Asian Business Project Online personalized lingerie

Marketing
ESSCA-Shanghai

Asian Business Research Project
Online personalized lingerie
Camille Folliot
Celia Freixe
Emilie Fort
Morgane Guérin
Anne-Laure Zeller
28 – 05 - 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ............................................................................................ - 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... - 2 Report Methodology ........................................................................................... - 3 A.

Choice of the subject ........................................................................................... - 3 -

B.

Market study method ........................................................................................... - 5 -

Literature review ................................................................................................. - 7 Industry Context ................................................................................................ - 13 A.

Overview of the market ...................................................................................... - 13 -

B.

Customization trends ......................................................................................... - 19 -

Market Study...................................................................................................... - 22 A.

Introduction of the market analysis ................................................................. - 22 -

B.

Profile of the respondents ................................................................................. - 23 -

C.

Offer and demand ............................................................................................... - 25 -

D.

Consumer behavior ............................................................................................ - 27 -

E.

Analysis of the concept’s potential .................................................................. - 35 -

Recommendations ............................................................................................ - 37 Appendix ............................................................................................................ - 40 -

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report was led to examine if the Chinese women customers would be ready to
buy online personalized lingerie.
The lingerie market is a promising field in China and online shopping is one of the
most growing consumer trends nowadays.
The research we’ve conducted highlighted a few facts about Chinese consumers’
behaviour:


42% of the interviewees are not satisfied with the current offer



Only 20% of the respondents see their lingerie as sexy or romantic



Among the women interviewed, women from 26 to 30 were the most
concerned by the subject



There is a general lack of willing to use lingerie to seduce

Nevertheless ½-dating women showed interest in our project and 51% of all the
women we interrogated would be ready to spend more than their current budget for
personalized lingerie.

It is recommended to have a strong communication policy in order to inform women
about the fabrics, shapes and sizes. A lot of them are reluctant to buy online because
of a lack of advices and self-confidence.
A strong digital communication policy is required to accompany women in the buying
process and reinsure them. It would also be great to organize physical events in
partner stores to make the concept more known and accompany women in the
buying process.
Finally, it will be very important to keep a clear positioning and target the 18 – 35
years old women who are more confident towards buying online, have a better image
of their body and seduction power, and are not ashamed to claim it.

-1-

INTRODUCTION
As five French students who arrived in Shanghai to study abroad a few months, we
were amazed by the dynamism of this city and the diversity of its people. We rapidly
discovered the different districts and found a lot of malls, small shops, groceries and
markets where people are used to shop every day of their life.
As Shanghai and the Eastern China in general are very modern and people are very
connected to their smartphones, we thought it we would be easy for us to shop via
warehouses and buy all the “Made in China” products we like in France for a cheaper
price.
It appeared to be more complicated as for Valentine’s Day we couldn’t find any
lingerie products fitting our needs in terms of design, elegance, and shapes.
We tried to look for French brands implanted in China and discovered an interesting
concept developed by Etam for the French market: online lingerie customization.
Then, we thought it would be interesting to study the feasibility of such a concept in
China.
Thus we have chosen the problematic: “Is China ready for personalized lingerie?”

Chinese lingerie market achieved more than 20$ billion revenues in 2014, with 30%
coming from the high-end lingerie sector. Today it is the fastest growing lingerie
market in the world. With the growing purchasing power of the middle class, there are
plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurial ideas to grow up. Purchasing personalized
lingerie online is an innovative idea coming to diversify the current offer and opening
a new path in customer’s online purchasing habits.
Nevertheless, two factors need to be taken into consideration:
-

needs and expectations are different according to the local culture

-

Chinese women desire for comfort and advices can become a barrier to enter
the market

-2-

REPORT METHODOLOGY
A. Choice of the subject
The first step of the project was to find the idea and to choose the problematic that
will drive our researches. We did several group meetings to talk about our interests.
We wanted to be committed to the project by choosing a sector and a problematic in
which we all share an interest. Before the meetings, everybody had to do a personal
brainstorming with interesting ideas and concepts. During the meetings we selected
three themes and then we conducted some quick and general researches about the
idea to observe the trends in these sectors. We also talked with friends and family
outside of the project to get an external point of view. At the end, we decided to focus
on the lingerie market because it was something that we were all interested in.
We expressed the problematic as “Is China ready for personalized lingerie?” to be
able to answer by yes or no at the end.

Then, we determined the different steps of the project and we made a retro planning
in order to spread the work along the whole semester. We came up with 5 parts and
we decided to choose a team leader for each part, according to everybody
preferences and strengths. The details of the retro-planning are in the next page.

-3-

-4-

B. Market study method
The project is based on the results of the study market: we conducted it in order to
get an idea of the feasibility of the concept. We conducted our research by collecting
secondary data in a first time, then by collecting primary data and an analysis to
compare the reality and the theory.

Secondary data
The secondary data are essential to understand the global market and to be
immersed in the context of the lingerie market in China. We looked for data in
articles and reports to get a large and objective overview. It allowed us to see the
past changes and the futures trends of the lingerie market.

Primary data
To understand the reality of the market, we designed a survey which was divided in
three sections: the consumer behavior when buying lingerie, the presentation of our
idea and the interviewee profile. The survey is available in appendix II.
We decided to administer our survey directly to the women for a face to face
response. Therefore, we went to Shanghai streets (Nanjing Lu, Guanxi Bei Lu,
Xintiandi). The advantage of this method is that we targeted directly women and we
are sure of the authenticity of the answers. Online surveys are less personal and we
cannot be sure of the quality of the answer (if men are answering the surveys, we
will have biased advices). Plus, we were able to diversify the sample: not only young
ladies and students. We asked to working people and tourists from all group of age.
Furthermore it was a mean to explain to people that it was a student study and not a
study for a company. Indeed, some women were afraid to answer because our
survey was about intimate and private information. However, the language barrier
was a limit to the administration of the questionnaire because we couldn’t explain in
details the questions and gather qualitative data.
Our group target was women under 35 years old but we tried to interview women of
all ages to analyze the differences it will underlie. We were expecting 300 answers to
get a significant sample. However, as we were conducting the survey in the street,
-5-

we were arrested several times by the police so we decided to be more realistic and
reduce the number of interviews. We finally get 154 interviews.

Primary data VS secondary data
Once we got the desired number of answers, we analyzed the results to understand
if our project was feasible or not.

-6-

LITERATURE REVIEW
Even after our Research Question was clearly identified, we wanted to know better
about the sector, identify trends, generate research ideas and develop a critical
perspective. We looked at many different articles concerning the lingerie industry, so
it was important to organise the valuable ideas and findings in a Literature Review.
The key purposes are to further refine research questions and objectives, discover
recommendations to further research and avoid repeating work already undertaken.
It is also a way to provide insights into strategies and techniques appropriate to our
research objectives.

