In 2018, Jack Ma made a public appearance wearing a green Canada Goose down jacket, successfully promoting the brand. By the end of the year, Canada Goose opened its first offline store in Beijing, where customers reportedly had to wait in line for 30 minutes to enter. However, within just five years, Canada Goose has been gradually abandoned by Chinese consumers.
Recently, some consumers suspected that Canada Goose down jackets were subpar, and after media reports, the topic of “Canada Goose’s 9,500 yuan down jacket suspected of being defective” trended. In fact, the “double standard” incident in 2021 had already significantly diminished Chinese consumers’ favor for Canada Goose.
Since then, Canada Goose has suffered a significant blow in the entire Asia-Pacific region. Financial reports indicate that in the 2023 fiscal year, Canada Goose’s revenue in the Asia-Pacific region continued to decline in the first three quarters. In the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, Canada Goose’s revenue in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 13%, maintaining the strongest momentum in several regions but far below the 52.2% growth in the first quarter.
CCTV once commented, “Disrespecting China will lead to abandonment.”
Recently, a consumer in Zhejiang reported to the media that at the end of November, they purchased a white down jacket from a Canada Goose store for 9,500 yuan. As the item had minor flaws in the store, the staff arranged for a replacement from another location, which was delivered to the consumer’s home. However, upon receiving the package, the consumer found a whole strip of cut seams in the jacket’s fabric, suspecting that the purchased down jacket was defective.
The consumer stated, “The jacket seems to have traces of secondary stitching, looking like it has been replaced.” After several communications with store staff, the store manager agreed to a refund. However, the consumer believed that for a full-price item purchased at the counter without any discounts, the store replacing it with a substandard product should result in a refund of three times the purchase price according to consumer protection laws.
According to media reports, Canada Goose suggested that consumers could send the down jacket to a third-party testing agency to prove that it was a repaired product before meeting the consumer’s demands. Currently, Canada Goose has offered to exchange the item and compensate with a small gift as an apology, and an agreement has been reached.
In fact, in recent years, Canada Goose has faced criticism from consumers multiple times. In 2021, Canada Goose was exposed for using ordinary duck down, accounting for as much as 70% of the materials, instead of the claimed high-quality Canadian goose down, leading to a fine of 450,000 yuan for false advertising.
In addition, in the same year, a consumer in Shanghai spent 11,000 yuan to buy a Canada Goose down jacket and found low-level issues such as incorrectly embroidered logos and a strong unpleasant odor in the fabric. The store, under the clause “All goods sold in mainland China stores are non-refundable” in its exchange policy, refused to exchange the item, blocking the consumer’s path to seeking justice.
The “double standard” incident completely angered Chinese consumers, leading to Canada Goose being summoned by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission. In response, CCTV commented that Canada Goose’s behavior was too disgraceful. “No matter how prestigious a brand is, it cannot trample on consumers’ rights and obstruct legitimate demands. If it doesn’t show sincerity in solving the problem, continues to ignore Chinese laws, and disrespects Chinese consumers, Canada Goose will surely be abandoned by consumers.”
Post-“double standard” incident, Canada Goose’s vitality suffered a severe blow.
Canada Goose was once considered the “Hermès” of down jackets. In 2018, Canada Goose entered the Chinese market and opened its first mainland store in Beijing, quickly winning the hearts of many middle-class consumers. During the 2020 pandemic, while facing setbacks in global markets, the Chinese market remained a lifeline for Canada Goose.
As of the end of 2021, Canada Goose had 20 stores in the Chinese market, surpassing the total number of stores in its home country, Canada, and the United States combined. The CEO of Canada Goose has repeatedly emphasized the potential and importance of the Chinese market, stating, “In the global field of quality consumption, China’s position is irreplaceable.”
However, within just five years, Canada Goose’s sales in China have been gradually abandoned by consumers, especially after the aforementioned “double standard” incident. In the entire Asia-Pacific region, Canada Goose’s vitality has suffered a severe blow.
Financial data shows that in the fourth quarter of the 2022 fiscal year (within the three months ending on April 3, 2022), Canada Goose’s revenue was 223 million Canadian dollars, with a growth rate dropping from 48.19% in the same period of the previous year to 6.85%. In the Asia-Pacific region, Canada Goose’s revenue declined by 9% due to the suspension of some business operations in China. Simultaneously, Canada Goose went from profit to loss, with a net loss of 9.1 million Canadian dollars in a single quarter.
Entering the 2023 fiscal year, Canada Goose’s revenue in the Asia-Pacific region continued to decline in the first three quarters, with year-on-year declines of -28.1%, -4.2%, and -5.2%, respectively. In the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, Canada Goose’s revenue in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 13%, significantly lower than the 65.4% growth in the fourth quarter of the 2023 fiscal year and the 52.2% growth in the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year.
In the secondary market, Canada Goose’s stock price plummeted from its peak of $72.27 per share in 2018 to $11.35 per share, lower than the issuance price of $12.76 per share in December 2017. In October of this year, a Swiss bank downgraded Canada Goose’s rating to neutral with a target price of $18, pointing out that global luxury consumption has slowed down, and the brand is losing favor with consumers.
In the Chinese market, Canada Goose’s competitors, such as Moncler and Moose Knuckles, international brands, have been making high-profile moves, and domestic down jacket brands are also focusing on high-end product lines. For example, Bosideng has collaborated with a Burberry designer, breaking the price threshold of 5,000 yuan. Faced with Chinese consumers having more and more choices, can Canada Goose still afford to be arrogant?”