E-Commerce Violent Impact on Home Textile Industry

Li Cuihua, a merchant in the market of Jinan Sankongqiao cloth, has been doing retail business for home textiles and cloth raw materials for the past 10 years, and it is now working hard.

“Business was not very good last year. With the decline of the hotel industry this year, many of the original big curtains and bedding products have no business. If you simply rely on scattered customers, you will definitely lose money this year,” said Li Cuihua. Many merchants have stated that the situation this year is very bad, the price of raw materials for fabrics has risen, and the market sales have fallen a lot. Facing the difficult situation of the traditional home textile industry, three textile giants, Rolli Home Textiles, Fu Anna, and Meng Jie Home Textiles, took the lead in transforming the sales model and gradually shifted their sales focus to the e-commerce channel. “The home textile industry has now formed a big brand era. Many brand-name products gradually abandon the traditional sales model, shut down physical stores, and sell products through e-commerce channels, and have achieved unexpected surprises. Therefore, the future of traditional Chinese home textile companies will be in the e-commerce industry. The competition in the field is extremely fierce, and more small and medium-sized enterprises that produce and sell home textile products will face extremely severe challenges, said Luo Jingli, an analyst at China National Textiles.com.

The transformation of traditional textile enterprises is difficult. Many companies and merchants, like Li Cuihua, who are engaged in the production and distribution of traditional textile products, have had a hard time this year.

A person in charge of the textile industry in Gaomi City told reporters that the high-density textile industry this year because of the impact of the international economic situation, sharp decline in foreign trade export orders, there have been a number of small businesses closed. “These small enterprises engaged in the production of home textiles, towels and other series of textile products are subject to restrictions in terms of funds, talents, regions, models, and sales channels. Once faced with the fracture of the capital chain and the impact of the new situation, they will be under-prepared. The ability to withstand risks is poor and it is fatally blown."

Luo Jingli said that the number of textile companies advertising on their websites in the first half of this year decreased by 10%. Wang Ming, general manager of Jinan Violet Home Textiles Sales Co., Ltd., told the reporter that they also saw the great advantages of current e-commerce. “We have been particularly hard hit by e-commerce, especially the impact of the big environment on retail sales. As a small business in the home textile industry, I hope to transform e-commerce, but it is very difficult, such as entry barriers, the cultivation of new brands, This is a luxury for us, so we are now at a very sad crossroads.” Wang Ming is very worried about the company's performance this year, I hope the transformation of e-commerce to reverse the situation in the future. The e-commerce channel has become a new competition point. “Intensifying industrial competition and declining sales statistics of physical stores have prompted enterprises to compete more vigorously on e-commerce channels,” said Pi Shiming, director of public relations at Mengjie Home Textiles. Yang Zhaohua introduced that from January to May this year, the sales of bedding products decreased by 9.1%. At the same time, sales of Tmall home textile products increased by 110% year-on-year.

“According to the data on the website, the top ten home textile brands have now entered the e-commerce field, and with the change of sales channels, e-commerce has become an important channel for corporate marketing.” Luo Jingli believes that through Taobao, The sales of Tmall, JD.com and others are extremely fierce. A set of four-piece bed products, the price in the physical store to more than 1,000 yuan, some of the prices on the Internet are only 30% off physical stores, in order to puerile, attracting more consumers.

Yang Zhaohua said that tracking more than 200 companies this year, found that the end of the bedding business in April, the offline store performance fell very fast, contrary to the expectations of many brand companies, and some of the decline reached 50%, indicating that the terminal problem is very serious . “The decline of terminals has further exacerbated the competition for e-commerce channels by enterprises. As long as it is a capable home textile company, it will focus on e-commerce,” said Yang Zhaohua.

“Next year is a very important year for the textile industry. How to pass through the channels and maintain sales growth in a healthy competitive environment is the most important thing for companies to survive. Who can stand out in the e-commerce competition and who It will win the future," Luo Jingli told the reporter.