About the Brand
The client is a US-based premium athletic-lifestyle brand built on a "fabric-first" philosophy. In under a decade, it has grown into a multi-billion-dollar player in the global activewear category.
Entering China via the "pop-up first, permanent later" strategy, the brand opened its first directly-operated store in Shanghai and is expanding city by city. The China team runs lean with no dedicated IT — but faces a highly localized payment, tax, and consumer landscape. The brand needed more than a POS: a digital partner that lets it "land in China without baggage."
The Challenge
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High SKU complexity.
Apparel SKUs explode across color, size, and season — a single style can spawn 80 SKUs. The system must understand SPU vs SKU, support style-level browsing with variant selection, and handle set-bundle sales.
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China payment & tax compliance.
POS must integrate WeChat Pay and Alipay through compliant rails, issue e-invoices in real time, and upload them to the tax authority.
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Inefficient store inventory.
Receiving and returns relied on manual entry — slow and error-prone. Stores needed electronic integration with HQ WMS.
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Bilingual operations & remote collaboration.
Staff use Chinese; global HQ reviews English reports. China data must roll up to the global analytics standard.
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No local IT.
The China team has no IT staff. Day one needed to be compliant, efficient, and scalable — and run unattended.
The PEKON Solution
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Apparel SPU management & bundle engine.
Native SPU-SKU hierarchy with multi-axis variants. Browse at the style level, pick variant at checkout, configure bundles, set-of-3 promotions, and outfit combos.
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Compliant payment & tax.
One-tap WeChat Pay / Alipay; compliant payment rail; auto e-invoice issuance and tax-bureau upload on every transaction.
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Electronic store-WMS integration.
Receiving, transfers, and returns happen through scan-and-confirm flows synced to HQ WMS — no more manual ledgers.
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Bilingual UI + global reporting.
Chinese-facing store UI; English management console for HQ; reports normalized to the global schema.
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Zero-IT operations.
SaaS deployment, 7×12 service, configurable workflows — the brand can run China end-to-end without a local engineer.
Outcome
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First store live and stable.
Multi-size, multi-color, multi-season SPU management running smoothly; bundle sales adopted as expected.
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Inventory accuracy lifted sharply.
Electronic store-WMS flow eliminated manual-entry drift at the source.
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Compliance achieved.
Payment and invoicing fully aligned with China requirements; money flow and information flow stay in sync.
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HQ sees China in real time.
Bilingual UI and standardized reports give the global team live visibility into China market performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
As a brand new to China, how is the brand's data security ensured?
PEKON delivered a dedicated security hardening package for the brand, raising the system security tier. Data is stored on China-based servers that comply with the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law — ensuring the brand's China data stays compliant.
How does the system help the brand build its China member base quickly?
The checkout flow includes member recruitment built in: new customers receive member-only vouchers as a join incentive; member points and discount rules calculate automatically per promotion. The BA operating load is minimal — every checkout becomes a member-acquisition opportunity.
Can the system support the brand's varied in-store experience scenarios?
Yes. PEKON covers all in-store ops scenarios — multiple payment methods, flexible promotion rules — and gives management live sales-performance and KPI dashboards. The setup creates a true "experience + retail" integrated environment for the brand.
