Pure Silk Fabrics Peak season is off peak

    Last month, the normally bustling Hongcheng Market in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, was exceptionally quiet, with only a handful of customers seen in front of shops displaying the "sale" sign. There was no trace of the "golden September??silver October" sales phenomenon this year in either the garment wholesale??retail sectors.



Desperate measures are needed in desperate times,??shops have decided to splash out on promotions??incentive sales, while reining in wholesale orders.



"Our sales in the first 10 months this year dropped over 20%. Annual sales will be down by about 2 million yuan," said the manager of garment??shoe producer, Qipilang Shoes' Jiangxi sales office. Hit by the financial crisis, many garment production enterprises are facing maj losses.



At Luoma Fashion Square, which houses 148 garment wholesalers??retailers, Wei Shenggen, General Manager, was discussing measures countering the flat market??dwindling sales in company with a number of shop owners. He said, "in the midst of the financial crisis in China, the garment industry bears the brunt of the storm."



Wei added that??personal observation??feedback??shop owners, traffic flow at Luoma Fashion Square has been dropping since May??June, with sales falling significantly.



Traditionally, November is the busiest month in the garment industry f sourcing winter??spring clothing??is also the "harvest" season f shop owners, but the market now remains flat??the peak season no longer peaks.



Coupled with the unfavourable macro-economic environment, the abnormal weather in Jiangxi Province this year is causing even more hardship to the garment market. According to the Regional Manager of Marketing f Xstep's Jiangxi sales office, the weather is even more damaging than the financial crisis.



He said, "this year the temperature has hardly dropped??sales of fall/winter clothes are far??satisfactory. Sometimes when the temperature shoots up, the shops even have to dig out their summer stock f sale while most of the fall/winter clothes are piled up in the warehouse."



Shop owners go into action



Shop owners have taken their lead??market conditions, reducing sourcing in order to avoid the risk of being left with surplus products, while some garment enterprises no long set annual sales targets f their sales divisions.



Promotion is seen as more crucial, with many shops in Nanchang's Shengli??Zhongshan Road sales areas displaying signs offering discounts, special sales??"buy one get one free" strategies, cutting their margins to boost sales.



"Sales at Hongcheng Market can maintain the Rmb15 billion level of last year," said one manager. No shops have been forced to close down as a result of the financial crisis yet, but shop owners are nervous.



To help shop owners overcome the downturn, the industrial equipment manufacturer Hongda Group is also increasing its advertising??publicity efforts on their behalf.



source: hktdc.com