Textination Newsline

With a record of nearly 21,000 specialist visitors as well as 350 brands from 200 exhibiting companies, ISPO Shanghai took place as a one-off happening in the Nanjing International Exhibition Center (NIEC) from 29 to 31 July, 2022.

ISPO Shanghai presented the latest trends and innovative products from the areas of camping lifestyle, outdoors and running as well as health and fitness, watersports, climbing, surfing, boxing and yoga in the Nanjing International Exhibition Center (NIEC). The key topics of textiles and technology, sports design, and e-commerce were newly integrated, further strengthening ISPO Shanghai’s position as one of the most important sports and lifestyle trade fairs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Due to the difficult pandemic situation, the meeting of the Asian sports and outdoors community at ISPO Shanghai 2022 took place in Nanjing for one time only. It achieved a new record with 21,000 specialist visitors, reflecting the industry’s determination to present and develop sporting goods and related industries together even in difficult times. For comparison, 17,800 visitors came in 2020, and 19,000 the following year. The many sports professionals and sports fans, as well as up-and-coming sports and free-time trends such as camping, surfing and frisbee, demonstrated the numerous possibilities in the sports market and underlined the fact that even the outdoors sector is booming following the coronavirus pandemic.

The industry discussed innovations and new opportunities at the five big topic forums – namely the summit for the sustainable development of the outdoors industry in the Asia-Pacific region, the trend forum for sports fashion, the innovation salon for the outdoor sports industry, the summit for cross-border e-commerce in the Chinese sporting goods industry and for fitness and rehabilitation.

The main focus was on the topic of sustainability. ISPO has been driving this topic for years: Starting with the “Brands for Good” initiative in 2018, ISPO offers not only a platform for brands’ initiatives on sustainable development, but also actively participates in the discussion about sustainable products and their production.

Tobias Gröber, Executive Director of the Consumer Goods Business Unit at Messe München and Head of the ISPO Group, says: “The urban sports style that we showed at ISPO Shanghai this year, including frisbee, surfing and climbing, is continuing to develop. Seasons and categories are becoming increasingly blurred, which is why we will continue to expand the product segments on our Chinese platforms and pursue a cross-category approach. In future, ISPO will concentrate on expanding its offering and will also include new sports and outdoor topics such as cycling and off-road vehicles.”

The next ISPO Shanghai will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) again in June 2023, while ISPO Beijing 2022 will take place from December 9 to 11, 2022 at the National Convention Center in Beijing.

Checkpoint Systems, a division of CCL Industries, is a global leader in retail solutions. The portfolio ranges from electronic article surveillance as well as theft and loss prevention to RFID hardware and software and labeling solutions. The aim is to provide retailers with accurate, real-time inventory, speed up the replenishment cycle, prevent out-of-stocks and reduce theft to improve product availability and the customer shopping experience.

Textination spoke with Miguel Garcia Manso, Business Unit Director Germany at Checkpoint Systems, where the 44-year-old industrial engineering graduate has been working since 2018. With many years of international retail experience, he knows the needs of the retail industry very well. Before that, Miguel Garcia Manso lived in Madrid for almost 15 years, where he worked for the Spanish food retailer DIA. There he also accompanied the introduction and roll-out of article surveillance projects.

If you had to present Checkpoint Systems and its portfolio to someone who is not a retail professional – what would you say?

We are the retail partner and our job is to help retailers make shopping as pleasant as possible for their customers. Put simply, our solutions ensure that the right product is in the right place at the right time when the end consumer wants to buy it, instead of standing in front of an empty shelf in the worst-case scenario. Our portfolio ranges from individual anti-theft products to solutions that cover the entire supply chain and provide the greatest possible transparency of inventory.

It's been a long journey from the 1960s, when a small team in the U.S. developed a method to prevent the theft of books from public libraries, to becoming the international leader in 21st century article surveillance, operating in 35 countries. What legacy is still important to you today, and how would you describe the spirit at Checkpoint Systems?
 
Both questions have the same answer: On the one hand, innovative strength and, on the other, consistent exchange with the retail industry. Both have been in the focus at Checkpoint Systems from the very beginning. We develop our products and systems in close exchange with the industry, actively seek dialogue, listen to what is needed in everyday life, etc. This is very important to us and is also regularly used as a selling point for Checkpoint Systems. We definitely want to continue this.

You offer hardware and software technologies for retail, which is a very complex market. How do the requirements of retailers from the fashion, outdoor and textile industries differ from those of other industries?

The reasons why retail companies contact us are similar across all industries. They all want to delight their customers, retain them in the long term, and generate more sales. The ways to achieve this may differ: From omni-channel strategies for the fashion sector, to article surveillance solutions for high-priced electrical or cosmetic products, and to RFID-based fresh food solutions for food retailers to reduce food waste.
The requirements of the industries differ, especially when it comes to labels. Depending on the size and price of the product as well as the desired technology, we recommend different labels – or develop them in close coordination with the customer. For the Polish fashion company LPP, for example, we have just developed a special dual RF and RFID tag that blends harmoniously into the store design.

Magic word RFID – the contactless and automated reading and storing of data based on electromagnetic waves is the centerpiece of your technologies. You even encourage your customers to develop their own RFID strategy. What do you mean by this and are you sure that all retail companies will be able to do this on their own?

We develop the strategy together with our customers, usually as part of a pilot project. Until a few years ago, the introduction of RFID technology was actually more complex and usually involved a project lasting several years. Today, however, we can quickly calculate for each retailer in the context of a small pilot project, how much more profitable they can be with RFID and what their return on investment is. We usually start with a store scan, followed by pilot testing in selected stores, including individual training and on-site support. And by the time it is implemented in all stores, the customers themselves are RFID experts and have an understanding of what they can do with the real-time data. 

What does the keyword "customized" mean for Checkpoint Systems? To what extent can you map the individual needs of each customer? Or can you make every retail company – whether chain or boutique – "happy"?

We give high priority to personalized solutions. This concerns, on the one hand, the product itself and, on the other, the size of the company. As you already indicate, large retail chains obviously have different needs than small boutiques. For O₂, Telefónica Germany’s core brand, for example, we have just specially adapted our AutoPeg tags for theft protection. Instead of the standard yellow, the tags for O₂ are white with blue lettering to match the store design.
This also shows the development in the area of article surveillance in general: When article surveillance was still in its infancy, antennas and labels were mainly functional. Nowadays, they blend harmoniously into the overall look of the store design. Retailers no longer have to choose between design and functionality.

How is innovation management practiced in your company and which developments that Checkpoint has worked on recently are you particularly proud of?

In recent months, we have worked intensively – together with the German Employers' Liability Insurance Association (Berufsgenossenschaft Handel und Warenlogistik) – on the testing and certification of our article surveillance systems and now we can proudly say: We are the first manufacturer in Germany whose EAS systems have been tested by the CSA Group, an internationally recognized and accredited provider of testing and certification services. The CSA Group has confirmed that our radio frequency-based EAS systems comply with all standards and guidelines applicable in Germany with regard to exposure to electromagnetic fields. No safety distances need to be maintained.
The background is as follows: Retailers in Germany are obliged to prepare a risk assessment if they use an EAS system. The CE declaration of conformity, which they receive from the manufacturer when purchasing an EAS system, is not sufficient for this purpose. By testing our systems, we have created the best conditions for our customers to make such an assessment. We have also provided the relevant documents to the Employer's Liability Insurance Association.

