broadened their shopping ideas.
Hug is located in Chengdu's city flagship store
In addition, with the increasingly calm concept of consumption, more and more consumers are also showing a more specific choice trend. For example, more attention is paid to indicators such as cost performance or performance; the focus of consumption is more on things that can be invested in for a long time; more focus on improving the quality of life and interesting home categories, rather than blindly chasing the many new series that are more iterative in the fashion luxury category. In this regard, Adrian Peh also said that more and more consumers are discovering the value of luxury goods as an investment. For affordable fashion brands, reasonable prices and trustworthy quality will also become key factors for consumers to consider.
Generation Z, who studied fashion management and is currently working in fashion media, said: "Before, for the choice of fashion luxury goods, they would attach great importance to craftsmanship and design, but now they will feel that these are temporary, and it is better to spend money on things that can be invested in for a long time." Yu Qinrun, the director of FIU Gallery and one of the hard candy youth seed candy masters, said, "Either you will choose expensive but classic value-preserving luxury goods, as for the daily T-shirts, you will choose in the cheaper price range, and as for some clothes at the middle price, but you can't wear for a long time, you won't choose."
Xylon, the designer brand manager, has always been a person who values value more than price, and he admits that although he will fall into the trap of consumerism and occasionally impulsive consumption, he has always been a rational consumer who values cost performance and fully considers the use scenario. Although I haven't considered the unblocked consumption plan yet, "I still have things that I want to buy because of this 'epidemic', such as oxygen engines, such as insurance, such as a house with a yard," Xylon said.
Ethan Z, who is currently working as an interior designer in an architectural design company, said, "Under the normalization of control, their consumption concepts are more and more inclined to be 'easy to use' rather than 'good-looking', and they are more willing to choose products such as scented candles and game consoles that enhance the quality of life and the joy of life." ”
It can be predicted that whether it is for the current overall market economy or the fashion and luxury consumer market, although the dilemma has not been lifted, in the face of the future unknowable, uncontrollable and uncertain, the concept of consumption and consumer confidence are also showing different degrees of transfer or reduction. But that doesn't mean China's position as one of the world's most important consumer markets for fashion luxury goods will be shaken. Under the analysis and prediction of many authoritative institutions, fashion luxury goods that have always had historical and cultural connotations, social attributes, and even investment value, especially after experiencing the tempering of 2020, still have a long-term recovery trend.
Edited picture: Shanghai iapm Street View
In an interview with WWD China, Adrian Peh was optimistic about the next growth potential of China's luxury market, saying: "Based on past experience and information released by the government, we believe that normalcy may soon be restored, and we expect online sales, travel bookings and offline store traffic to rise as consumers release their pent-up consumer demand through 'retaliatory' shopping and 'retaliatory' travel." ”
Sun Pan told WWD China: "In addition to the recovery of the consumer market after the epidemic in 2020, we have observed a similar consumer recovery phenomenon after the SARS epidemic in 2002 and the Zika virus epidemic in 2015. At the same time, the volatility of the market will also bring new opportunities and growth points to the market and brands. In the late 1980s, after the collapse of the Japanese economic bubble, many successful companies were born, such as new categories of sparkling beer and MUJI. ”
Sun Pan also pointed out that in the short term, due to the decline in potential consumption capacity, consumers may change to increase savings and limit consumption because of the sudden epidemic, so as to prevent future accidents and enhance the ability of families to resist risks, while inevitably reducing fashion and luxury consumption. However, with the yearning for a better life, consumers will still be interested in products that improve the quality of life and beauty. With the epidemic under control, the social scene and normal economic order are restored, consumption will gradually pick up, the fundamentals of long-term consumption have not changed, and fashion luxury goods will still play their outstanding value and social attributes and be sought after by consumers.
Editing and accompanying picture: Shanghai Global Harbor "Shop Small Two" 24-hour online and offline double guarantee supply
In the long run, Sun Pan also said: "The value recognition of self-pleasing consumption and self-reward has also increased the frequency of consumption of luxury goods, and also enabled more young people to enter luxury goods earlier." It is only due to the economic downturn that niche brands, domestic fashion and luxury Vintage may gain more favor from consumers. ”
So, in the face of the continuous transformation of market order and consumer awareness, how can the fashion and luxury goods sector adjust its focus in a timely manner, from the business model to content dissemination and other communication levels to carry out more meaningful dialogue with consumers? The answer is undoubtedly the key prerequisite for keeping up with the trend of China's local consumer market in the future and maintaining closeness with consumers.