Link

Biographic details

Brief summary of content

The article explains that Chinese women are no
http://usa.chinadail
longer satisfied with bras only aimed to be
y.com.cn/epaper/2
comfortable; they now want attractive style and a
012sense of luxury wearing them. Their budget for
03/05/content_147
underwear is getting bigger and for the moment
57845.htm
they spend it on foreign brands. Companies want
to meet the changing demands and make profit.
Title:
Foreign brand are adjusting their design to cater
Competition in China's to Chinese customers. Also they are now
http://en.people.cn/ underwear market fierc manufacturing in other Asian countries as various
90778/8378259.ht e
costs in china increase. Retail turnover in
Author: Yao Jing
ml
Chinese underwear market highly rose. Chinese
(China Daily)
target customers have higher income and more
Date: 2013
purchasing power.
In recent years China has become the fastest
Title: Blooming
growing lingerie market worldwide. It explains
http://www.albertof Chinese Lingerie
that the sector keeps growing very fast. Today
orchielli.com/2012/ Market
Chinese ladies are more open to sexy ads,
Author: Jeff Zhou and
01/03/bloomingaccompanied by foreign brands entry. Customers
chinese-lingerieJoey Zhou
are more sophisticated and influenced by
Date: 2012
market/
western trends. More and more people like to
shop online.
Title: Lingerie market
gets bigger and better
Author: Du Juann
(China Daily)
Date: 2012

http://www.scmp.c
om/business/comp
anies/article/16728
82/la-perlaschiara-scagliagears-deeperchina-push-new-

Title: La Perla’s Chiara
Scaglia gears up for
deeper China push
with new HK store
Author: South China
Morning Post
Date: 2015

La Perla, the underwear brand is opening a 8000
square foot store in Russel Street, Hong Kong.
It’s saying that Asia is the place with the highest
room for growth but it will take time. La Perla’s
advantage to the Chinese market is that they sell
discreet luxury lingerie.
-7-

hk-store
http://www.cnga.or
g.cn/engl/news/Vie
w.asp?NewsID=35
328

Title: China's lingerie
and intimate apparel
industry is not mature
yet
Author: CNGA
Date: 2013

Lingerie market is still at a developing stage; it is
still lack of overall and mature dealer groups.
They are good at distribution and investment but
weak in the awareness of raising single store
efficiency and management instruments.

http://www.technav
io.com/report/intim
ate-wear-marketin-china-20152019?utm_source
=T1&utm_medium
=BW&utm_campai
gn=Media

Title: Intimate Wear
Market in China 20152019
Author: TechNavio’s
report
Date: 2015

The report covers the present scenario and the
growth prospects of the Intimate Wear market in
China for the period 2015-2019. To calculate the
market size, the report considers revenue
generated from the sales of intimate wear in
China.

http://qz.com/1847
94/victorias-secretis-launching-inmainland-chinabut-its-not-sellingunderwear/

Title: Victoria’s Secret
is launching in
mainland China—but
it’s not selling
underwear
Author: Lily Kuo
Date: 2014

Victoria secret is opening shops in China, but is
not selling underwear. Stores are only smaller
outlets focusing on iconic beauty products.
Selling lingerie to China is a future goal and
considers China as significant growing market.

Title: La Perla bets on
http://redasia love for luxury
luxury.com/brandsintimates
retail/la-perla-betsAuthor: Red Luxury
on-asia-love-forDate: 2011
luxury-intimates

La Perla, upscale Italian lingerie label is making a
major investment in Asia with the opening of 19
flagships. The article explains La Perla’s strategy
of captivating customers in China with elegant
lingerie. They have open shops in Shanghai but
also consider Honk Kong as a booming market.
They had seen initial resistance but are now
planning to open more and more shops in China

http://www.fashion
united.co.uk/fashio
nnews/fashion/china
s-lingerie-marketcomes-of-age2014082622174

The article explains that there is nowadays in
China a sexy aspiration to young women who
want to be different. “Sexy” remains a subjective
term, brands focus on promoting femininity,
craftsmanship and premium experience.

Euromonitor report

Title: China’s lingerie
market comes of age
Author: Fashion
united
Date: 2014

Title: Apparel ETailing
Innovation Series: The
Pursuit of a Perfect Fit
Online, Part 2 Lingerie
Author: Ashma Kunde
Date: 2013

Euromonitor International assesses innovations
in selling women’s underwear online. What
makes shopping for intimate goods most suited
to the online channel. Description of online great
marketing lingerie brands: Adore me, intiMINT.
Online lingerie brand try to match style
preferences. Innovative online lingerie brand:
Third Love gets consumers to take photos of
themselves, the app converts into data points to
create personalised bra. The E-tailer, True & Co
proposes Home Try–on box for a refundable
deposit.
-8-

Euromonitor report

Euromonitor report

Title: Global apparel
(part 2): category
dynamics and
competitive landscape
Author: Euromonitor
report
Date: 2015

Title: Internet vs
Storebased Shopping:
The Global Move
Towards Omnichannel
Retailing
Author: Euromonitor
report
Date: 2015

This report highlights the most dynamic
categories and companies in the global apparel
market and the reasons for their success. The
key findings are: sportswear is the best performer
of the global apparel market; men’s fashion is
growing thanks to internet; there’s a children
wear boom; small things (accessories,
underwear) have benefited from the recession
due to their affordability as self treating;
developed market brands are targeting emerging
markets (notably China) and there is a growing
ethical and environmental concern.
The report is a comparison of the internet and
store-based shops. The report able to understand
behaviour and characteristics of online shoppers,
the retailer’s strategies, opportunities and threats
to retailers. The report focuses on India and
China as growing emerging markets.

http://www.aimero
nline.com/
http://www.manifor
m.com.cn/
http://www.chinaab
.com/englishweb/p
rofile_company.as
p

Overview of Chinese lingerie brands selling
online.

http://www.loverlingerie.com/?SlimSexy-Bra-KnitPrint-Dre-AB0020p10071.html
http://shanghaiist.c
om/2015/04/07/loo
k_60_housewives_
in_hangzhou_hit.p
hp
http://journalducm.
com/2014/10/24/st
rategie-marquede-lingeriechinoise-5141/
http://www.lexpres
s.fr/actualites/1/so

Title: 60 Hangzhou
housewives hit catwalk
in lingerie
Author: Tanto Chen
(Shanghaiist)
Date: 2015

Around 60 housewives in Hangzhou participated
to a lingerie show. The event was meant to
reveal housewives beauty and increase their selfconfidence. Those women are mothers and some
are also grandmothers.

The Chinese Xianyidi used a famous Japanese
porn star Sola Aoi to target more masculine
customers. As porn is forbidden in China, this
marketing promotion was illegal but Sola Aoi
found an alternative by creating her own lingerie
brand: “ Spakeys”
Title: Lingerie: le made French girdle makers have made an exhibition
in France s’expose
about lingerie, which will be seen, all over the
Title: Le pari risqué
d’une marquee de
lingerie chinoise
Author: Olivier Verot
Date: 2014

-9-

ciete/lingerie-lemade-in-france-sexpose-pourmieux-sexporter_1134611.
html
http://www.lefigaro.
fr/societes/2013/04
/19/2000520130419ARTFIG
00570-etam-doitrevoir-son-plan-deconquete-de-lachine.php
http://www.marketi
ngchine.com/conseils
-business-enchine/il-lance-samarque-delingerie-chatqnala-conquete-dumarche-chinois

pour mieux s’exporter
Author: AFP
(L’Express)
Date: 2012

world. They are targeting Chinese customers
buying luxury brands and call China “the
business of tomorrow”.

Title: Etam doit revoir
son plan de conquête
de la China
Author: Anne-Sophie
Cathala (Le Figaro
économie)
Date: 2013

As Etam’s sales have been strongly decreasing
in China, the brand has made an important
change in its marketing strategy. They have open
smaller shops, offered cheaper lingerie and
created collections more dedicated to younger
women.

Title: Il lance sa
marque de lingerie
CHATQN et part à la
conquête du marché
chinois
Author: Marketing
Chine
Date: 2015

Interview of a French young entrepreneur of
online lingerie. He explains his strategy to enter
the Chinese market. Those Chinese women have
different needs from westerners.

