Global sports brands, which have been focusing on direct-to-consumer ( D2C )-oriented online strategies, are showing signs of returning to ‘distribution’. After Nike declared ‘Down with Amazon’ in 2019, consumer goods companies with strong brand power jumped into D2C one after another, attracting customers to their own malls .
However, as no clear results have been seen for the next four years, it is in the mood to send love calls to distributors. It is also read in this context that Lululemon, a representative athleisure (sportswear that can be worn like everyday wear) brand focusing on D2C along with Nike, is starting to sell live broadcasts (labang) for the first time in Korea in partnership with SSG.com .
Lululemon will conduct live commerce on the 23rd on SSG.com’s Labang channel ‘Sseuk Live’ . This is the first time that Lululemon has sold a product in this way in Korea. Suk Live is SSG.com ‘s luxury and beauty-specialized labang platform, which has been used by global consumer goods brands such as Yves Saint Laurent Beauty and MAC as a window to unveil new products.
Lululemon is called the ‘Chanel of yoga clothes’ because it is메이저놀이터 two to three times more expensive than competing brands. It is a mega brand with annual sales exceeding 10 trillion won. Korea also showed remarkable growth every year. Domestic sales last year were 85.2 billion won, up 46% from the previous year.
Lululemon is famous for sticking to an online sales strategy centered on its own mall. At one time, D2C sales reached 60% of the total. In the distribution industry , there is an atmosphere of watching with interest whether Lululemon’s entry into Labang is related to the revision of the D2C strategy.
Regarding this, Lululemon explained, “The purpose is to inform Korean consumers of the Lululemon golf wear brand (pictured), and it has not fundamentally changed the e-commerce strategy.” However , there are many views that interpret it as part of an effort to overcome the limitations of D2C that are revealed everywhere .
○ ‘ Symbol of D2C ‘ Nike is also a distributor
Nike is a representative brand that once went all-in on D2C and then returned to distribution channels. After Nike announced in November 2019 that it would “withdraw all products from Amazon,” it devoted all its energy to a distribution strategy centered on its own mall.
Even offline, it lowered its dependence on wholesale and retail stores and increased brand control in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution process to prevent deterioration in performance even during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Nike was recognized as a successful D2C case by major manufacturers around the world .
However, it has been struggling lately due to increased inventory burden triggered by inflation. As new brands on the distribution platform threaten Nike’s status through aggressive marketing, Nike is again joining hands with distributors. It has decided to resume deliveries to distributors such as Macy’s and DSW , which terminated contracts in 2021, from October.
Lululemon is also actively seeking to secure other distribution channels besides the Labang platform.
Last July, in order to target the European market in earnest, it entered the fashion e-commerce site Zalando, also called the ‘European Amazon’.
○Lululemon, sold at Suk Live