Meng Qian: Li Jiaqi cant sell beauty?

Source: China News Weekly

Author: Meng Qian

Just the past 3.8 promotion, the Chinese makeup industry is full of smoke. Each family has made the housekeeping skills, exerting its efforts in the price, trying to grasp the hearts of consumers.

In the past year, affected by macro -environment such as epidemics, insufficient consumption confidence, and the beauty industry.According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in 2022 were 439.73 billion yuan (RMB, S $ 8557.5 billion), a decrease of 0.2%over the previous year, of which cosmetics category fell by 4.5%.A negative growth.

3. 8. 8 major promotion, as the main character of women as the protagonist, is the long -awaited opportunity for the beauty industry.

However, a data circulating in the industry shows that the sales data of major brands in this promotion does not seem to be ideal. The expected recovery is not coming. Many beauty brands and even big -name performance have fallen seriously year -on -year.According to industry analysts, due to the macroeconomic influence, consumers' behavior tends to be conservative, and the beauty industry is ushered in great changes. Some high -luxury brands including Estee Lauder are in trouble.

Li Jiaqi can't sell beauty?

During the 3.8th promotion last year, Li Jiaqi, a "one brother with the goods", "alarming alarm" on the night of the pre -sale, and ushered in more than 77 million viewers.

After a year, Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room this year was "quiet".

3.8 promotion period, Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room set up eight theme live broadcasts according to different categories, and the pre -sale was also the same on that night.As in the past, there are international beauty brands and domestic sales in the live broadcast room. According to statistical data, many brands are comparable to the Double Eleven last year.Empty phenomenon.Even if there is a single product with a sales volume of over 100,000, it cannot hide the unsatisfactory overall consumption.

After the pre -sale of the night, there was almost no announcement of any sales data.An industry analyst told China News Weekly that although the data of Li Jiaqi live broadcast room this year was not public, but in the case of this year's consumption situation is not very optimistic, the final sales were not as expected.

A beauty brand person told China News Weekly that his brand has long cooperated with Li Jiaqi live broadcast room. This year's sales performance has increased slightly, and the ranking has jumped to the top of the list, but he also feels that the Li Jiaqi team is right.There are more and more requirements for prices, gifts, etc.Li Jiaqi himself bluntly stated on the night of the live broadcast that which brand is now high and which brand is selling well.

The person pointed out that the seasonal promotion such as 3.8 is a certain proportion in the annual sales of beauty brands. When the performance of various beauty brands is under pressure last year, they naturally want to be in a big big performance.Promote the performance.At present, SKUs participating in head brands are significantly more than last year. The overall discount is higher than last year, and some products are comparable to Double Eleven.

But based on the data on the Tmall Beauty Brand circulating on the Internet, the transaction amount of 3.8 verses of the Tmall beauty brand, the amount of international big -name transactions such as Estee Lauder, Lancome and Hailan has fallen to 20%to 50%year -on -year. In addition,The transaction amount of most beauty brands is declining year -on -year.According to media reports, the major promotion of sales this year has indeed declined. Sales of Estee Lauder, Hailan Mystery and other brands have fallen by 20%-35%year-on-year.

The above -mentioned analysts said that the screenshot data circulating is not necessarily accurate, but the overall sales situation is not true. The decline in major brands is relatively not as many as the screenshot, but it is also relatively large.In addition, the platform and merchants have done a lot of homework for this promotion, but the result is that it is expected to be too high -consumers have not mentioned more interest in the promotion.

According to the data of the third -party platform, during the 3.8th promotion period this year, the daily living users of the e -commerce platform have not increased greatly. The number of daily life during the 3.8th promotion period in the past 30 days is not even peak.

Zhang Yi, CEO of Ai Media Consultation, told China News Weekly that the picture that was circulated this time did show that the sales did not reach the expected results.First of all, because the epidemic is affected to a certain extent, everyone's income may fluctuate and insufficient consumption confidence. In addition, the e -commerce platform, especially the beauty category, is facing the diversion of live e -commerce such as Douyin and Kuaishou.Traditional e -commerce platforms are facing greater growth pressure.

Consumers are becoming more and more sensitive to prices

A consumer from Beijing will conduct "stocking" in the 3.8th promotion of the previous year and buy one or two sets of skin care products such as Estee Lauder, but this year she turned to a higher cost -effective Chinese goods. In her understandingAmong them, the efficacy of domestic products is not far from international brands, and the price is relatively cheaper.

This situation of seeking flatness is not a small number, and consumers are becoming more and more sensitive to prices.Many consumers compared with the duty -free and other channels after the live broadcast room of Li Jiaqi, and found that the price advantage of Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room was no longer so obvious, which also revealed that competition in the industry became increasingly fierce.

"From the 10 billion subsidy of JD.com this year, it can be seen that the competition for users between e -commerce platforms should be talked about at a fierce stage," Zhang Yi believes that it can make the e -commerce platform sacrificing profits at the expense of "low lowThe price "competition can be imagined, the urgency and intenseness behind this.

