UNIQLO opened its first store in Shanghai, China. Following this, the brand's development in China steadily progressed. By the end of February 2010, UNIQLO had established 59 stores (all directly operated by the brand) in Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Dalian, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. In April 2009, UNIQLO formed a strategic partnership with Taobao, the online shopping platform of Alibaba Group, to start its online sales business in China. In May of this year, UNIQLO will open its first global flagship store in Asia on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, following flagship openings in New York, London, and Paris. This autumn, the first UNIQLO store in Taipei will also open. China is considered the most crucial market for UNIQLO's brand development. The short-term goal is to open 100 stores, each averaging over 750 square meters, across major cities in China. Large-scale expansion into all key cities remains the primary future development objective.
85% of the apparel sold in UNIQLO stores worldwide is produced by cooperative factories in China, with an annual production exceeding 500 million pieces. The high quality of UNIQLO products made in China has garnered widespread praise from consumers around the world.
Since 2000, UNIQLO has dispatched multiple teams of "technical artisans" with advanced fiber technology expertise and experience from Japan to various cooperative factories (currently totaling 31 individuals). These teams provide on-site technical guidance, process management, and employee training, significantly enhancing the quality standards of the cooperative production facilities.
The brand philosophy of UNIQLO is "to consistently provide modern, simple, natural, high-quality, and easily coordinated products to consumers worldwide." To realize this philosophy, UNIQLO employs an integrated management retail business model that encompasses product development, design, fabric sourcing, production, logistics, and sales. Through this model, feedback and opinions from customers can be collected directly from over 900 stores globally, allowing for early incorporation of these insights into product design, store services, and overall company strategy, earning wide recognition and support from consumers.
With R&D centers based in New York and Tokyo, UNIQLO collects the latest fashion trends, customer needs, lifestyle patterns, and fabric usage information from consumers in various cities. Fabrics are sourced globally and then produced in cooperative factories centered mainly in China. Bright, spacious, and simply designed stores, along with advanced marketing strategies, have laid a positive foundation for UNIQLO to gain increasing recognition and support from Chinese consumers.
(Source: People's Daily Online)
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