Ralph Larsen, former CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said: "Growth is like pure oxygen, the entry point to all corporate problems. ”
In the past few years, the advent of the era of low growth has intensified the elimination competition in the beauty industry. According to Qichacha data, a total of 1.83 million cosmetics-related enterprises will be revoked/cancelled in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 111%.
"In recent years, in addition to the head domestic enterprises have reversed the situation, there are few traditional domestic products in the middle and waist that can be successfully transformed. The relevant person in charge of the cutting-edge domestic beauty brand C coffee said that in the context of the accelerated iteration of the industry, the cutting-edge brand has room to play.
In October 2021, C-Cafe, which had only been established for half a year at that time, chose to settle in Dewu - C-Cafe, which had already received two rounds of financing, needed to seek higher growth. To find growth is to find the future.
This decision exceeded the expectations of the C coffee team. In 2023, C coffee will achieve a year-on-year growth of 700% in Dewu.
In addition to C coffee, domestic brands such as Guyu and pinkbear have also achieved a growth of more than 200% in Dewu.
In addition, many international brands have also achieved high growth in Dewu. For example, L'Occitane's sales on Teacher's Day last year increased by 60%, and the fragrance brand Ralph Lauren exceeded one million GMV in the first month of entering Dewu.
Dewu, a platform leading the new trend of consumption, is becoming a new blue ocean in the beauty industry.
Step into the 10 billion GMV club
Beauty brands are finding new increments in Dewu
The reporter learned that the person in charge of the beauty and personal care industry mentioned at a closed-door meeting at the end of 2023 that after less than three years of rapid development, the annual GMV of the beauty category in Dewu has exceeded 10 billion, and it has successfully entered the 10 billion club. For the beauty industry, this breakthrough is a sign that opportunities for new platforms are increasing.
At the same time, the growth rate of the beauty and personal care sub-categories has exceeded 100% in recent times. For example, in April, the growth rate of sunscreen category exceeded 100% month-on-month, the growth rate of sunscreen day search increased by 81% month-on-month, and the growth rate of 40%+ in recent days, and the growth rate of washing and care category increased by more than 140% month-on-month in April.
Specifically, many beauty brands have achieved breakthroughs in terms of volume and sales in Dewu.
Typical examples, C coffee, which will have a growth of more than 700% in Dewu in 2023. The person in charge of C coffee said that C coffee has realized the occupation of consumers' minds in Dewu. At present, C Coffee's amino acid double-tube cleanser is ranked TOP1 on the best-selling list recommended by Dewu cleanser, and this product shows that 150,000 + pieces have been sold (data statistics since April 24). The mental occupation of the first subcategory also makes C coffee continue to break the circle.
There is also a breakthrough in the volume and sales of the cutting-edge brand Guyu, which will increase by 272% year-on-year in 2023.
Han Shu, who won the TOP1 of Douyin beauty last year, has gained new people on the Dewu platform. The person in charge of Han Shu Dewu told reporters that after settling in Dewu, it will help the brand increase and expand the age group of Han Shu's consumer customers. Based on this, Han Shu has settled in Dewu since May 2023, and the GMV exceeded one million in the next month, and the average monthly GMV was stable at 400w+ for 7 months, and the monthly sales exceeded 10,000 orders.
There are also many old domestic products that make the user group younger through Dewu. Danzi Group's brands Water Code and Mu Lanchun jointly built a customized gift box for Qixi Festival with Dewu, and the GMV exceeded 7 times during the period, and the user population aged 19-25 increased from 37.94% to 63.77%.
In addition, on the Dewu platform, there is a large demand for gifts and many nodes, such as Valentine's Day, March 8th Festival, Mother's Day, Qixi Festival, Christmas, etc., throughout the year, and the traditional e-commerce promotion is staggered, so that merchants have more opportunities for business explosion.
According to public data, on the Dewu platform, consumers have 690 million monthly searches, and 410 million search-related searches related to gifts. Among them, the big promotion of the beauty category is about 3 times that of the flat sales period, and the user portraits before and after have changed significantly. Obviously, buying gifts on the goods has been deeply rooted in the minds of consumers.
Many international brands and Dewu have created limited editions and gifts, which not only highlight the brand tonality, but also expand the business opportunities in the brand courtesy scene. For example, L'Occitane, an international brand, innovated fragrances and limited new products from young users, and customized gift boxes such as Valentine's Day and Teacher's Day based on gift nodes, and sales increased by 60% on Teacher's Day. Ralph Lauren fragrance brand, GMV exceeded one million in the first month of entering Dewu, and the exclusive customized gift box was sold out.
For another example, after the C coffee team settled in the Dewu platform, they learned that users had gift needs and developed a series of gift box products to serve this kind of group. The relevant person in charge of C coffee mentioned that the success of C coffee courtesy season in Dewu has also promoted the sales of courtesy projects on other platforms.
Not only that, IP co-branding is also a growth point for beauty brands in terms of goods. In 2023, Pinkbear, a brand of Yatsen's e-commerce company, will increase by 200% year-on-year, and its LOOPY limited co-branded gift box will usher in an explosion in January.
In general, whether it is international brands, or new and old domestic products, they have found new increments in Dewu.
