Yang Xu

China Information Center of Daily Chemical Industry,China

In the year of great changes in 2020,thanks to the rapid development of global online purchasing habits and the first recovery of China’s supply chain,domestic products had ushered in a new wave to enter overseas markets.Meanwhile,it has been shown from the data that the world cosmetics market is expected to reach USD 487.1 billion in 2021.More and more domestic beauty makeups are eying overseas markets,and 2021 will be a key year for brands to enter overseas markets.

New and vigorous brands have entered one after another

At present,as more and more new domestic products enter the market,domestic products are exploring overseas development in different ways.In this regard,the relevant person in charge of INOHERB commented,“with the acceleration of the development process in the Internet era,more new and vigorous brands,starting with the Internet enterprise model,taking big data and content as the brand foundation and creating brands with consumers as the starting point,no longer limit the market,which is one of the reasons why new and vigorous brands are more keen and easy to enter overseas markets.”

Many domestic brands wishing to enter overseas markets have chosen Tmall.During the Double 11 shopping carnival of Tmall in 2020,Florasis focusing on the concept of “Oriental Makeup” occupied the top spot in the overseas sales of domestic beauty makeups.

According to Tmall’s overseas data,consumers from more than 100 countries and regions bought Florasis products during the period of Double 11 shopping carnival,among which the turnover of Miao Impression series makeup exceeded one million on November 1st.At the same time,according to Tmall’s overseas data,Perfect Diary had the second largest turnover of Tmall’s domestic beauty makeups sold overseas,which was welcomed by consumers in Malaysia,Australia,South Korea and Vietnam.As one of the most important sales channels for Perfect Diary,Tmall is an important platform for it to enter overseas markets.

In addition,YATSEN,the parent company of Perfect Diary,will set up its own platform when laying out overseas markets.In April 2020,Perfect Diary launched the overseas official website,which is available in Chinese,English,Japanese,Russian and Thai,supporting payment in USD,SGD,MYR,THB and HKD.

Another makeup brand,Colorkey,has settled in Shopee-the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia.At present,the official store of Colorkey has many fans.

Recently,according to the NHK News,the new and vigorous domestic makeup brands represented by focallure and Girlcult have also landed in the Japanese market.Japanese cosmetics retailer-Lifestyle Company has become the general agent of these brands in Japan,responsible for the operation and sale of the brands in Japan.

COSME DELI,a Chinese cosmetics e-commerce platform launched by Lifestyle Company and facing Japan,was officially launched recently.At present,there are six Chinese beauty makeup brands in official website,such as Focallure,ukiss,Girlcult,Fomomy,CARSLAN and ZEESEA,where members can enjoy a 10% discount when purchasing all products.

MoldBreaking,which provides cross-border D2C integrated services,said in an interview with JUMEILI earlier,In fact,entering overseas markets is a very big hurdle,which looks glamorous on the surface,but most brands die from the differences in culture and habits between the two markets,while others force to move the Chinese routine there.As the local makeup market is a bit saturated in China,entering overseas markets is an inevitable trend.At the same time,differentiated products will be loved by overseas young characteristic consumers.

Traditional domestic brands have a long history in entering overseas markets

In fact,the history of domestic cosmetics entering overseas markets can be traced back to a long time ago.The first Chinese cosmetics brand to go abroad is Xie Fuchun from Yangzhou.This timehonored Chinese brand,founded in 1830,won the International Silver Medal and Certificate at the 1915 Panama World Expo.

More recently,it was the Kwong Sang Hong,a beauty company founded by entrepreneur Fung Fook Tien in Hong Kong in 1898.In 1915,Shuangmei“Radiance Restorative Cream” produced by Kwong Sang Hong won the gold medal at the Panama World Expo in San Francisco.Eighty years later,Shanghai Jahwa launched HERBORIST in 1998 and successfully landed in the French market.

In recent years,more domestic brands have entered overseas markets.In 2017,LV Yixiong announced his resignation as CEO of CHICMAX(China)and his transfer to CEO of CHICMAX(China),responsible for the overseas market of CHICMAX Group.Lv Yixiong said that the global development strategy of CHICMAX would radiate to the world with the four regions of China,Japan and South Korea,Britain and France,and the United States.In 2018,JALA reached a strategic agreement with Tmall to enter overseas markets,and made a trial sale in Sydney and Melbourne.Since then,JALA has entered more than 10 countries including Germany,Singapore and Malaysia.

