Recently, some bloggers have questioned the different quality of different batches of Polaria's "feather sense sunscreen" products, suspected of changing the content of ingredients without authorization, insufficient sun protection, etc., which has aroused heated discussions. Polaria apologized for the matter a few days ago, saying that the self-inspection found that there were differences in some batches of products and that it had opened an official after-sales channel. On April 29, the customer service staff of Polaria told nandu reporters that consumers who purchased the products involved were not satisfied with the use or the skin was not suitable, etc., and could be returned and refunded. Nandu reporter also noted that although the performance of the parent company of Polaria has increased steadily in recent years, its research and development expenses are only "zero" of sales expenses, and there are only 3 doctors in the company's research and development personnel.
Polaria sunscreen products have been accused of varying quality
Recently, some bloggers have questioned the different quality of different batches of Polaria's "feather sense sunscreen" products, suspected of changing the content of ingredients without authorization, insufficient sun protection, etc., which has aroused heated discussions.
On the evening of April 28, Polaria issued a statement on the matter, saying that the relevant staff had rushed to the factory site overnight on the 27th, and as of 14:00 on the 28th, the inspection of multiple batches of sampled products had been completed.
Pleia said that the formula of "feather sense sunscreen" (Pleia light sunshine feather feeling care essence sunscreen) has never changed since the filing, because it is a water-in-oil, low-viscosity sunscreen product, and the production process is difficult. In the self-inspection, it was found that there were differences in some batches of finished products, which affected the experience of some consumers, and I apologize.
In response to after-sales problems, Polaria said that from April 28, the official after-sales channel has been opened, and if there are product-related problems, consumers can contact the official customer service for handling.
On April 29, Nandu reporters inquired about major e-commerce platforms and found that in the official stores of Polaria, the controversial sunscreen products had been removed from the shelves. Polaria has opened an after-sales mini program specifically to deal with this dispute, and said that "regardless of whether the formal dress is unpacked and used, it supports return refunds, and you can directly initiate a return refund in the background." The customer service staff of Peraya told the Nandu reporter that if consumers are dissatisfied or unsuitable when using the "feather sense sunscreen" product, they can contact the customer service of Peraya for return refund processing.
Nandu reporter noted that the products of Polariya Company that were questioned for poor sun protection effect, as well as Yue Fuyuan's "ice cream sunscreen". On the evening of April 28, Yue Fuyuan issued a statement saying that in 2018, its "ice cream sunscreen" SPF and PFA values were inspected by the testing agency recognized by the State Food and Drug Administration, and the sunscreen of the products met the product labeling requirements.
Polaria has been notified of over-packaging. Nandu previously reported that in February 2022, 3 batches of cosmetics in Polaria were detected to have unqualified packaging void rates, which were notified by the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau. It is reported that the packaging void rate refers to the ratio of unnecessary space volume in the commodity sales packaging and the volume of the commodity sales packaging, while excessive packaging refers to the packaging that exceeds the moderate packaging function requirements, and the packaging void rate, the number of packaging layers, and the packaging cost exceed the necessary degree of packaging. It is mandatory that the void rate of cosmetics sales packaging shall not be more than 50%, and the sum of all packaging costs other than the initial packaging shall not exceed 20% of the sales price of the goods.
Pleia contributes approximately 80% of the revenue of the parent company
Polariya is a leading brand of domestic cosmetics, public information shows that its parent company Polaria Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Polaria Company") was established in 2006, mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of cosmetic products, under the "Polaria", "Uzilai", "Youya", "Hanya", "Cat Rose", "Yue Fu Yuan" and other brands.
Nandu reporter inquired about the financial report and found that the main users of Polariya are young white-collar women, the main price range is within 200 to 400 yuan, online and offline omni-channel collaborative sales, the main concept of "technology skin care".
