With the overall consumer environment under pressure and e-commerce traffic peaking, major e-commerce platforms are facing considerable pressure. According to the e-commerce financial report, Alibaba both revenue and profits declined, JD.com lost 3 billion in the first quarter, and Vipshop although active member users increased by 37%, the revenue situation also showed a downward trend.
As the e-commerce industry as a whole enters an inflection point, Vipshop, which focuses on the special sales market, is facing a question: Does the special sales market have any future? The answer to this question can actually be found in TJMaxx on the other side of the ocean.
TJMaxx is hailed by the founder of Starbucks as "the most stable and powerful clothing retailer in the United States." According to its data, in the fourth quarter of last year, TJMaxx's revenue reached US$9.5 billion. Currently, TJMaxx’s market value has reached US$60 billion. You know, as a veteran retail giant, Sears only has a market value of US$30 billion, and TJMaxx can be called the biggest dark horse in the US retail market.
There are many similarities between TJMaxx in the United States and Vipshop in China, but there are also big differences. Similarly, TJMaxx and Vipshop are both discount retailers, and they target big-name authentic products. In the TJMaxx store, you can buy Coach shoes for $20 and Fendi ear bags for $999. At Vipshop, you can buy big-name clothing and brand products at 30% off.
In addition, TJMaxx and Vipshop are both handmade. The most important responsibility of TJMaxx's more than a thousand buyers is to search for "a variety of distinctive designer brands" for limited-time sales. Vipshop has more than 2,000 buyers and plays the role of linking brand suppliers. However, Vipshop’s limited-time sales are online, while TJMaxx’s is offline.
The biggest difference between the two is that TJMaxx is more recognized in the United States. Since the 1990s, the American consumer market has entered the era of rational consumption. Millennials have paid more attention to sex and price comparison, and discount retail has risen rapidly. When Vipshop was founded, it was the time when the domestic retail environment was in the ascendant, and the overall consumer market was in a period of barbaric growth.
As time goes by, the transformation of Vipshop has begun. In this year’s mid-year sale, Vipshop released a strong signal. Vipshop stated that this year’s Mid-Year Sale Festival will increase the number of brands participating and the supply of non-wearable products. Non-wearable categories such as daily necessities and beauty products will participate in the category rotation period as key categories. In other words, Vipshop is working hard to expand its boundaries, and its flagship products are no longer limited to wearable products.
User consumption concepts have also undergone tremendous changes in the past two years. Consumers no longer blindly pursue luxury goods, blind consumption and impulsive consumption, but pursue cost-effectiveness and service quality. The domestic consumer market is gradually becoming more rational. Whether the
sales market has a future in China needs to be verified by time and the market. However, it is foreseeable that as Vipshop continues to expand its product categories and penetrate into the brand product supply chain, the user group is no longer limited to a single female user, and the user's mentality has changed from "cheap" to "super value", and Vipshop has stepped forward. The road will only get better and better.
