In the eyes of the industry, as long as conditions permit, what consumers see, touch and hear can be purchased directly from the Internet instead of through physical stores.
So, just from the current situation, how popular is online shopping? How many consumers regard physical stores as "fitting rooms"? In addition, for physical stores, how to deal with this online shopping tide?
Status quo: The "fit family" occupies the first and second lines.
The people who appear this phenomenon are mainly concentrated in first-and second-tier cities, or in coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang with relatively developed economy. The rapid development of logistics industry is also one of the reasons for the rapid development of online shopping in these cities.
With the maturity and rise of online shopping platforms, more and more young people, especially those born in 1980s and 1990s, have joined the online shopping army. In the random inquiry of reporters, there is an interesting phenomenon. Many of them try on clothes in shopping malls and then go shopping online.
However, the reporter also heard this view in the interview. Compared with online shopping, physical purchase can guarantee quality inspection and make people feel at ease. So, how common is the situation in fitting rooms at present? What kind of consumer groups are the majority?
Niu Haipeng: With the rise of e-commerce, it is more and more common to turn shopping malls into fitting rooms. Of course, at present, this situation still occurs in large and medium-sized cities or economically developed areas, and the atmosphere of participation by the whole people has not been formed. In addition, as far as consumer groups are concerned, the phenomenon of "fitting room" still appears more or less among young consumer groups, especially those born in 1980s and 1990s who grew up with the Internet. As far as I know, older consumers are more inclined to shop in physical stores.
Zhang: As we all know, the phenomenon that shopping malls become "fitting rooms" is becoming more and more common, and the scale of online shopping is growing, reaching about 30% at present.
At the same time, the main groups of online shopping are basically young people-some white-collar workers (people who are nervous about spending money, but still willing to catch up with the trend). Middle-aged and elderly people rarely go online to compare prices because of their financial resources and lack of understanding of network knowledge, so they rarely buy online.
In addition, the people who appear this phenomenon are mainly concentrated in first-and second-tier cities or coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang with relatively developed economy. The rapid development of logistics industry is also one of the reasons for the rapid development of online shopping in these cities, and the situation of "fitting rooms" is widespread.
Chen Shousong: This situation can be said to be very common now. Personally, I think "fitting room" is a new form of online shopping, which has developed to a certain extent. Nowadays, online shopping groups are mostly young people, mostly in first-and second-tier cities. Because other fifth-and sixth-tier cities do not have perfect offline trading conditions.
Primitive cause
Determined by the characteristics of the clothing industry
Clothing, as a consumer product, has its particularity. After experiencing in the store, consumers can buy their favorite products online according to the product number. Among them, the biggest reason for the prosperity of online shopping is price.
In the eyes of many older consumers, the behavior of "fitting people" is incomprehensible. Because they tend to trust the price of physical stores more. However, the younger generation thinks that "old people" don't understand the mystery. Taking a brand-name shoe as an example, the reporter found that in a physical store, the quotation was as high as 1000 yuan. But on the Internet, the quotation is only in 200 yuan -600 yuan, and the merchants in the online shop clearly know that it is genuine. In addition, during the online marketing of Singles' Day this year, many goods that are usually as high as 1,000 yuan or more are quoted online for only a few hundred yuan. Then, apart from the price factor, what other factors have prompted the shopping mall to become a "fitting room"?
Chen Shousong: The appearance and popularization of the "fitting room" phenomenon is also a new trend after the development of e-commerce. This also shows that consumers are beginning to believe in the consumption pattern of online platforms.
Moreover, clothing, a consumer product, has its particularity. After experiencing in the store, consumers can buy their favorite products online according to the product number. Among them, the biggest reason for the prosperity of online shopping is price. Buyers want to buy cheap and high-quality consumer goods, and the online platform conveniently gives them a platform for price comparison.
However, it is worth mentioning that many products cannot be simply sold online. Such as machinery, cars, houses, etc. The sales of these goods are not supported by physical stores, and it is obviously impossible to complete the whole marketing simply by online stores. Therefore, the appearance of the "fitting room" phenomenon is not a simple responsibility, but the characteristics of clothing itself give this kind of consumption means the impetus to flourish.
Niu Haipeng: On the one hand, this is related to the rapid rise of e-commerce in China. The marketing layout of many well-known e-commerce companies covers almost all cities and regions in China. Judging from the long-term trend, the further development of e-commerce is not unexpected. At the same time, in order to reduce costs, in recent years, more and more businesses have seen development opportunities from these e-commerce platforms, joined this platform, and accumulated a large number of consumers. And it is undeniable that products that consumers can't buy in stores can often be bought online, further gathering popularity.
In fact, the appearance of "fitting room" is related to the financial crisis a few years ago and the recent economic downturn. Because of the financial crisis, white-collar workers with declining incomes have to choose more economical ways to alleviate the pressure of "cost". More importantly, inflation and the rapid rise in housing prices have also forced many people to choose cheap shopping methods to save money.
Zhang: On the surface, this is because the development of social economy has promoted the progress and openness of purchasing consciousness, and people have gradually accepted diversified shopping and payment methods. Actively look for the price you think you can afford on the network platform.
However, the root cause of this problem is that consumers have weak trust in the market. Consumers are worried that the price of physical stores is "falsely high" and are unwilling to pay the bill on the spot. Instead, they choose to copy the product number and check it online before making a decision.
