To succeed in the high-end women's clothing market, you can't just sell clothes that are readily available on the street. If everyone else is selling the same thing, you naturally won't be able to command a high price. The so-called high-end means using good fabrics, having novel styles, thinking what others can't think of, and creating what others dare not create.
In the early 1980s, the clothing industry was conservative and dared not innovate in terms of color or style. Chu Yu wanted to break this situation and take the lead in labeling women's clothing stores as "daring to be the first".
Cashmere trousers, cashmere sweaters, cashmere maxi skirts, fleece-lined snowflake wool coats...
Shen Zhuyu is a great business partner. She trusts Chu Yu's taste, and she won't object to any clothes Chu Yu likes, no matter how expensive they are. The two of them spent the whole morning buying goods and had a great haul.
The two walked up to the stall selling cotton-padded clothes.
"Boss, do you have down jackets?"
Boss Hu glanced up at her and called out:
"Ah Zhen, put on your down jacket!"
The buck-toothed girl, Ah Zhen, took more than a dozen bundles of down jackets, pulled one from each bundle, and threw it onto the stall.
Chen Zhuyu wore a long, black, fitted down jacket. The jacket was filled with compartments that looked like blocks of tofu, but the fit was so good that it didn't make her look fat at all.
Chen Zhuyu's eyes lit up: "This looks really good. You can wear it from 20 to 50 years old. The clothes are fluffy and warm. It feels like a good quality item!"
Mr. Hu showed half of his tooth.
Boss Hu, nicknamed "Buck-toothed Hu," had a mouthful of buck teeth that revealed his entire gums when he smiled, and a short, wide, upturned nose. This unassuming man was the first to venture into the wholesale market of Guangzhou. Before 1979, Boss Hu dared to smuggle clothing from the port city to sell. He was ugly, but he had a sharp eye; any piece of clothing he set his sights on would sell well.
No, there is one.
A few years ago, down jackets smelled strongly of duck feathers, and taking them off would cause a shower of feathers to fly everywhere. In the last two years, however, the coating technology for the lining has improved, preventing feathers from escaping from the fabric, and down jackets have become popular in major northern cities.
Most of Mr. Hu's down jackets are supplied to customers in Beijing. The weather in Beijing is cold and the winter is long. Since his employees' families don't need an extra hundred or two hundred yuan, they are willing to buy a down jacket for their family members.
He stocked up on a lot of goods this year. Down jackets are too expensive, and small businesses simply can't afford them. Even if they could, one or two pieces wouldn't make much difference.
Mr. Hu simply supplied it to a few major clients and didn't even display it on his stall. Chu Yu took the initiative to ask for it, and he felt that Chu Yu knew his stuff, so he was only willing to take it out because he thought it was like casting pearls before swine.
They even took that one out specifically.
"My down jacket has a lot of down filling, so it's fluffy and warm enough to cover your legs. It comes in black and red. Although the bright red one is a bit too flashy and not many people wear it, red shirts have been all the rage in Hong Kong for a while now..."
The shop owner was trying every possible way to sell the red down jacket to Chu Yu. Seeing Chu Yu touch the fabric, he even said:
"This red coating is the hardest to make; the process is much more difficult than making a black down jacket. I bet you absolutely can't buy such a perfect red on the market. The price is the same as the black down jacket, but I'll only charge you 55 yuan! This down jacket sells for 140 yuan in Beijing department stores, and it would sell for three times that price. You can make a profit of almost 100 yuan on just one garment. You definitely won't lose out by buying from us!"
After this year's Spring Festival Gala, red clothes will sell out. Chu Yu has long wanted to stock up on more red clothes, from dresses to sweaters to down jackets and cotton-padded coats. With the amazing viewership and sales power of the Spring Festival Gala, she doesn't have to worry about selling any amount she stocks up on.
But this Mr. Hu has no foresight; how could he know what's trending this year?
The reason for this argument is simply that red down jackets don't sell well.
How could it possibly sell well? A few years ago, wearing a red dress would get you reported to the labor union. The reform and opening up has only been going on for a few years, and people haven't really let their true nature shine yet. They'd rather wear the same clothes as everyone else than be special.
Bell-bottoms that cost a few dozen yuan are sold to young people. Young people prioritize style and are very fashionable! What does it matter if they're not warm? They'll accept being shivering in the dead of winter!
Middle-aged people who can afford a 150-yuan down jacket have a different mindset. They are all prominent figures in their workplaces, and they value high-end, quality clothing. A black down jacket won't attract attention when worn outside; it won't stand out in a crowd. It's about understated luxury, which suits the status of the buyer.
What kind of talk is it to wear bright red?
The items that businesses heavily promote are usually the ones that don't sell well, while they never mention the ones that sell well.
Chu Yu knew that down jackets came in various styles, some long and some short, some fitted and some loose. She had inspected several of them and found that the quality was excellent and there were no major problems.
"If there's a problem, just bring it back for a replacement. We've been doing business here for years, we won't go back on our word." Mr. Hu was overjoyed.
"The quality is fine, but the price is a problem. Let's be frank, 55 is too high. Black is 45 and red is 40 each. If you agree, I'll take 100 black and 50 red. Otherwise, I won't take any."
Boss Hu's face darkened, looking like he'd lost his parents. He kept saying "No, no," but inside he was overjoyed. 100 black down jackets, even at 45 each, would be profitable. Red ones, at 40 each, wouldn't have much profit, but they were a perennially unpopular color!
If it weren't for his partner in Hong Kong acting strangely and insisting on sending him 200 red down jackets, he would never have been able to sell this color!
The styles are trendy, and you can hardly find them on the market, but the colors are too bright and Chinese people can't accept them. Mr. Hu has been selling them for almost a month and has only sold a few pieces.
Experienced bosses would avoid red; only a gullible newbie like Chu Yu would buy 50 pieces at once!
It's not a big deal to save 15 yuan; I won't lose money anyway. Unpopular items are always sold at a loss to clear out inventory, so not losing money is a win.
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