Wang Jixing

China Information Center of Daily Chemical Industry,China

Tmall Taobao is currently optimizing its overseas strategy.The E-commerce giant claims that it will help 100,000 new merchants of national goods to go to the international market rapidly.This can make possible one-off launch for the merchants.With the strategic support of e-commerce platforms,it is obvious that the “international market fever”is burning greater.When it comes to the cosmetics industry,makeups made in China have not been a new topic.However,statistics shows that,in the past two years,Chinese brands have ushered in a concentrated outbreak overseas.So,compared to the past,what are the changes in the brands’ strategy overseas? What is making the difference in the competition of going abroad?

Against the ongoing epidemic since 2020,China has become the most important market for many international beauty companies to drive revenue growth,and many beauty brands have flocked to China,all trying to occupy a place.At the same time,with the contemporary consumer consciousness awakening,domestic beauty brands tide is surging,and new brands are emerging.Domestic brands are no longer “the cheap substitutes for big brands”,but have a unique style of their own.These brands have grown a lot in product power,marketing power and other dimensions.

The rapid increase in cross-border e-commerce triggered by the COVID-19 epidemic has made countless brands with successful operations begin to turn their eyes to the international market.Statistics shows that in the first quarter of 2021,sales made via Tmall Taobao overseas platform grew by 40%year-on-year,and over 400,000 merchants doubled their sales.Going abroad has become the choice of countless brands looking for new incremental growth.The author conducted preliminary statistics on nearly 20 makeup and skincare brands exploring overseas markets,and found that these concentrated brands going abroad have obvious differences in the choice of regions and channels from the past.

It is shown that in 2008,Herborist entered France with the help of Sephora;In 2018,Chcedo cooperated with Alibaba to promote in 6 countries,including Sydney,Melbourne and Singapore;In the same year,Marie Dalgar was stationed at Sephora in Singapore,marking its first step to go abroad.This is the rhythm and choice of traditional brands that went to the international market in the past ......However,if you take a look at the beauty brands that went overseas in the past 2 years,you will notice a lot of changes.Regrading the channel,most of the brands going into the international market in the past 2 years are incubated in the e-commerce environment.These brands are more comfortable with online operations.Therefore,cross-border and overseas e-commerce have replaced Sephora and offline stores,becoming the first choice for brands going abroad.Regarding product power,the gap between Chinese cosmetics and international brands in terms of R&D and production strength is getting smaller and smaller,providing strong support for brands to go overseas.From a regional perspective,most brands have set Southeast Asia and Japan as their primary positions.Due to the geographical environment,domestic brands’ product development orientation and packaging design are more in line with consumer preferences in the Southeast Asian market,so most domestic beauty brands choose Southeast Asia,where the culture and geography are similar,as their first stop to go abroad.For example,Perfect Diary launched its overseas official website in April 2020,with the Southeast Asian market as its debut station overseas;In March 2021,Florasis officially landed on Amazon Japan,which was the first time the brand was stationed on an overseas e-commerce platform.In addition,the CEO of Hundred Plant Essence has said that Biophyto-genesis’ plan to go overseas to Southeast Asia has been prepared since the second half of 2020,and the company has also invited local celebrities and related people to have an in-depth experience about the product.

For those classic brands,breakthrough triggered by product and brand power has become the first choice.For example,DR.Plant ushered its products to Japan in 2018.The brand founder and chairman said that insisting on research and development is the original intention of Plant Doctor for them to land on Japan and the foundation of its ability to stand firm in overseas markets.Obviously,in the past 2 years,the brand has been more cautious and rational in selecting channels and regions,and has done sufficient “homework” before stepping the first step.

Mature marketing and promoting logic

Herborist entered France in 2008 and was the first Chinese cosmetic brand to step out of the country.The president of the company said,“In terms of marketing methods,compared to the big international brands that fight locally,Herborist is still a primary student.” At present,the Chinese cosmetics market is a cluster,and the marketing methods and promotion logic of domestic brands have become very mature and diversified,which has become the advantage of brands going abroad.

Statistics shows that the scale of Chinese companies’ overseas digital marketing spending increased from 23.6 billion yuan in 2015 to 119.9 billion yuan in 2020,with a compound annual growth rate of 38.5%,and is expected to reach 329 billion yuan in 2025.The high growth of overseas digital marketing expenses can also show the change in the layout in the overseas market.

In the past two years,most Chinese beauty brands go abroad by advertising in social media,shake overseas platform TIKTOK,cooperation with celebrities,fashion magazines,KOL,KOC,etc.,and supplemented by offline ground advertising laying to open the brand voice and product seeding,and then depend on the online e-commerce platform,offline stores to harvest.Taking Perfect Diary as an example,the brand first established overseas websites to connect with overseas consumers;In October 2020,Perfect Diary signed overseas singer Troye Sivan as its brand ambassador to further expand its brand influence overseas;in addition,the parent company of Perfect Diary also acquired Avène’s parent company sister brand Galénic and high-end skin care brand Eve Lom by laying out the global market with a high-end route.

In the era of big data and content as the foundation of brand marketing,the brands’ mature operation system in China,as well as their mature play in various channels of social media and e-commerce,are already comfortable to cope with some overseas markets.“After experiencing such fierce competition in China,and then deliver the brand and products to the Japanese and Southeast Asian markets,it is very new to consumers.”A person in charge of a brand going abroad said.

By stressing the results,most of the outbound brands have obtained more.It is reported that as of January 2021,DR.Plant completed the layout of 20 franchise stores in Japan;CATKIN has now achieved a coverage volume of 20 countries and regions in the overseas market,with more than 2,000 outlets;and FlowerKnows has been stationed in more than 300 offline stores after entering the Japanese market,and at the end of March,it completed nearly 100 million yuan of Series A financing,with a valuation of more than 1 billion yuan.

Cultural confidence helps a lot

In addition,as China’s comprehensive national power increases,Chinese culture is also better brought to the world.In this background,the rising Chinese culture also reduces the difficulty for Chinese brands to go abroad to a certain extent.For brands,with Chinese culture as the core of the “national trend”,they are more prepared in the international competition.For example,the popularity of “Chinese makeup” in Japan has provided an opportunity for many brands to land on the market.Florasis,CATKIN,FOCALLURE,Girlcult and other brands featuring national style,girl national style are aimed at this bonus,successfully landed on the Japanese market.From the market side,since the COVID-19 epidemic,some overseas regions have spent nearly a year of “winter” time,but the masses of basic consumer demand has not weakened.China,which was the first to escape from the epidemic,became the center of the world’s factories during this time.The“Made in China” and “Created in China” have gone global,also strengthening the cultural self-confidence of national products going abroad.In China,it is not only national products that are on the rise,but more objectively,it is Chinese beauty that is on the rise.In the cosmetics field,more and more Chinese brands are emerging,and they are bound to produce worldclass brands in world-class markets.This is what one industry insider said.Going abroad has also become an important part of the transformation of Chinese brands into world-class brands.

Obviously,compared to the past,in the past 2 years,many brands are more prepared and experienced in marketing methods and channel selection that can help them go global.If the Era 1.0 for Chinese beauty brands to go global features cautious exploration,the Era 2.0 remarks ration,power and confidence.