In 2017,Marie Dalgar took the lead in entering Sephora and reached exclusively cooperation in COLOR STUDIO series.At the end of 2018,Marie Dalgar entered eight countries including Thailand,Malaysia and Singapore through the channel of Sephora.

There are more and more domestic makeup brands cooperating with Sephora.In June 2020,Shanghai local skin care brand INOHERB launched a high-end line “INOHERB·Tang”,which was exclusively sold in Sephora nationwide.In September,the beauty makeup brand MAOGEPING also announced its cooperation with Sephora to launch the exclusive brand MAOGEPING?LIGHT.

INOHERB said,“the entry of ‘INOHERB Tang’ into Sephora might be a beginning,which inherits the open and pluralistic cultural tradition of Tang Dynasty,and Sephora was originally a channel carrying multiculturalism.Through the cooperation between the two sides,INOHERB hoped to take advantage of the overseas channels of Sephora to settle in overseas markets in the future,so as to promote Chinese culture and contribute to enhancing the influence of national enterprises.”

On March 11,2019,Tmall 50 million-level beauty brands,including UNIFON,Mask Family,One Leaf and INOHERB,joined hands to settle in AliExpress-Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform,which also marked a new chapter for Chinese cosmetics brands to enter overseas markets.

As domestic cosmetics settled in duty-free shops in 2020,Chinese cosmetics brands are accelerating their entry into the international mainstream retail market.For example,HERBORIST and others have entered duty-free shops at airports such as Shanghai Pudong Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport,and JALA’s CHANDO brand has entered duty-free shops at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal.

Industry insiders said,“duty-free shops have always been a stage for internationally renowned cosmetics brands to compete,where there is almost no domestic cosmetics brands.The entry of domestic cosmetics brands such as CHANDO and HERBORIST,on the one hand,is the embodiment of national brands going overseas and blooming brilliantly,on the other hand,it also shows that the comprehensive strength of domestic brands is improving.”

In addition,in recent years,UNIASIA,OUSIA,CHICMAX and other enterprises have entered the international market through acquisition and creation of overseas brands.

Through a variety of ways to enter overseas markets,such as establishing cooperation with international distribution companies,selling through channels entering foreign markets,establishing branches abroad and acquiring foreign brands,with the unremitting efforts,more and more local brands have been recognized internationally.

The way to enter overseas markets is a long-term and arduous task

In recent years,as Chinese cosmetics enterprises enter overseas markets one after another,the export volume and amount of cosmetics have continued to grow.According to the data of China Business Industry Research Institute,the export volume of beauty cosmetics and toiletries in China in 2020 was 999,000 tons,with a year-on-year increase of 4.3%;In terms of amount,the export value of beauty cosmetics and toiletries in 2020 was USD 4,243.92 million,with a year-on-year decrease of 11.2%.

In 2020,hit by the epidemic,the quantity of beauty cosmetics and toiletries in China still kept a slow upward trend,but the export value dropped sharply.The export of beauty cosmetics and toiletries in China in 2020 was not optimistic.

Indeed,there are hidden worries behind the aura of domestic products entering overseas markets,such as trade barriers and technical barriers,and how to do a good job in product research and differentiated positioning in the international market are all challenges.There are also some cosmetics entering overseas markets,which use entering overseas markets as a means of gold plating,but in fact they have not really reached international users and established brand influence.

The relevant person in charge of INOHERB said,“Chinese brands must pay attention to ‘a(chǎn)cclimatization’when entering overseas markets,since there are great differences between domestic and foreign cosmetics markets.How to balance the needs of overseas markets,the original intention of brands entering overseas markets and the information they want to output need to be extremely carefully balanced.”

Comparatively speaking,the way of Chinese cosmetics to enter overseas markets is still a longterm and arduous task.Chinese beauty makeup brands must focus on technology and service,build brand image,expand overseas markets,enhance the brand voice of domestic beauty makeup brands overseas,and establish brand influence.

As introduced by the industry insiders,it is the general trend for domestic products to enter overseas markets.With the strong national strength and scientific and technological progress,national domestic brands will certainly establish a complete set of ‘Chinese brands’ matrix overseas in the future.