Title: Etam proposera
http://www.madmoi bientôt un service de
zelle.com/etamcustomization de
servicelingerie
Author: Virginie
customisationlingerie-327210
(Madmoiszelle)
Date: 2015
http://www.marketi
ngchine.com/chine/le
-marche-de-lalingerie-en-chine

Title: Le marché de la
lingerie en Chine
Author: Marketing
Chine
Date: 2012

http://redluxury.com/fashion
/chinas-indyintimate-wearbrands-to-watch

Title: China’s Indy
Intimate Wear Brands
to Watch
Author: Red Luxury
Date: 2014

http://www.accentu
re.com/sitecollectio
ndocuments/pdf/ac
centure-emergingtrends-online-

Title: Asia Consumer
Product Trends:
Implications for
Retailers and
Manufacturers

Since May, the French Lingerie brand Etam, has
launched a new service of lingerie
personalization online.

Overall description of the Chinese underwear
market. The customer behaviour, the market
characteristics: Chinese girls are modest and
discreet, the choice of colour is important and
sizes are different. It also makes a review of
lingerie brands already implemented, the
channels, and the trends and the buyer profile
Review of companies selling lingerie already
established in China. Aimer, a sophisticated
brand targeting older women; Embry, the first
company to market western style undergarments
designed specially to Chinese customers and
Maniform, which has found power in market
diversification branching into sleepwear,
maternity clothes and shape wear.
This company has conducted a research about
the Asian consumer behavior and the trends in
the market. The key elements are the ageing
population, the urbanization, the online
purchasing behavior, the urbanization and the
- 10 -

version.pdf

Author: Accenture
Date: 2011

http://www.mckins
eychina.com/mass
-customizationcomes-to-china/

Title: Mass
customization comes
to China
Author: Mc Kinsey
Date: 2014

http://www.chinada
ily.com.cn/busines
s/201210/02/content_157
95115.htm

Title: Consumers go
online for unique,
custom-made products
Author: China Daily
Date: 2012
Title: How lingerie
startups are changing
the way we shop for
bras
Author: Dhani Mau
(Fashionista)
Date: 2013

http://fashionista.c
om/2013/08/howlingeriestartupsarechangingthewayweshopforbras

http://thelingeriejou
rnal.com/uslingeriedominatesglobalmarket/

Title: How US lingerie
dominates the global
market
Author: The Lingerie
Journal
Date: 2015

http://adage.com/a
rticle/globalnews/atimegrowthchangechinaslingeriemarket/298517/

Title: It’s time of
growth and change for
china’s lingerie market
Author: Angela
Doland (Global news)
Date: 2015

http://fashionista.c
om/2013/07/lingeri
estartupadoremewantstogivevictoriassecretarunforitsmoney

Title: Lingerie startup
Adore Me wants to
give Victoria’s secret a
run for its money
Author: Dhani Mau
(Fashionista)
Date: 2013

http://uk.reuters.co
m/article/2015/01/1
4/researchandmarketsidUKnBw1
46191a+100+BSW
20150114

Title:United States
online lingerie market
2015-2019
Author: Laura Wood
(Research and
Markets)

customization trend.
The author is explaining that customization is a
trend in China because consumers want
something unique that will bring their proudness.
The manufacturers has to adapt to these
changes and thanks to the importance presence
of new technology in China, the key is to be
present on these new channels.
It is explain here that the main motivation for
Chinese consumer looking for personalized
products is to buy something unique. The article
explains the strategy of different companies such
as Taobao.com to offer personalized products.
New online e-commerce startups have emerged
with new ideas to select a bra that fits. They all
hope to become Victoria’s secret alternative.
Some app like Thirlove focused on helping you
determine your correct bra size, Ampere offers
good quality luxury bra that comes with free
panty that matches.
Research that provides statistics on the US
lingerie industry. US lead the trend in world
lingerie, it’s a mature market and the article tries
to answer how US lingerie dominates the global
market. In the decade prior innovation and
improving the bra fit has left lower gross profit
margins however in the long run companies are
better off.
For valentine’s day promotion, in a Beijing mall,
models clad in featured white cupid wings
approached couples with questioning the men
about their girlfriend’s or wife bra size. It was a
huge promotion event as 3 million people
watched the video online.
Adore Me, membership based online only site
that sells the same products as Victoria’s secret
launches a entirely new collection every month
based on seasonal trends called “ fast fashion”.
Adore me also as a VIP member program. The
article is wondering if ambitious Adore Me can
compete with America’s most recognized
consumer brand.
Concept of online lingerie stores that affers a
wide range of international and private labels
under one platform has only further improved the
growth prospects for the lingerie industry as
whole. According to the report, one of the key
drivers of the market is increased smartphone
- 11 -

http://www.inc.com
/jillkrasny/insidetheworldofecommercelingeriestartups.html

Date: 2015
Title: The rise of Ecommerce lingerie
startups
Author: Jill Krasny
Date: 2015

Title: L’ultra
personalization: 8
http://www.restoco
Idées surprenantes
nnection.fr/lultrapour votre restaurant
personnalisationAuthor: Géraldine
rapporte-8-ideesMalet (Resto
surprenantes-pourConnection)
votre-restaurant/
Date: 2013

https://fashionaholi
c2013.wordpress.c
om/2013/03/07/wh
at-customerswant-low-price-vshigh-quality/

Title: What Customers
Care About: Low Price
VS High Quality
Author: Fashionaholic
blog
Date: 2013

penetration.
Make shopping for intimate online is a challenge,
many women don’t like to shop bras and
swimsuits. Online lingerie startups aim to solve
this problem.
The author gives advices to restaurant owner in
order to ride the trend of personalization
marketing trend. She calls “ultra personalization”
when the customer becomes the center of the
product. (Coca-cola, Subway, Nutella).
Personalization ables the customer to beneficiate
from a new experience. Furthermore
personalization is a good way of promoting the
brand thanks to the “Buzz” on social network.
She gives some new useful marketing tools as
mailing, newletters…
The interesting aspect of this article for our
project is that the companies have to be aware of
the differences between Chinese women body
and in other countries: they have to adapt their
products.

- 12 -

INDUSTRY CONTEXT
A. Overview of the market
1. Global underwear market
In 2014, the global underwear market worth $111,16 billion. The women’s underwear
market is supposed to know the greatest absolute growth over 2014 to 2019 (+3,0%
according to Euromonitor, 2015) and indeed boost the women’s apparel market (1,6%
forecast growth from 2014 to 2019).
Global forecast growth, Euromonitor 2015

China is a main driver of the global underwear growth with a +6,9% forecast from
2014 to 2019 (Appendix 1 – China underwear market, Euromonitor May 2015). The 3
top companies leading the trends are Cosmo Lady China Holdings Co Ltd, Beijing
Aimer Lingerie Co Ltd and Embry Holdings Ltd.