For the consumer communication level such as content dissemination, Sun Pan believes that as fashion consumers gradually return to normalcy, in the short term, with the transformation of consumer habits and consumption scenarios, people reduce consumption, pay more attention to price and contact difficulty, brands need to find more contact points with consumers, so that consumers can appear in time when they need it, and optimizing the consumer experience is becoming more important than ever.
In this regard, she also mentioned that in the long run, we are optimistic about brands joining the ecosystem with partners, including cooperation in the launch of co-branded models, etc. As consumers become more and more inclined to flexible solutions for one product to solve multiple needs, different brands and even industries can work together to provide a best solution to meet the needs of consumers. At the same time, the new consumer value needs and recognition of the post-epidemic generation will be effectively incorporated into the brand's value system.
Editing the caption: A joint series by Burberry and Supreme
At the same time, Sun Pan also believes that because of the economic swing caused by the long-term epidemic and the instability of online and offline retail channels, many brands are passively changing, and the epidemic has also made consumers start to think more about "why to buy" and what is the most suitable for themselves. Brands have become more from the "user's point of view" to enhance the brand's social attributes and strengthen online communication and marketing. "But when social media becomes the main source of information for consumers, huge traffic can also have a negative impact, and when marketing is improper or the product itself is defective, then traffic will also bring a huge blow to the brand, causing a large loss of users and even affecting the brand's reputation," Sun Pan told WWD China.
Although the high degree of localization of brands has always been a sincere move in the field of fashion luxury consumption, Adrian Peh believes that this is more important than ever at this time, and said that brands need to create more "affinity" communication content, and find partners, celebrities and influencers in China who are in line with the brand tone and more in line with the current consumer psychology to establish a connection between the brand and consumers.
He added: "Topics that lack empathy or trigger sensitive points can have a negative impact. We've noticed that more and more luxury brands are starting to create art content, focusing on dreams, time travel, and futuristic technology, which is a smart way to avoid potential risks to public sentiment. ”
Editor's photo: 2022 Lunar New Year, Bottega Veneta has delivered New Year's wishes as a brand representative color, and announced a donation plan to assist in the renovation and maintenance of Shanhaiguan Scenic Area and Jiaoshan Great Wall
In addition, through the rational layout of its own digital capabilities and scientific and technological levels, it is still the core strategy that brands need to invest vigorously at present and even in the future. Sun Pan told WWD China: "People's living habits and time are becoming more and more fragmented, and brands also need to analyze and meet consumer needs in different consumption scenarios through the layout of their own digital capabilities. ”
She then pointed out that with the widespread use of new technologies such as AI, 5G, AR, and VR, brands need to make full use of these new technology elements to establish a differentiated consumer experience and perspective, break the limitations of space, and create a high-quality and novel consumer experience through personalization and scenario-based methods, whether online or offline.
Commenting on the importance and complexity of COVID-19 accelerating live streaming in China, Adrian Peh said: "Live streaming has become an integral part of a brand's marketing strategy in China, and perhaps even one of the most influential sales tools. However, for luxury brands, it is more important to pay attention to every detail of the live broadcast, such as the anchor and script that match the brand set design and tonality, to ensure that the brand experience and the information delivered to consumers are consistent online and offline. ”
Edit the accompanying image
Market woes have become a fact, even robbing the entire spring of 2022; consumer ideas and consumer confidence have inevitably been affected to a certain extent.
However, no matter how the consumption awareness and demand side change, the huge consumer group scale has always been there, even more worthy of scrutiny and more challenging; in addition, from the hard power such as supply chain and scientific and technological territory, or the soft power such as cultural foundation, artistic value, and business ability, it has not been lost. Such as the focus on health, quality, green lifestyle, resonance for more affinity and empathetic content, dependence on live broadcast or more digital technology experience, and so on, the surging consumer trends, but also has been derived more and more new needs and new choices. WWD
Written and interviewed yalta
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