In June 2026, the sentiment indices for China's textile and apparel specialized markets showed subtle shifts. The manager sentiment index edged up 0.43 points to 49.78, while the merchant sentiment index rose 0.34 points to 50.07, crossing the 50-point boom-bust line. On the surface, industry confidence appears to be recovering during the traditional summer off-season. However, a deeper dive into the sub-indices reveals a clear divergence: the market side is recovering, but merchants continue to face headwinds.
Market Recovery: Improved Foot Traffic and Store Openings
From the manager's perspective, physical operational metrics showed positive signals in June. The foot traffic index and logistics dispatch volume index both rose 0.64 points month-on-month to 49.03. The store opening rate index also increased 0.32 points to 49.35. These figures indicate that offline footfall in specialized markets is recovering, and the actual opening rate of booths is improving. Approximately 77% of markets reported stable total business volume and logistics dispatch, suggesting no major volatility in the market's overall scale. The rental index inched up to 50.65, reflecting a stabilizing outlook from market property managers.
Merchant Struggles: Volume Up, Prices Down, Margins Squeezed
In stark contrast to the moderate recovery on the management side, merchant-level operational pressures remain significant. Although the merchant sales volume index rose 1.03 points to 50.14, indicating an increase in shipments, the average selling price index fell 0.22 points to 49.30, a classic "volume up, price down" scenario. More concerning is the profitability index, which, despite a 0.89 point sequential gain, remained in contraction territory at 49.86. On the cost side, the comprehensive cost index edged down 0.19 points to 50.63, signaling mild cost pressure. The inventory index rose to 50.00, suggesting that destocking is slowing.
E-commerce Penetration: From Supplementary Channel to Primary Growth Driver
The most structurally significant signal in this data comes from e-commerce sales. The manager e-commerce sales index reached 51.61, and the merchant e-commerce sales index stood at 50.49, both firmly above the boom-bust line. More specifically, 22.58% of market managers reported increased e-commerce sales, up 6.45 points from May, while 9.79% of merchants saw e-commerce sales rise, an increase of 8.42 points month-on-month. This data suggests that traditional wholesale markets are undergoing a "silent digitalization": online channels are no longer a nice-to-have supplement but a core channel for an increasing number of merchants to stabilize shipments and hedge against offline foot traffic uncertainty.
Forward-Looking Indices: Short-term Confidence Diverges
Looking ahead to July, market managers and merchants show a subtle divergence in their outlook. Managers' expectation for the next period sentiment index is 50.32, still in expansion territory but down 2.91 points from May, reflecting caution about the traditional summer lull. Merchants, however, are more optimistic, with their next period sentiment index expected at 50.84, up 0.70 points month-on-month, and their business environment index also improving. This merchant confidence likely stems from continued faith in e-commerce channel growth and early positioning for the second-half peak season (autumn orders).
Industry Transmission and Procurement Insights
This set of sentiment data sends clear signals to the upstream and downstream of the textile industry chain:
- For fabric and accessory suppliers: The "stable volume, falling price" dynamic in wholesale channels means downstream buyers are more cost-sensitive, favoring high-value products over high-end differentiation.
- For brands and finished product buyers: The June decline in average merchant selling prices, coupled with unresolved inventory pressure, suggests a wave of clearance discounts may emerge in July-August.
- For foreign trade companies: The accelerating e-commerce shift in domestic specialized markets means more traditional wholesalers are developing online order-taking capabilities, making digital supply chain integration a new competitive edge.