We are also proud of the fact that we have managed to increase the clearance widths of our NEO antennas for article surveillance from two meters to 2.70 meters. This gives retailers significantly more freedom in store design. In general, store design is also a good keyword at this point: With our free-standing antennas, the design of the NS40 or even the possibility of incorporating antennas into checkout systems, we have contributed a great deal to making article surveillance aesthetically pleasing and harmoniously integrated into the whole.

The Covid-19 period was a disaster, especially for the stationary retail. In recent months, companies have increasingly moved in the direction of e-commerce – whether via individual store solutions or marketplaces – in order to compensate for at least part of the decline in sales. What is your advice to retailers: Can only omni-channel businesses be successful today and in the future?

Yes, that is definitely our advice to retailers. Omni-channel solutions are not going to disappear, but will continue to become more common and will be indispensable in the near future. Retailers are well advised to adapt to this new situation – also regardless of Corona – and to invest in the expansion of functioning omni-channel solutions. Customers expect the product they want, to be available when they enter a store. And if not, that they can easily have it delivered to the same store or shipped to their home. This only works with very high inventory transparency, for example through our RFID solutions.

Keyword: economic efficiency. Creating the much-vaunted personalized perfect shopping experience for the customer costs money, doesn't it? Stock availability, reducing inventories through clearance sales, shelf management, logistics and returns processing – to what extent can you support retailers in increasing their profitability?

NOT creating the perfect shopping experience costs a lot more – dissatisfied customers who haven't found what they want won't come back. To keep up with customer demand, many retailers therefore stock far too much products. In our experience, this amounts to an average of 42,000 items. That costs. These retailers pay high costs for warehouse space, need a lot of time for inventory processes, and end up having to reduce products significantly in order to reduce inventories.
The key to greater profitability lies in inventory accuracy. With the help of RFID technology, we can increase this to up to 99 percent. This allows us to avoid under- or overstocking, reduce the amount of storage space required, and optimize processes, including inventory. RFID can read hundreds of tags simultaneously and is more accurate and faster than manual counting. Experience shows that retailers can increase their sales by an average of three percent with our RFID technology.

Even if the situation in retail has eased to some extent as a result of the vaccinations, the shopping situation in on-site stores – viewed optimistically – also requires special precautions, at least for the next few months. With "safer shopping," you offer a package of various components for this purpose. What does it cover?
 
SmartOccupancy is our simple solution for controlling the number of people in salesrooms in real time. The system counts the number of people entering and leaving using Visiplus 3D, an overhead people counting sensor. When the maximum capacity is almost reached, SmartOccupancy sends an alert to the staff. This allows the staff to respond to current occupancy counts in real time, contributing to a safer environment for employees and customers. Those responsible can use SmartOccupancy to implement official instructions on the maximum number of people safely and reliably; manual counting is no longer necessary. A visual capacity indicator clearly shows customers at the door whether they are allowed to enter the store or not.
The second solution is primarily of interest to the textile and clothing industry as well as the footwear market: Inventory Quarantine is a software solution for secure, automated returns (SaaS-based). It allows retailers to park returned goods in an automated quarantine queue for a few hours. After the pre-defined time has passed, Inventory Quarantine notifies employees via push message that the piece of clothing or shoe can be cleared back to the floor or re-tagged as available in the online store. This means that items are only released when they are deemed safe for resale – while ensuring that items are put back on sale promptly. The solution helps retailers keep track of returned goods and minimize the time when products are not available on sale.

"Ethical consumption has finally become an attitude and has arrived in the middle of society," trend researcher Peter Wippermann commented on the results of the Otto Group's latest trend study "Living More Consciously". What does sustainability mean to Checkpoint Systems as a company, how do you reflect this finding in your product portfolio and how do you support your customers in achieving sustainability goals?

Sustainability is definitely an important topic for us at Checkpoint Systems. We regularly review our products and processes to see how we can work even more resource-efficiently, reduce production waste and lower our CO2 emissions. This also includes, how we can further reduce the power consumption of our antennas. We only develop and sell RF antennas. This technology is not only safer in terms of exposure to electromagnetic fields, but also more environmentally friendly: RF antennas require 40 to 70 percent less energy than other technologies.

For years now, fashion retail has been able to show a moderate but steady growth in sales. However, the share of sales accounted for by online retail is becoming significantly stronger, and consequently that of stationary retail is becoming weaker. In just 10 years, online fashion retail will have a market share as high as that of local fashion stores, according to one of the findings of the study "Fashion 2030 - Seeing what fashion will be tomorrow" by KPMG in cooperation with EHI. "For retailers, the decline in sales in the stationary sector means that they have to reduce their stationary areas," says Marco Atzberger, Managing Director of EHI. A dilemma, because the majority of customers prefer to shop in their local fashion store, despite all the online alternatives.

Textiles, media and electrical goods are currently the categories most frequently purchased online. Consumers believe that online shopping in these categories will also be particularly attractive in the future, although there is also considerable interest in online purchasing of furniture, drugstore and hardware store products.

With sales of 16.5 billion euros, online fashion retail already accounts for 25 percent of total fashion sales, which were around 66 billion euros in 2020. The experts at KPMG and EHI predict that this share will double in the next ten years. The forecasted annual sales of 79.2 billion euros in 2030 are to be divided equally between online and stationary stores. In order to position itself correctly here, the textile trade is facing strategic changes in terms of sustainability and digitization in addition to reductions in retail space. Concepts such as circular economy (recycling) or re-commerce (second-hand) are just as much part of the customer's demands as a smooth (channel-independent) shopping experience or a targeted customer approach.

Online information sources are becoming increasingly important for customers. However, browsing in stores continues to be the main source of information when shopping. One exception, however, is electrical goods - the independent opinion of reviews is the most important source of information here.

Reductions in retail space
As the market share of online fashion retail is becoming increasingly stronger than that of the overall fashion market, there will be a scissor effect for the stationary clothing retail – unless decisive parameters such as store rents change. Permanently reducing the share of fixed costs in the stationary sector can lead to a harmonization of both sales channels and prevent massive cannibalization effects, according to the authors of the study. The reduction in retail space will have the most severe impact on department stores and multi-story formats. Interviews with retail experts show that the retail expects a reduction in space of around 50 percent by 2030 and anticipates shrinkages of up to 70 percent at peak times. However, the current crisis also offers fashion retailers a greater choice of appealing rental spaces and therefore the opportunity to position themselves for the future by strategically streamlining their own store networks, adapting their space and differentiating their concepts to suit their target customers - in combination with smart digital solutions.

Multi-channel approaches are continuing to grow. On the one hand, stationary retailers will increasingly enter the online market; on the other hand, it can be observed that the opening of their own local stores by previously online-only retailers is on the rise.

Shopping experience
For a successful shopping experience, the city centers must be vibrant as well as attractive and should offer entertainment. All of this requires cooperation between all of the local players involved and collaboration with conceptually oriented urban development. To increase the individual customer loyalty and build real trust, fashion retailers must invest more in emotionality and use IT solutions. Whether in-store or online, customers want a targeted and smooth shopping experience, which for retailers means cleverly linking the systems. Availability and finding clothes in the right size also play a significant role in the stationary fashion retail. 42 percent of customers say that they would shop more often in stores, if these factors were guaranteed.

