Mall News: Why Does The Millennial Generation Like Japanese UNIQLO?

Whether it is complying with the trend of branding or providing better quality products at cheaper prices, UNIQLO is winning the favor of young urban people with its unique design philosophy.

However, UNIQLO still needs to find ways to avoid repeating the mistakes of Gap in the US. Fortunately, UNIQLO has enough time to explore how to expand its business in the US market.

In 1984, Uniqlo was founded in Hiroshima, Hiroshima. The name "UNIQLO" is "unique clothing store" - a rather ironic name for a garment maker.

A person can wear products from socks to cardigan, instead of claiming to be a fan of the brand.

In a label and brand oriented industry, such anonymity seems to be unsuccessful.

But now, UNIQLO has more than 2000 stores in 15 countries.

Its owner, Tadashi Yanai, is Japan's richest man and its parent company, Fast Retailing, is one of the world's five largest apparel retailers.

Although UNIQLO has only a small number of stores in the United States, but for certain specific young, urban, professional and practical consumer groups in the United States, UNIQLO's basic funds basically occupy their wardrobe.

In the coastal cities of the United States, UNIQLO stores in Boston Newbury Street, New York SoHo district and San Francisco Union Square are always crowded with customers.

UNIQLO's popularity is partly due to costs: because of its low price, the retail price of jeans is $40, and the price of the Hoodie is $30, the brand's down jacket is priced at $70. UNIQLO is often used to compare with other fast fashion brands such as Zara and H&M.

Zara is trying to regenerate the latest fashion trend for the masses: Balenciaga recently launched a sports shoes with a thick bottom price of 795 US dollars, while the similar style was priced at $34.99 at Zara.

H&M is a one-stop fashion product -- velvet trousers, beaded sweater, sequins, suspenders skirt shop, but because of its low price, it is easy to be outdated because of good replacement.

UNIQLO does not pursue the trend.

Its styles - multifunctional black trousers, reliable shoes, crisp cotton socks - can be bought year after month, month after month.

We can use Gap to make an analogy. In the heyday of the 1990s, Gap completely changed the American retail industry by making the basic dress cool, but the company eventually became a victim of its own success.

Steve Rowen, executive partner of Retail Systems Research, told me: "when Gap tries to develop from reputation to every shopping mall in every town in the United States, the brand loses its edge."

Gap clothing became synonymous with outskirts of parents.

Although UNIQLO is trying to reduce the slack of khaki trousers and the slack shirt, no one is willing to re-enter the Gap, especially when you can buy cheaper basic clothing in UNIQLO.

UNIQLO now faces the question of whether it can inherit Gap's "destiny" and avoid repeating the same mistakes.

To do this, it must persuade consumers across the country to accept a very radical view of the fashion industry: outdated and affordable.

UNIQLO has benefited from changes in American society. Some of these changes seem to have nothing to do with fashion at first glance.

When the millennial consumers enter the job market, they can provide their jobs and bear more student debt, which makes many of them spend less money on clothes.

(they have also entered a working environment that is more suitable for casual clothes than ever before: in the places where they used to wear suits, nowadays, denim, button shirts, jeans and hoodies are enough.

This frugality has led to a cultural pformation, in which the costumes of costumes are no longer popular.

Jan Rogers Kniffen, a retail consultant, told me: "we are experiencing the extinction of brand identity. No one wants to advertise and promote specifically for any brand. UNIQLO customers are following this trend."

The shift of these ideas has opened up a gap for the US market, and companies such as UNIQLO, rooted in the history of Japanese aesthetics, are fully capable of filling this gap.

Hirotaka Takeuchi, a professor of Harvard Business School, specializes in UNIQLO. He told me: "in the west, clothing is related to status and status."

In Japan, clothing is traditionally more standardized.

Until the late nineteenth Century, even though the influence of the West became more prevalent in Japan, Japanese people of different ages and classes were still wearing kimono generally. Only kimono was different because of the ability of the wearer to afford exquisite cloth or embroidery, but the western rich showed their status in exquisite fashion style. This signal is much more subtle.

Takeuchi thinks that UNIQLO introduced this old Japanese fashion concept into the US market.

