The essence of competition in lingerie is the insight into consumer demand, and the end game of competition is respect and reverence for the market. To win the final battle and become a "national brand", lingerie brands must put the market first and respect and fear consumers. A national brand is a brand that understands Chinese women better and is able to meet the needs of the "greatest common denominator" of consumers.
1
Lingerie Offensive and Defense
From 2016 to 2023, the lingerie melee did not end, but rather intensified.
In 2024, it is finally possible to observe the Chinese women's lingerie market more calmly and objectively. The raging new consumers are still strong, but they have slowed down and sank; the old brands have also reacted from the defensive position and started various changes such as rejuvenation and digitization. The situation is no longer one-sided, both sides began a tug-of-war.
One, income and consumption frequency enhancement, promote the rapid growth of the industry, to the industry has brought the opportunity of scale.
According to the forecast of relevant consulting organizations, China's women's underwear market size exceeded 194.7 billion in 2023, and the CAGR is expected to reach more than 4.2% in the next few years. National per capita income level to support the overall upgrading of consumption, directly boosting the consumption frequency and unit price of just-demand categories, China's women's lingerie market size will continue to maintain the growth trend.
Second, the lower market concentration for all brands to create share opportunities.
According to the "2023 Women's Lingerie Industry Consumption Trend Research Report" (the "Report") released by China Textile Business Association Lingerie Committee, Yibang Think Tank, and promostyl, the CR5 of China's women's lingerie industry in 2021 accounted for only 8.9%, and the proportion of underwear in per capita apparel expenditure was only 10%, significantly lower than the concentration and expenditure level of developed countries.
Third, China's lingerie market still has more room for improvement and upgrading.
In any industry, where consumer demand lies is where the market space lies, and there is a vast demand for upgrading consumption in the lingerie market. At present, women's underwear in terms of size, function, quality and other aspects of good and bad. For example, some online brands focus on a single category, with a single function that only meets part of women's needs; some lingerie manufacturers are caught up in low-price and disorderly competition, with insufficient control over fabrics and quality; and sizes are not standardized among different brands, which increases the decision-making cost for consumers.
Behind these issues are unmet consumer needs, on the one hand, the demand for quality, on the other hand, the need for industry standardization. To stand out in the more intense competition between the old and the new, products and brands that better meet consumer needs are needed.
2
The battle for consumers
The essence of competition in lingerie is insight into consumer demand, and the end game of competition is respect and reverence for the market. The Report shows that the premise of the current fierce competition in the lingerie industry is the rapid development of the industry as a whole, which is due to the fact that China's lingerie industry is ushering in a period of prosperity and development driven by the composite of new consumer groups, new consumer demands and new consumption patterns.
Chinese consumers' demand for lingerie has changed. For example, the demand is more diversified, driven by the improvement of women's quality of life and the demand for personalization of consumption, the lingerie market categories continue to broaden and deepen, showing a diversified and differentiated development trend. According to incomplete statistics, women's underwear subcategories can reach more than 200 kinds.
Industry insiders said: "After entering the 90, 95 after becoming the main consumers of the era, women's underwear consumerism has undergone some important changes, from the original just need and sexy consciousness-led to pay more attention to the transformation of their own feelings. At the same time, women are more concerned about realizing the value of the self, aesthetic convergence from the masses tends to be more different from the personality."
This means that in order to win the final battle and become a "national brand", lingerie brands must take the market as the first priority, and have enough respect and reverence for consumers. National brand is a better understanding of Chinese women, better able to meet the diversified needs of consumers brand.
3
Conclusion
A few years ago, a popular saying, "the future of all industries, will be used to Internet thinking and means, redo again." In recent years, new consumption is hot, and the essence of new consumption is the Internetization of the consumer industry, and so is the underwear industry. But Internet thinking is never exclusive to new consumer brands, but equally open to all enterprises.
