Bags / Shoes & Accessories

China is the world's largest manufacturing country for luggage. According to data, the luggage produced in China has accounted for nearly 40% of the global market share. With the return of overseas merchants, China's international trade exports of luggage and luggage have shown a sustained recovery trend this year.

These days, a production base of a luggage enterprise located in Pinghu, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, is gearing up to meet a new batch of orders from European customers - 50000 luggage cases. Outside the warehouse, workers are busy loading newly shipped products onto container trucks. Subsequently, these containers will be shipped through Shanghai Yangshan Port or Ningbo Zhoushan Port to countries and regions such as Europe, North America, and Japan.

Luo Fuwang, director of the manufacturing center of a luggage enterprise in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, said, "From January to February, we exported a total of 8.07 million US dollars, an increase of about 67% year-on-year.". Currently, orders are also relatively saturated, with around 20 containers shipped per day, and up to 70 containers can be shipped during peak periods.

The popularity of orders stems from the return of overseas customers. Since the end of last year, this company has made a special trip to Europe to visit old customers, continuously participated in professional luggage exhibitions such as Orfenbach in Germany and Las Vegas in the United States, and won over $5 million in intended orders at one go. In Yiwu, the "capital of small commodities", more and more overseas buyers are returning to place orders here, which has also driven the luggage business.

According to the statistics of Yiwu Shopping Mall Group, since the opening of the market in the Year of the Rabbit, more than 1000 foreign businessmen have entered Yiwu International Trade and Trade Mall every day to purchase, an increase of 17.5% compared to the same period last year. According to data, in the first two months of this year, Yiwu's luggage exports reached 2.69 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.2%.

Bao Jianling, operator of Zhejiang Yiwu International Trade City: In the first month after the Spring Festival last year, our turnover was 2.6 million yuan. This year, it has increased by 20% to 30%, reaching over 3 million yuan.

Since the second half of last year, the price of container shipping has been falling all the way. At present, the price of a container exported to Europe and the United States West route has dropped from the highest point of around $9000 and $15000, respectively, to the current level of around $1000 and $1500. The logistics cost of international trade has decreased, which provides good news for luggage export enterprises.

Su Yanlin, an operator of Zhejiang Yiwu International Trade City, said that trolley cases are a space-intensive commodity, so shipping prices have a significant impact on exports. A container can hold 5000 or 6000 semi-finished products, 2-3 times the volume of finished goods shipped. However, after the goods arrive abroad, customers still have to rent warehouses and hire workers to assemble semi-finished products into finished products, which can cost a lot. Profits have been compressed, and many overseas customers have reduced their purchases, leading to the direct loss of some small orders. But now, as shipping prices have fallen to around a tenth of their peak, the business of many luggage companies has warmed up.

A trolley case production enterprise with a construction area of over 10000 square meters can produce over 4000 trolley cases per day, but the progress is still too slow for the enterprise.

Zhang Yongli, head of a luggage manufacturing enterprise in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, said: "Compared to last year, our orders have increased by 15-20%.".

The person in charge told reporters that the luggage business has continued to pick up since the sea freight prices fell. Looking ahead to the market this year, they have spent tens of millions of yuan to purchase three new production lines. The production line is currently entering the commissioning stage and is expected to be officially put into operation in May this year.

Zhang Yongli, the person in charge of a luggage production enterprise in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, said: "We now have orders scheduled for July, and the production cycle is relatively long. Customers need to wait three to four months.". So we need to put in a new production line and shorten the production cycle to 45 days.

Jiaxing, Zhejiang: From OEM to self built brand luggage enterprises, multi-channel growth promotion

Despite the rebound in business, the international trade environment is becoming increasingly complex and volatile. In order to increase industrial added value, many luggage enterprises in Pinghu, Jiaxing, Zhejiang have begun to seek transformation.

In the production workshop of a luggage enterprise, the reporter saw a large inkjet printer drawing cartoon patterns for a luggage. Over the years, the company has won more than ten well-known IPs and created joint branded bags. These products have enjoyed excellent sales in international trade markets such as Europe, the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asia, helping this luggage enterprise successfully establish a foothold in the mid-tier market of over $100 and high-end markets of over $200.

The reporter learned that there are currently more than 40 luggage enterprises above designated size in Pinghu, Jiaxing, Zhejiang. In the past, these enterprises mainly engaged in OEM for foreign brands, with low product added value. Currently, local luggage enterprises are continuously improving their competitiveness through overseas acquisitions and self built brands.

Chen Wanglun, General Manager of a luggage enterprise in Zhejiang Province: From the sales side, we now own 40% of our own brands and OEM processing, and it is predicted that our own brands should exceed 50% in the future.

At present, this luggage enterprise launches more than 700 new products every year, and the gross profit of a single suitcase has increased from 5% to 20% to 30% today. At the same time, many luggage enterprises are also making efforts to expand their sales channels, not only opening stores globally on cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Wal Mart and Amazon, but also establishing overseas warehouses in Europe and North America.

Yu Xinfang, Factory Director of Pinghu Factory, a luggage enterprise in Zhejiang Province, said: "In order to meet the needs of cross-border e-commerce customers for small batches and personalized customization, our factory has introduced the" unlimited order starting "mode, and we can also accept orders for several or more boxes.". To this end, we have created a flexible production line that can switch from one product to another. The adjustment time for the intermediate production line only takes half an hour.