Fashion retailing, where and how to purchase

  “The product is good, fast, cheap, and pick two options from them.”   The issue of choosing among these three factors is used in university textbooks. This theory focuses on three marketing & promotion strategies such as good quality, fast speed and low price which are very important, but it is not easy to integrate them all together into one.   The concept of triple factor tells us that there are three limitations to using any marketing strategy tool as follow. (1) Develop something quickly and of high quality, but it will be very costly to do. (2) Develop something quickly and cheaply, but it will not be of high quality. (3) Develop something of high quality and low cost, but it will take a long time.   Dongdaemun market, however, overcame the limit through triple management by balancing the importance of products, speed and price. Will this work well in the market? Or, as everyone says,  “Merchants lie like having lunch or dinner every day.”...

The 2nd Dongdaemun Myth, which the Curtain has already risen (Smart Management of Sewing Factories) In the growing trend of online commerce, we can argue that Dongdaemun merchants are rewriting a miracle story that happened over 20 years ago. Rather, it is true that the curtain of the 2nd Dongdaemun myth has already risen. “Good begun is half done.” Like this Korean proverb, the increase of online commerce is the necessary condition of the 2nd Dongdaemun myth. If so, what is the sufficient condition of the 2nd Dongdaemun myth? As we all know, Dongdaemun merchants have been selling designer fashion products at low prices since early 2000s. Since then, the growth of Dongdaemun market and Its mythical management performance was due to the hard work of human resources which has worked in many sewing factories located in the northern region (Gangbuk) of the Han river in Seoul as well as Dongdaemun merchants. Originally, miracles or myths cannot be done by people. That is to ...

  One day, two fashion designers had a conversation at a coffee shop in Dongdaemun market.   “I finally decided to open up my own fashion wholesale shop in this market.” “Well. I respect the decision you’ve made. But there are lots of clothe shops. It seems risky.” One of the designers who decided to start-up said so firmly. “I know well. But I’ve been dying to start my own business. I’ll take my chances.” As such, many unknown Dongdaemun designers said tha t we want to do something very much as if one little boy is dying to meet his mother away. People also are saying that we are dying for a glass of water. Nowadays, people are very worried about the excessive competition in Dongdaemun market. The difficulties of many people who work hard every night in Dongdaemun market will still exist. Merchants in the market finished their work and closed the shops and took a long sigh. Then they would say Shakespeare’s monologue. “We did a good job last ...

Surprisingly, many fast fashion companies are now in crisis. Of course, there are many causes of the crisis. And in the many causes there are solutions. It is also true that there is opportunity in the midst chaos like the war of losing a lot of life and property. Although it is forgotten, Aesop’s stories in the 6th century BC about ‘Four Oxen and One Lion’ exists . One lion saw four oxen in a field. The lion then attacked the bulls several times. Oxen defended against the lion ’s attack, with the tails touching each other and drawing a round circle. They resisted the lion’s attack with their horns. At last, they had a quarrel among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then the lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end to all four oxen.   “We repair the stall after losing oxen.” It is late. The lesson of the story is that, the fence was not a protective wall. As Simon Sinek claims, oxen were able to avoid ...

Nowadays, many consumers tend to buy famous fashion products simply by looking at the logo or brand. Most of them often do not get consumption satisfaction in the personalized trend for consumer preference. On the other hand, consumers who have purchased Dongdaemun fashion products will find the beauty in places they did not expect. Unlike global luxury brands, Dongdaemun fashion products are made by a number of unnamed designers and are more diverse than anything else. Many Dongdaemun fashion brands with 30,000 or more are different or diverse. Even though there are so many designer brands, every store’s fashion product is never uniform, same, or monotone. In this regard, Dongdaemun fashion products have strong market competitiveness thanks to the creativity of ‘many designers’ working together in each store. We are sure that designers working in Dongdaemun market tend to create demand for their customers by tr...

DONGDAEMUN STYLE Title: DONGDAEMUN STYLE Price: KRW 18,000 Author: Bong (Bong Sik) Sul Publishing Date: Nov / 18 / 2019 Product Dimensions: 140*210 Pages: 323P Category: Business/ Marketing ISBN: 978-89-268-9707-2 13320 Keyword: Dongdaemun Market, Korea, Shopping, DDP, K-fashion   Copyright ⓒ 2019 by Bong(Bong Siik) Sul all rights reserved This book was published by Korean Studies Information Co. Ltd. in 2019 tel: 031)940-1111 / fax 031)908-3189  Book Review In August 2018, a big data analysis on the image of foreign tourists summarized the responses to Seoul very effectively. “Seoul is a youthful city, enjoying an evening with people and it is quite energetic.” Dongdaemun market is a global shopping district that sells designers’ fashion products at low prices. Wholesalers who operate at night time are making great business performance through triple management which focuses on superiority of products(good...