Already today, a concrete shortage of qualified personnel can be observed in certain regions and areas of responsibility. This is likely to become even more severe in the future. The retail’s own qualification measures will increase, and the industry's image will have to be improved.

Despite all technological support, the human being remains the most important factor in retailing - 88 percent agree on this. For 60 percent of consumers, encounters with people in a retail store are becoming increasingly important.

Sustainability
For almost half of the consumers surveyed (46 percent), sustainability is already a worthwhile concept today. This also includes re-commerce and second-hand. 34 percent of customers already buy used clothing, and another 28 percent can imagine doing so. In terms of occasions, a large proportion can also imagine renting clothing. The second-hand clothing trend has the potential to claim a market share of up to 20 percent in the next ten years and therefore to become a significant market segment in fashion retail.

In addition to the sustainability debate, the main factors driving this trend are the digitalization of the "second-hand store around the corner" and the large online fashion platforms that are discovering this market for themselves and making consumers increasingly aware of the models of temporary use.

Laws and regulations as well as increasing pressure from stakeholders have contributed to the growing importance of sustainability. However, the consumer goods sector attaches greater importance than other sectors to the aspect of being able to achieve a reputational gain through a sustainability strategy.

When it comes to the circular economy or rather the recycling of raw materials from used clothing, many companies are already involved in non-profit initiatives and research projects to develop the relevant technologies. In 2030, also due to legal initiatives, many clothing items will probably be made from recycled textile raw materials or fibers, which would substantially shorten the supply chains. "Automated fiber recovery, increasing unit labor costs in the Far East and fewer used textiles, this is the starting point for a perspective revival of textile production in countries close to Europe as well as in Europe itself," says Stephan Fetsch, Head of Retail EMA at KPMG. Although circular economy does not yet play a major role due to the current limited availability, it shows great potential: 28 percent have already purchased recycled textiles, and over 50 percent are positive about it.

Customers believe that retailers and manufacturers are responsible for sustainability. They, on the other hand, would like consumers to initiate the upswing of re-commerce by changing their behavior. New compliance guidelines will have an accelerating effect on the development of the re-commerce market.

• Update on the economic situation of the industry
• Supply availability secured for the next half-year
• E-commerce wins in the crisis
• Sector survey of the Association of the German Down and Feather Industry VDFI and Traumpass e.V. on the occasion of the Corona crisis

The corona pandemic not only poses great challenges for each and every one of us, but also for our businesses as an industry. The decisions of the Federal Government and the federal states to close down shops and restrict freedom of mobility have hit the predominantly medium-sized down and feather industry hard, not only on the sales side, but also through their trading partners. The declining demand was compounded by the industry's international dependencies within the supply chains, since the filling material, the covers and the packaging materials are largely imported. The closure of the borders within Europe and the overall tense global logistics situation contributed significantly to the worsening of the situation.
 
In the past few days, the federal and state governments have started cautious attempts to ease the contact bans and to revive the economy with a sense of proportion. The opening of shops and the continuation of business activities prompted the down and feather associations to question the status quo of the sector with an extensive survey.

Although the companies named significant losses in their turnover, they currently still got off relatively lightly compared with other sectors. Two thirds of the companies stated that they had suffered up to 25% sales losses due to the corona crisis. Approximately 17% reported a decline of up to 50%, the ones with same percentage were much harder hit with a decline of up to 75%.

On the occasion of Heimtextil in January 2020, the association's sector statement had described the position of the specialised trade as still stable from the bedding manufacturers' point of view: By expanding the range of services, such as cleaning down and feathers or refilling existing bedding, the local store was increasingly becoming a point of contact for consumers. Supporting the advisory competence and the deployment of sleep experts made an impact. This picture has changed significantly as a result of the contact ban:

The clear loser in terms of demand on the various sales channels, caused by the shop closures, was the traditional retail: 92% of the surveyed manufacturing companies registered declining demand for the retail trade, 90% for the furniture trade and 80% for the specialty stores. Even for the discounters, whose opening hours were not affected, 33% noted a drop in demand; 44% estimated the demand situation as unchanged. The winner in the crisis was the e-commerce, although perhaps to a lesser extent than expected: 45% of the German down and feather producers recorded an increase in demand, 36% estimated the level as unchanged.

In terms of supply capability, the industry in Germany considers itself as well positioned: Two thirds see no bottlenecks for the fulfilment of closed contracts within the next three months, and the majority also offers free capacities beyond that. And 55% guarantee this ability to deliver even for the next six months, including the satisfaction of additional requirements.

While 2019 was a year of consolidation for the German down and feather sector and, after difficult months with sharply increased raw material prices, a calming down on a high level prevailed, good results from the previous year were maintained and, in some cases, even increased, the assessment for 2020 is much more pessimistic.

As far as the price situation for the coming autumn/winter season is concerned, member companies were correspondingly cautious in their forecasts.    
The unresolved and in some cases very fragile situation in the supplier countries currently not allows to make reliable statements. At the earliest in late summer, a well-founded opinion can be obtained. Especially since 45% of the companies expect to be confronted with requests for price reductions.
 
The down and feather industry is a professional when it comes to hygiene. The highest purity requirements are placed on down and feathers: Before being used as filling material, they must be cleaned by thorough water washing and dried at a temperature of at least 100°C, usually higher. This ensures that bedding meets the hygiene requirements of European Standard EN 12935 with reliably killing bacteria, viruses and other germs. In addition to the applicable standards, the companies have taken additional precautions to protect employees, trade partners and consumers.

In addition to the intensive workplace and hand disinfection, which all manufacturers have increased, the companies focused particularly on the equalization of the workforce. 73% designed home office workplaces for employees outside production, 45% introduced strict shift separation, two thirds shifted working hours and changed the use of common rooms in order to have as few employees as possible in the company at the same time and thus minimized the risk of infection. At the same time, many companies started the production of mouth and nose masks and made their sewing facilities available for this purpose. A list of the manufacturing companies is available from the Association of the German Down and Feather Industry VDFI e.V.

With the start of the lockdown, the German government had announced extensive financial aid, which focused on bridging payments for small businesses, granting loans, short-time work and tax deferrals. Improvements had to be made for small and medium-sized enterprises. In the recent weeks, the sector has not primarily addressed the question for bridging loans nor reducing the interest burden; emergency aid in the form of financial injections and non-repayable grants was also of interest only to one third. The majority of the association members concentrated on measures to secure liquidity (45%), tax deferrals and the suspension of advance payments of VAT (73%) as well as the changeover to short-time work (73%) and the accelerated processing and granting of short-time work compensation (45%). Also, two thirds requested binding statements on the easing of the contact ban and on the economic upturn.

An update on the industry survey is planned for late summer 2020.

After just a few seasons (since the founding of MBFW), Berlin has established itself as one of the top 5 fashion sites worldwide with up to 70,000 visitors, more than 30 fashion shows during the Fashion Week as well as numerous trade shows, events and showrooms.
In 2018, around 200,000 people came to visit the Fashion Week, further fueling the city’s economy with up to 120 million euros. The broad range of Berlin’s fashion sector offers everything. from high-end couture and tailoring to eco-fashion and streetwear, from single pieces to collections. Green Fashion and Upcycling are becoming increasingly important; more and more fashion labels in Berlin concern themselves with production according to ecological standards. Neonyt as well as other major trade shows are showcasing numerous brands of the Eco-Portfolio.
 
