UNIQLO Intends To Conquer The US Market

According to the results released in April 12th by the parent company, Japan, the operating profit in the second quarter ended 35% at the end of February and increased by 13% in the current fiscal year, and overseas sales played a major role in promoting business growth.

According to Reuters, according to company data, this is the largest in Asia.

The retailer's operating profit in the second quarter is about 56 billion 600 million yen (US $529 million).

According to the world clothing and shoe net, the company's net profit increased by 7.1% to 104 billion 150 million yen as of the end of February.

XXX increased its annual operating profit from 200 billion yen to 225 billion yen.

"UNIQLO's biggest goal in the future is globalization.

The biggest challenge is globalization. "

Aged 68, wearing a frameless glasses, wearing a straight suit Uniqlo, founder and fast Marketing Group Chairman and CEO Liu Jing is in New York, SOHO District of the spring studio (Spring Studio) interview with reporters.

In October 2017, UNIQLO did not choose to be in Japan. Instead, it built up a two floor space in a big way, and bustled a new technology and fashion exhibition, demonstrating the determination to advance towards globalization.

It's not easy.

"We are very small outside Asia, and have not yet entered Latin America. There are only more than 40 outlets in the United States, and there are not many stores in Europe. Everything is just beginning," John Jay, global creative president of Fast Retailing, said, "Asia's rapid growth is obviously very important.

But if we cannot win the United States, we will not win the world.

As of August 2017, UNIQLO opened 1920 stores in the world.

There are 44 in the United States, 2 in Canada, 36 in Europe, 20 in Russia, 12 in Australia, 151 in Southeast Asia, 179 in South Korea, 555 in the mainland of China, 25 in Hongkong, Taiwan, 65 in China, and 30 in Japan.

In other words, the number of American stores in the world's largest economy accounts for only 2.3% of the world's total.

Setbacks in the United States

UNIQLO in Asia

Frequently conquering the city, but from the first entry into the US market in 2004, it has suffered many setbacks.

From the store's view, in November 2014, the total number of overseas UNIQLO stores increased to 695, especially in the Greater China region and South Korea. In 2016, UNIQLO's total number of stores in China exceeded 500, and according to the Nikkei news, the number of Chinese shops in UNIQLO could exceed Japan in 2020.

On the other hand, in the first half of 2016, UNIQLO closed five stores in the United States, including Connecticut, Denmark, New Jersey, Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania, willow grove, California Beilin, and department stores of New York Staten Island, which opened less than three years ago.

Cutting stores accounts for about 10% of the total number of stores in the United States.

As of November 2017, UNIQLO had only 46 stores in the United States.

This is a huge gap between UNIQLO's original plan to open 200 stores in the United States in 2020.

Last year, UNIQLO made a lot of efforts in the United States, such as moving the new products conference in autumn 2017 from Tokyo to Manhattan, and in August, it launched a vending machine specializing in light weight thermal clothing at the US airport.

From the performance point of view, in the 2017 fiscal year, UNIQLO's overseas sales increased by 8.1% to 708 billion 100 million yen compared with the same period, and operating profit surged 95.4% to 73 billion 100 million yen in the same period.

This achievement is mainly due to profit growth in overseas markets including greater China, as well as effective control of losses in the US region.

According to UNIQLO estimates, the losses in the US market in the first half of fiscal year in 2016 were as high as 36 million 310 thousand US dollars (about 240 million yuan).

Despite its improvement in 2017, it is still in a state of deficit.

In the first quarter of 2018, UNIQLO first reversed its deficit in the us to achieve a surplus.

The root is from cultural differences.

Why did UNIQLO operate in the United States for many years before winning the hearts of consumers in the 2018 fiscal year? Many experts think the problem is "communication".

"UNIQLO used to communicate with American consumers in terms of product quality and function, but not enough," CEO Jan Kyfen, Jan of J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide Enterprises of New York retail consulting and stock research company, told the US cable TV satellite news CNBC.

He pointed out that the price of UNIQLO products is the same as that of fast fashion companies such as H&M, Forever 21 and so on. Consumers are subconsciously aware that the quality of UNIQLO products is poor and "used to be lost".

"When the product belongs to the medium and low price, it is difficult to persuade the American consumers to buy it with" quality ".

Kyfen said.

UNIQLO not only stores too little in the United States, but also rarely advertises in newspapers and magazines, resulting in insufficient popularity.

"In the suburbs of the United States, most residents have never heard of UNIQLO."

Nomura Securities analyst Masada Masashi pointed out to the economist.

UNIQLO focuses on the "simple" strategy of basic funds and runs counter to American preferences.

"Americans pursue individuality and fast fashion catch this trend, so they are very popular," Susan Lee, partner of Simon-Kucher & Partners, a marketing strategy consultant focusing on consumption and retailing, thinks that UNIQLO products are "contrary to the trend". Unless the products or prices are substantially changed, the results will hardly improve in the near future.

