By ZHOU Fangying

Fashion brand Metersbonwe recently established two new companies to support its live-streaming business.

Metersbonwe has long struggled to establish itself online, even though it considers itself something of a pioneer in the industry. Things somehow never turned out for it online.

Building it ourselves

Shanghai Metersbonwe Fashion & Accessories is a domestic designer, manufacturer and retailer of casual wear and accessories. It trades under brand names Meters/bonwe and ME&CITY. The company previously attempted to build its own e-commerce channels.

In 2010, Metersbonwe launched its own e-commerce platform, Banggou.com, with the intention of integrating online and offline sales for its brands such as Me&City and Me&City Kids.

In 2015, Metersbonwe sought another breakthrough in online channels and launched the e-commerce app "Youfan," even sponsoring the popular debate show "U Can U Bibi" for two seasons.

The company's advertising expenses to over 100 million yuan that year. However, the Youfan app lasted less than three years.

The failure of Metersbonwe's ventures could result from selling only its own brands and products and the company has always prioritized its offline channels, leaving online resources to subsist on scraps.

Out of step with the times

Metersbonwe has just over 1,000 stores, 29 directly managed and 997 franchises. In contrast, at its peak in 2012, the company had more than 5,000 stores, but the number dropped to half that by 2019.

Last year, Metersbonwe closed several landmark stores across the country, including the store on East Nanjing Road in Shanghai and the Zhongshan Plaza store in Chengdu, two of the top three in terms of revenue in 2021. The company blamed urban development and commercial district shifts.

However, Metersbonwe is upgrading its brands in an attempt to regain public attention, with new concept stores to attract young buyers.

A unified strategy is challenging given the high proportion of franchise stores. Metersbonwe no longer has the resources to operate directly.

Metersbonwe has said that in 2023 it will focus on offline franchise channels in small cities, consolidate and develop its e-commerce and proceed with planned store openings

On Douyin, Metersbonwe has opened multiple accounts, but only one is live-streaming in the afternoon.

Other accounts list live-streaming times from noon to midnight but are not actively streaming. Online sales account for only 24 percent of Metersbonwe's revenue.

Given the decline of directly operated stores, it remains to be seen what resources Metersbonwe has to mobilize.