General Merchandise Industry Breeds "Buyer System"

In May, Lane Crawford's first discount store in the mainland market, a model of buyer system, was officially unveiled in the Spruce Outlets in Jingdong. It echoes with Lane Crawford Financial Street Shopping Center.

According to the expansion plan previously announced by Lane Crawford, new stores will be opened in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu from next year. In June, the 2011 Guangzhou Procurement Fair of Dangdang.com was held purchase The main range of goods is Dangdang.com self run general merchandise, such as cosmetics, clothing, etc., with a total procurement scale of 200 million to 300 million yuan. Moreover, in order to vigorously sell general merchandise, in August, Dangdang will also set up large local procurement centers in Guangzhou and Shanghai, vigorously develop buyer teams around the country, and develop its own brands. In July, Wangfujing Department Store announced that the current amount of self procurement has reached 200 million yuan, and in the future, this figure will gradually expand, while developing its own brand. At present, self purchased goods mainly include food, jewelry, gifts and clothing. For a while, the "buyer system" became the focus of the industry.

　 advantage

Avoid homogenization and increase gross profit rate

It is reported that the "buyer system" originated in Europe in the 1960s and is now popular in the department stores in Europe and the United States. In this sales model, stores do not introduce existing brands, but buy products that meet their own positioning through the buyer team. In short, it means self procurement and self financing. The main feature of "buyer system" department stores is that the purchased and imported goods are market The interior will no longer be sold by brand, but by style category.

Lane Crawford is a representative brand of the domestic buyer system. Every season, professional "buyers" in this mall will search for designer products worldwide, classify, sort and sell them in stores. Lane Crawford set up a central mobile phone buying agency to provide services for various stores. At the same time, the store managers will participate in the purchase process of the central mobile phone buying organization.

A person in charge of the China General Merchandise Association said that the advantage of the buyer system is first reflected in cost control. Because the buyers of shopping malls directly purchase goods from manufacturers, especially with their own brands, they pay factory prices, and the gross profit margin is much higher than the "joint venture deduction" model. Secondly, if the buyer team and supplier channels are well mastered, the difference of goods will be well reflected, and consumers will feel more distinctive.

For many years, insiders have always believed that the buyer system is an effective way to change the current serious homogenization in the department store industry. But the inherent risk of the buyer system makes everyone hesitate.

　　 limit

Limited scale of manpower allocation

be relative to General merchandise industry The clothing industry introduced the "buyer system" much faster. At present, clothing brands are mainly divided into two categories. One is designer brands, that is, their product style features strong designer elements and connotation, and they generally become fashion leaders. Another type is the "buyer system" brand, that is, with the fashion trend and market demand to launch their own styles, such as ZARA, H&M, GAP, MANGO, as well as the women's wear brands ONLY and EGGER, which have been popular in the domestic market in recent years.

At present, many domestic brand enterprises have also started to set foot in the "buyer system". It is reported that clothing companies such as Seven Wolves also set up "brand buyer" positions last year. A person in charge of the China National Garment Association believes that this is a typical manifestation of more refined industrial division and industrial evolution. The new model can not only reduce the cost by shortening the product operation cycle, but also greatly reduce the business risk, and completely combine products according to market needs.

In the past two years, inadvertently, there have been many exclusive stores of ZARA, H&M and other buyer made clothing brands on the streets of Beijing, most of which are about several thousand square meters. A person in charge of the China General Merchandise Association said that the scale of individual shopping malls made by buyers is generally small. "Because if you sell your own goods, the number of staff is limited, and it is impossible to buy goods of the same scale as those in the current jointly operated discount malls, otherwise the increase of staff will lead to an excessive increase in management costs." In fact, in foreign countries, department stores may not be large in scale, but the contents are unique, either private brands or buyout operations, Or it is the high-quality goods collected from the corners of the world.

　 future

　 It will coexist with the joint deduction mode

Over the past two years, many e-commerce websites, including Dangdang and Jingdong Mall, have been cultivating and hoarding buyers. Hong Tao, a professor at Beijing Technology and Business University, believes that in the future, the buyer system will be a useful business model, but will not become the mainstream. Especially in large-scale shopping malls and department stores, for a long time in the future, the joint deduction mode will coexist with the buyer system, and the joint deduction system will prevail. Because the buyer system needs to press funds, if it is an ordinary consumer goods, such as general clothing, shoes and hats, a few tens or hundreds of yuan, it is OK. "For some luxury goods, the price of each piece is tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even higher, so it is difficult to sell them in the way of buyer system."