What is the experience of being a man in China? A Zhihu highly praised answer listed a "Qualified Male Practice Manual", which includes: implementing gentlemanly demeanor and chivalrous spirit at the age of 20, taking care of all women within their horizons; at the age of 30, he will make a world of things and be a man worthy of Chinese women; at the age of 40, he will actively break out of his comfort zone and carry everyone's expectations and rush forward. To sum up, I just want to say one word: tired.
Men are like "single brave men", running around every day and moving forward bravely. Who cares whether their clothes are ragged and whether their combat boots are comfortable? And who cares whether they are tired of "lefting"? I'm afraid that only those shoes on their feet are their true companionship when they are lonely.
But how to have a pair of leather shoes that are comfortable and suitable for your feet? This can be regarded as the pain of every Chinese man. Because whenever you mention what shoes are comfortable to wear, stereotype is definitely a sneaker. leather shoes? That has nothing to do with comfort, or even if it is available, it is expensive. Market data also reflect this true consumption intention. Qingshan Capital consumption survey data shows that my country's men's shoes market is about 200 billion, with an annual growth rate of 5%, of which more than half of the casual shoes account for about 30%, and business leather shoes only seek to survive in the remaining 20%.
Is men really not like to wear leather shoes? No, leather shoes, as a must-have item for the male group, have a wide range of applications and are still a necessity. What has long been a headache for men when buying leather shoes is not the problem of the leather shoes category itself, but the various bugs in leather shoes on the market, which is really tiring.
Is it a false proposition to wear leather shoes comfortably?
What will you think of when it comes to wearing leather shoes?
The first is boring. Because of the properties of leather, it is naturally not as breathable as some fabrics with reasonable designs. Don’t mention those artificial leather . Even leather shoes of top brands cannot escape the natural properties of poor breathability. Many men, especially those with sweaty feet, have this experience. When they encounter frequent walking, no matter what leather shoes, their socks are absolutely wet after the day.
The second is hard. It takes a running-in process to wear leather shoes, as if it has become common sense. Leather shoes originated in Europe, and the styles of European and American leather shoes are still commonly used in the shoemaking industry in my country. Europeans have low insteps, arch has small curvature, flat foot has a relatively long foot shape, while Asians, especially Chinese, have high insteps, thick ankles, and wide feet, so many European and American versions of shoes, Chinese people all have the same feeling when wearing them: pressing the instep and grinding the toes, which is simply what the word "run-in" is really played out.
The third thing is that it is expensive. This does not mean that leather shoes must be expensive, but when the comfort level is similar, the price of leather shoes is almost necessarily higher than that of sports and casual shoes. In addition, sports shoes are mass-produced in most cases, with stable and transparent prices. Once leather shoes enter the field of handmade production, there are too many ways to explain. From about 2,000 to private customization of tens of thousands, it can be said that they are terrifying every step. Want to be comfortable? Want a sense of design? Want the ultimate experience? The price makes you think about nothing.
Fourth, limited scenes. Traditional formal leather shoes have almost strict design models, and they have very particular requirements for full-body outfits and even the color of socks (I believe that boys are unforgettable to the embarrassment of "black leather shoes cannot be worn with white socks"). Moreover, with the changes in trends over the years, there have been more and more application scenarios for sports shoes. Many young people can wear sports shoes with suits and look trendy, but on the other hand, if these leather shoes are put on, they will be difficult to match with clothes and pants.
Why are more and more men not like to wear leather shoes? Because the above 4 items can be summarized in two words: receiving energy.
As the social pressure becomes increasingly greater, Chinese men are no longer willing to suffer such foreign crimes, and "comfort" has become their highest demand. Market research results also reflect this real demand: The "Chinese Men's Leather Shoe Industry White Paper" shows that comfort has become the first consideration for consumers when purchasing leather shoes.
The most important factors when choosing leather shoes ranking (%)
Data source: Euromonitor "Chinese Men's Leather Shoe Industry White Paper"
The above pain points have become an indelible nightmare for men's leather shoes categories over the years, and those brands that can keenly capture the deepest demands of men's hearts have undoubtedly obtained the growth password. At the beginning of 2020, the first stock of men's shoes in China, Aokang , grasped this trend and focused on product positioning based on the characteristic of "comfort", using this as a breakthrough to eliminate the chronic problems of the men's leather shoes industry and reverse the industry image.
Recently, Aocon Breathable Leather Shoes 2.0 won the FNAA Award, which is the title of "Global Shoe Industry Oscar". Aocon started making a fuss on his feet and is creating a big comfort zone for 700 million Chinese men.
How a pair of comfortable shoes was born?
Reviewing the history of the birth of leather shoes, it is not difficult to see that men's persistence in shoes is far greater than that of women. Whether it is Louis XIV who stole 12 cm high heels, or the Duke of Windsor who brought " Oxford Shoes " to the upper class, men are still quite in love with having a pair of "sweat and blood treasure boots". However, because modern leather shoes originated in Europe and were originally built for European and American foot shapes, for Chinese people, many traditional leather shoes have problems of pressing the instep and grinding the toes, either the width is enough and the toes will be vacant. This is because the early leather shoes mostly came from overseas, which caused the situation of overseas leather shoes being "unacceptable to the local environment" in China.
Only by using Chinese foot shapes to create shoe lasts can you make leather shoes that are more suitable for Chinese people. If you want to understand the feet of our Chinese men better, you have to rely on local brands. Aokang has accumulated more than 3 million foot model data after 33 years of development, has 166 R&D patents, and has joined hands with the "first person in China's shoe last " Master Chen Guoxue to create leather shoes with "comfortability comparable to sports shoes".
