Japanese online fashion retailer Zozo has decided to pull itself out of its overseas markets, a few months after its ambitious zozosuits project failed miserably. The retailer has now stopped selling in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and will now continue with its Japanese market.
The announcement came recently while unfurling annual earnings for the year that ended in March 2019.
“Upon reviewing our international operations, we have decided to withdraw. We will book a nearly US $ 17.8 million loss as an impairment charge for its subsidiaries in Germany and the US.” – Zozo
It was not more than a year ago when Zozo’s founder Yusaku Maezawa boasted about the company’s goal to get into top 10 apparel companies and started its ‘revolutionary’ zozosuit project which was polka-dot bodysuit made by collecting body measurements of the customers using 3D body scanners.
Ever since the project was launched, the critics claimed the suit was not accurate and the cost of distributing it was never recouped.
“Zozo couldn’t handle the 3D body scanning technology which was actually not feasible for them and this is why they had to close this chapter.” – Katherine Schildmeyer, Founder, KS Apparel Design & Consulting, USA told Apparel Resources.
According to Zozo, the company’s operating profit for 2018-19 fell 21.5 per cent from the previous year, to US $ 229 million. However, Zozo expects its profits to recover in 2019-20 as it is planning to re-tap the Chinese market; one of the leading apparel markets in the world right now.
It’s worth recalling that Zozo entered the Chinese market in 2011 but withdrew as it failed to gain traction. Maezawa optimistically opined, “Times have changed now. Individual earnings in China have increased by around 50% since Zozo’s departure.”
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