"Foreign brands are not unsuccessful in the US. Zara and H&M clearly found the formula for success, and have seized the market pie." Susan Lee does not deny that the new Primark is covetous, hoping to further empty consumers' purse.

UNIQLO products lack of change, the price is even higher than the fast fashion, it is not easy to get consumers' favor.

Fast fashion companies such as H&M and Zara will collaborate with high-profile designers, and always bring forth new ideas.

UNIQLO adheres to the basic strategy so that the clothes look repetitive.

The bigger the market, the more obvious the problem is.

"Compared with UNIQLO's advocating the minimalist idea of aesthetics, the former is more appetites to American consumers," Susan Scafidi, founder and law professor of Fordham University Fashion Law Institute, told Forbes magazine (Forbes).

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After careful analysis, the origin of these lesions comes from cultural differences.

"Asian design is often not easy to attract Western fashion fads," The Economist pointed out.

Most of the world's clothing, handbags and shoes are made in Asia, but Asian brands rarely go to the Western booths.

It takes time for brands to adjust to Western tastes.

JP Morgan Chase analyst Dairo Murata pointed out that T-shirts are the best selling products of UNIQLO in Japan, and the United States and Europeans rarely add more clothes to their shirts.

Asians are also very different from Americans.

Eight years after UNIQLO's entry into the United States, it was discovered that the size of XL was too small for burly Americans to provide XXXL size later.

But the lack of early consideration not only missed business opportunities, but also made many Americans no longer come to this "no size" clothing store.

Crossing the cultural gap with "technology"

How does this cultural gap between the US and Japan cross? UNIQLO decides to rely on technology that pcends cultural and national boundaries.

Obviously, despite repeated defeats, Ryui Masa did not give up the US market.

In 2017 alone, two big events were held in New York at a huge sum of money: the autumn new clothes conference in March, and the October The Art and Science of Lifewear exhibition, which was held in October to celebrate the 15 years of cooperation with Toray, a Japanese man-made fiber factory. The exhibition is a one day flash show, which is quite different from the fashion show showing the design style. It is more like a simple exhibition of Dongli.

In October 2017, an exhibition was held to celebrate the 15th anniversary cooperation between UNIQLO and Japan's man-made fiber manufacturing plant, Dongli (Toray).

Walking into the exhibition hall, you can see the staff wearing lab white bathrobes, and analyze the scientific principles behind UNIQLO cloth with various simple and profound experiments. Put the Heattech heating clothing into the steam box, and prove the warmth retention effect of Heattech from the temperature monitoring temperature.

Match the fast drying Airism cloth with the ordinary cotton cloth, so that visitors can splash water upward to compare the speed of the two air drying.

Using balloon to lift the classic down jacket, it shows the light weight of UNIQLO's ultra light down coat.

Disassemble the four kinds of silk thread made of Heattech: Rayon, Micro-acrylic, polyester and elastic fiber, so that visitors can touch the elasticity and texture of different fibers.

Apart from elaborately arranging exhibition grounds and sending a large number of professional commentaries, UNIQLO invites all 17 countries and hundreds of media people from the United States, China, Russia, Philippines and the United Kingdom to attend the meeting.

"UNIQLO is not a clothing company, but a technology company."

Ryui Masato said that the opponent of UNIQLO is not GAP, but apple.

Not only is cloth improved, UNIQLO even sewing methods are advancing with the times.

For example, the March 2017 Wholegarment 3D seamless three-dimensional knitting, that is, specific display.

The use of Wholegarment 3D seamless three-dimensional knitted fabric can be completely woven from the knitting machine at once, without cutting and sewing, so there is no stitch at all.

Less cloth waste from past tailors and more comfortable products.

For this technology, UNIQLO has jointly established Innovation Factory with the famous 3D printer manufacturer's Island refining mechanism to develop research and technology.

"UNIQLO has made its products different from its competitors through technology.

At the same time, we must keep innovating and keep the competitiveness of our products.

China Foreign Affairs University, Tufts University, analyzed the case study of UNIQLO.

The overall digital pformation of the company

UNIQLO's emphasis on technology strategy is not only confined to the fabric material of clothing, but also has been upgraded to the strategic level of the company's overall operation.

In February 2017, UNIQLO parent Xun marketing group issued a strategic blueprint for Digital Transformation, emphasizing that the whole enterprise should go to digital pformation from top to bottom, from customer intelligence collection to manufacturing supply chain and even retail endpoint.

With the rapid development of technology today, the market share of Google and Amazon's new type of enterprises in the retail industry is expanding rapidly. In this era of change, what kind of enterprises should XXX group become in the future? How should we stand out in the competition of the new generation? What countermeasures should we adopt in order to survive? "

"In order to achieve our goals, we must reform all business processes and quickly produce products that customers need.

We should actively introduce new technologies to create attractive epoch-making goods and services.

Liu is convinced that modern technology can greatly help companies stay competitive.

For example, AI can help enterprises to analyze information, predict consumers' needs more accurately, dispatch logistics and logistics more effectively, reduce inventory and increase sales significantly.