In fact, the consumer goods in physical stores include the price increase factors such as rent, and the cost is indeed higher than that in online stores, so the price is naturally high. And consumers will inevitably be more willing to choose similar products with relatively low prices, then the sales of physical stores will be greatly reduced. Of course, the current situation is also related to the gradual decline of the clothing retail industry.
Out of the way
Online to offline is king.
The development of physical stores will inevitably be gradually combined with online platform sales in the future. Physical stores have their own advantages, and online stores also have their own advantages of low cost. If the two are combined, it will also be of great benefit to broaden the marketing channels of consumer goods.
In the "stage" of business war, especially under the pressure of online shopping, physical stores seem to be less and less dominant. To this end, consumers can always find that in the storefronts of some well-known brands, there are often signs such as no taking pictures and no taking pictures, which is also the most basic measure for physical stores to prevent online shop sellers from taking pictures. However, from the actual situation, it is difficult to stop the impact of the online shopping trend. However, some smart physical stores will use the Internet to open their own online flagship stores in order to attract netizens "consumers".
But in any case, in the face of fierce competition from the Internet, how should future physical stores choose their own path? Is it differentiated management or a discount?
Niu Haipeng: Competition should not be underestimated. In this case, on the one hand, physical stores need to see whether their own business methods have prospects, for example, whether to expand their own stores or carefully build their own stores to attract consumers. On the other hand, ask the upstream suppliers. For example, online and offline differentiated operations are required, that is, some varieties need lower prices and marketing support from merchants. Thirdly, seize the high-end groups and focus on the needs of high-end groups. After all, many high-end consumer groups don't care about the price, but emphasize the quality inspection of goods, which is the direction of physical stores.
Zhang: This is indeed a trend in today's economy and society. We call it online to offline, which effectively combines offline and online. The Internet has become the front desk for offline transactions, and offline stores have become experience stores for online services.
We all know that the key to the success of online stores lies in the selection of products, payment of credit, logistics support and other important links, but logistics costs still need some time to improve in China.
In the process of gradually improving the sales of online stores, physical stores can consider actively cooperating with online platforms. If they want to survive in the future, they must rely on physical stores and open an online store. This can increase the turnover of the store, at the same time expand the sales channels of the physical store, and increase a promotion channel of price reduction and discount, thus forming the complementarity between the physical store and the online store.
Chen Shousong: Obviously this is a new trend. However, the development of physical stores will inevitably be gradually combined with online platform sales in the future. Physical stores have their own advantages, and online stores also have their own advantages of low cost. If we combine the two and promote each other, it will also be of great benefit to broaden the marketing channels of consumer goods.
Generally speaking, online stores can be regarded as another new marketing channel for physical stores. Of course, regular discount promotion is also a reasonable means of physical store marketing.
trend
Physical stores are hard to be replaced.
Physical stores will not be completely replaced in the short term. On the one hand, some loyal physical store customers will not disappear, on the other hand, people need to go to physical stores to see "real things", which is difficult to recover.
In fact, in addition to clothes, food, home appliances, decoration and so on. It has become an important field of online shopping. For example, in the field of home appliances, e-commerce giants are immersed in the "price war." Not only that, some experts told reporters before that in the future, if conditions permit, many commodities can be bought and sold or traded through the Internet. Then, will the future physical stores be fully covered by the network and eventually disappear in the market?
Niu Haipeng: Physical stores will never disappear. First of all, the "experience" of physical stores is difficult to be replaced by online shopping, which is also one of the biggest weaknesses of online shopping at present. Secondly, physical stores have conveniences that online shopping does not have. Take this year's "Double Eleven" promotion as an example. Online shopping often delays for many days, which is not acceptable to all consumers. Thirdly, the development of e-commerce in China is unique at present, because they enjoy relatively low cost and the support of private equity owners. Imagine that once the labor cost in China rises to be similar to that in the United States in the future, the current relatively low logistics cost model will not be sustainable. As the cost of e-commerce increases, it will be higher or lower, or there will be another conclusion.
Zhang: Indeed, with the development of online shopping, the diversification of goods in online stores will affect other fields to some extent.
However, physical stores will not be completely replaced in the short term. On the one hand, some loyal physical store customers will not disappear, on the other hand, people need to go to physical stores to see "real things", which is difficult to recover.
After careful analysis, online shopping is basically the world of young people, and older people generally don't like online shopping. Some products that are too small and too fine must be mainly physical sales. For example, department stores such as washbasins are still dominated by physical stores, especially large supermarkets, which will exist for a long time.
For example, we know that online shopping in the United States is developed and e-commerce is mature enough, but large supermarkets still exist. Similarly, in the United States, for example, the business of large shopping centers in the United States has been very hot. Because consumers still have shopping needs. Online shopping is generally a product that is not urgently needed, cheap and convenient for logistics. For business people with high requirements on product quality, they will still go shopping in high-end shopping malls. Therefore, it is very unlikely that physical stores will be completely replaced by the Internet.
Chen Shousong: I can't predict the future impact clearly. But for the future of physical stores, we can think in reverse. If there is no physical store, what about online shopping? Of course, there will be many problems. For example, many people go to specialty stores to try them on, and then go online. In fact, without physical stores, online shopping itself is difficult to survive.
Generally speaking, the proportion of online shopping will continue to expand in the future, and the range of goods covered will become wider and wider. In the future, online shopping and physical stores will inevitably compete, but physical stores will not disappear. In fact, the two are complementary in a sense, and online shopping also needs the existence of physical stores. The relevant report recommended the "Special Consultation Report on Opportunities, Challenges and Coping Strategies of the Internet to China Clothing Industry" by Forward-looking Industry Research Institute.