In recent years, the trend of the down jacket market has quietly changed. High-end down jackets priced at thousands or tens of thousands of yuan are gradually hitting a sales bottleneck. This phenomenon is the result of the combined influence of multiple factors.
From the perspective of consumers, fluctuations in the economic environment have led to a divergence in purchasing power. The younger generation has significantly reduced their acceptance of high-priced goods and instead prefers domestic brands with outstanding cost performance such as Bosideng and Xuezhongfei. Meanwhile, consumer demands are becoming increasingly diverse. Warmth retention and high-priced labels are no longer the core attractions. Emotional identification, personalized design and a sense of fashion have become new criteria for consideration. If down jackets priced at over ten thousand yuan fail to meet these demands, they will be difficult to gain market favor.
The landscape of market competition is also being reshaped. Previously, domestic down jacket brands like Bosideng have risen strongly in the high-end market, and later, foreign high-end brands such as Moncler have accelerated their layout. What is more worth noting is that the middle-class "trio" of lululemon, Arc 'teryx and Salomon has been continuously breaking through, directly squeezing Canada Goose's market space, pushing it out of the middle-class shopping list and causing a heavy blow to its sales.
Canada Goose's expansion path has evolved from a niche to a global giant
Canada Goose was once hailed as the "Hermes of down jackets", with the most expensive item costing nearly 19,000 yuan. It once became a standard for the middle class, and the saying "A winter without a 'big goose' is incomplete" became a popular phrase.
Its development trajectory is inseparable from the involvement of Bain Capital. In 2013, after Bain Capital acquired a controlling stake in Canada Goose, it brought about significant changes to the brand: the number of clothing styles expanded from 20 to 200, and it successively launched e-commerce platforms in major global markets and opened offline flagship stores. In 2017, Canada Goose successfully listed on the New York and Toronto stock Exchanges, with a market value of over 7.8 billion US dollars at its peak.
After going public, Canada Goose accelerated its expansion and regarded the Chinese market as a core growth point. The opening of the Sanlitun store in Beijing in December 2018 marked its official entry into China. Today, China has become its largest market. Among its 74 stores worldwide, nearly half (30) are located in 18 cities across the Greater China region (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).
Predicament and Transformation: Strategic Adjustment under the Pressure of the off-season
Unlike conventional clothing enterprises, down jacket brands have to confront the cyclical pressure of the off-season in spring and summer. Canada Goose and Moncler each have their own focuses in response strategies.
Currently, Canada Goose is moving towards becoming a large-scale luxury brand, concentrating its efforts on deeply cultivating the down jacket category, increasing investment in direct sales channels to stabilize prices and enhance its brand image. These measures all reflect its intention to transform into a luxury brand while expanding its market scale.
To adapt to the Chinese market, Canada Goose is also making active adjustments. We have launched tailored silhouettes suitable for Asian body types and collaborated with Chinese designers to create co-branded collections, aiming to strengthen our connection with Chinese consumers. However, these efforts have yet to show obvious results in financial data, which might be one of the reasons why Bain Capital is considering selling some or all of its shares. According to Bloomberg, Bain Capital's idea has drawn the attention of some potential buyers, including private equity institutions. For a private equity firm like Bain Capital, considering when to exit is based on the consideration of maximizing its own interests. But for Canada Goose, there is much more to consider!
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