 

MBFW

In July 2019, MBFW will showcase its fashion-focused, approachable concept according to the new claim „Follow MBFW – Focus Fashion“. Within the modern and digital format that successfully launched in 2018, Mercedes-Benz and creative agency NOWADAYS band together to further strongly promote Berlin as fashion location and offer an attention-drawing platform for upcoming designers as well as established fashion brands to present their collections twice a year. The collections for Spring/Summer 2020 will be presented at ewerk located in Wilhelmstraße, Berlin-Mitte. With its raw industrial look, the location offers excellent conditions to create an authentic atmosphere where high-end fashion is the centre of attention. Within the new concept, MBFW focuses on remarkably staged presentations by a selected number of designer labels and brands in one location. Fashion interested end-consumers have the chance to watch all MBFW shows live at the forecourt of the venue or follow via digital channels like the website www.mbfw.berlin or on Instagram: @MBFW.berlin.

Monday 1.7.2019 – Wednesday 3.7.2019
LOCATION ewerk Berlin
Wilhelmstraße 43
10117 Berlin
CONTACT buero@mbfw.berlin
WEB  www.mbfw.berlin    

PREMIUM INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PLATFORM FOR ADVANCED CONTEMPORARY FASHION

Begun in January 2019, the focus this season continues to be on the restructuring of the halls. The goal is to amalgamate the theme areas more precisely and make it easier for visitors to gain an overview, as well as to inspire them and appeal to their emotions. The exhibitors will present key looks rather than huge collections.On top of this we see the recurrence of a trusty PREMIUM theme: sustainability. As a result of this, there will be no plastic in the catering areas; a strong focus on rubbish sorting; and specific promotion of eco-brands.

PREMIUM has been the leading trade show among the most important international trade events since 2003, as well as the most relevant business and networking platform for advanced contemporary fashion. PREMIUM continually aims to inspire, strengthen business relationships and promote discussion across disciplines. B2B services are constantly being perfected and developed together with the key players in the industry.

Tuesday, 2.7.2019, 10am–7pm
Wednesday, 3.7.2019, 10am–7pm
Thursday, 4.7.2019, 10am–5pm
LOCATION STATION-Berlin
Luckenwalder Strasse 4–6
10963 Berlin
CONTACT PREMIUM Exhibitions GmbH
 +49 (0) 3062 908 50
 info@premiumexhibitions.com
WEB www.premiumexhibitions.com
www.facebook.com/PREMIUMBERLIN
www.instagram.com/PREMIUMBERLIN
www.twitter.com/PREMIUMBERLIN    

PANORAMA BERLIN
PANORAMA EXPEDITION

PANORAMA BERLIN is the groundbreaking meeting point for decision makers in the fashion and lifestyle business. Since its premiere in January 2013, it has become one of the most relevant European fashion platforms and, as the leading trade fair for Berlin Fashion Week, represents a comprehensive overview of national and international women & menswear.
Twice a year, together with the Tradeshow for Quality Garments SELVEDGE RUN & ZEITGEIST and the sustainable fashion show XOOM, PANORAMA BERLIN is an "all-in-one event" for international brands, which are divided into various sectors: smart formalwear, casual and sportswear, contemporary styles, denim, heritage and streetwear, accessories and shoes as well as sustainable fashion and lifestyle products.
Following the realignment in January 2019, PANORAMA BERLIN will be taking place from 2 to 4 July 2019 under the motto "BERLIN VIBES" and will focus on the topics of infotainment, eventisation and matchmaking. The concentration continues to target brands with relevance and clear messages. More sophisticated presentations, trend capsules and limited editions, which can only be found in Berlin, stage fashion in an exciting lifestyle context. From furniture to beauty products: In new, central concept store areas in halls 1 to 4, brands and products are presented in a new exciting relationship, providing a wealth of inspiration in terms of presentation and composition. Under the motto "Knowledge to go", PANORAMA BERLIN will be presenting a wide-ranging lecture program with leading keynote speakers in the Retail Solutions Hall on a wide range of future topics relating to international trends in retail, marketing, e-commerce and digitization.

Tuesday, 2.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Wednesday, 3.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Thursday, 4.7.2019, 9am–5pm
LOCATION PANORAMA BERLIN
ExpoCenter City
Eingang Süd/Jafféstraße
14055 Berlin
CONTACT PANORAMA Fashion Fair Berlin GmbH
+49 (0) 3027 595 604 0
office@panorama-berlin.com
WEB www.panorama-berlin.com
www.facebook.com/panoramafashionfairberlin
www.instagram.com/panoramafashionfair

 SHOW & ORDER X PREMIUM
TRADE SHOW FOR FASHION, LIFESTYLE & EXPERIENCE

Thanks to the special department store concept, SHOW&ORDER X PREMIUM is different to other trade shows. Buyers gain inspiration and stories not only from the family atmosphere, but also from the spacious Experience Floor. In addition, the Beauty Lounge will be there again: the place to go to enjoy a quick freshen-up during the hustle and bustle of Fashion Week. It’s not just the KÜHLHAUS itself that has lots to offer again in July 2019 – the Outside Area, too, will be equipped for hot summer days with a beach lounge, bar and mouth-watering catering. Trade show for fashion, lifestyle & experience Over six partly open, gallery-like floors around 200 fashion brands will be exhibiting alongside beauty products, interior and design pieces, stationery, books, art, music, fragrances and magazines, as well as innovative food concepts, located in various experience spaces on the different floors of the KÜHLHAUS. The building is situated on the STATION-Berlin premises very close by to PREMIUM.

Tuesday, 2.7.2019, 10am–7pm
Wednesday, 3.7.2019, 10am–7pm
Thursday, 4.7.2019, 10am–5pm
LOCATION Kühlhaus
Etage 1–5
Luckenwalder Strasse 3
10963 Berlin
WEB www.showandorder.de
www.facebook.com/ShowandOrder

#FASHIONTECH BERLIN

#FASHIONTECH BERLIN, held twice a year during Berlin Fashion Week, is the leading tech conference for the fashion industry, discussing topics around digital transformation, innovations and disruptive technologies. Featuring keynote presentations with international experts on stage (#LISTEN!), interactive masterclasses to boost your specialist knowledge (#LEARN!) and the Exhibition Area, where visitors will be introduced to the latest developments, products and innovations on the market (#EXPERIENCE!), #FASHIONTECH Berlin has evolved to become a leading European content hub for technology, digitalisation, sustainability and innovation.
#FASHIONTECH BERLIN also creates the stage for interdisciplinary exchange between different industries. The networking areas give visitors the opportunity to network with the speakers, industry insiders and entrepreneurs, as well as to seek out new business partners and generate business leads. Since digitalisation has affects every aspect of modern lifestyle, FASHIONTECH BERLN is looking into the latest trends that shape our lives.

