Jackets, like plaid shirts and backpacks, were once jokingly called programmers' "uniforms". But now, after nearly two years of "mountain" style and outdoor craze popularization, the jacket has become a not only fashionable but also practical autumn and winter item.
Whether online or offline, jackets have become a hit this year. Offline, many fashion brands invariably launch jacket-related items and hang them in a conspicuous position on the counter. Online, an e-commerce platform shows that since 2023, the turnover of jackets has increased by 165% year-on-year. During this year's "Double 11", in just six days, the turnover of jackets increased by 200% year-on-year.
Young people have become the main consumer of jackets
In the past, jacket consumers were concentrated in 30 to 50 years old, but now they are more concentrated in 25 to 35 years old, and young consumers account for nearly 50%.
Baidu index shows that in October this year, 75% of consumers under the age of 40 searched for jackets, of which consumers aged 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 accounted for more than 30%.
It is understood that the jacket can be divided into single-layer style and three-in-one style in terms of style. The three-in-one jacket, also known as a two-piece jacket, can be split into a jacket and an inner tank, which can be worn alone or in combination. The teller of the shopping mall said that the three-in-one jacket kills the single-layer jacket in terms of practicality, and the drop in temperature makes the three-in-one jacket favored by customers.
In terms of color, the top ten jackets sold on the Taobao Tmall platform are mostly monochrome or contrasting colors with low saturation, and the colors of beige, black and white, white and green, pink and purple are very eye-catching;
Why is it the jacket that is on fire?
In the eyes of people in the clothing industry, the outdoor item of the jacket has "sprung up", which is closely related to the surge of outdoor sports. The fashionable, casual and commuting attributes of the jacket can just meet the needs of young consumer groups in terms of functionality, practicality, personalization and life.
Cai Junfan, a macro analyst at Boyang Research Institute, also said that the popularity of this year's jacket, especially the domestic three-in-one jacket, is because this item also meets the pursuit of young people for "good-looking" and "cost-effective".
Nowadays, young people are looking for a relaxed and casual style of dressing. The jacket is very practical, not only windproof, warm, waterproof, but also versatile. Many young people believe that they can wear a jacket to exercise, or they can wear a jacket to work, shopping and traveling.
Just as Uniqlo saved the fleece two years ago, the outdoor wind also saved the jacket, making the jacket a fashionable outfit. In addition to having fashion attributes, the jacket has also become synonymous with "cost performance". According to the statistics of Magic Mirror Insight, from November 2022 to October 2023, among the common winter coats, the average price of jackets is 488.8 yuan, which is lower than woolen coats and down jackets.
A down jacket shivering?
The sales of jackets have skyrocketed, and the most nervous thing is probably the down jacket market. According to market research estimates, the unit price of Chinese down jacket brands is mainly concentrated in about 1,000 yuan, Bosideng occupies the price band of 1,000 yuan-2,000 yuan, the price band of 3,000-8,000 yuan is relatively blank, and more than 8,000 yuan is occupied by international brands such as Canada goose.
In the next few years, it is an inevitable trend for the down jacket market to move from low-end to high-end, taking Bosideng as an example, as early as 2021, the proportion of products with a unit price of more than 1,800 yuan in its online sales increased from 31.8% to 46.9%. According to data from the Prospective Industry Research Institute, from 2014 to 2019, the average unit price of domestic down jackets rose from 452.6 yuan to 596 yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.66%. By 2020, the average unit price of down jackets of key large-scale retail enterprises in the country has risen to 656 yuan, of which the transaction price of large-scale cold-proof clothing has exceeded 1,000 yuan, and the proportion of more than 2,000 yuan has been close to 70%.
Compared with thousands of down jackets, most of the jackets still focus on cost-effective advantages except for first-line brands such as Arc'teryx. According to Douyin statistics, in the first half of this year, the price ranges with the largest contribution to the sales of Douyin jackets were 300-500 yuan and 100-300 yuan. Among them, 300-500 yuan is the mainstream price range, accounting for 33.72% of the market size. The reason why camels can occupy the majority of the entire jacket consumption track is because of its parity positioning of 100 yuan. From the camel's journey in the past two years, it can also be seen that the jacket track is still cost-effective. In the first half of 2022, camels accounted for nearly 40% of Douyin's sales, and in the second half of 2022, they soared to 80%, and at the same time won the first place in the sales of jackets on Double 11 and Double 12.
Bosideng, Jiaoxia and other brands entered the jacket track
From 2015 to 2021, the market size of the mainland jacket industry is growing at a rate of about 100 million yuan per year. According to the data, in 2021, the market size of the mainland jacket industry will reach 1.529 billion yuan, and it is expected to reach 1.921 billion yuan in 2025.
Under the high popularity and scale, the jacket industry has also attracted many brands to enter the game. In addition to the existing international brands such as Archaeopteryx, Mammoth, Marmot, North Face and Wolf Claw, as well as domestic brands such as Camel, Pathfinder and Pastoral Flute, Nike, lululemon, Anta and other companies have successively entered the outdoor sports track, so as to broaden their business segments and performance growth curve.
Taking Bosideng as an example, as of the first half of 2023, Bosideng's inventory turnover days have increased from 111 days in 2018 to 181 days, and the total inventory has reached 3.434 billion yuan, with the overall turnover efficiency declining significantly, and Bosideng's revenue growth has gradually declined since fiscal year 2020. As a result, Bosideng has carried out the layout of the jacket field, trying to bless the technical precipitation of down jackets to the jackets, and the biggest selling point of many of its jackets is the detachable down liner, and at this stage, it is using the existing technology to bless the jackets.
For Bosideng and Jiaoxia, the launch of the jacket category is an attempt to improve the flexibility of performance, so as to achieve multi-dimensional expansion of scenarios and people. Jiaoxia wants to make a professional outdoor jacket within 1,000 yuan and realize cross-scene use in the city and outdoors, and Bosideng's jacket down jacket uses its own goose down jacket, with the purpose of using existing technology to bless the jacket.
At present, it seems that the hot outdoor sports have added fuel to the consumption of the clothing circle. But in the long run, the outdoor market, or the clothing market, is also thinking about the next "road".
Editor: Wang Jinchuan
Design: Gawain
Sources: Qianjiang Evening News, Finance Associated Press, Titanium Media APP, etc