China Business Daily (Reporter Yu Jiaxin Text/Photo) Entering summer, the heat is steaming, and the maximum temperature in many places has exceeded 30 °C. Walking on the street, the scorching sun is on their heads, and in order to protect themselves from the sun, more and more people are "covering themselves more tightly" - wearing sunscreen hats, sunscreen masks hanging from their ears, and wearing long-sleeved sunscreen clothing...... As the temperature rises, this year's "hard sunscreen" products once again ushered in a hot situation of both production and sales.
"Hard sunscreen" products have become summer darlings
"It is the peak season for sunscreen products, and recently our factory is processing a large number of orders for sunscreen clothing, sunscreen gloves, sunscreen masks and other products." Recently, Mr. Cui, manager of a garment factory in Yiwu, Zhejiang, told a reporter from China Business Daily.
Sunscreen is generally divided into "soft sunscreen" and "hard sunscreen" by means of blocking ultraviolet rays. Among them, "soft sunscreen" uses chemical or biological means such as sunscreen and sunscreen spray, while "hard sunscreen" refers to the use of sunscreen clothing, hats, sunglasses and other products to directly block ultraviolet rays.
It is worth mentioning that with the improvement of consumers' awareness of sun protection, the "hard sun protection" market is ushering in significant growth. Taking this year as an example, Jingdong data shows that before the May Day holiday, the turnover of children's sunscreen clothing, outdoor sunscreen clothing, and sunscreen pants increased by more than 100% month-on-month, and the turnover of men's sunscreen clothing and fashion sunscreen clothing increased by more than 80% month-on-month, and accessories such as sunscreen sleeves also achieved a turnover increase of more than 40%.
At present, all kinds of sunscreen clothing have become a hot commodity. The picture shows a brand displaying sunscreen products in a prominent position in the store.
Why do consumers still wear face coverings and long sleeves in the summer with sunscreen? Consumer Tingting (pseudonym) said that there are still certain defects in the "soft sunscreen" products at this stage: "Sunscreen needs to be applied in advance before going out, and if it is outdoors for a long time, it needs to be reapplied in time, but as long as the sunscreen hat and sunscreen clothing are worn all the time." "In order to achieve a better sun protection effect, Tingting generally uses a combination of two types of sun protection.
There are also consumers who take skin sensitivity into account. Ms. Huang, a consumer, said that her facial skin is sensitive to sun exposure and some chemical components in sunscreen, and using a sunscreen mask is actually her "helpless move". Ms. Liu, the "mother", also believes that adult sunscreen may be more irritating to children's skin, so she is more willing to buy children's sunscreen clothing for children.
Consumers are choosing sunscreen hats.
Mr. Cui revealed to reporters that although the scale of his garment factory is not large, it has received a steady stream of orders for "hard sunscreen" products in recent times, and some downstream wholesalers or retailers have even begun to stock up as early as February this year.
"Now it takes about 30 days to order sunscreen clothing, and the order has been scheduled until mid-June." Mr. Cui said.
The "hard sunscreen" track is becoming more and more intense
Under the wave of "national sunscreen", more and more businesses are accelerating the influx of "hard sunscreen" track.
Mr. Cui told reporters that his garment factory began to make sunscreen series last year. The first batch of products included sun-protective clothing, sun-protective hats, sun-protective masks, sun-protective gloves, sun-protective bandanas, etc., and due to the considerable sales performance last year, some new sun-protective clothing and sun-protective hats were launched this year.
Not only upstream garment factories, but also major clothing brands are also accelerating the occupation of sunscreen positions.
On the one hand, classic brands such as Bananaxia and Ohsunny that started with "sun protection" are consolidating their position in the industry. The "White Paper on China's Sunscreen Clothing Industry Standards" released by iResearch in April this year proposed that in 2023, the market share of Jiaoxia sunscreen clothing on the Tao platform will reach 26.5%.
On the other hand, many traditional clothing brands are also trying to "get a piece of the pie" in the field of sunscreen. For example, Bosideng, which has been focusing on winter down clothing, has begun to explore the category of sunscreen clothing in recent years. In 2021, Bosideng joined hands with Guangzhou Inspection, Testing and Certification Group Co., Ltd. to carry out the drafting of group standards for high-quality sunscreen clothing. In 2022, the brand's "Sun" series of multi-functional sunscreen clothing will be launched. This year, the "Sun" series has been updated to the third generation.
Sun-protective clothing in Bosideng's offline stores.
On the whole, the "White Paper on China's Sunscreen Clothing Industry Standard" proposes that the current mainland sunscreen clothing market has formed a pattern of fierce competition among six mainstream types: outdoor lifestyle brands, "Internet celebrities" or e-commerce white labels (qualified products without clear brands), vertical sunscreen brands, traditional outdoor brands, sports brands, and regular clothing brands.
In addition, the types and styles of "hard sunscreen" products are constantly updated and iterated to provide consumers with more comprehensive and diverse choices.
In the impression of many people, although sun-protective clothing came out more than ten years ago, most of the sun-protective clothing at that time was relatively stuffy to wear. Nowadays, "sunscreen + coolness" has basically become the industry standard, and the "original yarn sunscreen" that emphasizes the safety and comfort of fabrics is also becoming the main selling point of all kinds of sunscreen clothing.
At the same time, the "hard sunscreen" industry is also paying more and more attention to the aesthetic needs of consumers, and ordinary styles of sunscreen masks have begun to upgrade to "blush", and "shell hats" that can be folded into headbands are becoming a new generation of fashion items.
The "gradient blush" sunscreen mask is loved by many female consumers.
Mr. Cui told reporters that his garment factory's new sunscreen clothing this year pays more attention to plate design than last year's style. For example, for men's sun-protective clothing, they have added a stand-up collar jacket plate type, and women's models have added a waist plate type.
What to look for when purchasing
In the hot "hard sunscreen" market, the reporter noticed that although it is also under the banner of "breathable" and "cool", there are great differences in the sales price of different brand products. For example, if you search on the Taobao platform with "sunscreen mask" as the keyword, the unit price of some brand products can reach 60 yuan, while the unit price of goods without a clear manufacturer is only 2.8 yuan.
Some people in the industry believe that the price difference of these "hard sunscreen" products may be caused by factors such as fabrics, design, and process costs, and the high price of some brands of products may be relatively high in cost. But for sunscreen products, the most critical performance is the strength of sun protection ability.
The standard FZ/T74007-2019 "Outdoor Sunscreen Skin Clothing" of China's textile industry proposes that "UV protection products" need to meet the two conditions of UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) greater than 40 and UVA transmittance in ultraviolet rays less than 5% at the same time. However, it should also be noted that in the actual marking of commodity tags, there are actually only two standard ways to write "UPF40+" and "UPF50+", and there may be problems with inflated values in other labeling methods.
In a clothing store, sunscreen products are labeled "UPF50+".
Industry insiders suggest that when consumers buy "hard sunscreen" products, they can pay attention to whether the merchant provides a formal test report, and whether the key values such as UPF, UVA, and washing resistance are open and transparent.
For example, in view of the current popular "raw yarn sunscreen" technology, the national standard GB/T 8629-2017 "Household Washing and Drying Procedures for Textile Testing" requires that the product can be tested according to the standard test of 4N washing program, continuous washing 30 times, and oven drying, so as to prove that the product meets this technical requirement. When consumers purchase products that claim to use "raw yarn sunscreen" technology, they can pay attention to whether the merchant has provided relevant test certificates.