2. Lingerie Market
Global lingerie market
Lingerie is one of the subcategories belonging to the underwear industry. In 2013,
the lingerie industry has revenue of $32 billion (corresponding to 28% of the
underwear revenue).
- 13 -

The lingerie global market is dominated by the USA (40% of market share, $12,8
billion) (The Lingerie Journal, How US market dominates the lingerie market).
Few big players dominate the market such as Victoria Secret in the USA ($12 billion),
Chantelle in France and Marks & Spencer in the UK (Blooming Chinese Lingerie
Market)

Online distribution in mature market, a new landscape for competition
Western markets are mature, but new competitors are breaking into the American
market. They are willing to offer some alternatives to American women lingerie’s
purchases, and take advantage of the booming online retailing channels. These
online only companies’ angle of attack is a truly personalized experience to
consumers, and the offer of perfect fit, style, quality and competitive price. The online
experience is making the purchase even more intimate than in-store.
This online strategy relies on believability factor: the brand needs to
-

Get the consumer agree that the concept is what he was looking for (i.e. no
more uncomfortable in store experience with a stranger wrapping a tape
measure around the customer’s chest)

-

Satisfy the customer with the online-experience itself

In order to build brand awareness and brand loyalty, the company has to bit the instore experience. This implies a huge communication on comfort, fit and value of
their products.
We will look deeper on their innovative business model, based on new perspective of
data-driven fitting bra, customization and advertisings.
-

True & Co concept

In order to design the perfect bra for each women’s shape, True&Co gathered more
than 7 million data points on its customers at the moment, and this is just the
beginning. With 20 different components in a bra, the e-player wants to take the best
decisions to match the demand of the market.
The customer answers a quick fit quiz to identify his body type (according to the
company shapes database). He will then see all the bras with perfectly sized items
and can order up to five bras in exchange of a $45 deposit. Then the customer keeps
the bras, which fit it and send back for free the others one.
- 14 -

-

Third Love concept

Third Love mission is to deliver perfectly sized items for consumers, which can then
be customized.
The customer sends two pictures of his chest (in a tank top) to the Third Love app
(anonymous and secure system) or answer to a fit quiz online. Then the company
determines the correct bra size using technology developed by a NASA scientist. The
customer is redirected to a bra boutique, which will only contain perfect fitting bras,
designed in-house.
-

Adore Me concept

The customer answers a quick fit quiz and is then redirected to perfectly sized bras.
Besides the customer can design or vote for pre-designed bras. The bras getting the
more votes will then be available on the website. Adore Me designed an interactive
experience to create an intimate link with its customers and enhance brand loyalty.
Adore Me wants to become the “Zara of lingerie” by launching approximately 30-40
new pieces each month. This would get the company a big competitive advantage on
brands such as Victoria Secret, which launch 2 collections a year.

Different regions, different tastes
Even if the biggest players are well known around the world, every lingerie company
should adapt to local tastes to succeed as women have different expectation from
clusters to clusters. For example, American women are considering lingerie as a
fashion item whereas Chinese women are considering it as utilitarian (when walking
in Shanghai, we can see laundry (and underwear) hanging drying on trees for
example). All aspects of lingerie companies’ business model will be influenced by the
consumer behavior.

3. Chinese lingerie market
Key figures
The Chinese lingerie market has grown since 20 years, when the Chinese women
understood that lingerie could be more than just classic underwear. Foreign brands
- 15 -

broke into the market and Chinese total sales exceeded US total sales in 2009
(nonetheless, sales per capita are lower than in US and UK)
The Chinese lingerie market achieved more than $20 billion dollars revenue in 2014.
With a double-digit growth since 2010 it has a huge potential (25% women between
15 and 24 years old, and 41% between 25 and 44 years old) and became the fastest
growing lingerie market worldwide. The high-end lingerie segment made up by itself
30 % of the lingerie sales last year (Adage). Alberto Forchielli, a university professor,
strategic consultant for China, Asia, and Globalization, has estimated that in 2020,
the market could achieve 100 Billion EUR.

Competition
The lingerie market is highly fragmented with the biggest market share achieving 3 to
4% at most.
There is no dominating brands and more and more local manufacturer are launching
their own brands after having acquired know-how by supplying foreign brands (i.e.
Promise SA)
Chinese underwear market - biggest players market shares

2,50

2006

2008

2012

2014

2,00
1,50
1,00
0,50
0,00

Source: Euromonitor, May 2015

- 16 -

The 3 local companies Cosmo Lady China Holdings Co Ltd, Beijing Aimer Lingerie
Co Ltd and Embry Holdings Ltd are the biggest players on the Chinese lingerie
market (circled in red).

-

Local players

The biggest local players are standing out by using multi-brands strategies in order to
cater the different consumer segments. To gain brand identity, they are refining their
offers and brands, moving-up from low-end segment.
To illustrate these facts, we will analyze deeper Beijing Aimer Lingerie Co Ltd.
Aimer was created 23 years ago. With a strong distribution network and advanced
quality products, Aimer is standing out of the mass and stick to its goal of becoming a
major fashion brand company. The company adopted a multi-brand strategy with
LACLOVER (high-end market), AIMER (matured middle-class ladies), IMI’S (young
and energetic girls), and SHINE LOVE (online).
The company is currently investing on two main missions:
-

Collecting massive data on Chinese women’s measurement. As diet and
standards of living have evolved since the 90s, the cup sizes increased
(Adage). The company wants to match the demand by offering the good
shaped bras and gain a competitive advantage

-

Changing consumer behavior: the company wants to make its customers
evolve to more natural and comfortable styles instead of the plump up style

It is also obvious that local players are investing in marketing and promotion. For
Valentine Day’s promotion in 2015, Aimer created a mobile app in which men had to
enter the correct bra size of their partners. If the size was correct, they won a bra
delivered by a cupid (which reminds the well-known Victoria Secret Angels). For the
occasion, Aimer also designed other games for couples. The campaign was very
appreciated and followed by more than 3 million people (Adage).
Online companies are also growing on the market. La Miu, a mid-to-premium priced
lingerie incorporated Japanese influence into its design. The brand knew +200 to 300%
sales since 2008 and has been christened “the Victoria Secret of China” (Fashion
United, China’s lingerie market come of age)

- 17 -

-

Foreign players

Foreign players are making inroads but most of them are still in their early stage of
expansion (Calvin Klein, LaSenza, Wolford, Armani, Etam...). International brands
may come with the disadvantage of different local tastes and consumer behavior but
they benefit from an older know-how in branding and design. Triumph (German
brand), one of the earliest foreign brands which broke into the Chinese market, took
advantage of its know-how and is now part of the 8 biggest lingerie players in China.
Other brands like Agent Provocateur have more difficulty to gain market share as
their whole collection are based on seduction and not on functionality.
Some brands are changing their strategies like La Perla, a luxury brand. It changed
its office from Singapore to Hong-Kong, Beijing and Shanghai to gain market
awareness. It also stopped its sales through franchisers and wholesalers to keep the
control and deliver a premium experience to their customers. Finally the brand
adapted to local tastes and readapted its target: in Europe, customers are over 30
years old although in China, their main target is women in their twenties, looking for
sophistication and social status.

Key challenges
International lingerie brands must strike a balance between Western aspirational
images and local tastes to match the Chinese demand.
Consumers are according more and more importance to quality, brand, and design
factors when purchasing lingerie, local brands need to build brand awareness and
stand out from the ‘Made in China’ quality.
The high-end segment knows a soaring demand in which foreign players can have
their say if they adapt to local tastes.

- 18 -

B. Customization trends
We analyzed the customization trends worldwide because customization is the key of
our project. Then we did a benchmark to know the global trends of online
customization, the heart of our project.