One of the ways is to recruit experienced technical personnel (mainly by information analysis and image analysis), and improve their operation efficiency through their technical expertise.

But Liu well is also aware that the garment industry is not easy to recruit the best talent, so specially invited old friend Softbank President Sun Zhengyi to help.

It has even spent a lot of money asking the consultant Accenture to formulate a pformation policy for it and develop a system that can predict its future consumption behavior based on consumer purchase records.

The new headquarters, Uniqlo City Tokyo, which opened in February 2017 and near the Gulf of Tokyo, is a demonstration of Ryui Masa's determination. In this 16 thousand and 500 square meter headquarters, the white light tube and the traditional cubicle are not used, but the vast open space and warm hue.

There are more than 3000 volumes of library, colorful recreation space, and two simulated shops.

"Use new headquarters to stimulate staff enthusiasm, enjoy life at work, and bring more creativity."

John Jay, global creative president of fast marketing group.

John Jay, who joined UNIQLO in 2014, was previously the global creative director of Wieden & Kennedy, a well-known advertising agency, and served as executive vice president of Bloomingdale's, Executive Creative Director of GX, designing creative advertisements for global factories such as Nike, Coca-Cola and Microsoft.

In March 2016, the new headquarters came up with innovative results: a new mobile phone terminal Uniqlo.com.

The new site offers more sizes than the market and supports image search.

In the United States, even the chatting robot (Chatbot) trend has launched online smart customer service Uniqlo IQ.

The application of this Facebook messenger can quickly help customers find items, and even confirm whether there is stock in the store.

On the other hand, UNIQLO also introduced the IC automatic checkout label.

By using IC tags to complete inventory management quickly, improve the efficiency of the retail market and shorten the closing time, customers can also self checkout and increase the convenience of shopping.

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In addition to official website, AI smart customer service, exclusive APP, UNIQLO does not cooperate with all mainstream social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube, and invest a lot of advertising resources.

As long as there are large-scale promotional activities, almost all the mainstream social media can see the advertisements of UNIQLO.

In the past, UNIQLO has always regarded the "store experience" as the standard, emphasizing the sales service, staff training and shopping experience, but under the new strategy, digital marketing has become a new beachhead.

According to the group's goal, online sales should jump from the current 5% to 30%.

"Our products have two homes, one is digital media and the other is physical stores.

Now, online and offline are inseparable. "

John Jay, who is responsible for all the creative business related to the fast selling group, does not deny that future UNIQLO is a digital and entity oriented sales model that challenges multiple integration.

In August 2017, the UNIQLO vending machine, which was stationed in airports and shopping malls in New York, Houston, Oakland and other cities, is the latest pioneering work of the group.

This 180 cm high vending machine uses a new touch screen. As long as it touches the screen options, it can easily buy the representative products such as heating clothes and lightweight down coats like buying drinks. If it does not fit, it can return the goods directly to the stores.

Globalization still faces many challenges.

Although we are committed to "the first big clothing chain brand", UNIQLO will become the leading supplier of the global clothing industry, and even let every one of two people own a heating coat. There are still many challenges to overcome.

Among them, visibility in Europe and the United States is undoubtedly the biggest hurdle.

In Asia, UNIQLO has a high reputation.

According to the survey, 95% of people in Japan knew UNIQLO, and 64.5% of them bought heated clothing products.

But that figure has dropped sharply overseas.

In New York, 64.7% consumers visited UNIQLO stores, but only 20.7% bought hot clothing.

In San Francisco, Losangeles, Britain, Russia and France, the proportion is even lower, even though these cities have uniformed stores.

UNIQLO is popular among consumers in Asia.

Reviewing the past hopes that the market will blossom everywhere, but the loss is too great, Ryui Masa admitted that he would not invest too much resources in the second tier cities in Europe and America in the future.

"We will adopt a domino strategy."

Yoshihiro Kunii, executive vice president of fast marketing group, said that in the future, it will gain a high reputation in one area, and then move on to the next point. Ikei Hiroshi,

Unlike the past, copying the logic of display thinking in Japanese stores to the global model, the future of UNIQLO sales outlets around the world will also take into account the needs of Geochemistry and make corresponding adjustments.

It can be said that after the setback in the US market, UNIQLO has already taken up the "replicating Japanese success mode" and the mentality of being conceited, becoming more humble, but also has more directions and strategies.

For example, the sales model of vending machines has received much attention and praise from many media and analysts.

"With the rising proportion of Internet sales, convenience for today's consumers is better than actual touch."

Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at NPD group, said that more and more consumers will accept the sales attempt of UNIQLO in the future, thereby increasing their recognition.

UNIQLO in 2017 and the British designer J.W. Anderson jointly created a joint series, not only hot sales also won consumers' praise.

"(JW Anderson) this series is comfortable and stylish, and the price is reasonable. I will go to school on weekdays, or I will wear friends at weekends."

Eileen Pollan, a 40 year old music teacher, said.

"Globalization is not a simple road, but we will keep trying, not to be defeated by difficulties," Ryui Masa told reporters firmly.

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