"Minimal operating staff, leveraging 30 million GMV"
The reporter interviewed a number of businesses and learned that for beauty brands, there are "five major growth engines".
First, the penetration rate of post-95 users is as high as 70%, which is extremely suitable for the consumer group of beauty brands.
According to reports, Dewu is the youngest user in the whole e-commerce platform, with more than 90% of post-90s users on the Dewu App, and the user penetration rate among China's 260 million post-95 young people is as high as 70%.
At the same time, Dewu users cover a group of high-quality groups with the most spending power from the 1st and 2nd tier cities to the 3rd, 4th and 5th tier cities. Young people are more optimistic about the future of consumption, and their purchase frequency and willingness to pay are stronger.
At present, Gen Z is becoming the main consumer force in the beauty market. According to a NielsenIQ survey, 61% of Gen Z consumers prefer to buy beauty products. Another survey shows that the post-00s have gradually replaced the post-90s generation and become the new main force of national tide consumption.
The relevant person in charge of the Han Shu brand told reporters that Dewu is a brand that focuses on young people, and the user group is accurately aimed at young people, and beauty brands can lock this group and carry out targeted management.
Second, the human efficiency is high, and a few operators can leverage 30 million GMV.
"On other platforms, it may take a multi-person team of people such as video editing, design, and mall operation to work together. In Dewu, only two or three people are needed to complete the operation. The person in charge of C coffee said that at present, there are very few operation personnel in C coffee, and last year's GMV was about 30 million, and the human efficiency is extremely high.
Third, if the two sectors are operated well, they can "clear the customs".
The person in charge of C Coffee Dewu said that at present, the core operational capabilities of C Coffee in Dewu are mainly focused on new and content. In terms of content creation and delivery, you only need to sort out the logic of the entire link, and you can continuously copy it to achieve batch content creation.
There are also business feedback: "In Dewu, merchants only need to price and improve the quality, as for customer service, store decoration and other trivial operational matters, the platform will help merchants to complete all of them." ”
Fourth, the return rate is low.
At present, the Dewu platform will ensure the authenticity of the product through "identification first, then delivery". This move has created a high level of trust in consumers on the platform, and the return rate of consumers is also low. Taking C coffee as an example, its return rate on the Dewu platform is extremely low.
For the beauty category, Dewu has also set up a special testing team. In February this year, the School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of East China University of Science and Technology and Dewu jointly established the first cosmetics identification research base in China. The two sides will cooperate in depth in cosmetics identification service standards, identification laboratory technology, and identification topic discussions. At the same time, Dewu will also become a practical teaching base for East China University of Science and Technology to jointly cultivate discriminating talents.
Fifth, it is an effective channel for beauty brands to test new products.
According to the person in charge of C coffee, C coffee has been looking for consumers who are energetic and love to experience new products, and the user group on Dewu fits this.
He said that if a brand wants to test whether a product or content placement is favored by the market, it only needs to arrange two or three people to follow up on user feedback after making relevant placements on Dewu, so as to improve or iterate. "The feedback we get on the product is the most direct and efficient. After the product iteration and upgrade, if we can get unanimous praise from users, then we will directly expand the channel for sales. ”
How can beauty brands win the "new blue ocean"?
For beauty brands, the Dewu platform is still a new blue ocean.
According to C coffee, in terms of goods, there are still some categories that have not been laid out by businesses, which is the opportunity point. "Next, we will launch new product layouts in categories such as masks, creams, and no-makeup creams. At the same time, C coffee will also continue to stabilize the basic plate with the cleansing category, and add more functional products in the skin care category. Combined with the characteristics of these products, C Cafe will make some high-value, high-quality skin care gift boxes for the platform, and continue to optimize the growth of the courtesy season. ”
As the current "top domestic product", Han Shu will also start a new cooperation with Dewu. Han Shu told reporters that in the new year, he will focus on content marketing and brand development to expand more fresh gameplay, "I hope that through the Dewu platform, we can better integrate into the young people and develop young skin care and light sun protection skin care groups."
For new merchants, the Dewu platform has a number of policy supports.
At the recent investment promotion conference, Dewu said that in 2024, it will empower new merchants through measures such as tens of billions of traffic, 0 threshold entry, and 1v1 support.
Specifically, for new merchants, Dewu has launched an ultra-long 30-day commission-free and 0 yuan margin policy, and launched a new business training camp and a 30-day personal escort. For new products, Dewu has launched special support plans, such as targeted support for high-quality natural traffic, commission-free for zero-breaking products, marketing and content differentiation operations, etc.
The platform further stated that new merchants settle in, no stores, no decoration, and implement a similar hosting model, and the merchants are only responsible for bidding and shipping, and the rest can be handed over to the goods.
"There are opportunities on every platform. In recent years, many platforms have implemented reforms in order to adapt to the current environment, and the more they reform and adjust, the more opportunities there are for brands. ”
A senior industry insider said that in the current market environment of involution, whether it is investment flow or store operation, many brands are "overwhelmed" and gradually withdraw from the market, and the threshold for brands to enter the market has been raised. Dewu's "no store, no decoration" model may help brands achieve faster growth in a shorter period of time, thus breaking the situation.
At present, there are more and more platforms that brands can deploy, or they can try to penetrate one platform first, so as to slowly overcome multiple platforms, and then achieve omni-channel layout.