There is still 1 day left in 2023, and the once smash hit American makeup brand Benefit recently announced that it is saying goodbye to its online self-operated stores.
On December 28, Benefit announced on multiple e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin that the brand's official flagship store will soon end operations, and services such as order receiving, customer service channels, and membership rights redemption will be open until January 28, 2024.
Founded in 1976, acquired by luxury group LVMH in 1999, and entered the Chinese mainland market in 2007, Benefit has countless fans around the world with its products - "lard cream" and "anti-hole elite", and is also one of the first overseas high-end makeup brands to enter the Chinese market. At that time, the first facial primer/cream that many girls bought came from Benefit, and the pink and tender dressing table and retro fun packaging were loved by Chinese consumers.
Benefit has completely abandoned online self-operated stores
According to a report by Orange Persimmon Interactive on December 30, in the past few days, many netizens have posted that they have received information from Benefit's official flagship store: Benefit's official flagship store will be closed on January 28, 2024.
Not only the Tmall flagship store, but also the flagship stores of Benefit's Douyin and JD.com have also issued store closure announcements, announcing that they are about to end operations and will no longer accept new orders after January 28, 2024.
On December 30, Benefit's Douyin flagship store has emptied all products.
According to Interface News, Benefit will adjust its business scale and development focus in Chinese mainland, and consumers can continue to buy Benefit products in Sephora's offline stores in China and Sephora's official flagship stores on various platforms.
This is not the first time that Benefit has adjusted its channel layout in the Chinese market.
In terms of offline channels, Benefit entered the Chinese mainland market in 2007, opened its first store in Shanghai, and entered Sephora China in 2008. By the end of 2020, Sephora had a total of 275 stores nationwide, covering 81 cities across the country, and once sunk to Linyi, Jiangmen, Dazhou and other cities.
But in 2021, Benefit began to withdraw cabinets in many cities across the country.
At that time, Benefit's official statement was that with the change of the retail environment and trends, the brand was adjusting its business model in China, and would gradually withdraw department store counters, and in the future, it would mainly be sold in Sephora and Tmall online official flagship stores.
According to Jiemian News, it was mentioned in a report in April 2021 that there were only 7 offline counters left in the country at that time. This number has since shrunk, and the official Benefit mini-program shows that there are currently only five offline counters in Chinese mainland, distributed in Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an and Kunming. Compared with April 2021, Benefit counters have been withdrawn from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and other cities.
Online channels have also undergone adjustments. In 2011, Benefit briefly settled in Tmall, but closed the store in less than half a year. In 2017, Benefit entered Tmall again, and in 2021 and 2022, it will enter the Jingdong and Douyin e-commerce platforms successively. And now, Benefit is saying goodbye to these online self-operated channels.
After that, Sephora will be Benefit's main channel in the Chinese market. Sephora and Benefit both belong to the LVMH group, which means that for Benefit, Sephora's channel is relatively stable, and Benefit is not in danger of withdrawing from the Chinese market for the time being.
It was once sold to the first place in the world
As one of the first overseas high-end makeup brands to enter the Chinese market, many of Benefit's star products are very popular in China, such as eyebrow pencil, dandelion powder, lard cream, Counter-Strike primer and so on.
The brand, which has a history of nearly 50 years, was first founded in 1976 by a pair of sisters in the United States, and gradually established the brand concept of "smile is the best cosmetic". With an amiable look and a humorous attitude, Benefit's brand image has been unique. In 1999, Benefit was acquired by luxury giant LVMH, and with the help of strong capital, Benefit expanded globally.
In 2007, Benefit entered the Chinese mainland market and opened its first store in Shanghai, with the rapid growth of the market, Benefit has a place in department stores in many cities.
According to LVMH's official website, "The Benefit brand has been present in 55 countries around the world, and an eyebrow product is sold every two seconds." According to Benefit's official data, "Anti-Hole Elite Face Primer" is the No. 1 makeup primer in Europe and the United States, with an average of one sold every 14 seconds.
In the makeup industry, Benefit is also known as the "eyebrow makeup expert", and its offline stores not only sell products, but also provide eyebrow shaping services. In 2003, the brand opened its first "eyebrow bar" in San Francisco, and later became the world's No. 1 eyebrow brand, expanding into mascara. Unfortunately, with the departure of the two founders, the soul of the brand is no longer there, and in the face of increasingly fierce competition in the makeup market, Benefit is obviously powerless.
According to Orange Persimmon Interactive, for the news of the collective closure of Benefit's online stores after the offline counters were withdrawn after 2021, some netizens analyzed that the reason for the average daily reduction of Benefit's living space in the Chinese market may be related to the inconsistency between brand pricing and tonality.
The tone of the Benefit brand is young and lively, mainly for young people, but the price of the product is relatively high-end, which belongs to the embarrassing range that many people can't afford when they want to buy when they are young and can't look down on when they have money.
A consumer said: "Benefit's eyebrow pencil and blush are not cheap, and I may choose to buy other higher-end brands for the same price." ”
From the point of view of the product itself, in recent years, Benefit has lacked competitive new products, and the old products have not attracted the younger generation, and in terms of price, it is at the most difficult mid-range level, neither the cost performance of affordable brands, nor the texture of high-end brands. Whether it's online or offline, there is a cost to opening a store.
In addition, some netizens feel that Benefit may have missed the best growth period of online channels, although Benefit Benefit has landed on Tmall since 2011, but withdrew after half a year, and it was not until 2017 that Tmall was re-launched.
Editor|Cheng Peng, Du Hengfeng
Proofreading|Liu Xiaoying
Cover image source: Screenshot
The daily economic news is integrated from the interface news, orange persimmon interactive, and every previous report
National Business Daily