The most notable shift in Keqiao's peak season this year is not the return of foot traffic, but the shrinking size of individual orders. Since mid-to-late September, customer visits across the Dongsheng Road, East Market and North Market trading zones have continued to rise, yet average transaction volumes per deal remain below the same period in previous years. Small-batch trial orders have become the dominant form of transaction. This signals that downstream brands remain cautious about autumn-winter inventory, and the seasonal "volume growth" stems more from order count than from per-order scale.
The Changing Order Structure
From a procurement behavior perspective, apparel and home textile buyers are generally splitting bulk orders into two stages: trial orders followed by replenishment. Heat-retaining fabrics, woolen cloth, knitted elastic fabrics and brushed fabrics are the most heavily inquired categories. Buyers compare color cards on site, request samples and confirm initial orders, with batch production scheduled after the holiday. For factories, this rhythm compresses production scheduling buffers and raises delivery management difficulty. For traders, per-order margins are diluted, meaning order density must compensate for total volume.
The home textile segment follows a slightly different stocking logic. Demand for minimalist solid-color bedding, wedding series fabrics and sofa fabrics is rising steadily, with buyers locking in goods ahead of National Day and fourth-quarter home decoration consumption. These orders are highly seasonal and feature rapid pattern iteration, placing higher demands on fabric companies' sampling response speed.
Divergence Between Domestic and Export Markets
On the export side, product structure is widening. Overseas buyers' preference for eco-friendly recycled fabrics and functional fabrics continues to strengthen. Waterproof-breathable, anti-static, recycled polyester and eco-dyeing categories command significantly better bargaining space than conventional commodity fabrics. Some merchants have already proactively reduced inventory ratios of ordinary fabrics, concentrating R&D resources on new materials and processes. The direct consequence: Keqiao's export pricing logic is shifting from "who is cheaper" to "who is irreplaceable."
Online channels are also reshaping customer acquisition. Fabric livestreaming, packaged sample card video distribution and online reception of remote clients have become standard practices in storefronts. The combination of online traffic generation and offline sample viewing enables overseas buyers who cannot visit the market in person to complete fabric selection communication, objectively expanding Keqiao fabrics' reach.
Cost Transmission and Order-Taking Strategy
Pressure on the raw material side cannot be ignored. Chemical fiber and cotton yarn prices have recently fluctuated upward, and cost increases are transmitting to the fabric segment. Merchants are responding by tightening order-taking conditions, insisting on case-by-case negotiation and strictly controlling payment terms and order risks. This strategy can protect margins during peak season, but may also divert some price-sensitive orders to other industrial belts.
Market management is stepping up support in logistics, fire safety and environmental remediation. The logistics zone shows notably accelerated packing, loading and shipping, with fabrics dispatched to apparel factories nationwide and export ports. Pre-holiday final sprinting alongside holiday-period order review and development is the established arrangement for most merchants.