Reporter | Zhou Fangying
Edit | Lou Shuqin
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Interface Fashion learned that beauty retail brand B+ Oil Tank has received strategic investment from SenseTime.
SenseTime
It is an artificial intelligence platform company that has just been successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at the end of 2021 and is known as the "first AI stock" by the outside world.
The parent company of B+ Oil Tank, Yingruo (Shanghai) Internet Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yingruo Technology"),was established in 2018. The company mainly focuses on the to B business, providing smart retail system construction and data services for brands and retail stores through marketing content and terminal experience.
Based on the foundation of the original business, in August 2020, Yingruo Technology established the to C retail brand B+ oil tank and opened the first offline flagship store in Changsha.
From the perspective of the main business of the two companies, SenseTime's AI technology will provide technical support for the retail business of B+ oil tanks, while Firefly Technology can provide SenseTime with vertical scenarios in smart retail.
Yu Liang, CEO of B+ Oil Tank, told Interface Fashion that in her view, the relatively high frequency of consumption in the beauty industry and the operability in enhancing the sense of experience have a role in promoting the entire smart retail field.
Interface Fashion has repeatedly reported that the new beauty collection stores led by HARMAY and HAYDON Black Hole are becoming the "new joys" of shopping malls and shopping malls. Their biggest feature is the emphasis on the shopping experience.
The self-service code scanning shopping process without beauty salespeople, the "net red" decoration with a sense of technology, and the drainage method of big brands and small samples are common features of these emerging brands and established beauty collection stores such as Watsons.
In addition to the above points, the difference between B+ oil tanks is the emphasis on technology equipment and interactive experience, which is also connected with the original to B business of Yingruo Technology. For example, B+ oil tanks have smart devices such as smart makeup mirrors and skin testers in stores to match the products consumers need.
Image source: B+ oil tank
Among them, according to B+ oil tank, its in-store skin tester will point out the user's real skin problems and give targeted skin care suggestions. Based on this, B+ oil tank will not directly recommend products in the store, but recommend ingredients that users can solve their own skin problems, and give consumers a reference for purchase through the cognition and use of product ingredients.
Image source: Little Red Book
Yu Liang also introduced that in the selection of products, B+ oil tank will cooperate with makeup masters and beauty science self-media "Yan An Tang". The former will assist in the selection testing of makeup, while the formulators of the latter will analyze and select the functional ingredients of skin care products.
B+ Oil Tank once said in an interview with the self-media Fat Whale Headline that most of the supply comes from brand agents, and some products are taken through first-level dealers. In addition, B+ oil tank hopes to control the proportion of small samples in the overall sales below 20%, and promote consumers to convert more to the purchase of formal products.
Although B+ oil tanks mainly sell beauty products, they also cover other categories such as furniture and home decorations, fragrance candles, jewelry accessories and so on. The development towards the whole category of lifestyle is also the direction of the development of new beauty collection stores such as HARMAY Meimei.
It is worth noting that the official website of Yingruo Technology shows that the company has also built offline smart stores for sephora, a high-end beauty collection store, providing interactive devices such as color interactive devices and smart beauty magic mirrors. The private label's involvement in the beauty retail field may form a competitive relationship with the original customers.
In this regard, Yu Liang said that B+ oil tanks will be different from other brands in the selection of products, and will pay more attention to domestic brands and overseas niche brands. In addition, the service solutions provided by the parent company will also be different, and the full-link solutions that are marketed and sold to THE CRM will be favored on the B+ tank.
Since its establishment, B+ Oil Tank has opened two flagship stores in Changsha. The brand also launched the beauty sample vending machine brand "U Small Can", and also has four branches in Changsha. The sales form of "U small can" helps brands obtain local consumer preference information to determine whether it is suitable to open a large store and make further investment.
Yu Liang said that the important point of choosing Changsha as the starting city is that the fault tolerance rate of emerging cities for new brands is relatively high, and young people in Changsha are very open in mind and willing to try new things. In first-tier cities, if the new brand has a slight flaw, it is more likely to cause consumer dissatisfaction.
She added that in 2022, B+ oil tanks may open new stores in other new first-tier cities such as Chengdu, Hangzhou and Wuhan. First-tier cities with stronger purchasing power such as Shanghai and Beijing are also in their plans, but B+ oil tanks may choose to open super-large flagship stores to cope with more fierce competition in the local market.