TOPICS OF OUR TIME IN THE ERA OF DIGITALISATION

• DIGITAL BUSINESS
• STREET CULTURE
• E-SPORTS & GAMING IN FASHION
• SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Thursday, 4.7.2019, 10am–6.30pm
LOCATION Festsaal Kreuzberg
Am Flutgraben 2
12435 Berlin
CONTACT Michael Stracke
hello@fashiontech.berlin
WEB www.fashiontech.berlin
www.facebook.com/FashionTechBerlinConference
www.instagram.com/Fashiontech_berlin/
www.twitter.com/fashiontechber

FASHIONSUSTAIN BERLIN

Technology, sustainability and innovation are important drivers of the fashion and textile industry that will revolutionize the sector and its processes and production methods. On Wednesday and Thursday, 3/4 July 2019, the international conference format Fashionsustain is dedicated to precisely these topics.
The up-coming edition of Fashionsustain will be dedicated to the subject of water – from microplastics to water stewardship. Highprofile speakers from innovative companies will be presenting visionary approaches to help preserve this vital resource. In addition, the summer edition of Fashionsustain focuses on retail. This involves margins, assortments, collections, POS solutions and the communication of sustainability issues.
And the topics discussed on the conference stage will be brought to life in the “Showcase of Change” exhibition area. But taking place before that, from 1 to 2 July 2019, is the Thinkathon – a space for open dialogue and creative thinking processes. Fashionsustain is part of Neonyt, the global hub for fashion, sustainability and innovation (2 to 4 July 2019) – organized by Messe Frankfurt.

Wednesday, 3.7.2019, 10am–6pm
Thursday, 4.7.2019, 10am–6pm
LOCATION Kraftwerk Berlin
Upper level
Köpenicker Straße 70
10179 Berlin
CONTACT Falco Fuchs
Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH
+49 6975 755 938
falco.fuchs@messefrankfurt.com
WEB www.fashionsustain.com
www.facebook.com/FashionSustain
www.instagram.com/fashionsustain.berlin 

SEEK – A COMMON GROUND FOR INDIVIDUALS IN FASHION

The concept of the Trade Union, which was developed by SEEK Director Maren Wiebus and her team, will continue and will be polished from time to time.        
The bringing together of pioneers and industry visionaries will continue to have its dedicated space for promoting discussion, inspiration and food for thought. SEEK goes charity again! After the overwhelming success of the first initiative with One Warm Winter in January, SEEK and the Berlinbased NGO are planning to collect sneakers for the homeless this summer in front of the location during the show, but also before and after by collaborating partner stores. The project is supported by Sneaker Freaker.
Many reasons to celebrate: 60th birthday of Alpha Industries, 100th birthday of Champion and Farah plus a special Event OVERKILL x ASICSTIGER x SEEK Block Party Vol. 2 Fashion. Trade. Show. Each season, SEEK, the Voice of Street Culture, presents selected streetwear and urbanwear pieces that translate the current lifestyle trends for the industry. SEEK stands for democracy and fairness, clarity, friendliness and honesty, in keeping with the motto of “what you see is what you get”. The focus is on carefully selected style tribes that embody the modern zeitgeist and guarantee SEEK’s visitors valuable inspiration.

Tuesday, 2.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Wednesday, 3.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Thursday, 4.7.2019, 9am–5pm
LOCATION ARENA Berlin
Eichenstrasse 4
12435 Berlin
CONTACT info@seekexhibitions.com
WEB www.seekexhibitions.com
www.facebook.com/seekberlin

SELVEDGE RUN & ZEITGEIST

The show will be all about quality and trust.
After the successful merger with Panorama Berlin, the architecturally impressive hall at the south entrance of the Berlin Expo Center is the new home of Selvedge Run & Zeitgeist. As an integrated part of Panorama Berlin, the tradeshow for quality garments and crafted goods presents a unique exhibitor mix of the latest streetwear topics, which are highly relevant for the market, such as: denim, craft, current and outdoor. The brand list of Selvedge Run & Zeitgeist includes international iconic and heritage brands and distinctive products, some of which can only be seen in Europe exclusively in Berlin.
In July 2019, Selvedge Run & Zeitgeist will again be the hot spot for the community, offering a meeting place with like-minded people and food & drinks to discover the best quality brands and meet buyers from all over the world. In the integrated "Marketplace" you will find curated concept brands that can be ordered as well as bought directly.

Tuesday, 2.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Wednesday, 3.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Thursday, 4.7.2019, 9am–5pm
LOCATION PANORAMA BERLIN
ExpoCenter City
South Entrance/Jafféstrasse
14055 Berlin
CONTACT info@selvedgerun.com
+49 (0) 3027 595 604 0
WEB www.selvedgerun.com
www.facebook.com/selvedgerun
www.instagram.com/selvedgerun
www.vimeo.com/selvedgerun

NEONYT – GLOBAL HUB FOR FASHION, SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

Changing fashion together. Through collaboration, communication and entrepreneurship. That is the vision of Neonyt, the global hub for fashion, sustainability and innovation.With its hub concept, Neonyt combines the most important elements of the fashion industry – style, business, inspiration, knowledge, fun and community – in a neo-new way. The hub is made up of the Neonyt Trade Show, the conferences Fashionsustain and the design-thinking format Thinkathon, showcases, the influencer and blogger event Prepeek, networking events and, last but not least, the Neonyt Party.
The Neonyt Trade Fair will present a good balance of leading brands and newcomers – from contemporary, casual and urbanwear to denim, streetwear and sportswear down to business outfits. In addition to men’s, ladies’ and kidswear, the assortment of products on show also includes outdoorwear, shoes, accessories, jewellery and beauty. Neonyt is organized by Messe Frankfurt.

Tuesday, 2.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Wednesday, 3.7.2019, 9am–6pm
Thursday, 4.7.2019, 9am–5pm
LOCATION Kraftwerk Berlin
Köpenicker Straße 70
10179 Berlin
WEB www.neonyt.com
www.facebook.com/Neonytberlin
www.instagram.com/neonyt.berlin

• E-commerce to grow by 17 percent in 2018

Berlin (GTAI) - E-commerce in the Netherlands is expected to grow in 2018. The most popular products are media and entertainment. Strong growth was recorded in the food trade.
The Dutch online food trade is gaining momentum, and high growth rates are expected for 2018. Customers also look beyond the borders and shop abroad. However, the online shops with the highest turnover are in Dutch hands.

Dutch people are very open to new technologies. In 2018, around 97 percent of the population (16.8 million people) will have an Internet connection. On average, the 13.9 million online shoppers spend EUR 1,242 a year. In 2018, e-commerce revenue will grow by around 17 percent to EUR 26.3 billion. This is predicted by an investigation of the organization Thuiswinkel. Already in the first quarter of 2018, EUR 6.3 billion were spent online, an increase of 13 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The last quarter of a year with the holidays (Christmas, Santa Claus and Black Friday), in which 30 percent of the annual sales are taken place, is always very promising.

According to the Portal Commercenews online trading amounted to EUR 22.5 billion in 2017, up 13 percent from 2016, accounting for 9.7 percent of the total retail sales, which grew by only 4.2 percent. The e-commerce boom was followed by new company foundations: around 9,200 new webshops were established, but 5,400 were closed too. Most of these webshops also have foreign markets in their view.

Laptops are most commonly used for online purchases, but mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular. 2017 was marked by growing mobile commerce (m-commerce), a further increase is expected in 2018. After all, the country has more mobile devices than inhabitants (110 percent).

