Sold over 27 billion yuan in half a year! Is there a split in men's clothing consumption?

With the A-share semi annual report closing, men's clothing brands will be released for the semi annual exam. Old men's clothing brands such as Baoxiniao, Seven Wolves, and Nine Shepherds, which often appear in shopping malls, have seen a significant boost in performance in the first half of this year. Does this mean that male consumers, who were once jokingly referred to as the "bottom consumers" in terms of purchasing power, are now becoming "marginalized"?

Multiple men's clothing brands saw growth in performance in the first half of the year

Yagor, Red Bean Corporation, and others saw a double decline in revenue and net profit

Zhongxin Jingwei searched the performance of 11 men's clothing listed companies in the first half of 2023, with a total revenue of over 27 billion yuan in the first half of the year. Among them, 7 companies achieved a double increase in net profit attributable to shareholders and total revenue in the first half of the year. For example, the net profit attributable to the mother of King Jiumu increased by about 2.5 times year-on-year; The net profit attributable to shareholders of Baoxiniao, Seven Wolves, and Kute Intelligence all increased by over 50%; Hailan Home and Biyin Lefen both achieved a net profit increase of over 30% attributable to the parent company.

Some people are happy while others are worried. In the first half of the year, the revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders of Yagor, Red Bean Group, and Meier Ya both decreased. Among them, Yagor's revenue and net profit both decreased by more than 30%. Meier Ya's net profit attributable to shareholders was a loss of 17.2441 million yuan, with a loss increase of 176.74%.

Regarding the decline in performance, both Yagor and Red Bean have stated that the company's clothing business revenue has increased year-on-year, and the overall revenue has been affected by the decline in non clothing business revenue. Meier Ya stated that due to the slow recovery of terminal consumer demand, the company's clothing business sector has not shown a significant recovery trend; However, the pharmaceutical chain retail business has performed poorly overall due to intensified competition in the pharmaceutical market it belongs to.

Some clothing brands that sell both men's and women's clothing have seen higher sales of men's clothing than women's clothing in the first half of the year. For example, Meibang Clothing, a subsidiary of Metersbonwe, has seen higher revenue from men's clothing than women's clothing in recent years. In the first half of this year, the revenue from men's clothing was 245 million yuan, more than twice that of women's clothing, accounting for 43.84% of the total revenue; The gross profit margin is 33.72%, which is 5.12 percentage points higher than women's clothing.

According to the first half of the year financial report of Taipingniao, its brand Taipingniao men's clothing revenue was 1.365 billion yuan, slightly higher than Taipingniao women's clothing revenue, accounting for 38.18% of the total revenue. In the first half of the year, Taipingniao's total revenue decreased by 14.19%, and men's clothing was the only brand among all to maintain revenue growth. In addition, the gross profit margin of men's clothing brands is also the highest among all brands in the company, with fewer stores than women's clothing. However, in the first half of the year, there were 72 stores opened, which is higher in number than women's clothing.

Has male consumption power become more fragmented?

Mr. Yang from Beijing purchased two sets of business and leisure clothing at the beginning of this spring, mainly for business trips and social gatherings. "This year, we have had more business trips with other cooperating units than before, and there are also more occasions where we tend to wear formal attire. I haven't purchased this type of clothing for two years, so I want to prepare some this year so that I can easily replace it during business trips."

Behind the improvement in men's clothing performance is the recovery of consumer demand since the beginning of this year. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China in the first half of 2023 were 22.76 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. Among them, the total retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and needle textiles in the second quarter were 683.43 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.8%.

Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, told China News Service that the demand for business travel has recovered since the beginning of this year. In addition, with the continuous development of the economy, men's consumption concepts are gradually changing, and the emphasis on quality and image is increasing. This has also promoted the growth of the men's clothing market.

Cheng Weixiong, founder of Shanghai Liangqi Brand Management Co., Ltd., pointed out in an interview with China News Service that the performance growth of men's clothing this year is normal. "In the first half of 2022, many companies' performance was at a low level, and this year's performance growth is normal. If it is still in a growth state compared to 2019 before the epidemic, that is the true growth."

According to a query by Zhongxin Jingwei, among the men's clothing brands that saw a double increase in revenue and profit in the first half of this year, the revenue of Seven Wolves was slightly lower than the same period in 2019; The net profit attributable to the parent company of Hailan Home is slightly lower than the same period in 2019; The net profit attributable to the mother of Jiumu Wang in the first half of 2023 was 92.4192 million yuan, far lower than the 325 million yuan in the same period of 2019.

"In the past three years, the epidemic has had a huge impact on the footwear and clothing industry, especially in offline retail and logistics. For men's clothing, the consumption habits of the male group are different from those of women, and the frequency of purchasing new clothes is relatively low. This year, there have been more scenarios such as business travel and sports, and some male consumers have not purchased such clothing for a long time, which has concentrated the release of demand, which is beneficial for brands that meet these needs." Cheng Weixiong analyzed.

Previously, Wu Zhize, Chairman of Baoxiniao, stated at the shareholder meeting that the clothing market has entered stock competition, and even reduced competition. However, there is still a demand in the market for business men's clothing, and companies should pay more attention to their own development than to the external environment. Bao Xiniao also stated in the semi annual report that although clothing consumption has recovered in the first half of the year, the overall operating pressure is still significant, and the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises is gradually declining, and the industry concentration will further increase.

Industry: Homogenization is still severe and requires multiple transformations

Although several men's clothing companies are currently performing well, there is still a situation of product homogenization and urgent transformation. Cheng Weixiong stated that compared to female consumers, the demand of male consumers has not changed much, and the homogeneity of men's clothing brands is more severe. In addition, multiple footwear and clothing companies have the problem of "emphasizing marketing over research and development".

Taking some men's clothing companies as an example, the R&D expenses of Hailan Home in the first half of this year were 104 million yuan, and the sales expenses were 2.091 billion yuan, which is about 20 times the R&D expenses; The R&D expenses of Yagor are 65124300 yuan, and the sales expenses are more than 21 times that of Yagor; The sales expenses of Seven Wolves are nearly 10 times the research and development expenses. However, the R&D expenses of the aforementioned companies have all increased year-on-year.

"At present, the homogenization problem of men's clothing brands is not only reflected in product styles, functions, fabrics and other details, but also in prices and marketing strategies. Some enterprises lack high-quality development in order to seek scale." Cheng Weixiong said that the clothing industry is not only a business, but also a reflection of lifestyle. In the future, enterprises need to transform from multiple aspects, convey understanding of lifestyle, and convey brand culture.

Can men's clothing brands continue to grow in the second half of the year? Jiang Han believes that men's clothing will continue to grow. "With the growth of consumers' demand for personalization and customization, the men's clothing market will also pay more attention to personalized and differentiated development, which will provide more opportunities for brands."

"In future development, if a brand wants to stand out, it needs to pay attention to several aspects: first, the cultural and historical inheritance of the brand, creating a unique brand image and culture; second, improving the personalization and differentiation of products; third, improving brand awareness and influence; fourth, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty." Jiang Han said.

Cheng Weixiong believes that from a global perspective, the second half of the year will be a more important period for the men's clothing industry. "The market has now started selling early autumn clothing, and the second half of the year is the peak season for autumn and winter clothing sales, which has a greater impact on corporate performance. In the first half of this year, most companies did not decline, which is a good opportunity, indicating a trend of industry recovery in the second half of the year."