Semir

Semir is a clothing brand owned by Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd, one of China’s largest privately held garment manufacturers with annual revenues over 6 Billion RMB (US Dollar $1 Billion).  Semir owns and operates 1,000 retail stores throughout China with multiple retail destinations in Capitol cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Hong Kong. The company consistently ranks among the top 100 most profitable companies in China and is recognized among China’s top 10 clothing and apparel retailers. The typical Semir store is approximately 880 square meters (9,000 square feet) with 3 to 4 levels separating Mens, Womens, Seasonal, and Clearance departments. Shown below are images of the Semir Wuhan City flagship store:

Target Market

Semir targets the youth market with its core customer base between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. The company places a large emphasis on marketing to High School and College students with a combinations of trendy and youthful fashion design concepts combined with price points that are far below its competitors.

Competition

Semir faces direct competition in China from H&M and indirect competition from The Gap. The company also faces direct and indirect competitive pressure from a number of local brands who are much smaller is size and scope. The company recently acquired the exclusive rights in China to the Disney brand and markets a variety of Disney branded apparel (which is in high demand among Chinese youth), this gives the company a significant competitive advantage.

Challenge

The vast majority of Chinese youth have adopted a Westernized consumer mentality. In addition, a large number of Semir stores are located in Capitol cities and are visited by a considerable number of Western tourists. The challenge for the company is to better understand consumer behaviors and to develop a sales process that is consistent with China’s changing youth market, while also providing superior service and support to tourist customers. Semir has retained Houman Salem and Argyle Partners to provide leadership and expertise to the company’s senior management, and to top store managers, on consumer behavior trends and to develop comprehensive sales strategies and tactics that are consistent with its consumer markets.

Videos

The Chinese work culture is characterized as intensely disciplined with an extreme emphasis on structure and order. The following videos are an example of Semir’s daily motivational exercises and the process by which work teams negotiate their sales quotas with management.