Not only the web shops benefit from the booming e-commerce. The Dutch Post is also pleased about the growth. Their e-commerce revenue is estimated at 42 percent of total revenue in 2018 (2017: 34 percent).

Food is bought more frequently online
Demand is focused on the media and entertainment sectors, where some 8.5 million purchases were made in the first three months of 2018. Food and near-food products (goods that are not food but are also available in supermarkets) were in demand in the first quarter of 2018, 42 percent more than in the same period of last year. Although their share of total purchases is still low, experts are already forecasting 3.7 percent in 2018 after 2.9 percent in 2017, when the sales exceeded EUR 1 billion for the first time. The purchases were mainly made at the large Albert Heijn and Jumbo supermarkets. The third important market Picnic, which only operates online, wants to expand into Germany and has already started a pilot project in the Düsseldorf area.

The Albert Heijn supermarket is about to make it even easier for its customers, to receive goods even when they are not at home. It is testing a so-called intelligent key (smart door lock) from Nuki. Customers can use their mobile phones to control who enters the apartment in their absence. By this this way he can let the delivery service in after his call..

Buyers are usually satisfied with their online purchases. Nevertheless, they fear that the goods are not clearly enough illustrated and described, as well as difficulties in returning them and their costs. Web shops can score points if they offer free shipping and fair return options.

The thrifty Dutch also compare when buying on the Internet. According to Ecommerce Foundation, 60 percent look around at multiple merchants before deciding, 53 percent use websites that compare prices or products, half consider other users' reviews on the web and only 8 percent buy spontaneously based on advertising or social media ads (multiple answers possible).

Dutch spend more and more abroad
Around 3.8 million Dutch people bought from foreign webshops in 2017, spending rose by 28 percent compared to the previous year. In 2017, they spent around EUR 1.5 billion on webshops in the European Union. Also Chinese sites with favorable offers are popular. Around EUR 248 million were invested in shops such as Aliexpress, Banggood, Dealextreme, Geekbuying, Gearbest, MiniIn TheBox. The most popular countries were China, the United Kingdom, Germany and the USA.

The most popular payment provider on the Internet is iDEAL. Around 95 percent of customers use the Dutch online payment system, in which several local banks are involved. Its market share is an impressive 57 percent. In 2017, the number of transactions via iDEAL grew by almost 34 percent. Foreign webshops have also joined the system: About one third of the payments went to them.

Source: Ecommerce Foundation

Many Dutch retailers among top online shops
Many of the most successful online retailers are Dutch companies. Bol, the local online seller with the highest turnover, was able to grow because large e-traders such as eBay or Amazon were not yet present in the Netherlands. Bol developed from a project of the German Bertelsmann Group with a focus on books and DVDs, but is now in Dutch hands and has considerably expanded its offering to other product groups. In 2012 Bol was acquired by the Ahold Group.

The Rotterdam-based company Coolblue launched an online store in 2000. Subsequently, several web shops were opened, each focusing on one product category. A stationary business was added in 2005. Coolblue today sells mainly consumer electronics, white goods and fitness equipment and is the second largest online retailer. The company is known for its excellent customer service.

Wehkamp began as a mail order company in 1952 and sold all articles via its Internet platform before 2000. The Internet pioneer has developed slowly, but has recently invested heavily in order to survive in the Dutch top league.

Like eBay in Germany, Marktplaats.nl in the Netherlands is the marketplace for second-hand goods. Google Shopping achieved strong growth in 2017. The portal is also expected to become the most important comparison portal in the Netherlands in a short time.

• Sales of Kitchens and Beds is outperforming
• E-commerce puts pressure on the Sector

Paris (GTAI) - Furniture sales in France rose sharply in 2017 for the third year in a row, although the record level of 2011 has not yet been reached. This is reported by the association FNAEM in its annual balance sheet and refers to the close connection with the booming housing market. This also should push the furniture sector in 2018.

After growth rates of 2.4 and 2.3 percent in 2015 and 2016 the French furniture market has again achieved a stable growth of 2 percent in 2017. According to the FNAEM Federation (Federation française du negoce de la ameublement et de equipement de la maison), the market developments are closely linked to the housing and real estate markets. According to the association, every third furniture purchase was made by a household that has moved within the last 24 months.
 
In 2017 16 percent more homes were built in France compared to the previous year. By the end of October 2017, the real estate market also had also registered 16 percent more transactions. The FFB (Federation française du batiment) expects a strong total construction activity again but with a slight decline of 2.5 per cent in the construction of new housing in 2018.

The development of the overall economy and the political environment also have a strong influence on the furniture market. For example, the presidential elections and the change of government in France led to an initial uncertainty among consumers and delays in the awarding of public contracts. Sales of furniture initially developed weakly in the first half of 2017, but then all the more dynamically.

Source: IPEA (Institut de prospective et d'etudes de l'ameublement)

Most strongly grew the kitchens segment in 2017, whereas in recent years in particular bedroom furniture led the sales. Kitchens are particularly benefiting from the improving housing market and a continuing trend in French households to pay more attention to kitchen equipment.

Fitted kitchens gain market share
According to an analysis by the market research company IPEA (Institut de prospective et d'étes de l'ameublement), only 60 percent of households in France have fitted kitchens, much less than in other Western European countries (Germany: around 80 percent). This difference promises good growth rates for this segment for years to come.
According to the market researchers, the gap between the well-running segment of sofas and armchairs over benches is increasing in favor of upholstered furniture. Above all, folding sofas, which are always offered cheaper, continue to make competition to banks.

Other home furniture such as tables, chairs or chests, which continue to make the majority of the market, were, according to the FNAEM association, unable to make up much ground in retailing compared to kitchens and beds in 2017. Also, in 2018, according to the association's expectations, there will be no signs of recovery. According to FNAEM at most the online trade should continue to grow in the home furniture segment.
The sales of garden furniture benefited from warm weather periods in spring 207, which extended the sales season. According to IPEA bathroom furniture could not fully benefit from the upturn in the housing market in 2017. The business often depends on the hardware stores, which often promote low-cost products. Installers would have sold less bathroom furniture in favor of heating systems.
 
Good sales forecasts for beds
The bedroom segment, the leader in growth in recent years, has developed less strongly in 2017. IPEA attributes this to a tougher competition with more price promotions. Lower prices had slowed the sales despite good volumes. The buyers continue to ask for larger beds sizes with a width of 160 cm.

According to a study by the market research firm Xerfi, the bedding segment is expected to grow steadily by 3.3 percent per year until 2019, supported by the housing market and higher disposable income. French consumers would also exchange their mattresses now more often. According to the trade Frenchmen buy a new mattress every 14 year, whereas this happens in the US every eight years. The association of the mattress industry calls 13,5 for Germany.

Retailers operate multichannel strategy
However, the competition in the bed and mattress market is growing, above all due to the success of e-commerce. Online mattress suppliers such as Casper from the USA (with production in Germany), Tediber and Ilobed from France or Simba and Eve Sleep from the UK have launched massive advertising campaigns in France. According to estimations of the providers, they now have reached a market share of about 5 to 6 percent in the mattress segment.

