Made to measure and ordered online
Company president Fan Youbin has turned Everstar into a thriving Internet brand where shoppers can order customized fashion
Fed up trying on countless pairs of designer jeans only to find that they don't quite fit?
Foshan Shunde Everstar Clothing Co has changed all that after putting together a "smart" idea that has turned around the company's fortunes.
By dreaming up a virtual fitting room for customers, Everstar and company president Fan Youbin have illustrated how the Internet can affect the lives of shoppers and traditional businesses.
"Everything is done online," he told Xinhua News Agency. "The process is very quick."
In fact, it's so quick it has transformed the business model of the clothing manufacturer, which is based in Jun'an town, part of Foshan city, in South China's Guangdong province.
But it has not happened overnight. Three years ago, Fan decided to take the company in a different direction as exports slowed.
Using the power of online shopping to boost the bottom line, he launched the Everstar brand.
Now customers can design their own clothes, including jeans and suits, and try them on in a virtual fitting room at the company's online store.
"Within three days of placing an order, our customers can receive their clothes," Fan said.
This is how it works:
Simple? But that is only half the logistics battle. To keep delivery dates down to three days in China's domestic market, Everstar uses state-of-the-art laser-cutting technology, which can fashion the fabrics to custom-ordered designs in only 20 seconds, compared to 30 minutes using traditional methods.
Once the "smart tailor", as it is known, has finished, the items are moved along a conveyor belt "hanging system", where factory workers put the final touches to the items.
"The smart tailor has radically reduced the time needed to cut cloth and print patterns, which in the old days could take between 30 minutes and one hour by our work force," Fan said.
The switch into "smart manufacturing" has paid off for Everstar, which employs 490 staff at its two factories. In 2014, the clothing company reported 40,000 online orders.
Still, revenue from the "virtual fitting room" accounted for less than 10 percent of last year's business, which was worth 70 million yuan ($11.27 million).
Fan expects Everstar's online operation will steadily increase and is predicting it will hit 20 percent of total revenue in 2015.
"The Internet of Things (a term used for traditional manufacturing coupled with online technology) makes it possible to produce a profit from tailor-made small orders," he said.
In 2013, revenue was about 160 million yuan, but profit margins slowed against a strong currency and rising labor costs.
It was at this point that the company decided to roll out the Everstar brand and the online store. The move into e-commerce has helped boost its domestic market presence and compensate for falling overseas orders.
Everstar has also managed to cut manufacturing costs, a crucial factor as shoppers become more price conscious.
"A pair of jeans will cost about 300 yuan to make this way," Fan said. "But the profit margin selling directly to shoppers is six times that from the traditional business-to-business type."
Increased profit has helped Everstar offset rising costs in upgrading to smart technology in the manufacturing process.
"Although one-time investment is high, it makes us competitive in the long term," Fan said. "Since 2009, the company has invested more than 40 million yuan in upgrading facilities."
By the end of the year, the company plans to have installed three more "smart tailor" machines with six more coming on line in 2016 at its two factories in Foshan city, Guangdong province, and Jiangling county, Hubei province. A new line in trendy suits was also launched earlier this year, with sales generating more than 2 million yuan by June.
Another key development saw Everstar open two traditional stores. Last year, one was rolled out at the South China University of Technology in the Panyu District of Guangzhou. The other was set up near the Guangzhou Railway Station in April.
Jeans samples are displayed alongside computer screens so shoppers can order online. Customers can also buy coffee as they decide what designs to select. The company plans to open seven more shops at the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, which houses 12 universities, in Guangdong later this year to tap into the youth market.
"The youth sector is the most dynamic and makes up the main group of our clients," Fan said. "We need to understand their needs, so we can launch promotions."
The company already has some high-profile customers, including the 2006 winner of the Nobel Prize for economics Edmund Phelps. He visited Everstar in 2013 during a trip to China to check out the country's "innovative companies".
A year later, Everstar was rated as one of the top "innovative Chinese firms" by Fast Company business magazine in the United States.
"It has showed far-reaching vision by developing equipment on its own," Yang Jichao, former president of China National Textile and Apparel Council, said. "Our country is never short of output in the garment industry, but what we need is innovation."
Everstar's philosophy of providing customized products has been crucial to the company's success, but it still has to do more on the marketing front. "They need to explore different ways to promote their goods to consumers," Yang said.
Last year was a challenging period for the garment industry in Guangdong.
Weak global demand, rising labor costs and a stronger yuan forced companies to look at new business models to increase their domestic market share.
Around 6.37 billion pieces of clothing were produced by large firms in Guangdong in 2014, an increase of 5.49 percent compared to the same period in 2013. This accounted for 21.27 percent of the national total.
With the garment industry worth 800 billion yuan on the retail side last year, finding an edge in a competitive market place has become vital.
"Everstar is well positioned in the market with its consumer-led approach and the ability to satisfy customized demand," Fan, who started work in the garment trade in 1999 and set up Foshan Shunde Everstar Clothing Co in 2008, said.
His next move is to further integrate technology into the company's factories, and increase online promotions and marketing.
One idea Everstar is developing involves customers posting their measurements online through a click of camera. They would simply take a "selfie" photograph and that would be sent to Everstar with their order. Technology would do the rest.
"We plan to launch sale promotions through social networks," Fan said. "We will also work to collect measurement data in new ways. To do this, we plan to increase research and development."
