Not long ago, two Hong Kong-listed underwear companies both issued profit warnings. Compared with the first half of last year, An Fangfang’s overall sales fell by about 18% in the same period this year; Metro Beauty (02298.HK)’s net profit fell by 35% to 40%.

Regarding the decline in sales, An Lifei and Metropolis at the same time blamed the slowdown in economic growth on consumption intentions. At the same time, Metropolis also believes that the rise of micro-businesses will have a certain impact on their sales. For the product of underwear, will women suddenly reduce consumption? Will female compatriots really go to WeChat to buy underwear?

Will the decline in consumer demand fall back?

Not long ago, two Hong Kong-listed underwear companies both issued financial report warnings. Compared with the first half of last year, Anfang’s overall sales fell by about 18%. Stores that have operated for more than 18 months also recorded a drop of more than 10 percentage points in same-store sales. , while the number of retail outlets decreased by 30 from the end of December last year. Urban Beauty expects net profit in the first half of this year to drop by 35% to 40% year-on-year.

Another underwear company Huijie shares A shares (32.300, -0.10, -0.31%) forecast in the first half of this year's quarterly report that the net profit will vary from 102 million yuan to 140 million yuan, with a range of -20% to 10%, while Its net profit in the first half of 2015 reached 127 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.53%. Huijie shares said that the reason for the change in performance in the first half of this year is that the new men's underwear brand Qiao Baishi has invested more in skin care products in the early stage.

It is worth noting that the net profit of these two Hong Kong-listed companies increased year-on-year last year. The income of urban residents increased by 23.6% and 27% to RMB 4,953.4 million and RMB 550 million, respectively. Anritsu achieved revenue of HK$2.536 billion in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 6.41%. Excluding foreign exchange losses, net profit reached HK$2.23 billion, an increase of approximately 14% over the previous year.

In fact, in the past five years, the net profit of Urban Beauty has achieved positive growth, with an average annual compound growth rate of more than 30%. For the decline in net profit in the first half of the year, Metro Beauty believes that economic growth has slowed down, consumption has become cautious, overall operating expenses have risen, and the development of micro-businesses. An Lifang also believes that the weak retail environment due to cautious consumer concerns is an important reason for the decline in sales. In addition, the decline in gross profit margin, overall operating expenses and the depreciation of the RMB also contributed to the poor performance this year. condition.

The economy is down, women don't buy underwear optimistic.

The rapid development of micro-business

Relying on the size of the streets around the store, Urban Beauty has a market share of 3.3% in the country, but it has declined due to the rapid development of meager profits? Is the power of micro-business really so great?

A reporter from "Daily Economic News" contacted a micro-business that specializes in ringless bra and underwear brands, and he said, "We found that the factory surface material is the same as the first-line brands, but there are no store opening fees, celebrity endorsements, etc., so the price is higher than Top brands are cheap.

The reporter saw on the brand's official website that the price of bras is between 200 yuan and 300 yuan. The micro-agent told reporters that if you want to become a brand agent, you only need to buy a try, and then pay the agency fee of 300 yuan. If you sell another bra, the agent will earn a net profit of 70 to 80 yuan.

Although it is impossible to know the scale of the underwear company, its development can be seen from the sales scale of its superior suppliers. The "Daily Economic News" reporter found that the underwear micro-business is the largest customer of Kunshan Tengfei Underwear Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tengfei Underwear), a company listed on the New Third Board.

The 2015 annual report of Takeover Underwear shows that the company achieved an annual operating income of 224 million yuan and a net profit of 21.9067 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 83.52% and an increase of 71.04%. Among them, the sales of micro-brands reached 73.2746 million yuan, accounting for 32.65% of the annual sales.

Regarding whether to consider doing business, the executives of Urban Beauty said "no" when interviewed by the "Daily Economic News" reporter. The brand positioning is higher than that of Amway in the city, and Huijie shares will still focus on offline business. Huijie shares stated in its 2015 annual report that in the future, department store direct sales counters will still be the mainstream sales channel.

Yan Hongzhong told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that whether online or offline,

The future must be omni-channel development, "For consumers, the choices will only become more and more abundant.

International big names coveted the Chinese market

Not long ago, Virginia, another Hong Kong stock underwear company, released its 2015/16 financial report. As of March 31, its net profit increased by 39.3% year-on-year to about HK$466 million, and its bust, sports bra and personal underwear business revenue increased by 21.1%. Unlike urban beauty, An Lifang and other direct-to-end consumer underwear businesses, Virginia mainly provides design and OEM business for global underwear business and sports brands. Its customers include Victoria's Secret (hereinafter referred to as Victoria), Bali Island, Maidenform, CalvinKlein, etc.

Compared with the domestic underwear market, the European and American underwear market is more mature. These European and American underwear brands have long been satisfied with the stability of the European and American markets, and are gradually expanding their potential to the Chinese market.

According to media reports, Victoria will open China's first flagship underwear store in Shanghai, directly operated by parent company L Brands. Victoria's retail store in mainland China is run by a Malaysian company and does not sell underwear. It is understood that the Italian luxury underwear brand La Perla and the German underwear brand Triumph will also increase their stores in China and extend to markets outside the megacities.

While the international brands are pressing hard, there are more and more small and beautiful underwear vertical e-commerce development in the domestic market. These vertical e-commerce companies pay more attention to the sense of underwear design, and at the same time, due to the removal of intermediate links, the price is also more affordable.

According to public data, in 2014, China's per capita consumption of underwear was only 169 yuan, far lower than the US, UK and Japan's US$73.9, US$87.1 and US$85. According to the statistics of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, from 2009 to 2013, the sales revenue of China's intimate clothing industry increased from 113.7 billion yuan to 1,944 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.4%. By 2018, China's intimate clothing sales will reach 455.3 billion yuan. , of which about 60% are women's underwear.