In response to the pain points of leather shoes for grinding, stuffing and tiring feet, Aocon deeply analyzes the characteristics of Chinese feet and launches leather shoes that are more suitable for Chinese feet; the "Breathable Series" is a star product developed by Aocon. It adopts a national invention patent called "comfortable and transparent". This black technology membrane penetration technology can make the material of leather shoes reach more than 100 million micropores per square centimeter , which is comfortable and breathable, and keeps the feet dry at all times. It can be called a "foot nemesis". With this, it won the FNAA annual award, known as the "Oscar in the shoe industry" in the world.
It is worth mentioning that Aocon is the only leather shoe brand among the award-winning brands this time, and can win awards on the same stage as leather luxury brands and sports brands such as LV and NIKE. The rise of national trends in recent years is not only a kind of national confidence, but also a ironclad evidence of the improvement of local brands' strength. No wonder under the national trend, not only ordinary consumers, but even celebrities have turned around and become loyal fans of local brands.
htmlOn May 20, Zhang Xinyi and Chairman Aokang launched the launch ceremony of the new product of the breathable series 2.0 in Xingcheng Changsha. During his tenure as the Super Star Promotion Officer, he shared: "I found that the leather shoes of our Chinese are really no worse than foreign brands, and support Aokang." In addition, Luo Yonghao , Hu Bing , Fu Xinbo, He Minghan and other stars also highly recognize Aokang's quality and plant grass breathable series 2.0 leather shoes.
What did Aokang do right?
It is easy to make a pair of comfortable leather shoes, but it is not easy to make shoes that make 700 million men comfortable to wear. After only one year of strategic focus, Aocon has achieved outstanding results. What did it do right?
In fact, it is not difficult to see from the import and export of footwear in my country in recent years that in addition to the import and export of textile shoes and shoes, the import and export of textile shoes and shoes have always had a large trade surplus and deficit in the two categories, which are in sharp contrast.
It can be seen from the figure that due to historical reasons, my country's rubber and plastic shoes and boots have always been the production strength. Not only are they exported in large quantities, but the domestic market is also saturated, and their demand is far smaller than leather shoes. The demand for leather shoes is huge and the supply is insufficient. Relying on imports heavily, leading to the continuous infiltration of foreign big-name leather shoes. Domestic leather shoes companies have been trapped in price wars for a long time, with low product strength, and very scattered brands and markets. Only by focusing can there be a way out.
Deeply cultivated men's leather shoes category, focusing on comfort breakthrough
Aokang keenly seized this window opportunity, decisively made strategic focus adjustments, and changed the brand slogan to "Aokang, more comfortable men's leather shoes". Compared with other local leather shoes brands, it has been transformed into men's leather shoes category, and used "comfort" as a breakthrough for product breakthroughs to innovate products . In addition, the price range of the product is suitable and does not exceed the affordability of ordinary middle-class people; the design also includes classic models and casual models with more lively and fashionable elements, capturing the user group across the largest scale.
According to the 2021 annual report released by Aokang International, the company achieved operating income of 2.959 billion yuan, an increase of 8.06% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was approximately 34.0521 million yuan, an increase of 21.87% year-on-year. "Men's Shoes" operating income was 1.73 billion yuan, an increase of 14.6% year-on-year, and gross profit margin was 41.54%, an increase of 1.32 percentage points year-on-year.
According to the news released by China Industry Enterprise Information Release Center , in terms of domestic market share of leather shoes, Aokang men's shoes market share is 6.79%, ranking first. Performance is the most intuitive barometer. Aokang's performance against the trend under the epidemic proves the initial success of its focus strategy .
A new store image upgrade, accelerating channel layout
In addition to making new surprises in product research and development, Aokang has also put a lot of effort in channels and user experience. The so-called comfortable shoes, only the feet know that leather shoes are different from other clothing categories, and trying on them on the feet is a very necessary part of this category. Therefore, scene marketing is particularly important for the leather shoes business.
Aokang is well aware of this, so it first opened more than 60 new image stores in Zhejiang in the second half of 2021, and plans to expand 200 shopping mall stores nationwide in 2022. As of now, the number of Aokang stores nationwide has exceeded 2,000, making it the king of offline stores.
offline marketing is not only as simple as crazy store expansion, but also needs to be exquisite and in-depth in terms of the image and details of the store. This new image store opened by Aokang is called the "Black Crystal Flagship Store". As the name suggests, it uses black marble as the main design element, with "real leather" as the concept, and is supplemented by dark colors such as wood to convey a warm and comfortable atmosphere, while showing a sense of high-end, in line with the simple and advanced aesthetic of men. The dual creation of
The dual construction of product and user experience has allowed Aocon to occupy the first cognitive echelon of "more comfortable men's leather shoes", but how to stabilize its position and maintain a long-term growth trend depends on Aocon's corporate internal strength.
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In fact, in terms of wearing shoes, ordinary families in China before the reform and opening up were mainly cloth shoes and rubber-soled Jiefang shoes , and only a few families could get in touch with leather shoes.
In a sense, the history of China's local area in mass production and manufacturing of men's leather shoes has only been more than 30 years, and this period coincides with the process of Aokang from its establishment to its development and growth. It can be said that Aokang's development history is the development history of Chinese local men's leather shoes.
It is not a one-day achievement, nor is it present out of thin air, but a "fruit" formed by the comprehensive changes of various factors such as the trend of the times, market environment, corporate strategy, and founders.
When the epidemic in 2020 just started, Aokang also had a dark night of performance decline, but he actively adjusted his strategy and took advantage of the "new national trend" to carry out the strategic focus of "more comfortable men's leather shoes". From cultivating brand awareness to investing a lot of costs in product design and insisting on digital transformation , understanding market demand and timely adjusting product research and development, stepping on the right points in all aspects and aspects, keeping up with the pace, so that the company's boat can move steadily and go far.
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