Why Does The Old Navy Brand Leave China In An Uncertain Manner?

Gap Old's Old Navy brand (Old Navy) closed all sales channels today (March 1st) and officially withdrew from the Chinese market. The Old Navy brand has entered the Chinese market for six years. Why is it so gloomy now?

In August 2014, the world's largest flagship store with nearly 2000 square meters of Old Navy brand opened in Shanghai, marking the official entry of the brand into the Chinese market. At that time, the CEO of Cape group said that the Chinese market is an important market for group strategic expansion, and the development of the Old Navy brand is full of hope in the Chinese market.

Since then, the brand has opened 11 offline stores in China, including six in Beijing, two in Chongqing, one in Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou, and the Old Navy brand is also selling online sales channels such as the flagship store of Jingdong, flagship store of Jingdong, Chinese official website and WeChat applet. Cape group's 2016 fiscal year report shows that the sales of the Old Navy brand is about $6 billion 800 million, and the contribution of the Chinese market is obvious.

However, last November, two months after the Old Navy brand opened the biggest flagship store in China, the company suddenly announced that the Old Navy brand would withdraw from the Chinese market. The Old Navy brand China's official network shop has stopped selling in February 15th this year, and will shut down all stores on the Chinese line and offline in March 1st. According to the Tmall commercial platform, the official flagship store of the Old Navy brand can not be searched.

In fact, after Topshop, New Look and Forever 21 have left the Chinese market one after another, analysts in the industry think there will be a fast fashion brand "flees and flee". Now the withdrawal of the Old Navy brand has verified this statement.

There is no denying that there are many reasons for the Old Navy brand to lose their lives. Experts from the China Clothing Association told the China Commercial Daily reporter that compared with the fast fashion brands such as UNIQLO, Zara and H&M, the time for the Old Navy brand to enter the Chinese market is about eight years late. Whether it is market share or brand recognition, it is far behind other fast fashion brands. In the six years of the Chinese market, the brand opened only 11 stores in the second tier cities. The expansion was too cautious to miss the fast fashion's bonus period in the Chinese market. Coupled with the rise of China's clothing brands, the Old Navy brands are hard to build up in fierce competition.

At the same time, many consumers told reporters Tucao, although the Old Navy brand positioning young consumer groups, but in the product design style is difficult to distinguish from the cover PU. Moreover, some consumers also believe that the brand design is biased towards American leisure, which is not in line with the aesthetic standards of our consumers.

Cheng Weixiong, general manager of textile and clothing brand management and Shanghai Liang Qi Brand Management Co., Ltd., in an interview with China Daily News, said that after the two brands of the two brands entered the Chinese market, they did not analyze the consumption of Chinese consumers. The single European and American design was hard to satisfy the diversified and personalized needs of consumers.

In addition, when the product lacks competitiveness, the Old Navy brand can only attract customers by discount because of the backlog of inventory, which is also regarded as the consumption of brand image.

It is worth mentioning that the brand of similar brand with the Old Navy brand is also in an awkward position in China's fast fashion industry. After the withdrawal of the Old Navy brand from the Chinese market, what lessons can be drawn from the brand of the brand, to overcome the problem of acclimatization? As of press release, the Chinese company has not responded to the questions raised by the China Commercial Daily reporter.