As customers’ demands for individualized and different clothing purchased online are upgraded, a growing number of traditional brands do not satisfy customers’ demands. Customized clothing is greeted with a huge marketing room.

1-trillion-Yuan scale for customization in China

When people basic needs are satisfied, their consumption mentality is more ample and diversified. In their consumption behaviors, it forms a classical tendency for upgraded consumption in the era namely individuality.

‘As a non-standard commodity and long-tail god, clothing is different from 3C, fast consumable articles and other varieties in e-commerce operation. Customization of clothing would increasingly satisfy upgraded individualized demands in the market.’ According to Yang Yaqiong, analyst in Yiguan e-commerce, brand suppliers tend to choose for initiative participation under supply-sided reform. Online retailing channels would realize connection with terminal demands. With coordination of the entire industrial chain, electronic merchants of clothing would become a pivotal round in integration of industry chain of clothing. It is both a challenge and an opportunity.

Customization is a future trend

With marketing competition being intensified, the industry will hold more anticipation towards the idea that ‘customization would subvert traditional clothing’.

‘Customization is a future trend.’ For Li Chengdong, customization is advantageous in that it has no stocks. The issue of stock is the biggest hassle for all clothing brands, for it not just seizes capital, it also suffers loss from falling price. Reduction sale would affect brand image. In a certain sense, C2B customization might subvert traditional clothing model.

According to Yang Yaqiong, the strategy on customization of el-business clothing is still in its exploration period. Though titans in the industry have done some early attempts, but it’s not yet extended. It is correlated with marketing demands and upstream manufacture development, and calls for coordination of the whole industrial chain. E-business companies need to acquire better capacity for aggregating resources. For competition in the current stage, it has positive impact on brand-building and would facilitate long-term competition adjustment.

According to Li Dongcheng, ‘clothing has gone through transition from multiple selections to brand-based and different ones. Different segmented sectors would create more refined markets.’

So Yang Yaqiong would deem it as test to realize seamless connection of industrial chain coordination, upstream manufacture, brand merchants, retailers and marketing demands. ‘Individualistic customization is an opportunity that electronic development can opt for. Other than clothing industry, other sectors also have customized demands. Realization of individualized customization calls for e-commerce companies with better resource-coordination and integration capacity.