1. An increasing demand and a powerful marketing tool
Most of big brands are developing the customization concept (Coca Cola, Nutella,
M&M’s …) which consists of writing your name on the product packaging or on the
product itself. It is a huge marketing tool as it creates a very strong relationship
between the product and the customer. The consumer feels special and taken in
consideration by the brand because the brand took care of him for one random
product.
When it comes to personalization by the consumer, the involvement effect is even
stronger: the consumer decides and has the possibility to choose the material, the
colors, the shape and dimensions of a product. This feeling of control and of
ownership creates a consumer engagement between a virtual object and the
consumer. The consumer will be more willing to buy it even it wasn’t planned initially.
Plus, as the consumer is being a part of the development process, he is not passive
anymore. The psychological ownership, the selection of the colors, the object,
different features leads the consumer to imagine how it would feel to have this object,
to possess it. The interactivity that this process requires is a part of the consumer
engagement.
Beside, this kind of concept appears to be more used and desired by the women.
Indeed, when the women are shopping, they like to be invested in the shopping
experience. They focus on the experience in their buying process while men are
more focus on the mission (to buy a specific object or item).
One limit to customization that we found in our research is that it has to be intuitive.
The consumer will like to spend time to personalize its product but it has to be simple
and with guidelines and explanations. Otherwise, the consumer will see it as
annoying and not convenient. If it requires too much effort and time, the consumer
will stop the process and will not try again.

- 19 -

Therefore, the personalization of products is the self-expression of the consumer.
Indeed, “one size fits all” no longer works in real life. The consumer needs to express
its narcissism (Learning through virtual product experience, A. Schlosser).

2. Chinese customization
Concerning the Chinese trends about customization, we have to understand that
Chinese consumers will be looking for something unique which makes them feel
special. This is even more important when it comes to the luxury sector as the
Chinese consumers like to show off their purchase through social media. This trend
is also true when it comes to personalization. They use a lot their smartphone to
facilitate shopping (Consumers go online for unique, custom-made products, China
Daily).

3. What currently exists on the market?
To get a better understanding of the customization market, we did a benchmarking of
the current trends and existing good ideas.
We firstly focused on the clothes and shoes personalization concept because it is the
closest sector to lingerie sector.
In China it is very common and easy to have done your outfit by tailors. It is cheap
and everybody has access to it. In Shanghai for example there are a few fabric
markets where you can choose the fabrics, the color and it is tailor made. By word of
mouth, you can also find people doing it in their homes or in the streets just to gain a
bit more money. In the recent years, with the growing usage of the internet, it
became possible to personalize your clothes, fabrics and home interiors on the
internet.
The online platform Taobao, takes an inventory of those kind of Chinese websites 1.
The services proposed by those companies are pretty basics:

1

-

Choose color, size and shape of a T-Shirt or underwear

-

Personalize pillows, pollution masks, dresses…

-

Find fancy and casual dresses and special make up

http://ent.taobao.com/search?q=%E7%A7%81%E4%BA%BA%E5%AE%9A%E5%88%B6%E8%A1%A3%E6%9C%8D&rs=up&rsclick=6

- 20 -

-

Add your pictures on your personalized outfits

When dealing with personalized outfits it is hard to find a service with nice and good
quality products. They look mostly cheap and very basic.
The only company well known all over the world, proposing that kind of service is
Nike. Nike propose to its customers to choose the model of sport shoes, the color,
what to write on it etc… 2
It gives another experience of shopping online to the customers and opens a new
path in the way you can personalize your clothes.

4. Good ideas
When we looked for customized products on Internet, we first found websites
providing personalized gifts with small standards items: possibility to change the
colors and write a personalized message (shirt, jewelry, album photos, pillows, etc).
However, a lot of famous brands are offering online customization services.3 Pernac
allows its consumers to order tailor-made suits online. Krys the optician provide a
specific system to choose and to buy glasses very easily. Derville, a shoes brand,
has a canning system in-store to see the customer feet’ size and shape, the
customer then have to order his shoes online. Another interesting concept is
personalized restaurant meals4: the consumer decide what he wants to eat before
being in the restaurant: personalized sushi, pizza, burgers … the client decides what
will be on the future menu thanks to a survey, the restaurant personalizes the menu
according to where the client come from.

2

http://store.nike.com/cn/zh_cn/pw/Y73%5B50-%8DD1k65-%8010Q4B%8D64%8DB3%7CFBR17-%978B%7C7B/7ptZbrkZ9zmZ8yz

3

http://www.derville-chaussures.fr/ ; http://www.dyn-com.com/dyncom119/tendances_distrib.html ; http://www.nike.com/be/fr_fr/c/nikeid
http://www.restoconnection.fr/lultra-personnalisation-rapporte-8-idees-surprenantes-pour-votre-restaurant/

4

- 21 -

MARKET STUDY
A. Introduction of the market analysis
Methodology
We did a market study among Chinese women to better understand the trends and
the consumer behavior when purchasing lingerie. Because of our language handicap,
we chose to collect some data with quantitative questionnaires.
The survey is anonymous and was made at three different locations: Nanjing Lu
(People’s Square), Guangxi Bei Lu (food street with other profiles and incomes,
People’s Square) and Xintiandi. We targeted women between 18 and 35 years old.
154 women answered the survey (13 questions + 3 profile determination questions).
(Appendix II – Survey in Chinese and English versions)
Below is the analysis of the collected data. We crossed the answers with the profiles
of the respondents to better understand how behave each category of women.

Goals
-

Measure the satisfaction of the current lingerie market’s offer

-

Understand the lingerie purchase consumer behavior process: frequency of
purchase, price, motivation, information searching, style of lingerie liked

-

Understand the online purchase consumer behavior: frequency, lingerie
purchasing

-

Measure the potential of our concept

Limits
-

Illegal to do a survey in the streets, the police arrested us several times, that’s
why we didn’t get a sample of 300 people as expected initially

-

Chinese women older than 30 years old more difficult to approach, as most of
they don’t speak English, they get scared when we come to them

-

As the survey is about lingerie, some women didn’t accept to answer to our study

-

Enable to show a prototype of the concept to measure more precisely the interest
- 22 -

B. Profile of the respondents
Given the heterogeneous distribution of our sample, we identify major groups of
comparison on which we will base our analysis.

1. Age
Given the different range of ages obtained, we choose to analyze 3 major groups of
ages:
-

55% between 18 – 25 years old

-

23% between 26 – 30 years old

-

17% older than 30 years old
Figure 1 - Age of respondents

2%

5%

2%

1%

1%

7%

55%
27%

< 18
18-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
40-50
51-60
> 60

(Appendix III – table 1)

2. Career situation
Given the different career situation obtained, we choose to analyze the 4 major
categories:
-

Student (19%)

-

Employee (53%)

-

Manager (17%)

-

Self-employed (5%)

The other profiles represent 6% of the sample.

- 23 -

Figure 2 - Occupation of respondents
2%
17%

2% 2%
19%

Intern
Student
Employee
Manager
Self-employed
Retired
Unemployed

5%

53%

(Appendix III – table 2)

3. Family situation
50% of our respondents are single and 50% are in couple. It enables us to compare
the trends when being in a relationship and when not.
Besides, 20% of our respondents have children, which is very interesting to analyze
as it can change the whole functioning of the couple.
Figure 3 - Family situation of respondents
20%

Single
50%

9%

Dating
Married without children
Married with children

21%

(Appendix III – table 3)

- 24 -

C. Offer and demand
1. Satisfaction of the offer
To keep the objectivity of the respondents, we first asked if there was satisfied of the
current offer of lingerie. 58% are satisfied whereas 42% are not.
Figure 4 - Satisfaction with the current offer of lingerie on the Chinese market?

