7 overseas makeup brands withdrew from China, 5 domestic makeup products went out of business!

China Times (www.chinatimes.net.cn) reporters Hu Mengran and Zhang Zhi report from Shenzhen

This year's makeup market has not been as "hot" as expected.

In December, the Japanese cosmetics brand CEZANNE and the Korean cosmetics brand BBIA Tmall overseas flagship stores successively issued announcements stating that they will not accept new orders from now on. AS FOR THE REASON FOR THE STORE'S REMOVAL OF PRODUCTS AND SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS, THE BBIA ANNOUNCEMENT SHOWED THAT IT WAS AN OPERATIONAL ADJUSTMENT, BUT CEZANNE DID NOT EXPLAIN THE REASON IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.

According to incomplete statistics, there are 7 overseas makeup brands that have withdrawn from China this year, and 5 domestic makeup brands have announced closure or closure. In addition, the official website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange disclosed that the IPO status of Mao Geping Cosmetics Co., Ltd. has now been displayed as "suspended (financial report update)", which is the third time that Mao Geping has failed to hit the IPO.

Xiao Su (pseudonym) has been engaged in the makeup industry for 7 years, and she revealed to the "China Times" reporter that from the perspective of the recruitment market, the recruitment positions in the second half of this year have decreased significantly, and some friends have been looking for jobs for half a year. "It is indeed difficult, and there are many reasons, such as lack of financing, the introduction of new regulations, intensified competition, etc., and many companies are adjusting. ”

There are all kinds of signs that the makeup industry has not yet come out of the "cold winter".

Overseas brands lose to China?

According to public information, BBIA was founded in 2004 and is an "Internet celebrity" makeup brand in South Korea. At first, the brand was only sold online, but through its excellent price-performance ratio, BBIA gradually opened up its popularity in South Korea, and in recent years, it has gradually appeared in offline beauty collection stores. Before the closure of the store, BBIA's overseas flagship store had about 47,000 followers, and another closed store, CEZANNE, was founded in 1964 and is one of the most popular open-shelf beauty brands in Japan, with 227,000 followers before the closure of CEZANNE's Tmall overseas flagship store.

In March this year, e.l.f, the top 4 makeup brand in the United States, announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market, and then Amplitude, a light luxury high-end makeup brand under the Japanese POLA Group, also plans to gradually shut down within the year. In addition, Dubai-based beauty brand Huda Beauty and Japanese natural and organic makeup brand Naturaglace have also announced their withdrawal from the Chinese market.

Although the reasons for exiting are different, it is clear that the space for overseas makeup brands in the Chinese market is being compressed.

Zhan Junhao, founder of Fujian Great Aim Brand Positioning Consulting and public relations partner of Fuzhou Gongsun Ce, said in an interview with the China Times that as consumers' sense of identity with national culture continues to increase, more and more consumers are more willing to accept domestic brands, which has led to a setback in the domestic performance of foreign brands.

"The reasons for the hindrance of the development of overseas brands in China are as follows: first, the domestic market is fiercely competitive, and overseas brands are facing huge market pressure; Differences in consumption Xi and other aspects have made it difficult for overseas brands to overcome when entering the Chinese market; with the fluctuation of the RMB exchange rate, the increase in import costs has further increased the operational pressure of overseas brands; in addition, it can be felt that domestic consumers' recognition of domestic cosmetics has gradually increased, and the market popularity of overseas brands has weakened. Financial writer You Xi told the "China Times" reporter.

The market is now cold

Since the beginning of this year, several domestic brands have also announced the closure of stores, reflecting the cold market to a certain extent.

At the beginning of this year, makeup brand It's Focus issued a store closure announcement on Xiaohongshu, saying, "Our drama is over, we didn't lie to everyone, and it wasn't a marketing ploy." At present, the brand's Tmall flagship store eyeshadow, blush, lipstick and other products are cleared at a price of 9.9 yuan.

In August, fellow makeup brand Calle said Colorpedia issued a statement, saying that for various reasons, Calle said that Colorpedia must say goodbye to everyone. As of the day of the announcement, Calle said that it had not been on the shelves for a year and eight months.

In September, Buoyancy Fomomy issued an announcement saying that "it's not marketing, we're really out of business". Fomomy was founded in 2018 with the intention of becoming a sweet and cool makeup fashion brand. Compared with the brand that announced the closure of the store before, Buoyan's reputation in the market is much greater, and its product cigarette box cotton swab has exploded without promotion, and has also been selected by PONY Dashen and Kuaiben program group; In 2019, it launched a portable hard candy series, becoming the first batch of Wowcolor merchants to settle in, and also began to export to Japan LOFT.

But still not escaping the fate of bankruptcy, as for the reason, Buoyancy Fomomy explained: "We have been trying to find a new way to survive for most of the year, but looking at the gradual increase in debt to nearly eight figures, it is a more responsible choice for buyers and the team to stop." ”

In Youxi's view, the closure of many domestic makeup brands this year shows to a certain extent that some brands do not have core competitiveness in the market competition. On the one hand, insufficient funds may indeed lead to the brand being at a disadvantage in the market competition and difficult to maintain operations; on the other hand, the competition in the cosmetics market is not limited to capital, but more importantly, the comprehensive strength of product quality, brand image and marketing strategy. Domestic brands should enhance their competitiveness in many ways to adapt to the changing market environment.

Zhan Junhao also further said that the collapse of many domestic makeup brands this year was caused by the following factors. First of all, the brand positioning is not clear, and homogenization is seriously caused. The success of a brand depends on the recognition and choice of consumers, and consumers' choice is based on the differentiated positioning of the brand.

He pointed out that "many domestic makeup brands have major misunderstandings about brand building, especially after the rise of short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, many brands have invested heavily in super anchors and traffic promotion. Traffic advertising can only achieve short-term sales, but cannot precipitate brand value. The success of a brand should be based on differentiated strategic positioning, and a series of communication and promotion and operation should be carried out around this positioning, so as to establish a sense of brand identity in the minds of consumers. ”

According to a research report by Mintel, a global research and consulting agency, global consumers' concern for overall health has extended to the field of skin care and makeup after the epidemic, and the high enthusiasm for skin care has driven consumer demand for skin care and makeup. The trend of makeup innovation has also gradually transitioned from color-led to the superposition of "color + skin care + efficacy".

It can be noted that the head makeup brand is gradually shifting from "heavy marketing" to "focusing on research and development" in the past. In August, Yixian E-commerce, the parent company of Perfect Diary, announced that the first factory was officially completed and put into operation, in March last year, Huaxizi announced that it would invest 1 billion yuan to build an oriental beauty research and development system, and in May last year, Colorkey, a domestic makeup brand focusing on lip gloss products, acquired the production plant of the parent company of Catkin, and will partially shift from cooperating with foundries to independent production.

The era of relying on "marketing" to go all over the world has passed, and how to survive is still the primary problem in front of makeup brands.