In 2006, the men's clothing market was already fiercely competitive.
Leaving foreign brands aside, among domestic brands, higher-end ones included Youngor, Shanshan, etc., while lower-end ones included Metersbonwe and Yichun.
These were all very mature brands, with production mainly concentrated in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and their industrial chains were also very mature.
In this red ocean, facing competitive pressure, if one only aimed to get a slice of the pie, engaging in industrial chain work, import/export, or OEM factories, or even ordinary people working sewing machines in factories, they could still make a decent profit.
However, facing so many mature brands, it would be extremely difficult to carve out a niche and establish one's own brand.
Therefore, they had to find another way.
Women's clothing was definitely not an option.
Although women's money was said to be the easiest to earn, the styles updated too quickly.
It might be suitable for foreign trade wholesale, but for brand retail, the inventory pressure would be immense.
What sold well became a hit, what didn't ended up in the warehouse, which was truly a headache.
Currently, social customs were still decent, and malicious returns were not common.
A few years later, after live streaming emerged, Taobao stores selling women's clothing would truly have a headache.
The "xiaojiejie" doing live streams, shooting videos, streaming, doing suggestive clothing changes, most of them don't cut the clothing tags, why?
Isn't it for easy returns?
Seven-day no-questions-asked returns, wear it a few times, and return it when the time is up.
The "LSPs" are happy, the "xiaojiejie" minimize costs, and the merchants are the ones with the headache.
So this business is truly not viable.
At some point, the Taobao store would have to be shut down to avoid these troublesome issues.
If women's clothing couldn't be done, then only children's clothing and men's clothing remained.
They couldn't possibly develop the elderly market, could they?
It wasn't yet an aging society, so there was no need for that at all.
Besides, the elderly didn't focus on brands.
Compared to the children's clothing market, the men's clothing market was still easier to tackle.
"We won't do high-end, and low-end has too much competition, so let's do mid-range and set product prices around 300 yuan,"
Tan Jincheng casually decided while analyzing the domestic apparel market for Zhang Xupeng.
At this moment, the two of them were cooped up in the study, and Tan Jincheng was also searching online for clothing brands from his previous life that left a deep impression.
The once popular Vancl wasn't out yet? But to be frank, that thing was essentially a capital game, not a serious brand-building endeavor, and in the end, it was said to have suffered huge losses.
And GXG, which he habitually wore in his previous life, also didn't exist!
What a coincidence, GXG mainly focused on the mid-range market, with its consumer base primarily men aged 20 to 35 who paid attention to fashion and style, and its pricing was also positioned for the mid-range market.
GXG was also a Yongcheng brand.
In its early stages, it mainly operated offline, with sales channels covering street-side shops, department stores, etc.
Later, like other brands, it primarily shifted to online sales, with stores on platforms like Tmall and Taobao.
Then let's copy its design philosophy.
Coincidentally, he was used to wearing their clothes in his previous life and could still remember some styles.
Oh, right, it shouldn't be called copying now.
Now I am the original.
"Doing mid-range? Avoiding competition in the low-end market? That's an idea, but can consumers accept a price of around 300 yuan? They wouldn't even earn enough for a few pieces of clothing in a month."
"We need to put effort into design and marketing. Give people a fashionable, premium feel through design, then invest some effort in marketing. In the early stages, we can also do some promotions, but the positioning must be established."
"And don't think about making much money in the early stages. You need to establish the brand positioning, and when online popularity takes off, that will be your opportunity."
E-commerce was the future in the coming years.
The Double Eleven big promotion, which started in 2009 and was then called "Singles' Day," completely ushered in the era of internet e-commerce, making Old Ma unrivaled for a time.
GXG was actually also a foreign brand, acquired by a Yongcheng company through brand authorization.
Its classic black-and-white British-style men's apparel image and the concept of urban youth business casual fashion mix-and-match made it stand out through precise brand positioning.
Overall, the brand image positioned itself between business and casual, strategically avoiding direct competition and seizing market opportunities.
Coupled with excellent quality, good channels, and a strong team, it quickly established itself in the market.
In the few years after Singles' Day launched in 2009, clothing categories were consistently the top-selling brands during the Double Eleven big promotion each year, and it was precisely during that period that GXG successfully made more people remember the brand.
Oh, right, GXG was also divided into "Big G" and "Small G."
Their design styles were different: "Big G" was positioned for mature and steady series, while "Small G" featured more expressive and personalized designs.
"Alright, I'll listen to you then, mid-range positioning!"
"What do you mean 'listen to me'? I'm just giving you ideas. Building a brand involves a lot of work, and you'll need to handle everything yourself later. How can you not have your own ideas?"