The stationary trade with furniture stores like Ikea, Conforama or But and the bed specialists Maison de la literie, Compagnie du lit or Litrimarche defend themselves against the pure on-line offerors. All major retailers now operate a multichannel strategy, meaning that they try not only to sell in their furniture stores but also via their own online channels. At the same time the shops are upgraded by events, more advice or more frequently changing exhibitions.

Leading in France are the large furniture stores Ikea, Conforama and But. Market leader Ikea claims a market share of 19.4 percent in 2017. Conforama and But did not publish any shares for 2017 but came to 16.1 and 13.4 percent respectively in 2016. According to estimates by IPEA, online commerce accounts for a total market share of around 12 percent. Half of this is accounted for by pure online providers and internet sales by conventional, previously purely stationary, providers.

Ikea aims for a 10 percent online share in France. Conforama claims to already generate 10 percent of its sales via the Internet. However, the company also offers entertainment and household electronics. Of the online furniture purchases, 82 percent are still being picked up at the stores. Conforma wants to do justice to this with additional furniture markets in the low-price segment. At the same time, other sales rooms should be created in which new furnishing ideas will be presented.

Source: IPEA

Conforama joined the French online pioneer Showroomprive.com in 2017 as an investor, hoping to gain expertise in online marketing. Due to the impending bankruptcy of the South African parent company Steinhoff Conforama sold its shares in early 2018 to the supermarket chain Carrefour.

However, the company intends to take advantage of the increased customer interest in the bedding segment with a new high-end store chain under the brand "Il etait une nuit" and is buying additionally more smaller bed houses. The chain But was for a long time for sale until it was taken over in mid-2016 by the third largest furniture retailer Lutz from Austria together with financial investors.

• Retail consolidates 
• Market leader LPP continues to expand

Apparel and footwear sales in Poland are rising by around 5 percent annually. An increasing proportion of sales is generated online. The German discounter chain KiK is spreading successfully. There are market niches for high-quality fashion from Germany. The leading domestic retail chain LPP is expanding at home and abroad. It not only invests in new designs but also in the online segment. The retail structure is becoming firmer.

The Polish retail trade in clothing and footwear is consolidating. The number of stores drops by about 1,000 a year. The main reason, according to the daily Rzeczpospolita, is the growing online trade. For large retail chains, active in both local and virtual trading, this trend is not negative: they are even opening up more traditional sales stores and increasing their sales.

*) Estimation

Source: Market research Company PMR

Small businesses do not have these options. They have difficulties to survive in the tough price competition and are in part pushed out of the market. Additional competition is coming d from discount and hypermarkets that are further broadening their apparel range. These include not only large grocery chains such as Biedronka, Tesco and Lidl, but also the specialized textile discounters Pepco with almost 780 and KiK with over 200 clothing stores. They are also pursuing further expansion plans.

*Forecast

Source: Euromonitor International

According to a report by the market research firm Gemius apparel and accessories form the product group that Internet users most frequently order on the net,. By contrast shoes occupy only the seventh place. In Poland, however, only a few percent of the sales of clothing account for the Internet. The growth potential therefor is still considerable. Large companies could double their online sales annually.

Source: Gemius

So far, auction platforms have played the biggest role in online apparel purchases, according to Instytut Badan Rynkowych i Spolecznych (IBRiS, Institute for Market and Society Research) in a survey of Internet users for Rzeczpospolita..

Source: IBRiS

LPP opens 50 sales salons

Notwithstanding the e-commerce boom, the leading retailer LPP, which includes the brands Reserved, Mohito, Cropp, Sinsay and House is continuing to expand its retail space. This contains already a total of just over 1 million square meters. By mid-2017, LPP owned 1,710 stores in just under 20 countries. In September, the company from Gdansk opened the first Reserved boutique in the United Kingdom on London's Oxford Street. LPP revenue increased on a zloty basis in by 17% in 2017 to almost EUR 1.7 billion.

LPP wants to expand further in 2018, according to its Deputy Chairman Przemyslaw Lutkiewicz. The chain plans to open around 50 new sales stores at home and abroad. New markets are to be developed: Kazakhstan, Israel and Slovenia. In the future, LPP wants also to be represented with its most important brand Reserved in Paris and Milan. In addition to an internet shop since mid-2017, the company already operates 19 sales salons in Germany.

LPP is constantly bringing new products to market. According to its chairman, Marek Piechocki, the company aims to have 2,000 people working on its research and development (R & D) projects by the end of 2018. That would be a number of 800 specialists more than in autumn of 2017. The research and development budget should be increased to EUR 48 million and will be used especially for the design of new clothes.

So far, 810 fashion designers have been designing around 40,000 garments annually for LPP. The shops are staffed by 40 architects and coordinators. About 250 programmers introduce new technologies, especially in the field of e-commerce. LPP wants to triple the number of IT experts in a medium term. In fall of 2017 the share of online sales of LPP brands was 4 percent. It should even double by 2020.

Premium brands are increasing

The Spanish company Inditex with its brands Zara, Oysho and Pull & Bear is not missing in any shopping center in Poland. It should therefore continue to expand there as well. The Swedish H & M is developing not only its online business but its retail business as well and will open a new store in Tychy in March 2018.
In view of the increasing employment rate and the purchasing power of the Poles, the sales opportunities for high-quality clothing from Germany are also rising. Among other things the potential can be seen in the domestic Grupa Vistula, which increased the Polish retail space of its elegant brands Vistula, Wolczanka, Deni Cler and W.Kruk in 2017 by 9 percent to almost 33,500 square meters. Additional space is added on a franchise basis. The men's outfit Bytom, whose merger with Vistula persist in persistent rumors, is expanding its trading base.

Footwear company CCC is growing abroad

The Polish shoe group CCC, consisting of the largest domestic shoe manufacturer and the operator of the CCC retail chain, generated revenues of more than EUR 984 million in 2017. This was around EUR 235 million more than in 2016. The stationary CCC stores earned EUR 796 million (+24 percent on a zloty basis).
The group wants to expand accordingly. Among others seven stores should be opened or expanded in Austria in 2018 while three new branches will be set up in Croatia and Slovenia. CCC operates more than 900 shoe stores in 16 countries, including 77 in Germany and 45 in Austria.
In September 2017, CCC secured EUR 127 million from investors for the expansion of its online activities through the issue of new shares at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In some markets, such as Greece, CCC is exclusively virtual on a customer hunt. In Poland e-commerce is also picking up its speed: the online business of the eObuwie.pl group increased its revenue in 2017 by 111.5 percent over the previous year to more than EUR 142 million.

• Japan replaces Germany as the most important supplier of textile machines
• Digitization is the trend of the future

Beijing (GTAI) - China, the largest apparel export apparel nation, is losing international market share due to rising personnel costs. The companies react with increased automation and production dis-placements. While imports of textile machines from Japan are gro-wing, deliveries from Germany are falling above average. The next wave of modernization will involve more digitization.

Internationally, the PRC is by far the largest exportation nation of clothing. According to UN Comtrade after decades of ascent the peak seems to have crossed in 2014 with a record share of global clothing exports of 39.3%. Since then things are developing slowly but continuously downwards. In 2016, the Chinese share was estimated to be 37.1% (compared to 3.8% in Germany).  China loses market shares particular in favor of ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh or India. 

