[UNIQLO Young School - The Second Class Constructs the Commodity Composition deeply rooted in the ground] Participation experience

The lecturers in this class all entered the Fast Retailing Group through the Reserve Elite Program (UMC), and are now working in the product planning department of UNIQLO in Taiwan. As of August 2020, UNIQLO has opened 3,630 stores around the world. While expanding its business territory, UNIQLO is also committed to solving the living problems of local consumers. It has different product compositions in different regions, so as to transmit local consumption. value that people need and help them live a better life.

2021 Second Class Lecturer

• UQTW Product Planning Department Women's Wear Leader: Lai Ruofan (graduated from the Department of Economics, National Taiwan University)
• UQTW Commodity Planning Department Children's Wear Leader: Yao Yingjie (Graduated from the Department of International Economics, Jinan University, China)

KeyTakeaways

• Merchandise Planning and Living
• commodity planning work
• Localized goods
• Things you should know before you go overseas

Merchandise Planning and Living

In the long run, the product plan is not just to launch high-purchasing and attractive products to boost corporate revenue, but to solve consumers' life problems and plan to bring convenience and beauty to consumers' lives. The product. The composition of corporate goods is closely related to the lives of the public. It cannot be viewed only from an economic perspective, but also how the goods will affect the society and how they can solve the problems of consumers' lives.

LifeWea r

LifeWear is a concept pioneered by the UNIQLO brand in 2013. Friends who want to know more about its concept can refer to UNIQLO's LifeWear Magazine . Simply put, LifeWear is about creating clothing that can make life better. By insisting on simplicity, high quality and aesthetics, consumers can express themselves: wear uniqueness and build a life style.

How to fix the problem

Before solving the problem, you must first understand what the consumer's problem is (Voice of Customer) and what the demand of the entire market is (Voice of Marketing). When asking customers, if they have no ideas about what they need and what suggestions they have for the brand, they can change their minds and ask them about their dissatisfaction with the brand. Manager Lai Ruofan shared with the students: "Many times, many people don't know what they like and want, but they are very clear about what they don't like." In addition, you can also understand the needs of customers by observing their behavior and life patterns, and analyze and think about how to help them improve their lives. Sometimes, customers do not take the initiative to discover their own problems in life, so they cannot know their needs by collecting their opinions (passive listening). At this time, by actively seeking, they can take the initiative to provide services for their lives. Brand new value.

Taiwan example

There are more than 2 million patients with atopic dermatitis in Taiwan, most of which are infants and teenagers. When the patients are in a hot and humid environment and sweat, the itching symptoms will be more likely to occur. After understanding the situation in Taiwan, UNIQLO changed to use Airism material in children's underwear, and used fast-drying blended cotton in the material selection of this product, which can accelerate perspiration and solve the problem of stuffy skin, so as to reduce the symptoms of itching. .

commodity planning work

Commodity planning involves many aspects, and it is necessary to communicate with people in many different positions, including: communication with designers on product design according to consumer needs, overseas business trips to purchase commodity materials, factory communication of production schedules, and store communication of commodities Display method and integrate logistics resources and arrange scheduling.

time schedule

It takes a maximum of 3 years to a minimum of 1 year for a piece of clothing to actually appear on the display shelf from the beginning of planning. In the process, at the beginning, it is necessary to propose a proposal with the competent department. After the competent department determines that the product has development potential, it will go through the annual plan to plan the long-term business strategy, the quarterly plan to plan the resource allocation for the quarter, and the monthly and weekly execution planning and other processes. , the product will be generated for consumers to buy.

Restocking correction

Although the MD (Commodity Planning) will completely plan the color, size, quantity and store distribution of each product before the product is sold, there will still be a gap between the actual purchase situation of consumers and the planning. When the gap is obvious, MD must make adjustments according to the actual situation. For example, if a certain color sells very well in Taiwan, MD must communicate with the factory to increase production.

Localized goods

Due to geographical factors, social factors and belief factors, each region has different needs for clothing. In real life, it is rare to see clothing that can meet the needs of different regions of the world. If you want to produce clothing that can meet the local conditions, you must first understand the local conditions, and then provide the clothing needed by the local people on this basis. The following applies Manager Lai Ruofan's experience in planning products for new markets in India to explain how to develop new products in the new market. Market Construction Localized Commodities:

• Study other multinational brands that have entered this market and how they have adjusted their products in order to enter this market.
• Stop near the location where the store is to be displayed and observe the behavior and clothing of the crowd.

In addition to the above two points, Manager Yao Yingjie also added to the students: "The most important thing when entering a new market is not to meet the voices of consumers, but to explore their needs."

Things you should know before going overseas

Shortly after entering UQTW through UMC, Manager Lai Ruofan was given the opportunity to dispatch the headquarters in Japan. She also shared her overseas experience with the students in the class. She believes that superior foreign language skills can improve the chances of being selected overseas. She mentioned: "I can be selected to go to the headquarters, and my Japanese ability adds a lot of points to myself." There are many young people who yearn to work overseas. She suggested that if you want to apply for overseas workers: you need to adjust your mentality and set clear goals before actually going overseas (why to work overseas, and why you have to go overseas? ?).

mentality

Global Mindset is very important and must be able to accommodate different kinds of voices. In addition, don't rush to change others, you must first understand the local situation, respect the local way and cooperate with the implementation, don't feel unreasonable at the beginning and rush to change. There may be local reasons for the local approach. If it has not been implemented, it may be difficult to understand the reasons, and it may even cause disgust from other local colleagues. Manager Yao Yingjie also added: "Overseas, many things have to be re-learned or re-established, including: new life circles and friendship circles, it is very likely that you will feel lonely at the beginning."

Target

Managers believe that the lack of clear goals in overseas countries makes it difficult to stay for long, and it is easy to get confused. Manager Lai Ruofan mentioned that before going to the Japanese headquarters, she decided where to go to find out who the local Key Person is. In this way, if she gets the opportunity to return to Taiwan in the future, she can rely on her knowledge of the Japanese headquarters to work in Taiwan. When you need to get in touch with the headquarters, you can quickly find the right contact and improve the efficiency of the team.