YES

120%

NO

100%
80%

30%
42%

44%

49%

36%

40%

30%

61%
60%

40%

70%
58%

56%

20%

51%

64%

60%

70%

39%

0%

18-25

TOTAL

26-30

> 30

Single

AGE

Dating

Married
without
children

Married with
children

FAMILY SITUATION

(Appendix III – table 4)

Satisfaction
58% of the women interviewed are satisfied with the lingerie actual offer. Among
those we noticed married women (with and without children), women older than 30
years old (70% satisfaction), and employee (64%).
Unsatisfaction
42% of the interviewees are not satisfied with the current offer of lingerie.
Unsatisfied customers are mostly women dating (61%) and women between 26 and
30 years old (49%). If we look deeper in the career situation, self-employee (60%)
and manager (75%) are not satisfied at all with the current offering.

- 25 -

2. Demand: lingerie style
75% consider their lingerie style as classic where as 20% are (also) sexy or romantic.
Only 9% of them are wearing glamour lingerie.
Figure 5 - Lingerie style
20%

9%

Glamour
Classic

20%

Romantic
75%

Sexy

(Appendix III – table 5)

The trend is homogeneous, but when zooming on the spider graphic below, we can
highlight some different trends depending on the family situation of the respondent:
-

Married women without children have a more classical style (93%) than the
average (77%)

-

Dating women adopt a more romantic style (27%) than married women (13%)

-

Dating women wear less sexy lingerie (12%) than the average (20%)

-

Women between 26 and 30 years old are wearing a little bit more sexy lingerie
(27%) than the average (20%)
Figure 6 - Lingerie style depending on the family situation

Sexy

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

Glamour
Single
Dating
Classic

Married without children
TOTAL
Married with children

Romantic

(Appendix III – table 5)

- 26 -

D. Consumer behavior
1. Motivation
Figure 7a – Motivations to wear lingerie
25%

Because it feels comfortable

3%

Because it makes me feel sexy
Because it makes me feel sophisticated

23%

87%

To seduce my partner
To match my outfit

13%

(Appendix III – table 6)

The three biggest motivations to wear some lingerie are the comfort (87%), the
matching with the outfit (25%) and the willing to be sophisticated (23%) while feeling
sexy (13%) or seducing its partner (3%) is not a priority at all.
Figure 7b – Motivations to wear lingerie
Because it feels
comfortable

To match my outfit

To seduce my partner

TOTAL

Single

Dating

Because it makes me feel
sexy

Because it makes me feel
sophisticated

Married without children

Married with children

(Appendix III – table 6)

Almost all the interviewees (87%) are feeling comfortable when wearing lingerie and
this does not vary with the different profiles interviewed.

- 27 -

Few women are willing to wear lingerie to feel sexy (13%). It’s mainly single women
(22%) and self-employed (24%). It is quite chocking to see that women dating or
married are not willing to wear lingerie to feel sexy (between 3-7% only).
The feeling of sophistication (and thus upper social status) by wearing lingerie is
quite strong among Chinese women under 30 years old (almost 1 out of 4) and
among employees (26%). It’s interesting to see that the family situation does not
influence so much this feeling.
Only 5 women, meaning 3% of the interviewees, wear lingerie to seduce their partner.
Any women dating/married use lingerie to seduce their partner. It can also be
probable that the women we interviewed were not willing to give us some sincere
answers about this out of shyness or reserve for example.
25% of women wear lingerie to match their outfit. Among them students and married
women without children are distinguishing themselves with respectively 31 % and 36%
of them matching their outfit with lingerie.

2. Information research
Does the customer like to get advice and buy lingerie? If so, who does he
seek advice from?
Figure 8 - Interest in getting advice when shopping lingerie
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Yes

No

(Appendix III – table 7)

Most of the interviewees (85%) seek advice when they shop for lingerie. This shows
that purchasing fine underwear is important to them and that they need opinions to
make the right choices. This supports us in the idea that sales counselling, on the
online platform and in store thanks to our staff, will be very important for our future
customers.
- 28 -

The majority of interviewees (85%) need advice while shopping and this does not
change within the different profiles interviewed.
This need is the most important among 26-30 years old as 97% of them express the
will to be accompanied by some tips during their lingerie shopping sessions. On the
contrary, 22% of students think that no advice is needed for them to shop.
If we now analyse the people or objects that women seek advice from, we can see
below that most of them (65%) want advice from their friends, 31% from magazines
and 25% from friends. These three biggest sources of external influence do not
comprehend their colleagues and partners. Once again, we realize surprisingly that
women are shy about their purchases and would rather seek advice from their
colleagues than their love partner.
Figure 9 - Favorite sources of advice for lingerie purchasing
65%

70%

60%
50%
40%
30%

31%

25%

20%

15%

17%

Love partner

Colleagues

10%
0%
Family

Friends

Magazines

(Appendix III – table 8)

Family and friends are the most important sources of advice for students, 18-25
years old and single women. The love partner is preferred by 18-25 years old, selfemployed women and women who are married without children. Regarding the
colleagues, 26-30 years old, managers and women married without children are the
different profiles who seek advice from them. Magazines are the biggest source of
advice for 26-30 years old, for students and for women married without children.

For which components to the customers need advices on?
Women are more looking for shapes (46%) and fabrics (65%) advices.
- 29 -

However, the kind of advices asked for vary among the different profile:
-

18-25 years old women need advice on the trends (37%) and colors (26%)

-

Married women (26-30years old most of the time) without children (71%)
highly need advice for the shapes

-

Self-employed are looking for advices on the fabrics (80%)
Figure 10 - What do you want advice about?
70%

Fabrics

60%

(65%)

50%

Shapes (46%)

40%
30%

Trends (32%)

20%
10%

Colors (21%)

0%

(Appendix III – table 9)

3. Buying frequency and budget
Frequency
Figure 11 - Frequency of lingerie purchasing
8%

Once a year

35%

Every 6 months

43%

Every 2-3 months

12%

Every month

1%

Every week
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

(Appendix III – table 10)

You can see in this graph that lingerie represents an occasional purchase for
Chinese women. Most of them buy some fine underwear every two or three months
- 30 -

(43%) or just twice a year (35%). As frequency is low, women tend to accord
importance to their purchases and will spend time choosing. You can find below the
results of this question according to each respondent demographic and social profile.

Women older than 30 are the ones who shop the most frequently as 4% of them
purchase lingerie once a week, but they also are the ones who shop the less as 15%
of them buy fine underwear only once a year. We can also observe that the most
independent or high-ranked in their career life are the most frequent purchases: 38%
of managers shop from once a week to once a month and 28% self-employed
women shop once a month.

Budget
Figure 12 - Annual budget for lingerie (in RMB)
> 3000

4%

2001 - 3000

3%

1501- 2000

4%

1001 - 1500

12%

751 - 1000

12%

501-750

18%

251-500

26%

< 250

22%
0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

(Appendix III – table 11)

26% of respondents have a budget from 251 to 500 RMB and represent the majority
of the interviewed population. This budget is quite low for our concept as some of the
models will be more expensive than the regular ones you can find in store. However,
23% of our panel spend more than 1000 RMB per year for their lingerie. This
question gives us an insight about what our target should be regarding budget
aspects. Below stands the analysis of the respondents per each different answer.
If we focus on the population who spends more than 1000 RMB per year for their
lingerie, this means that we should target women who are older than 26, who have
manager positions or self-employed situations and who are married with children as:
-

32% of the 26-30 years old category spends more than 1000 RMB per year
- 31 -

-

29% of the women older than 30 spend more than 1000 RMB per year

-

39% of managers and 56% of self-employed women spend more than 1000
RMB per year

-

29% of married women with children spend more than 1000 RMB per year

Fortunately for us, 51% of the women say they are ready to spend more than their
current annual budget if it is for personalized lingerie. This broadens our target and
encourages us in our project.