On April 22, Pleia announced its financial reports for the first quarter of 2021 and 2022. According to the 2021 financial report, the operating income of Pleia was 4.633 billion yuan, an increase of 23.47% over the same period last year, the net profit attributable to the mother was 576 million yuan, an increase of 21.03% year-on-year, and the net profit of non-attributable to the mother was 568 million yuan, an increase of 20.89% year-on-year.
The first quarter report of 2022 released on the same day also performed quite brightly. In the first quarter, Polaya achieved revenue of 1.254 billion yuan, an increase of 38.53% year-on-year, net profit attributable to the mother of 158 million, an increase of 44.16%, and net profit of 147 million yuan, an increase of 36.21%.
Nandu reporter noted that this is the fourth consecutive year that the growth rate of revenue and net profit of Polariya Company has remained above 20%. From the perspective of channels, online channels are the "great heroes" of Polaria's rapid growth. According to the financial report, the online channel revenue of Polaria in 2021 totaled 3.924 billion yuan, accounting for 84.93% of the total revenue, an increase of 49.54% year-on-year.
At the subsequent performance briefing, Wang Li, secretary of the board of directors and general manager of The Company, also confirmed this, saying that the performance growth was mainly due to the growth of the company's online channel revenue, especially the growth of online direct channels. At present, the online channels of Polaria are mainly operated through direct operation and distribution models. Direct operation is mainly based on Tmall, Douyin, JD.com, Kuaishou, Pinduoduo and other platforms, and distribution includes Taobao, JD.com, Vipshop and other platforms.
From the perspective of brand performance, the revenue of the Pleia brand was 3.829 billion yuan, an increase of 28.25% year-on-year, and it contributed 82.27% of the revenue to the company last year. From 2019 to 2021, the revenue share of the Polaria brand fluctuates around 80%.
R&D expenses are only "zero" of sales expenses
Nandu reporter noted that like some brand cosmetics companies, Polaria Company also has the problem of "heavy sales, light research and development". According to the financial report, in 2021, the sales expenses of Polaya Company were 1.992 billion yuan, accounting for 42.98% of the operating income. The research and development expenses were 76.58 million yuan, accounting for only 1.65% of the operating income. From 2019 to 2021, the sales expense ratio of Pleia has remained high at about 40% for a long time; the highest point of the research and development expense rate is only 2.39% in 2019.
Among them, in 2021, the sales expenses of Polaria increased by 494 million yuan year-on-year, an increase of 33.03%. This increase in sales expenses is mainly used for the incubation of new brands (such as Caitang and CORRECTORS), as well as brand rebranding (such as Yue Fu Yuan), etc., while increasing the investment in image promotion and promotion.
In terms of product marketing, Polaria's "big single product strategy" is worth paying attention to. The so-called "big single product strategy" is to concentrate on creating explosive products and quickly promote them through online channels. Nandu reporter noted that the "feather sense sunscreen" product involved was listed by Polaria as one of the new big items in 2021, in addition, there are polaria's double anti-essence, ruby essence and other explosive products.
At the production and R&D end, the production mode of Polaria is mainly based on independent production, supplemented by OEM (brand foundry). The skin care category is mainly independent production, and the makeup category is produced independently and OEM in parallel, with self-built skin care factories and makeup factories. The R&D model is based on independent research and development, supplemented by the combination of production, education and research, and has maintained R&D cooperation with research institutions and raw material suppliers such as the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, BASF China, Shenzhen Zhongke Xinyang and other research institutions.
Nandu reporter also found that there are 159 R & D personnel in Polayal, accounting for 5.59% of the company's total number of people. The academic structure of R&D personnel is mainly undergraduate, reaching 90, 48 master's degree students, 18 specialists, and 3 doctoral students.
On the issue of market risk, Polariya Company admitted in the financial report that the company is facing the risk of intensified competition among various brands and marketing in the industry, the company's brand strategy and channel strategy may not meet expectations, and digital and refined delivery cost control may not meet expectations. In addition, there are also risks in the incubation and cultivation of new brands and new categories, and the marketing investment is large, and the performance may not meet expectations.
Written by: Nandu reporter Fang Shiqi
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