"Isn't there still you? Besides, you still have 30% of Jinpeng Trade shares,"
Zhang Xupeng said with a chuckle.
For some reason, even though he was the one who proposed making a men's clothing brand, and inwardly he was also more inclined towards a mid-range brand, after Xiao Tan's analysis, his confidence was significantly higher than before.
"Don't even think about it. I don't have that much time to get involved in specific matters. Or, I can transfer some more shares to you, just a token amount."
"Forget about the shares. You're richer than me now and don't lack money to exchange for shares, so let's just drop it. As for specific matters, I certainly won't need you for that. Once I set the direction, you can just oversee it, no problem with that, right?"
"Hmm, that's fine. I can't just take money for nothing, after all. How about this, I'll give you an idea,"
Tan Jincheng continued to tinker on the computer.
"What idea? Tell me,"
Zhang Xupeng asked, slightly excited.
Xiao Tan was making a move! Xiao Tan was very skilled at this kind of planning.
Not to mention things far in the past, just look at the recent "Wanlixing" project; its discussion online was already very high, and it even inspired some netizens to imitate it.
"You go to France for a survey. There's a brand called GXG. I remember we have quite a few clients over there. Have them connect you and get the domestic operating rights for this brand. It would be best if you could buy it outright. If you're short on money, I can lend you some first."
"Oh, by the way, this brand was also founded by two brothers. If it really takes off, you can even brag about this in interviews, that we're also two brothers partnering in business."
"Damn! Is the feng shui shifting? Last year you were asking me for money, and this year it's my turn to ask you? But why look for this brand? Weren't we talking about making our own brand?"
Nowadays, Tan Jincheng truly was richer than Zhang Xupeng.
150 mu of land use rights could be mortgaged to the bank to secure a large loan, and acquiring a niche apparel brand would indeed be no problem.
"We're doing business, not having a son. Does it matter if it's 'our own flesh and blood'? The domestic market competition is so fierce now. Using authorization or acquisition to own a mature brand allows for a quick entry into the market and makes it easier to operate."
Zhang Xupeng thought about it and understood Tan Jincheng's idea.
This indeed would be much faster.
A mature brand, mature designs; all he would need to do was establish factories and assemble a team to manage it well.
On another note, not many people in China currently knew this brand.
A few years later, who would know its parent company?
Nobody would care which company its parent company was.
Furthermore, directly acquiring a foreign brand would also make exports more convenient.
The method Tan Jincheng designed was actually a common model in the current apparel market, somewhat similar to the distinction between Carrefour and Carrefour ZG in later generations, where the same brand operated separately.
It was already ten o'clock.
In Lao Tan's living room, Sun Yuming had already left after dinner.
He still had some things to prepare for tomorrow's inspection and visit.
For Sun Yuming, this trip was worth it; not only did he visit Lao Tan's home, but he also met Boss Zhang's parents.
Both families were very kind, and Lao Tan's mother even urged him to get married soon, saying he was a good person.
"What are those two talking about? They've been at it for so long?"
Liu Huiru was getting a bit anxious waiting.
Dinner ended around seven o'clock, and after eating, the two boys locked themselves in the study and hadn't come out for several hours.
Zhang Guolong said,
"They must be discussing something important. Didn't Lao Tan and Xiao Sun just say that they're going to Wangjiang County for an inspection tomorrow, and both plan to set up factories? Such an important matter probably can't be discussed quickly. How about we go back first?"
"Ah, these two children, after graduating high school, they suddenly disappeared for a few months. Our two families were so worried back then. Who would have thought they'd achieve such great success in their careers now,"
Zhang Suzhi sighed.
"Indeed. When my son came back and said he didn't want to study but wanted to do business, I thought his grades weren't great anyway, so if he didn't want to study, then so be it. Later he said Xiao Tan also wasn't studying, and I felt it was such a pity. Wansheng University is a 211 university now,"
Liu Huiru also sighed.
"Exactly. I was furious at the time, but there was nothing I could do. My son always had his own ideas, and his dad didn't manage him much."
Tan Lihua, who was mentioned, laughed,
"It's not necessarily a good thing now, especially for you, Lao Zhang. Your good son opened a clothing factory in our county, and it's quite large. If people from your hometown found out, just imagine what would happen to you, haha."
They were all born as state-owned enterprise workers and understood very well what such labor-intensive factories meant to a locality.
Five of Yicheng's seven counties were poverty-stricken counties, and everyone's hometown wasn't much better.
The result was a clothing enterprise with an estimated output value of over 100 million yuan, settling in a neighboring county, with the entrepreneur being from their own county.
That feeling must have been maddening.
Zhang Guolong hadn't thought of this aspect until Tan Lihua reminded him, and he was instantly dumbfounded.
(End of chapter)