This is not to say that people who buy clothes in UNIQLO do not care about their appearance.

The company realizes that customers may not want to buy pants at high prices, but they do want their pants to fit.

The casual pants you bought in UNIQLO certainly didn't cost $200 in high-end clothing stores.

But because UNIQLO provides free tailoring services, it may not look like it was bought at a cost of only 40 dollars.

The company may be sensitive to the financial situation of its customers, but it is also sensitive to their wishes.

It also provides silk shirts and cashmere sweaters.

In recent years, Alexander Wang, Jun Takahashi, Tomas Maier and Jil Sander have launched the limited edition design with the company. Obviously, they hope to get the next generation of fans now.

UNIQLO certainly enjoys this kind of cooperation because it shows that the leaders of the advanced customization industry also appreciate their cheap socks and T-shirts.

Quality is not a typical feature of fast fashion products, but UNIQLO has a reputation for durability.

Takeuchi told me that the United States felt that the brand similar to UNIQLO was L.L.Bean.

Considering that this long history retailer in Maine has always provided customers with regular flannel and canvas boots, this may seem odd.

But the similarity that Takeuchi considers is mainly embodied in philosophy rather than aesthetics.

L.L.Bean lets their customers believe that the products they buy will be with them throughout their lives.

UNIQLO can not guarantee that its products will also achieve this kind of life. But in a time of one off fashion, UNIQLO clothing made of high-quality materials and timeless cutting style can also give people a sense of investment.

"In a sense, it's like a modern version of L.L.Bean," Takeuchi said.

In addition, UNIQLO has used a series of symbolic technologies in its clothing.

The feather clothing has adopted "super light down" insulation material. It is said that this down garment can reduce the volume and facilitate the packaging without sacrificing warmth. At the same time, it also has the technology of moisture absorption and sweating for various products socks, underwear, underwear, bottomless trousers and tights. It makes them more comfortable and more flexible than the competitors.

In Asia, UNIQLO is everywhere.

The brand has more than 800 stores in Japan, and according to UNIQLO's own estimate, its total market share in Japan's clothing market is about 6.5%.

In recent years, the growth of the brand's international business has mainly come from other countries in the region, including Mainland China, Hongkong, Taiwan and Korea.

If UNIQLO wants to achieve its leading position in the US, it needs to expand its business significantly.

A few years ago, Liu well planned to achieve $10 billion sales in 200 stores in the United States by 2020, but at present, the company's more than 50 stores in the United States are in a state of loss.

Won-Yong Oh, a professor of retail research at University of Nevada, said: "compared with H&M or Zara, their performance in the US market is somewhat poor, and UNIQLO's brand awareness is relatively low.

Many Americans have never heard of UNIQLO or do not know how to pronounce the name of the shop.

This may be an opportunity to give a good first impression.

But as UNIQLO learned when landing in the US, the first impression is hard to grasp.

UNIQLO, the first three stores in the United States, was located in a shopping mall in New Jersey, where the company soon encountered several obstacles, including body size (on average, American consumers were taller and fatter than Japanese consumers). It closed them in a year.

UNIQLO continues to struggle in the rural market.

Rowen, Retail Systems Research, said he thought the company should pay close attention to the city because it was the place where it could achieve the greatest success because its core customers were there.

This will also help it avoid the fate of Gap.

Gap is not the only competitor facing UNIQLO in recent years.

J.Crew has seen a decline in sales as a result of customers' complaints about their peculiar beauty and the high price of medium quality products. Old Navy, which belongs to a parent company with Gap, although its sales are strong, its clothing is known for its vulgarity and flimsy. Madewell and Everlane provide a relaxed and elegant appearance, though the price is slightly higher.

For those who are a little more generous, XXX's own luxury brand Theory can provide simple and well tailored products, which are less attractive than similar brands.

Considering the size and international strength of fast retailing companies, it has the power to not make UNIQLO too tough.

"It can do anything that we want to do," Kniffen said. "It's a big healthy company."

Although UNIQLO has been flat in the US, its operating income outside Japan increased by more than 62% in 2018, while its profit grew by only a little over 25%.

There is still time for UNIQLO to subvert the idea of interaction between quality, style and status.

Author: Xi Tang