2020 is a year worth remembering. The COVID-19 epidemic swept the world, economic and social shocks occurred frequently, and unstable factors continued to accumulate. The global industrial chain faced huge challenges unprecedented in a century. For textile and clothing e-commerce, 2020 is a year of disruption with both opportunities and challenges. The industry, platforms, enterprises and merchants are aiming at new opportunities, using new technologies, deepening new channels, and opening up new markets amid the crisis, and have recovered with heavy burdens. It bore fruit. In 2020, textile and clothing e-commerce continued to grow, with e-commerce transaction volume reaching 7.29 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.97%.
The development status of e-commerce in the industry in 2020
(1) E-commerce has become a highlight of industry development
It is estimated that in 2020, the e-commerce transaction volume of the textile and apparel industry will be 7.29 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.97% (Figure 1). Among them, the transaction volume of e-commerce between textile and clothing enterprises (B2B) was 5.29 trillion yuan, and the online retail sales of clothing and home textiles was 1.80 trillion yuan.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in 2020, my country’s total retail sales of consumer goods fell by 3.9% year-on-year, retail sales of clothing products by units above designated size fell by 8.1% year-on-year, and the total retail sales of clothing companies above designated size dropped by 8.1% year-on-year. The operating income dropped by 11.34% year-on-year; data from the China National Commercial Information Center showed that in 2020, the retail sales of clothing products of key large-scale retail enterprises in the country dropped by 20.71% year-on-year; data from the China Textile Federation Circulation Branch showed that in 2020, my country’s textile and apparel industry with an area of more than 10,000 square meters The turnover of the professional market decreased by 2.22% year-on-year. In an environment where the industry’s production and circulation data have declined significantly, the e-commerce transaction volume of the textile and apparel industry still maintained a growth of 8.97%, becoming an important growth point for the textile and apparel industry in 2020.
Figure 1 2011-2020 industry e-commerce transaction volume
Data source: China Textile Federation Information Department, Circulation Branch
(2) Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is making steady progress
In 2020, textile and clothing The business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce transaction volume was 5.29 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.96%, accounting for 72.57% of the industry’s e-commerce transaction volume (Figure 2). The epidemic has accelerated the change in the trading habits between enterprises. The number of online transactions between enterprises has increased and the scale has expanded. The enthusiasm of enterprises to apply e-commerce has greatly increased.
Figure 2 2011-2020 Industry B2B e-commerce transaction volume
Data source: China Textile Federation Information Department, Circulation Branch
(3) Online retail of clothing and home textiles occupies an important position in online retail
In 2020, clothing and home textiles Online retail sales were 1.80 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.20% (Figure 3), accounting for 15.32% of the national online retail sales of physical goods. As of the end of the third quarter of 2020, the number of stores on the online retail platform monitored by business big data was 19.753 million. Among the online retail product categories, clothing, shoes and hats accounted for the highest proportion, accounting for 20.4%.
Figure 3 Online retail sales of clothing and home textiles from 2011 to 2020
Data source: China Textile Federation Information Department, Circulation Branch
(4) E-commerce in professional markets achieves growth against the trend
2020 In 2017, the e-commerce transaction volume of the textile and apparel professional market was 1.55 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.44% (Figure 4), accounting for 21.26% of the industry’s e-commerce transaction volume. Although the turnover of the national textile and clothing professional market with an area of more than 10,000 square meters fell by 2.22% year-on-year in 2020, the turnover of e-commerce in the professional market has bucked the trend. The textile and clothing professional market empowers merchants with informatization and digitalization, giving full play to small and medium-sized enterprises. With the rapid response advantage of enterprise agglomeration, we actively build public service platforms, activate the industrial chain with information technology, promote the integrated development of online and offline businesses, and achieve new breakthroughs in online transactions.
Figure 4 E-commerce transaction volume of the textile and apparel professional market from 2011 to 2020
Data source: Ministry of Information Technology of China Textile Federation, Circulation Branch
2 New changes in the development of e-commerce in the industry in 2020
2020 is a year of innovation and fission in the e-commerce industry. Traditional channels are reborn, advantageous modules are fully developed, online and offline are deeply integrated, and new species and new ways of playing are constantly emerging. The e-commerce industry is once again experiencing traffic dividends, competition is expanding, traditional platforms are exploring new areas, and new players are emerging, accelerating the industry’s abandonment of old logic and the establishment of a new order.
(1) The establishment of RCEP expands the e-commerce territory
In 2020, the “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership “Relationship Agreement” (RCEP) was signed, and the free trade zone with the largest population, largest economic and trade scale, and the greatest development potential in the world was officially born, opening up a new development space for China’s cross-border e-commerce. Large-scale tax reductions in the region will greatly narrow the cost gap between general trade and cross-border e-commerce, and will be conducive to the expansion and development of overseas warehouse business; after the elimination of various non-tariff barriers, the convenience of customs clearance and trade will be greatly improved.�With the comprehensive popularization of communication equipment and the in-depth advancement of infrastructure construction, my country’s “invisible” sinking market continues to emerge. In 2020, the Ministry of Commerce will further promote comprehensive demonstrations of e-commerce in rural areas and create an “upgraded version” of comprehensive demonstrations; e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com have seen the vast space for sinking the market and the consumption grading needs of first- and second-tier markets. Alibaba has restarted Juhuasuan , JD.com launched Jingxi, and both e-commerce giants have achieved fruitful results from the sinking market.
(3) Live streaming e-commerce will be fully upgraded
Major E-commerce platforms and live broadcast platforms will continue to increase investment in live broadcast e-commerce, and the intensified competition will also directly promote the comprehensive upgrade of live broadcast e-commerce. Live broadcast e-commerce has partially entered the stage of refined operations, and e-commerce anchors are also moving towards professional careers. On the road to modernization and specialization. In terms of content, platforms such as Douyin have developed from pure short videos to medium and long videos, attracting a large number of long-form video teams; in terms of models, the live broadcast e-commerce ecosystem has upgraded from the original video delivery to “video + live broadcast”, with short videos Video has a longer communication cycle and is more suitable for product promotion, while live broadcast focuses on real-time sales conversion. For brands, “video + live broadcast” will better achieve the integration of product and effect; in terms of technology, AR/VR and artificial intelligence Technologies such as this are expected to enhance the shopping experience, and live e-commerce will be upgraded from simple anchors bringing goods to “cloud shopping and cloud shopping.”
(4) Digital intelligence will reconstruct the business ecosystem
Rhino Intelligent Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Alibaba, relies on big data to enter the physical manufacturing industry and develop C2M manufacturing to promote innovation, reduce costs and make up for shortcomings, opening up a new pattern for the physical manufacturing industry. It is foreseeable that future commerce will be consumer-centered, digitally intelligent commerce driven by big data. Online giants and brick-and-mortar giants will jointly focus on building a fast and flexible supply chain and promote the deep integration of online and offline omni-channels. Digitally intelligent enterprises, digitally intelligent markets, and digitally intelligent merchants will become the core forces of future business development, and new businesses with efficient and accurate end-to-end full-link matching will become a reality. </p
