Last month, the normally bustling Hongcheng Market in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, was exceptionally quiet, with only a handful of customers seen in front of shops displaying the "sale" sign. There was no trace of the "golden September and silver October" sales phenomenon this year in either the garment wholesale or retail sectors.
Desperate measures are needed in desperate times, and shops have decided to splash out on promotions and incentive sales, while reining in wholesale orders.
"Our sales in the first 10 months this year dropped over 20%. Annual sales will be down by about 2 million yuan," said the manager of garment and shoe producer, Qipilang Shoes' Jiangxi sales office. Hit by the financial crisis, many garment production enterprises are facing major losses.
At Luoma Fashion Square, which houses 148 garment wholesalers and retailers, Wei Shenggen, General Manager, was discussing measures countering the flat market and dwindling sales in company with a number of shop owners. He said, "in the midst of the financial crisis in China, the garment industry bears the brunt of the storm."
Wei added that from personal observation and feedback from shop owners, traffic flow at Luoma Fashion Square has been dropping since May and June, with sales falling significantly.
Traditionally, November is the busiest month in the garment industry for sourcing winter and spring clothing and is also the "harvest" season for shop owners, but the market now remains flat and the peak season no longer peaks.
Coupled with the unfavourable macro-economic environment, the abnormal weather in Jiangxi Province this year is causing even more hardship to the garment market. According to the Regional Manager of Marketing for Xstep's Jiangxi sales office, the weather is even more damaging than the financial crisis.
He said, "this year the temperature has hardly dropped and sales of fall/winter clothes are far from satisfactory. Sometimes when the temperature shoots up, the shops even have to dig out their summer stock for sale while most of the fall/winter clothes are piled up in the warehouse."
Shop owners go into action
Shop owners have taken their lead from market conditions, reducing sourcing in order to avoid the risk of being left with surplus products, while some garment enterprises no long set annual sales targets for their sales divisions.
Promotion is seen as more crucial, with many shops in Nanchang's Shengli and Zhongshan Road sales areas displaying signs offering discounts, special sales and "buy one get one free" strategies, cutting their margins to boost sales.
"Sales at Hongcheng Market can maintain the Rmb15 billion level of last year," said one manager. No shops have been forced to close down as a result of the financial crisis yet, but shop owners are nervous.
To help shop owners overcome the downturn, the industrial equipment manufacturer Hongda Group is also increasing its advertising and publicity efforts on their behalf.
Desperate measures are needed in desperate times, and shops have decided to splash out on promotions and incentive sales, while reining in wholesale orders.
"Our sales in the first 10 months this year dropped over 20%. Annual sales will be down by about 2 million yuan," said the manager of garment and shoe producer, Qipilang Shoes' Jiangxi sales office. Hit by the financial crisis, many garment production enterprises are facing major losses.
At Luoma Fashion Square, which houses 148 garment wholesalers and retailers, Wei Shenggen, General Manager, was discussing measures countering the flat market and dwindling sales in company with a number of shop owners. He said, "in the midst of the financial crisis in China, the garment industry bears the brunt of the storm."
Wei added that from personal observation and feedback from shop owners, traffic flow at Luoma Fashion Square has been dropping since May and June, with sales falling significantly.
Traditionally, November is the busiest month in the garment industry for sourcing winter and spring clothing and is also the "harvest" season for shop owners, but the market now remains flat and the peak season no longer peaks.
Coupled with the unfavourable macro-economic environment, the abnormal weather in Jiangxi Province this year is causing even more hardship to the garment market. According to the Regional Manager of Marketing for Xstep's Jiangxi sales office, the weather is even more damaging than the financial crisis.
He said, "this year the temperature has hardly dropped and sales of fall/winter clothes are far from satisfactory. Sometimes when the temperature shoots up, the shops even have to dig out their summer stock for sale while most of the fall/winter clothes are piled up in the warehouse."
Shop owners go into action
Shop owners have taken their lead from market conditions, reducing sourcing in order to avoid the risk of being left with surplus products, while some garment enterprises no long set annual sales targets for their sales divisions.
Promotion is seen as more crucial, with many shops in Nanchang's Shengli and Zhongshan Road sales areas displaying signs offering discounts, special sales and "buy one get one free" strategies, cutting their margins to boost sales.
"Sales at Hongcheng Market can maintain the Rmb15 billion level of last year," said one manager. No shops have been forced to close down as a result of the financial crisis yet, but shop owners are nervous.
To help shop owners overcome the downturn, the industrial equipment manufacturer Hongda Group is also increasing its advertising and publicity efforts on their behalf.
