Li Gezhuang's wig is indeed a global business
According to data released by the Taobao platform in March 2019, "wigs" became the number one overseas transaction in 2018, with an average of one wig sold every 2 seconds, with an annual turnover of 1.5 billion yuan. In the same year, the sales of
wigs in South Africa, Nigeria and other African countries increased by 300%, and the sales in European countries also increased by more than 50% compared with 2017. This shows the popularity of domestic wigs in overseas markets.
It's about ideas. In the early days of the domestic market, influenced by traditional concepts, it was more sensitive to
hair loss and baldness, and was more repulsive to wig purchases. In the overseas market, white people will take the initiative to choose wigs to cover up their baldness out of concern for their own image, while black hair not only has a higher rate of hair loss than white people, but also is born unable to grow
long flowing hair, wigs are undoubtedly more Just need.
Naturally, the overseas market has become the core market that many domestic wig companies compete for.
But it is not easy to gain a firm foothold in overseas markets. Local customers wear wigs all year round and are very familiar with the quality. Slight defects will be returned.
"Li Gezhuang wigs mainly cut into the high-end market, and are usually hand-sewn by workers. However, in the early stage of development, due to the lack of quality stability, the occurrence rate of defective products was high." Sun Luzheng, founder of Qingdao Hailin Hair Products Co., Ltd., was impressed.
Looking at the defective products accumulated in the warehouse, he hesitated. Although the cost of raw materials for wigs is too high, most of the defective products in the industry choose to be reworked and reworked, and some companies even mix products and sell them to customers, but as a company entering the overseas market for the first time, quality is undoubtedly the core of winning the market.
Sun Luzheng finally gritted his teeth: Destroy all defective products.
"When they heard the news, many employees rushed to the destruction site to dissuade them, and even many young workers cried secretly." After many years, many employees recalled that day still fresh in their memory, "When using scissors to cut the defective product with one knife, the In an instant, I felt extremely uncomfortable.”
During the following period, Sun Luzheng and his colleagues frequently appeared at hair product exhibitions in various places, docked with dealers, showed wigs to customers, and brought back orders. The quality problem has been reshaped, and the company has a more solid trump card.
In 2003, the company set up a company in Lagos, the largest commercial city in Nigeria, and sold 4 containers in just one month, with a sales volume of US$800,000; in 2004, it entered the Japanese market and received a payment of US$130,000 soon after. In the same year, the European market also sent back orders of tens of thousands of dollars from time to time. The product can be welcomed by the high-end market, which makes Sun Luzheng secretly clench his fists, done!
Sun Luzheng, who initially opened the door to overseas, began to plan a larger layout.
Wigs are more similar to
fashion products overseas, and in order to get more orders, they must keep up with popular
styles.
In order to seize the trend, Sun Luzheng and his colleagues are always paying attention to market trends and constantly making adjustments based on customer feedback. They will launch new products almost every once in a while. "Customers are also more willing to see new products. After all, the gross profit margin of conventional wigs is about 15%, and fashionable wigs not only sell fast, but also have a gross profit margin of 25%."