CHINA FASHION BUSINESS

🔽The following discussion from Coldyun Fashion Circle focuses on industry issues and their summary. These insights represent collective wisdom (not the personal opinions of Coldyun). The goal is to benefit more industry professionals through this sharing！

What is Product Planning, and What Forms Does It Take?

When discussing product planning, it is essential to define its basic meaning: product planning is the process through which companies study, plan, design, and develop products based on market demand and brand positioning. Simply put, it involves researching which products sell well, deciding on inventory needs, and considering the brand’s characteristics to introduce new products aligned with current trends.

Product planning includes the following forms:

1. Strategic Planning: Creating long-term product positioning and direction through a brand white paper, including category layout and lifecycle management.
2. Seasonal Planning: Launching themed products for different seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) based on trends, customer usage scenarios, and themes.
3. Product Line Planning: Using silhouette planning, fabric planning, and color planning to organize core and supplementary products, enriching the brand’s portfolio.
4. Market-Driven Planning: Reacting quickly to market trends and creating supplemental plans.
5. Marketing-Oriented Planning: Designing special products such as limited editions or co-branded items for visual merchandising, holiday campaigns, or sales peaks.
6. Sustainable Planning: Utilizing eco-friendly materials and circular designs to respond to sustainability trends.

In practice, many companies begin with quarterly or semi-annual planning due to pre-established brand positioning. However, this approach can waste production resources, leading to ineffective development and a lack of market awareness.

To enhance development efficiency, the industry has adopted the Integrated Product Development (IPD) system. Introduced by IBM to address issues like prolonged development cycles and disorganized collaboration, IPD emphasizes integrating every stage of product development, breaking down departmental silos, and encouraging close collaboration among professionals from diverse backgrounds (e.g., market research, design, software development, testing). Companies can implement this system internally by following predetermined procedures without requiring dedicated institutions.

Main Issues in Current Handbag Product Planning

1. How Should Startup Brands Approach Product Planning?

Product planning and design planning are interrelated but have distinct focuses:

• Product Planning: Focuses on data-driven and rational thinking, essentially functioning as supply chain management. It emphasizes the overall product strategy and meeting market demands.
• Design Planning: Prioritizes visual appeal and emotional resonance, translating product planning needs into specific design solutions.

In terms of departmental roles:

• Product teams often handle popular, high-volume styles due to their data expertise.
• Designers focus on high-impact, visually striking styles. However, in some companies, designers may also be tasked with creating “hit” products, requiring a balance between creativity and market demand.

For startup brands, it’s essential to pay attention to the following:

• Competitor Analysis:
  • Direct Competitors: Brands with similar sales channels, products, and services, such as those located on the same floor in a department store.
  • Indirect Competitors: Brands outside the immediate market but representing aspirational development directions.

Key Analysis Dimensions:

• Product line layout
• Product style characteristics
• Pricing strategies
• Target customer demographics (e.g., age, gender, consumption habits)
• Marketing strategies

Confirm Key R&D Directions:

• Usage scenarios (public or private)
• Product line categories (e.g., casual, business, sports, outdoor)
• Key material selection
• Color planning
• Process requirements
• Silhouette designs (e.g., tote, hobo, crossbody, backpack for handbags)
• Inventory wave planning and marketing strategy formulation

During execution, competitor analysis should align with the company’s resources, avoiding analysis for its own sake. Brands should classify competitors by strength and pricing strategies, focusing on products with strong sales performance. High-exposure items may serve marketing purposes and not represent the core product line.

Comprehensive product planning ensures that all relevant departments fully understand objectives before project initiation, including product design direction, marketing strategies, and visual styles. This avoids disjointed execution. Analysis of indirect competitors can identify market gaps and development opportunities, while detailed analysis of direct competitors clarifies current competitive advantages and market positioning.

2. How Are “White-Label” Development Plans Structured?

Pricing strategies in product planning require in-depth market analysis. Products performing well among indirect competitors, yet underexplored by direct competitors, and aligned with the company’s strengths, are most likely to gain market traction. For instance, in the luxury sector, Gucci’s GG Marmont series, and Louis Vuitton’s and Chanel’s quilted, flap crossbody designs demonstrate how similar design elements can reflect distinct brand identities without merely copying one another.

Price Structure Breakdown:

1. Premium Tier: Targets the high-end market, emphasizing material and craftsmanship excellence.
2. Mid-Range Tier: Covers the mainstream market, balancing quality and price.
3. Entry Tier: Appeals to younger consumers with more accessible pricing.

When setting prices, factors such as cost, profit margins, and ongoing price testing should be considered to determine price sensitivity points. Small daily price adjustments can gauge market reactions and identify the optimal pricing range. Marketing budgets should also be optimized, reallocating resources to more effective channels as needed.

Recent Trends in Bag Material Design and Material Planning for Handbag Brands

Different types of companies in the market adopt varied pricing strategies. Brand-focused companies prioritize maintaining profit margins, while some manufacturing factories may emphasize capacity utilization. Certain factories are even willing to accept lower profit margins to keep production lines running and pay workers. For factories, the losses from halting production often outweigh the disadvantages of accepting low-margin orders.

White-label product development has its own distinct characteristics. First, it is crucial to identify the company’s core material advantages, craftsmanship expertise, and production capacity. Close communication with clients is also essential to understand the characteristics of sales channels, particularly factors like the personal style of livestream influencers, as well as seasonal requirements for product silhouettes, sizes, and colors. Additionally, it’s vital to stay updated on market dynamics, including trending styles on platforms like Xiaohongshu, the influence of popular variety shows, celebrity street styles, and the latest fashion show highlights. These insights should be swiftly translated into product design concepts.

The design and development pace for white-label companies is extremely fast. Some factories employ up to 40 designers, each required to produce three new designs weekly. Designers work in spacious sample rooms, constantly experimenting with new ideas. This high-intensity development model can be challenging for designers accustomed to working for branded companies. For factories, the role they require is not traditional designers but stylists capable of directing work for pattern makers. At trade fairs like the Canton Fair, observing series-oriented products often reveals their reference brands and prototypes, even for designs with innovative elements.

In the era of cashless payments, handbag product lines urgently need transformation. Compact cardholders should be developed to meet the basic needs of carrying essential IDs and minimal cash. Dedicated phone bags should also be introduced to accommodate smartphones and include straps. Beyond functionality, product designs should incorporate playful and decorative elements to provide emotional value to consumers. Traditional handbags should integrate more functional features, such as built-in card slots and compartments for phones. Additionally, there is a growing demand for related products like earphone cases, digital accessory pouches, and driver’s license holders.

Material design trends are becoming increasingly distinct. The overall style emphasizes soothing, healing, relaxed, and natural attributes. Materials are becoming more diverse, and functionality has significantly improved. Specific applications include soft, glossy, waterproof, and stain-resistant leather; lightweight and durable fashionable nylon; metallic-finish leather; and linen with natural textures. The use of materials is increasingly diversified, with innovative applications of traditional fabrics, linen, and straw-like materials in bag designs.

The concept of sustainability is profoundly shaping the industry. From international trade shows to mainstream brands, eco-friendly materials and circular designs have become crucial trends. Brands that overlook environmental principles find it increasingly difficult to gain attention from mainstream media. An increasing number of emerging brands are adopting environmental friendliness as a core value, developing products with recycled materials to address consumer demand for sustainable fashion. Luxury brands are also launching sustainable product lines to demonstrate their environmental responsibility.