Quickly understand a company | UNIQLO

Uniqlo is the core apparel brand of Japan's Fast Retailing Group.

In 1963, Yanai and others founded "Ogori Shoji Co., Ltd." in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

In 1984, the first Uniqlo store opened in Hiroshima.

In 1991, Ogori Trading Co., Ltd. changed its name to Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.

In 1994, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. was listed on the Hiroshima Stock Exchange.

In 2001, opened four overseas Uniqlo stores in London for the first time

In 2002, China's first Uniqlo store opened in Shanghai.

In 2006, the company established the low-price commodity brand GU.

In 2014, the company was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

In 2021, UNIQLO ranked 135th in the "Top 500 Asian Brands."

In the fiscal year 2022 (2022.9.1-2023.8.31), the company achieved an operating income of 2.3011 billion yen, an increase of 7.88% year-on-year. The net profit attributable to the parent company was 273.335 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 60.93%.

Specific to each business, among them, Uniqlo in Japan achieved revenue of 810.2 billion yen, overseas Uniqlo revenue of 1,118.7 billion yen, GU brand revenue of 246 billion yen, global brand business revenue of 123.1 billion yen, and other business revenue of 2.88 billion yen.

UNIQLO is a Japanese apparel chain brand whose store profile is the company's core data. As of August 31, 2022, the company had 2,883 stores, including 799 UNIQLO stores in Japan, 1,585 overseas UNIQLO stores, and 499 GU stores. Annual sales per square meter of Uniqlo stores are about 644,000 yen, and yearly sales per store employee are approximately 19,340,000 yen. Big Uniqlo brand business mainly refers to the sale of apparel, including men's, women's, children's, and baby clothes, etc., with the central concept of cheap and affordable. The market covers the whole world, and the revenue in 2022 will total 83.8% of the company.

The GU business refers to the sale of GU branded apparel, with the brand positioned at lower pricing than Uniqlo's FY2022 revenue of 246 billion yen, down 1.4% from the previous year. Large global brand business includes the sale of branded apparel of Theory, PLST, and other Swift companies, with fiscal 2022 revenue of 123.1 billion yen, up 13.8% year-on-year.

Other businesses include real estate leasing, with a revenue of 2.88 billion yen.

Uniqlo can become a world-famous fast fashion brand, Yanai Masa can become the wealthiest man in Japan, and a unique business model will exist.

Regarding great products, most summer clothes are priced at 100-200 yuan, and winter clothes are mostly 400-500 yuan, and the brand aims to create cost-effective products. Standard fabrics are oxford spinning, long-staple cotton, poplin, denim, cotton, and linen. The style is a basic model for daily wear. The company has its R&D center for designing sample clothes and mass production through the OEM factory.

In terms of stores, the company adopts a warehouse-style, self-service shopping model, where the main task of store staff is to fold clothes and clean up after them without disturbing customers when unnecessary. It not only ensures the user experience but also improves the efficiency of the employees. It also discards intermediate links such as agents and dealers, which reduces sales costs on the one hand and brings it closer to users on the other.

In marketing, Uniqlo attracts consumers through discounts, divided into various discount types such as new models, promotional prices, super value selections, and seasonal promotions. It also solves the problems of unfamiliar new products, incomplete sizes, backlog hoarding, and seasonal changes. Store discounting efforts, such as value selection, will generally be in the product listing 1-2 months after the beginning of the step price reduction, the first price reduction of about 20%, the second price reduction of about 30%, and then lower and lower.

Masa Yanai

Born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, in 1949, founder of the Uniqlo apparel brand. He graduated from Waseda University with a degree in political science and economics, took over his father's clothing store, Ogori Corporation, in 1972, revamped its management, and became the president of Ogori Corporation in 1984. In 1994, the company was listed in Hiroshima, Japan, and 2009, he became the wealthiest man in Japan, with a value of $6.1 billion, and in 2022, he and his family returned to the top spot with a wealth of $23.6 billion.

Fast Retailing is a family-owned company with a clear shareholding structure. The largest shareholder is founder, Chairman, and CEO Masayoshi Yanai, who holds approximately 21.58% of the shares. Masayoshi Yanai's two sons, Koji Yanai and Kazumi Yanai have 4.68% of the share capital.

The company's revenue declined in FY2020 and rebounded in FY2022, mainly due to the gradual reduction of the epidemic's impact.

The company's gross profit margin has continued to rise in recent years, reaching 52.45% Large company's debt ratio is 49.26% in FY2022, maintaining an average level Large company's operating cash flow performance is better and growing steadily.

fast fashion industry "slow down."

In recent years, as people's consumer demand continues to change, the attractiveness of fast fashion brands is gradually declining from the number of stores. The growth rate of fast fashion stores in recent years has been declining. Including H&M, ZARA, Uniqlo, MUJI, and GAP, including eight fast fashion brands, fast fashion industry expansion is a downward trend.

With the rise of big fast fashion national brands in recent years, the leading consumer group tends to be younger. In 2019, according to McKinsey's fashion industry report, the new generation of people will continue to provide a 3.5%-4.5% growth rate for the fashion industry, and domestic fast fashion brands ushered in a broader space for growth.