1) from 2014 estimation of world export; 2) based on information provided by partner countries; Source: UN Comtrade

Domestic textile machine manufacturers catching up

In fact, the Chinese textile industry is under considerable pressure because of the increase in personnel expenses. According to a Euromonitor study, the hourly wages of Chinese workers tripled between 2005 and 2016 from USD 1.20 to USD 3.60. Thus the People's Republic not only left classic emerging countries like Thailand ( USD 2.20 ) or Mexico (USD 2.20) behind  - not to mention USD 0.70 in India - but is already approaching individual European countries like Portugal (USD 4,50).

More information (in German) on wages and salary costs in China can be found at:
http://www.gtai.de/GTAI/Navigation/DE/Trade/Maerkte/Geschaeftspraxis/lohn-und-lohnnebenkosten,t=lohn-und-lohnnebenkosten--vr-china,did=1718070.html

Many companies face the challenge by greater automation. The Chinese textile companies can increasingly rely on textile machinery made in the country itself. While in 2016, according to official statistics, investments in the sector rose by 8.5% year on year to Yuan 1,142.4 billion (RMB, around USD 172 billion, 1 USD =6.642 RMB, annual average price in 2016), imports of textile machinery fell by 12.5% to USD 2.8 billion. However, there are no statistics on the extent to which sales are distributed by purely local companies or to those with a foreign background.

The fact is that, for example, German textile machine manufacturers have invested heavily locally in recent years in order for being able to meet the needs of their local customers. Against this backdrop, Germany was still able to defend its top spot with an import share of 29.5% against Japan in 2016, but had to cope with a strong minus of 30.6%, while the Japanese increased by 5.8%. Italy, ranked third and the most important Europe an competitor recorded a drop of 16.1%.

Source: China Customs, GTAI calculation

In the current year 2017, however, the Japanese seem to take the rank of the competitor Germany with an increase of 51% in the first four months. The overall textile machinery import grew by a strong 19.7% after the weak previous year before. Import from Germany however did not benefit from this and fell by 8.9%. As a result the German share of machinery supply decreased from 29.5% (2016 as a whole) to 25.0% in the first four months of 2017, while Japanese companies increased their share from 26.9% to 31.9%.

Source: China Customs, GTAI calculations

Production shift continues

Many Chinese textile companies are also thinking about a dislocation production - either to cheaper foreign countries or to the more favorable Chinese hinterland. In 2016, the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang became the main destination for new settlements in the western part of the People's Republic. On average, two new textile factories were opened every day in Xinjiang.

The regional textile industry office in Xinjiang is expecting an even greater run for 2017, thanks to massive political and financial support. Many jobs however are not created there. On-site visitors report about state-of-the-art facilities operated by only a few specialists. The political message is clear: Chinese textile production should remain in the country, be of a higher quality and, if necessary, be reoriented in the direction of technical textiles.However, at least private fashion manufacturers are skeptical about whether the politically favored "Go-West" actually pays for them. Because there too, wages are likely to rise sooner or later, according to the justified Apprehension.

The fact that Vietnam, Bangladesh, South Korea and Cambodia have entered the league of important PRC purchasing countries within a few years is a result not least of the fact that Chinese (and other) manufacturers already have dislocated production capacities. They return their products from there for sale to China.Nevertheless, the very large displacement wave so far has not yet happened. In fact, certain limits are imposed on the shift, since the target countries often encounter their capacity limits. Added to this is the extraordinary advantageous network of the various production stages in China: from cotton harvesting to textile processing and final finishing.

Future theme digitization As part of the country-wide "Made in China 2025" strategy, the textile industry is trying to exploit the many and new opened possibilities of digitization. In view of the increasing individualization of consumption, more machines will probably be required in the future, which are, for example, able to knit sweaters according to the size, color and pattern of the individual customer. In principle, intelligent networking of production, real shops and e-commerce are seen as the challenge of the future.

• No longer just milk powder demanded 
• Internet important sales channel

The easing of the one-child policy in China will probably not bring the expected baby boom. Nevertheless, the market for baby products is very interesting for foreign suppliers. Because Chinese parents trust these more than domestic products and they are willing to spend money on imports. After this has been already the case with milk powder, now household appliances, furniture, care products for babies and expectant mothers are in the focus. The internet is very important as a sales channel.

Between 17.5 million and 21 million babies are expected to be born every year in China, according to the forecasts of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) within the next five years. This provides a large market for products needed for baby care and for pregnant women. Also baby seats for cars, prams and furniture from abroad are being sought as well.

According to iResearch market research the total sales of products for pregnant women, mothers and babies amounted to RMB 2.3 billion in 2015. (approximately USD 360 billion; 1 USD = RMB 6.39 as an annual average). The growth rate of 25% is expected to weaken in the future, but the demand is still growing strongly. Despite the fact that the birth rates are hardly rising, the "little emperors" are pampered with pleasure. Quality and security promises are the decisive factor for foreign products in the urban middle class.

Quality and safety speak for foreign products 

The share of sales thru the Internet is steadily growing. More than 15% of purchases for the little Chinese are already made via the network. By 2018 the proportion is expected to grow to 23%. This is what market analysts have found out together with the second-largest Chinese online portal JD.com. Furthermore, the per capita purchases are highest in the prosperous coastal provinces. But, for example, mothers in Sichuan in the south-west also spend over RMB 1,000 per year for their offspring.

With China's size, new brands hardly can accomplish a successful market appearance. But the Internet provides a valuable platform and is used by expectant mothers to get information and also to purchase. Leading are the platforms of the Alibaba Group, for example Tmall and the competitor JD.com. There are also specialized shopping portals such as bleibi.com, mia.com and gou.com, as well as social media channels such as WeChat and Internet forums for expectant mothers (e.g. mama.cn or Babytree).

*) from 2016 forecasts
Source: iResearch, JD.com

Alibaba announced in its financial statement about cross-border Internet shopping for 2016, that baby products are already the third largest import category. In recent years this segment has grown considerably, in 2016 imported goods stood already for more than one-fifth of baby products sold on the Tmall and Taobao platforms.

Cross-border trade in baby products is booming

While in the past foreign milk powder brands were in high demand, now bottles, baby seats and care products for mother and child are now in the focus of online shoppers. Chinese milk powder still enjoys little confidence following a large scandal with contaminated milk powder in 2008.

The online trade however also was overshadowed in 2016 by scandals involving counterfeit products, mainly re-packaged milk powder came into circulation. The government therefore is watching the boom in overseas e-commerce with mixed feelings and consumers are becoming more cautious.

In recent years’ diapers, also have been ordered especially from abroad (especially from Japan). While these two categories continue to account for more than half of the sales, baby bottles and child seats experienced explosive growth in 2016. In addition, the mothers like to order cosmetics and personal hygiene, which will not hurt the growing life. This applies in particular to natural cosmetics.

In 2016 the leading countries of origin for online imports were Japan (19.3%), USA (18.3%) and Korea Rep. (13.6%). But Germany was already on fourth place with 8.0%. Particularly popular with "made in Germany" were kitchen equipment (including kitchen appliances), milk powder, baby food and food supplements.

*) HSPos. 9619 Sanitary napkins, tampons, diapers for toddlers;
Source: Chinese Custom

*) HSPos. 1901.10;
Source: Chinese Custom