New Domestic and Overseas Beauty Brands Find Growth with Chinese Consumers
The seventh annual Tmall Beauty Awards was recently held in Shanghai. During this event, Tmall brought together domestic and international brands and industry experts to discuss milestones in the beauty scene over the past year as well as upcoming trends.
According to a report by Euromonitor, while the pandemic has slowed the growth of the global beauty, personal care and home-cleaning industries, China has emerged as a world leader in this market with a 5.5% year-over-year growth rate that puts it close to RMB740 billion. Online channels accounted for 34% of this growth, representing the largest sales channel for this market in China.
In 2020, 3,000 beauty merchants – including emerging Chinese brands as well as new labels from overseas companies – opened flagship stores on Tmall, and the platform has continuously improved its user experience, interactivity and other features and tools to help these brands better serve China’s beauty mavens. For example, many luxury cosmetics companies have joined the trend of high-end customization on Tmall, including Hermès with its custom perfumes and Dior with its lipstick-engraving services. Dior also launched a private livestreaming room for VIPs with “See Now, Buy Now” technology.
In the fiscal year 2021, 70 beauty brands on Tmall achieved more than RMB100 million in GMV through a combination of livestream sessions hosted by the brands’ flagship stores and influencers on Taobao Live, while 28 beauty brands exceeded RMB100 million in GMV through livestream broadcasts in their flagship stores.
New Segments in China’s Mother and Baby Market Emerge
The mother and baby industry has long been regarded as representative of China’s consumption growth and increased product segmentation.
According to a report by Euromonitor, this market is expected to grow to RMB5.9 trillion by 2023, especially since China has the world’s second largest population of Generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and 2024). With its large user base and timely response to market trends, Tmall has given rise to a lot of new lanes in the mother and baby industry and has become a hub for new brand and product growth.
In the fiscal year 2021, the sales of baby snacks, smart-parenting products, trendy toys and other similar categories exceeded 40% YoY growth on the platform compared with the fiscal year 2020, 5,000 new mother and baby brands joined Tmall over the same period, with a new record of 243 brands exceeding RMB100 million in sales.
Independent Designer Brands Unleash Their Creativity in Appeal to Chinese Consumers
Tmall has become the go-to platform for design talent, providing all-round support for intellectual property protection, consumer insights, marketing tools and influencer access to help these creative entrepreneurs build up their brands and reach more fashion-loving consumers.
In 2020, the GMV for designer brands on Tmall increased by 180% YoY. This growth was especially pronounced for new brands: Independent fashion labels Laurence & Chico and WooHA (a sister brand of Beaster) launched their official flagship stores on Tmall for less than a year and has already exceeded RMB50 million in GMV. Meanwhile, womenswear brand Zhizhi, which launched on Tmall in 2018, achieved more than RMB90 million in GMV in 2020.
A lot of this rapid growth has been fueled by livestreams and key opinion leaders (KOLs). On April 10, during Shanghai Fashion Week, Tmall and popular KOL Li Jiaqi, also known as Austin Li, launched a dedicated livestream to spotlight new designer brands, such as Yvmin, Ziiiciien, Mukzin and Lost In Echo. The broadcast was viewed 10 million times in one day.
Customers Get Home Décor Inspiration via 3D Shopping Technology
Home décor has become a popular way for people to uplift their spirits following the pandemic. On March 25, Tmall launched its annual week-long Home Improvement Shopping Festival, which saw a 159% GMV increase compared to the same period in 2020. Among the hottest-selling products, sales for electronic door locks increased 103% YoY while electronic curtains and walk-in closets saw a 300% and 691% YoY increase, respectively. Smart-home products and items focused on clean, healthy living were also immensely popular, with smart toilets, video doorbells and latex mattresses all exceeding 100% YoY sales growth.
Following the Home Improvement Shopping Festival, Tmall on April 8 launched a 3D furniture and home décor showroom that aims to make 3D shopping more accessible and integrated into the everyday consumer experience. Through the app, consumers can enter into an immersive virtual world where they can enjoy a 360-degree shopping experience with realistic renderings of products and technology that allows them to mix and match their favorite household items.
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