4. Online purchases
Frequency
Figure 13 - Frequency of online shopping
33%

35%
30%

29%

25%

21%

20%
15%

11%

10%
5%
5%
0%
Every week Every month

Every 2-3
months

Every 6
months

Once a year

(Appendix III – table 12)

Online shopping is one of the most growing consumer trends in China and can reach
up to 10% in certain retail industries. 29% of the respondents shop at least once a
week online and 33% of them every month. This comforts us in the idea that an
online platform would be successful and that potential customers would be at-ease
as they are so used to shop on Internet. But,how about shopping lingerie online?

- 32 -

Figure 14 - Willingness to shop lingerie online
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes

No

(Appendix III – table 13)

Unfortunately, 56% of respondents say that they would not shop online. The main
reasons invoked are the lack of staff counselling and the impossibility to try the
pieces of lingerie on. This helps to see that we need to work on an off-line solution,
such as an interactive table in stores.
The population who shops the most online is women aged more than 30, managers
and the women who are married without children. Women in their thirties are also the
ones who shop the less often online, alongside the self-employed women and the
women who are married with children.
We can then see below that not everyone is willing to shop lingerie online. Women
aged from 18 to 25 years old are the ones who would be the less at ease with such a
concept, as 63% of them are not interested in this. Students (59% of them) is the
“occupation” which is the less willing to purchase fine underwear online, alongside
women married with children (63%).
However, some women (43% of them) are still interested in such a proposition. For
example, 26-30 years old, managers and women married with children are the
profiles who are the most willing to use such an online platform, respectively at 62%,
75% and 79% of them.

- 33 -

5. Conclusion of the consumer behavior analysis
To conclude, we realized that the needs and opinions of Chinese women about
lingerie are completely different than the ones we can find in Europe and we also
found some insights about our project perception. The budget of women is lower that
what we expected, the majority of them is not ready yet to shop online, the
interviewees need advice and they shop lingerie mainly for the comfort aspect.
Thanks to these answers and to their analysis, we can draw some recommendations
for a potential implementation of an online platform. You will be able to find these
business advices in the Recommendations Part, further in the report.

- 34 -

E. Analysis of the concept’s potential
1. Interest in the concept
After having husked the consumer behavior process and general trends, we tested
our concept. The results are encouraging:
-

14% of the respondents are not interested in the concept

-

47% are moderate

-

34% are interested in the concept

-

3 respondents didn’t answer, so we assume they didn’t understand the
question

Only 26% of the women older than 30 years old are convinced by the purchasing
online personalized lingerie whereas 40% of those between 26 and 30 years old and
37% of those between 18 and 25 years old would be very interested.
1 out of 2 women dating showed off an interest in the concept. These data are really
important for delimiting the target and building the communication plan.
Figure 15 - Interest in the online personalization of lingerie concept
Average

6% 8%

47%

23%

11%
1

18-25 years old 5% 11%

46%

26-30 years old 3%5%

24%

49%

13%

32%

2
3

8%

4
> 30 years

15%
0%

59%
20%

40%

11%
60%

80%

15%

5
100%

(Appendix III – table 14)

The concept will please to at least 1/3 of Chinese women. A majority of respondents
who are moderate can be also pleased by the concept if the offer matches the
demand.

- 35 -

2. Components to be able to personalized
There is a high willing to personalize ensembles (57%), but also some demand to
personalize nightwear and bras with respectively 34% and 25%
With the help of cross analyses we can join certain needs to the family situation:
-

Bras: 1 out of 3 married women with children would like to personalize bras

-

Panties: dating women are not interest at all to personalize their panties (3%)

-

Ensembles: particular focus on single (64%) and 26-30 years old (65%)

-

Nightwear: student and married women without children (44 % each)
Figure 16 - Components to be able to personalized

70%
57%

60%
50%

Average
40%
30%

34%

Single
Dating

25%

Married without children

20%

Married with children
10%

10%
0%
Bras

Panties

Ensembles

Nightwear

(Appendix III – table 15)

- 36 -

RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding the market offer and the results of our survey, China is ready for online
personalized lingerie, but this concept need to be adapted to the local trends.
Regarding the consumer behaviour of Chinese women, several recommendations
can be drawn from our research results to retailers:

Target: 18-35 years old women
40% of women from 26 to 30 years old expressed an interest (moderate or high) in
our concept. Regarding the career situation, the category, which expresses the
biggest potential for us, is the students, among which 44% would use our concept.
Finally, concerning the family situation, the women who are dating represent a big
potential too as 48% of them are interested in our project. Therefore, we identify
three different segments which are useful for us: students, 26-30 years old and
dating women. However we do not think the age is a relevant factor for us as
students start as early as 18 years old and women can date until late before getting
married. This way, we can extend the age range from 18 to 35 years old.

Product offer: Diversity, comfort and sophistication
The products must answer to customers’ needs. The lingerie designer must attach
importance to comfort and sophistication. A lot of different colours should be offered
too as the second reason for women to wear lingerie is to match their outfit.

Distribution: Offline and online
Our panel of respondents expressed their unwillingness to purchase lingerie online,
which goes alongside with their need of getting advice and the importance they
accord to this exceptional purchase, which mostly occurs every two or three months,
or twice a year. This is why an online platform is not enough and a concept that could
help to reach more customers would be to install interactive tables in partner stores.
- 37 -

This would answer to the appreciation of Chinese consumers towards innovation and
digital tools and would help them to feel like they are not really purchasing online as
they benefit from advice, can try some models on and visualize clearly what they are
ordering.

Customer relationship: Advises for each step
For the in-store customers, a sales force will be available at each moment to answer
their questions, give them counselling about fabrics, colours and shapes and more
generally, accompany them during each purchase step. But as advice is very
important for the women we interviewed, and more broadly to Chinese customers,
the online platform will also need to give precise answers and to be prepared for any
questions that might occur during the online purchase process. An online chat can be
an option, as well as a Frequently Asked Question page and advice given before
each choice the customer has to make. For example, when the customer is about to
choose the shape of the bra she wants to buy, she should be able to read a welldesigned chart explaining which shapes correspond to which morphology, how to
simply measure her bra size and how it would look on a human body model. Fashion
advice should also be given about the current trends and the signification of the
colours they choose for example. As messages and drawings (such as emojis) will
also be available for the personalization, the platform could also display the last
messages written or drawings used by the previous customers. It can help people to
get inspiration.

Communication: Magazines, Internet and social media
As seen in the consumer behaviour analysis part, the second source of advice for
Chinese customers is magazines, which account for 30%. Advertising in such
magazines or getting articles from the press about the concept would be an efficient
way to reach the customers and the brand would be trusted. As for Internet, online
purchasing is getting big in China and a popular customer trend is to get information
before purchasing physically in store. This means that consumers seek advice on
Internet and social media, and value the information they can find. A good advertising
- 38 -

campaign could bring the customers who are not willing to shop online in brick-andmortar stores. It will be important to insist on the differences between this concept
and the competitors, as the lingerie market is very fragmented.

