"Small CK" Shoe Brand CHARLES&KEITH Announced Its Return To The Japanese Market

Speaking of CALVIN KLEIN (CK), you must be familiar with it. But do you know the brand name CHARLES & KEITH, known as "little CK", from Singapore? The shoe brand, which closed 14 stores in Japan at the end of 2016, has recently announced that it will reappear in the eyes of Japanese consumers.

Chinese consumers must be familiar with the famous handbag CHARLES & KEITH, which is cheap and fashionable, and has opened countless stores in recent years. But compared to stores and products, the background of small CK is rarely mentioned. It was founded in Singapore in 1996 by Charles Wong and Keith Wong. In 2000, the brand began to promote globalization. In April 2013, CHARLES & KEITH opened the first joint venture flagship store in Harajuku, Japan, invested 51% from the Japanese apparel retail giant Onward Holdings Co. Ltd., and invested 49% in CHARLES & KEITH headquarters, which has opened 14 stores in Japan.

But as its business model did not meet the needs of consumers wishing to buy real leather, at the end of 2016, CHARLES & KEITH withdrew all the entity stores in the Japanese market. But it should be noted that only 4 months later, CHARLES & KEITH transferred all the business of the Japanese market to the network platform in April 2017, and once again entered the Japanese market through online sales. Recently, CHARLES & KEITH, which has been on the Internet for nearly a year since the "online resurrection", revealed that it would be possible to introduce the physical store into the Japanese market again.

"Our philosophy is actually changing with the times, especially if we are influenced by the current trend. Our goal will be more targeted at the global urban fashion women." Emmanuelle Mace-Driskill, director of global strategic planning for CHARLES & KEITH, said: "Japanese women are generally very small in size and have a long way to go to work. We will prepare some products that meet the local consumer market characteristics in the face of the Japanese market."

As for the reasons for the divestment at the end of 2016, Emmanuelle Mace-Driskill explained in an interview with the women's Wear Daily: "our store in Japan is a joint venture with Onward Holdings Co. Ltd., so every decision made by the brand must be approved by the company. In the specific globalization strategy, including all kinds of decisions, we prefer to be led by brand headquarters. In particular, considering the development of Omni-Channel retailing (full retail channel), the physical store or the online sales platform, we hope this can be decided by the brand side itself, "he added later." of course, as we know Japanese companies very well, we still have a very good relationship with the Japanese market. "

Unlike many brands, CHARLES & KEITH chose to launch online sales platform in some countries and obtain customers' data through e-commerce. This seems to be a very important part of the brand retail field. This can explain why CHARLES & KEITH has launched an official website for Japanese consumers only after 4 months of withdrawal from the Japanese market.

And in the middle of this year, CHARLES & KEITH will be able to re launch entity stores in three cities, namely, Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, which are leading the Japanese fashion industry. Although the plan is still under discussion, it is certain that the brand will never give up the re revival of the entity store in Japan, which is seen from the unique role played by the entity store in the retail industry today. One or two

On the one hand, shops can provide consumers with more direct experience of goods. By touching and trying products, consumers can choose products that are more suitable for them. On the other hand, in recent years, the development of digitalization has led many brands to blindly carry out the reform of digital retailing, resulting in the closure of many large brand clothing shops including the United States, and the existence of some humanized services. However, due to the differences in stature preferences, Asian people still need the existence of service oriented entities.

In addition, small CK takes the Japanese market as an important step to expand the Asian market, and also sees Japan's unique retail resources. Mace-Driskill said that although Japan's development strategy is quite different from other countries, Japan's market environment, commodity quality and service are very good. It is an important market that can provide reference for brands to formulate development strategies in other countries.

At present, CHARLES & KEITH has 564 stores in 35 countries, and only 41 online websites are available. The main business directly managed by Singapore's headquarters is Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. It is expected to set up a direct store in the UK soon. Author: Li Zihui