Foshan Shunde Everstar Clothing Co has changed all that after putting together a "smart" idea that has turned around the company's fortunes.
By dreaming up a virtual fitting room for customers, Everstar and company president Fan Youbin have illustrated how the Internet can affect the lives of shoppers and traditional businesses.
"Everything is done online," he told Xinhua News Agency. "The process is very quick."
In fact, it's so quick it has transformed the business model of the clothing manufacturer, which is based in Jun'an town, part of Foshan city, in South China's Guangdong province.
But it has not happened overnight. Three years ago, Fan decided to take the company in a different direction as exports slowed.
Using the power of online shopping to boost the bottom line, he launched the Everstar brand.
Now customers can design their own clothes, including jeans and suits, and try them on in a virtual fitting room at the company's online store.
"Within three days of placing an order, our customers can receive their clothes," Fan said.
This is how it works:
- Shoppers first log onto the Everstar virtual store at www.idiymall.com.
- Then they type in their measurements and decide on the color, the cut and the style of the items they are looking for from a selection of pictures and illustrations.
- A couple of clicks later and the virtual fitting room will show them on screen what their tailor-made fashion items will look like.
- A final click and their orders are processed.
Simple? But that is only half the logistics battle. To keep delivery dates down to three days in China's domestic market, Everstar uses state-of-the-art laser-cutting technology, which can fashion the fabrics to custom-ordered designs in only 20 seconds, compared to 30 minutes using traditional methods.
Once the "smart tailor", as it is known, has finished, the items are moved along a conveyor belt "hanging system", where factory workers put the final touches to the items.
"The smart tailor has radically reduced the time needed to cut cloth and print patterns, which in the old days could take between 30 minutes and one hour by our work force," Fan said.
The switch into "smart manufacturing" has paid off for Everstar, which employs 490 staff at its two factories. In 2014, the clothing company reported 40,000 online orders.
Still, revenue from the "virtual fitting room" accounted for less than 10 percent of last year's business, which was worth 70 million yuan ($11.27 million).
Fan expects Everstar's online operation will steadily increase and is predicting it will hit 20 percent of total revenue in 2015.
"The Internet of Things (a term used for traditional manufacturing coupled with online technology) makes it possible to produce a profit from tailor-made small orders," he said.
In 2013, revenue was about 160 million yuan, but profit margins slowed against a strong currency and rising labor costs.
It was at this point that the company decided to roll out the Everstar brand and the online store. The move into e-commerce has helped boost its domestic market presence and compensate for falling overseas orders.
Everstar has also managed to cut manufacturing costs, a crucial factor as shoppers become more price conscious.
"A pair of jeans will cost about 300 yuan to make this way," Fan said. "But the profit margin selling directly to shoppers is six times that from the traditional business-to-business type."
Increased profit has helped Everstar offset rising costs in upgrading to smart technology in the manufacturing process.
"Although one-time investment is high, it makes us competitive in the long term," Fan said. "Since 2009, the company has invested more than 40 million yuan in upgrading facilities."
By the end of the year, the company plans to have installed three more "smart tailor" machines with six more coming on line in 2016 at its two factories in Foshan city, Guangdong province, and Jiangling county, Hubei province. A new line in trendy suits was also launched earlier this year, with sales generating more than 2 million yuan by June.
Another key development saw Everstar open two traditional stores. Last year, one was rolled out at the South China University of Technology in the Panyu District of Guangzhou. The other was set up near the Guangzhou Railway Station in April.
Jeans samples are displayed alongside computer screens so shoppers can order online. Customers can also buy coffee as they decide what designs to select. The company plans to open seven more shops at the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, which houses 12 universities, in Guangdong later this year to tap into the youth market.
"The youth sector is the most dynamic and makes up the main group of our clients," Fan said. "We need to understand their needs, so we can launch promotions."
The company already has some high-profile customers, including the 2006 winner of the Nobel Prize for economics Edmund Phelps. He visited Everstar in 2013 during a trip to China to check out the country's "innovative companies".
A year later, Everstar was rated as one of the top "innovative Chinese firms" by Fast Company business magazine in the United States.
"It has showed far-reaching vision by developing equipment on its own," Yang Jichao, former president of China National Textile and Apparel Council, said. "Our country is never short of output in the garment industry, but what we need is innovation."
Everstar's philosophy of providing customized products has been crucial to the company's success, but it still has to do more on the marketing front. "They need to explore different ways to promote their goods to consumers," Yang said.
Last year was a challenging period for the garment industry in Guangdong.
Weak global demand, rising labor costs and a stronger yuan forced companies to look at new business models to increase their domestic market share.
Around 6.37 billion pieces of clothing were produced by large firms in Guangdong in 2014, an increase of 5.49 percent compared to the same period in 2013. This accounted for 21.27 percent of the national total.
With the garment industry worth 800 billion yuan on the retail side last year, finding an edge in a competitive market place has become vital.
"Everstar is well positioned in the market with its consumer-led approach and the ability to satisfy customized demand," Fan, who started work in the garment trade in 1999 and set up Foshan Shunde Everstar Clothing Co in 2008, said.
His next move is to further integrate technology into the company's factories, and increase online promotions and marketing.
One idea Everstar is developing involves customers posting their measurements online through a click of camera. They would simply take a "selfie" photograph and that would be sent to Everstar with their order. Technology would do the rest.
"We plan to launch sale promotions through social networks," Fan said. "We will also work to collect measurement data in new ways. To do this, we plan to increase research and development."