Let’s Go Together’ Management   “The damaged leaves of the tree are pretty because they were eaten by insects. The trace of living by feeding others is as beautiful as a star.” Recently, it is a large advertisement copy on the wall of Kyobo Education Life Building. This is a content that praises the beauty of life of altruism. Dongdaemun market is a global shopping district that sells designers’ fashion products at low prices. Wholesalers who operate at night time are making great business performance through triple management which focuses on superiority of products(good), speed(fast) and price(cheap). Local retailers and foreign buyers try to increase the margin of retail transactions with fashion products purchased from Dongdaemun wholesale market. Therefore, they would like to buy Dongdaemun designer products at a lower price as much as possible. Under these circumstances, SeoulClick has continued its sustainable management with Stakeholders with low price,...

Speaks in Quality of Fashion Products “Even the best clothes can have minor scratches.” The Dongdaemun myth is a beautiful story about the management performance obtained by selling designer brand products at low prices.  Unfortunately, Dongdaemun market is sometimes deteriorating its market image due to poor quality control. We know well what’s the keyword QM (Quality massage). If any company is always producing quality products, those companies will be able to sell their products without advertising or PRs. For example, some of products from a good company like Samsung or LG, sell easily because consumers rely on products’ quality. The quality of the product is advertising and PRs itself. As chairman Suh Kyung Bae of Amore Pacific said, he seems to be setting up a quality-oriented global management strategy. “It is because of the Korean wave that Chinese people like Made in Korea products! Yes, but the repurchase is strictly based on quality control, and what ...

There is a Tokkebi(Goblin) Market in Korea Do you know what a Tokkebi market is? In Seoul, anyone can easily go to the Tokkebi(goblin) market. But those who first hear it may be wondering. The legendary Tokkebi is one of the most interesting folk stories. The Tokkebi lights that appeared during the dark night is just fantastic. However, in the morning when the sun rises, the Tokkebi and its lights disappear. Before modern society, many Koreans believed on folktales. “Tokkebi is a god for abundance that brings money, goods, and food to the needy people.” There is also a word ‘Tokkebi bat’ like Genie. The old tale said that Tokkebi carried a bat as a tool to produce anything. We are sure that anyone can possibly have such legendary Tokkebi bats in Dongdaemun market. Everyone can expect it. In any case, we have thought that it is better to call Dongdaemun market as one phantom market because most of the wholesale stores in Dongdaemun market open around 8:30 pm and close ne...

Ethical Management in Fashion Business and Sprit of Jean Tae Il As we know well, many Global SPA brand companies are selling mass-produced products using low-cost labor, low-cost raw materials, etc. at low prices. The problem is that fast fashion companies are criticized for environmental pollution, low wages and labor exploitation because of the shortsighted strategy that prioritizes superiority in price competition. Of course, there was no commercial morality such as low wages and labor exploitation in the Dongdaemun market during the 1970s, which was the age of development. “Why don’t factory owners follow the Labor Standards Act. We are not machines. Please make Sunday as a rest day with others.” In the early winter of 1972, Jeon Tae Il who worked in the Pyeonghwa Market put himself in gasoline and burnt himself to death in front of the market. And before he died, he said. “Do not make my death worthless.” Even after the death of Jeon Tae Il, however, any workers hav...

Designer Products with ‘Newness and its Diversity’  “We know that H&M, one of the global SPA brands has been in a crisis due to the Amazon effect. However, the crisis of this company is the result of lack of sustainable management.” The media criticism is spreading to all other global SPA companies like Zara, Uniqlo, etc. As well as, the criticism of these global SPA brands is not over. As we consider it more deeply, the global SPA brands are facing another crisis. SPA brand products such as Zara, H & M, Uniqlo have gained popularity from consumer in the global market. But their products are not so ‘fast’. Rather, it is a product with lower quality or slower speed as a by-product of old mass production era. Now it is a new era of producing small quantities of various products to suit consumer preferences. Today’s consumers do not like products that are manufactured using automation machines. They prefer handmade fashion products rather than machine-made ones....