- 39 -

APPENDIX
Appendix I
China underwear market, Euromonitor May 2015

- 40 -

Appendix II

- 41 -

LINGERIE MARKET SURVEY
Hello!
We are a group of students who want to implement a new concept in China. We would like to
create a website where you could personalize your own lingerie. You could choose the shape,
the colors, the fabrics and the ornaments. Once you have personalized your product, it would be
shipped to the location of your choice. Indications about what to choose according to your
morphology will be available. As a reminder, lingerie is considered as fancy and sophisticated
intimate apparel.
A – Are you satisfied with the offer of lingerie on the Chinese market?
A.1. Yes

A.2. No

B – How often do you buy lingerie?
B.1. Every week

B.3. Every 2-3 months

B.2. Every month

B.4. Every 6 months

B.5. Once a year

C – What is your annual budget for lingerie?
C.1. 0 – 250 RMB

C.4. 751 – 1000 RMB

C.7. 2001 – 3000 RMB

C.2. 251 – 500 RMB

C.5. 1001 – 1500 RMB

C.8. > than 3000 RMB

C.3. 501 – 750 RMB

C.6. 1501 – 2000 RMB

D – Are you ready to spend more than your current annual budget for personalized
lingerie?
D.1. Yes
E

–

D.2. No
Why

do

you

wear

lingerie?

You

can

choose

several

E.1. Because it feels comfortable

E.4. To seduce my partner

E.2. Because it makes me feel sexy

E.5. To match to my outfit

options

E.3. Because it makes me feel sophisticated
F – What is your lingerie style? You can choose several options
F.1. Glamour

F.2. Classic

F.3. Romantic

F.4. Sexy

G – On a scale of 1 to 5, how interested are you in personalizing your lingerie? Please
circle your answer
Less interested
1

Most interested
2

3

4

5
- 42 -

LINGERIE MARKET SURVEY

H – What would you like to personalize? You can choose several options
H.1. Bras

H.2. Panties

H.3. Ensembles

H.4. Nightwear

I – Do you like to get advice when you buy lingerie?
I.1. Yes

I.2. No

J – If yes, what do you want advice about? You can choose several options
J.1. Trends
K

–

Who

J.2. Shapes
do

you

seek

advice

J.3. Fabrics
from?

K.1. My family

K.3. My partner

K.2. My friends

K.4. My colleagues

You

can

J.4. Colors
choose

several

options

K.5. Magazines

L – How often do you shop online?
L.1. Every week

L.3. Every 2-3 months

L.2. Every month

L.4. Every 6 months

L.5. Once a year

M – Would you shop lingerie online?
M.1. Yes

M.2. No

N – How old are you?
N.1. Less than 18

N.3. 26 – 30

N.6. 40 – 50

N.8. More than 60

years old

N.4. 31 – 35

N.7. 51 – 60

years old

N.2. 18 – 25

N.5. 36 – 40

O – What is your career situation?
O.1. Intern

O.4. Manager

O.7. Unemployed

O.2. Student

O.5. Self-employed

O.3. Employee

O.6. Retired

P – What is your family situation?
P.1. Single

P.3. Married without children

P.2. Dating

P.4. Married with children

Thank you very much for your help! Have a great day !
- 43 -

Appendix III
Table 1 – How old are you?
Age
< 18 years old

2%

18 – 25 years old

55%

26 – 30 years old

23%

31 – 35 years old

6%

36 – 40 years old

3%

40 – 50 years old

6%

51 – 60 years old

2%

> 60 years old

1%

Table 2 – What is your career situation?
Career situation
Intern

1%

Student

20%

Employee

51%

Manager

5%

Self-employed

16%

Retired

2%

Unemployed

2%

Table 3 – What is your family situation?
Family situation
Single

49%

Dating

21%

Married without children

9%

Married with children

19%

- 44 -

Table 4- Are you satisfied with the offer of lingerie on the Chinese market?
YES

NO

58%

42%

18-25 (87)

56%

44%

26-30 (37)

51%

49%

> 30 (27)

70%

30%

Student (32)

59%

41%

Employee (81)

64%

36%

Manager (8)

25%

75%

Self-employed (25)

40%

60%

Others (8)

75%

25%

Single (77)

60%

40%

Dating (33)

39%

61%

64%

36%

70%

30%

TOTAL
Age

Career situation

Family situation

Married without children
(14)
Married with children (30)

Table 5 – What is your lingerie style? You can choose several options
Glamour (15)

Classic (118)

9%

77%

TOTAL

Romantic

Sexy (31)

(31)
20%

20%

Age
18-25 (87)

7

8%

66

76%

20

23%

15

17%

26-30 (37)

4

11%

29

78%

9

24%

10

27%

> 30 (27)

3

11%

22

81%

1

4%

6

22%

Student (32)

2

6%

24

75%

8

25%

5

16%

Employee (81)

5

6%

68

84%

17

21%

12

15%

Manager (8)

2

25%

4

50%

3

38%

3

38%

Self-employed (25)

2

8%

16

64%

2

8%

11

44%

50%

6

75%

1

13%

Career situation

Others (8)

4

- 45 -

Family situation
Single (77)

7

9%

60

78%

18

Dating (33)

2

6%

25

76%

9

27%

4

12%

2

14%

13

93%

1

7%

3

21%

4

13%

20

67%

10%

6

20%

Married without children
(14)
Married with children (30)

3

23%

18

23%

Table 6 – Why do you wear lingerie?

Because it
feels
comfortable
TOTAL
Age

87%

Because it
makes me
To seduce To match my
feel
my partner
outfit
sophisticated

Because it
makes me
feel sexy
13%

23%

3%

25%

18-25
26-30
> 30

87%
86%
81%

15%
14%
11%

25%
22%
15%

1%
3%
4%

21%
30%
22%

Student
Employee
Manager
Self-employee
Others
Family situation
Single
Dating
Married without children
Married with children

78%
93%
75%
84%
63%

9%
14%
13%
24%
-

16%
26%
13%
16%
38%

2%
13%
-

31%
21%
25%
21%
50%

86%
85%
100%
80%

22%
6%
7%
3%

22%
24%
21%
20%

4%
-

23%
21%
36%
20%

Career situation

Table 7- Do you like to get advice when you buy lingerie?
YES (132)

NO (22)

84%

14%

TOTAL
Age
18-25 (87)

72

83%

15

17%

26-30 (37)

36

97%

1

3%

> 30 (27)

23

85%

4

15%
- 46 -

Career situation
Student (32)

25

78%

7

22%

Employee (81)

74

91%

7

9%

Manager (8)

7

88%

1

13%

Self-employed (25)

20

80%

5

20%

Others (8)

6

75%

2

25%

Family situation
Single (77)

67

87%

10

Dating (33)

28

85%

5

15%

13

93%

1

7%

24

80%

6

20%

Married without children
(14)
Married with children (30)

13%

Table 8 - Who do you seek advice from?
Family

Friends

Partner

Colleague

Magazines

(37)

(103)

(22)

s (26)

(48)

23%

65%

14%

16%

30%

TOTAL
Age
18-25 (87)

23

26%

62 71%

15

17%

7

8%

23

26%

26-30 (37)

8

22%

26 70%

4

11%

13

35%

15

41%

> 30 (27)

6

22%

13 48%

3

11%

6

22%

9

33%

Student (32)

12

38%

23 72%

1

3%

-

12

38%

Employee (81)

18

22%

56 69%

14

17%

13

16%

25

31%

-

5

63%

1

13%

4

50%

3

38%

Career situation

Manager (8)
Self-employed (25)

3

12%

14 56%

5

20%

8

32%

7

28%

Others (8)

4

50%

5

63%

1

13%

1

13%

1

13%

Single (77)

23

30%

57 74%

8

10%

13

17%

25

32%

Dating (33)

3

9%

24 73%

8

24%

1

3%

10

30%

3

21%

5

36%

4

29%

5

36%

6

43%

8

27%

17

7%

2

7%

7

23%

7

23%

Family situation

Married without children
(14)
Married with children (30)

- 47 -