May the founder of May Beauty pointed out that the brand now focuses on e -commerce and will not bet on one platform, and under the circumstances of various types of live broadcasts, brand self -operated live broadcasts, and various promotions,Consumers are no longer sensitive.Moreover, consumers may reduce some beauty budgets when the overall consumption environment does not add.

Consumers' conservatives are also reflected in the head of head big names.According to the data of Estee Lauder's financial report, in the second quarter of fiscal year in fiscal year, net sales were US $ 4.62 billion, a year -on -year decrease of 17%; net income was 397 million US dollars, a year -on -year decrease of 64%.In fact, Estee Lauder's net sales reached 8.55 billion US dollars, a year -on -year decrease of 14%; net income was 887 million US dollars, a decrease of 50%year -on -year.In the past year, the performance of the Asia -Pacific market has continued to drag the sales of Estee Lauder. In the previous four quarters, the sales declines reached 14.78%, 23.2%, 3.91%, and 17.46%, respectively.Procter & Gamble's sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2023 were US $ 20.723 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1%. Its ultra-high-end brands and celebrities SK-II faced the decline in sales.

On the other hand, L'Oreal's sales and growth rate of L'Oreal in 2022 hit the highest record of nearly ten years. The financial report data shows that sales of about 38.26 billion euros, an increase of 18.5%compared to 2021.

May believe that the performance of Estee Lauder and Procter & Gamble is affected by a lot of epidemic, which is a manifestation of the downside of the macroeconomic. In this context, the high -end beauty business of Estee Lauder and Procter & Gamble, which are mainly high -luxury brands, are affected;L'Oreal has created the best performance in the past 10 years, which reflects the differentiation of the cosmetics industry, and also shows that the cosmetics industry is ushered in consumption downgrade.

"In 2022, especially in the fourth quarter, the domestic epidemic is more serious, consumers have a long home time, and they also wear masks when they go out. The demand for beauty products is weakened." Zhang Yi said that the entire industry said that the entire industryBoth are under pressure.

In the data circulating on the Internet, most of the performances have increased year -on -year. Most of them are domestic brand brands. It is reported that the pre -sale results of the Perlaya brand ranks first in the industry, with a year -on -year increase of more than 50%.Give a clear answer.The above analysts pointed out that in the downgrade of consumption, consumers have a certain degree of consumption awareness of domestic brands. These products are more cost -effective than foreign big names.

Promoting failure, is it useful to increase prices?

"A major online promotion of failure is that an important reason is that in the context of the epidemic, the cosmetics industry, as an optional consumer product, is seriously damaged at the consumer demand end;Improvement. After the epidemic is liberalized this year, offline consumption scenarios such as travel, tax -free and high -end shopping malls are open, which will inevitably produce some consumption and affect the online proportion.The budget may be reduced accordingly. "The above analysts believe that today, which is increasingly recovered by offline consumption, this year's 3.8 e -commerce platform is not very attractive.

In fact, online channels have become an important channel for the cosmetics industry, accounting for increasing proportion.According to Euromonitor statistics, the proportion of sales of e -commerce channels in the beauty and individual protection industry increased from 10%in 2012 to 39%in 2021. It is currently the highest proportion of single sales channels.The sales of traditional convenience stores and business overhauls that have previously accounted for high, accounting for 38%in 2012 to 19%in 2021.

When such an important channel fails, in order to boost performance, the response measure of big -name beauty is increased.Taking Estee Lauder as an example, it has been positioned as a "high -end brand" in the market for many years. It has the two top brands of the sea blue and Tom Ford. In addition, there are high -end brands such as Estee Lauder and Barbin.According to third -party data, the Estee Lauder Group has raised makeup, perfume and skin care products, including the Estee Lauder brand frozen age platinum, pouring lipstick and other series, which has increased by less than 10%, and the overall increase of the mystery of sea blue is 6%.At the same time, L'Oreal Group, LVMH Group, etc. have price increases on their beauty.

A domestic brand staff told China News Weekly that the price system of its own brand has been relatively strict, and there is basically no price. At most, consumers will travel.On the issue of price increases, the products have been upgraded to fourth -generation products. Only when the second generation was upgraded to the third generation, it rose 100 yuan, and there was basically no price increase.He pointed out that price increases require effective support and investment in scientific research.

Zhuang Shuai, the founder of Bailian Consulting, pointed out that the price strategy is the core strategy of the retail e -commerce industry, and it is also the core driving force for the long -term development and progress of the industry.Property strategies will also continue for a long time, but with the changes in consumer habits, the promotion form and selection need to be more diverse and accurate.Price and marketing strategies are changing.

The price increase will increase the profit margin in the short term, but in the long run, May believes that it will overdraw the brand power.

Zhang Yi said that well -known brands such as Estee Lauder and Shiseido are actually greatly adjusted by Chinese local brands. The main channels for local brands are e -commerce channels. Whether it is live broadcast or grass, it is transmitted by social media.The method is closer to consumers. In addition to the price increase, big -name beauty should also pull closer and the distance between users on marketing channels.He emphasized that "in the fierce market competition in China, it is not necessarily a good way to raise prices for profits. In the end, you still have to find a play to adapt to this market."