How popular is the camping economy?
Data released by iiMedia Research shows that the domestic camping market will grow rapidly in 2021, with a growth rate of 78%, and the market size will reach 29.9 billion yuan. It is expected that the market size will reach 35.46 billion yuan in 2022.
During holidays, it is becoming a new way for many travel enthusiasts to meet up with a few friends and take a “trip to the doorstep” to get close to nature and wild interests. This way of tourism consumption and leisure, characterized by localization and small radius, caters to the market demand for self-driving tours and self-guided tours, and opens up market imagination space for tourism-related industries.
Especially as various national and local policies to support and encourage the development of camping sites have been introduced one after another, many textile companies have seen the market opportunities emerging from the continued warming of the camping economy, and have continued to increase their investment in the research and development and promotion of camping products. On the track of the Nuggets camping economy, how can textile companies move more steadily and go further?
The big market “exposed”
As a simple leisure activity, camping provides a new channel to release tourism demand, and also provides a new track for many textile companies. Since the beginning of this year, sales of camping tents, moisture-proof mats, sleeping bags and other products have continued to rise.
A report recently released by the JD Consumer and Industrial Development Research Institute shows that since April, searches for camping products on JD have increased significantly by 145% year-on-year, and the transaction volume of tent/mat products has increased by 229% year-on-year. Products that improve camping quality have also received a lot of attention from consumers, and the turnover of canopy tents has increased nearly four times year-on-year. The sales of some entry-level products for outdoor camping, such as hydraulic tents and quick-throw tents, continue to rise, indicating that a large number of entry-level outdoor user groups are joining the camping army.
The camping trend has become popular, providing a broad space for businesses. There is a huge demand in the market for functional products such as windproof, sunproof, waterproof, wear-resistant, quick-drying, breathable, and temperature-adjusting. For textile companies, these new consumer demands have high technical and technological requirements for fabrics. This is not only a new business opportunity, but also a focus of research and development.
Jiangsu Wujiang Wuzhou Rubber and Plastic Co., Ltd. mainly produces tent fabrics. The company’s general manager Mei Zhilong told a reporter from China Textile News that since the beginning of this year, the demand for functional fabrics for tents has increased significantly, and every production line is operating at full capacity. “Today’s explosive camping demand has put forward higher requirements for the functionality of tent fabrics. Wuzhou Rubber & Plastics is mainly engaged in the post-finishing production of tent fabrics, etc., and provides new functions through coating, calendering, and lamination to enhance market bargaining power. These functions The fabrics are very popular among customers, and we are currently working hard to produce them to keep up with the progress of customer orders.” Mei Zhilong said.
Zhejiang Ximen New Materials Co., Ltd. has recently established an aging-resistant camping tent fabric research and development project. According to the R&D personnel, this project mainly focuses on the research and development of anti-aging properties such as UV resistance, acid and alkali resistance, and ozone resistance of tent fabrics.
Accelerate the development of domestic market
Some international brands have sensed business opportunities and are increasing their product promotion efforts in the Chinese market. At the 4th China International Import Expo, Decathlon released its roof tent for the first time. Decathlon Camping Sports Brand Director Liu Shujiong told reporters that this is the first time Decathlon has launched a roof tent product in the Chinese market, and it was launched in March this year.
Gu Shanshan, president of Kolon Sports (China) Co., Ltd., said that the camping economy is an emerging industry in China, and many consumers will not choose products with particularly high prices. Kolon will independently develop camping products that are more suitable for entry-level consumers in China.
In competition with international brands, some domestic brands have also entered the fast lane of development.
Most of the tents produced by Zhejiang Mugaodi Outdoor Products Co., Ltd. used to be sold to overseas markets as OEM or OEM products. In 2021, Mugaodi’s domestic private brand business revenue exceeded 306 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 90%, which is much faster than the 28% growth rate of overseas business. Its proportion in the main business has increased from 25% in 2020 to 33%. In the first quarter of this year, Mugaodi’s export business increased by 44% year-on-year, and its domestic brand business increased by 98% year-on-year. The management of Mugaodi said that the company is taking advantage of the opportunity of the accelerated development of the camping economy to explore the upgrade of its own brand concept, with a view to obtaining higher brand premiums and making its own brands such as “Damu” and “Xiaomu” bigger and stronger.
Liu Shiyun, chairman of Guangdong Jituo Outdoor Products Co., Ltd., which specializes in tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses and other products, has always focused on the foreign trade camping market. This year, she began to deepen the domestic independent brand market, focusing on the Jituo brand. “The domestic market has a relatively complete supply chain for camping products, which is a favorable condition for the development of independent brands. At the same time, the domestic outdoor tourism terrain is diverse, making the testing process in domestic brand research and development easier.” Liu Shiyun said.
It should be noted that compared with the long development history of foreign camping brands, domestic camping brands are still in the initial stage of development and still face challenges in their growth.
“There is currently a relative lack of experienced and capable R&D personnel in the domestic camping industry. As far as tents are concerned, designing a new structure is the most difficult. There are already related products for various foreign structures, but domestic tent design started late and lacks creativity. Big limitations.” The freedom of China’s high-end tent brands��Founder Wang Jigang said.
“In a tent, if one thread is nailed wrongly, the entire fabric will be wasted. Tent sewing workers need to train for many years to mature.” Liu Shujiong mentioned that the shortage of skilled workers is also a problem facing tent manufacturing companies.
Making strides towards the international market
Zhejiang Tapson Industrial Group Co., Ltd. has recently opened dozens of tent production lines at full capacity. Pang Kun, general manager of the company’s tent division, told reporters: “Tepson began to focus more on the domestic market. From the initial domestic trade accounted for less than 10% to 20% last year, the share is still expanding.”
However, some experts remind textile companies that for the Chinese market, which is still in the early stages of the development of the camping economy, Chinese textile companies that produce and operate camping products must be cautious in their transformation and balance the proportion of domestic and international markets. Only by walking on two legs can they be more cautious. steady.
“The camping industry is very popular in Europe and the United States, and has developed relatively maturely, forming a complete operating system. Camping has become a part of European and American people’s lives, but our consumers’ habits have not yet been developed.” The expert pointed out, Affected by the epidemic, the camping economy has become more popular overseas, and the “cake” of the market is even bigger.
Data released by the China Industrial Textiles Industry Association show that in 2021, overseas markets will have strong demand for my country’s felt fabrics and tents, with exports reaching US$4.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 49.6%. In the first four months of this year, felt cloth and tents surpassed masks and became the industry’s largest export products, with export value increasing by 27.2% year-on-year.
A foreign trade outdoor products company in Jiangsu is currently working overtime to produce a batch of tents for export to Europe. The relevant person in charge told reporters that the company mainly focuses on export sales, and domestic sales of tents account for a relatively small proportion. At present, the company’s European orders have been scheduled until June next year. Compared with the same period last year, the number of orders has increased by 100%, but the production capacity is not enough because the overseas market is in short supply. “About 6,000 tents are produced every day. There used to be low and peak seasons, but production has been very busy throughout the year.” The person in charge suggested that textile companies should not only seize opportunities in the domestic market, but also make strides towards a broader international market. market.
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