As this year’s 38 Shopping Festival kicks off, Botanee Group welcomes a post-85 beauty e-commerce expert to its team.
Recently, CHAILEEDO learned that Chinese leading cosmetics company Botanee Group has appointed Wu Xiaojing as the company’s Deputy General Manager. Wu, 38, has previously worked at several beauty-related companies, including L’Oréal, Shanghai Jahwa, and Taotong Technology, where she held roles such as E-commerce Director and General Manager of E-commerce.
Notably, on December 31 last year, Xu Zhihua, Botanee Group’s Deputy General Manager in charge of the online business division, resigned for personal reasons. Wu Xiaojing, with her extensive online experience, is expected to fill the vacancy left by Xu’s departure.
Wu Xiaojing Worked at L’Oréal for Nearly Seven Years, Bringing Extensive E-commerce Experience
According to Botanee Group’s recently released Resolution Announcement of the 17th Meeting of the Second Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as the Announcement), on February 28, 2025, after review, the company’s board of directors approved the appointment of Wu Xiaojing as Deputy General Manager. Her term will last from the date of board approval until the end of the second board’s tenure. The board’s nomination committee reviewed Wu’s qualifications and confirmed that she meets the requirements stipulated by the Company Law and Articles of Association, with a unanimous vote of 9 in favor.
As stated in the Announcement, Wu Xiaojing was born in September 1986 and began her career at L’Oréal. From July 2008 to June 2015, she served as the E-commerce Director at L’Oréal (China) Co., Ltd., meaning she joined L’Oréal at the age of 22 and worked there for nearly seven years.
Notably, according to Botanee Group’s 2023 annual report, the youngest executive in the company at the time was Deputy General Manager Wang Feifei, who is 40 years old. This makes Wu Xiaojing the youngest senior executive at Botanee Group.
Public reports indicate that during her tenure at L’Oréal, Wu also held roles such as National Channel Marketing Manager for L’Oréal Paris and E-commerce Director of L’Oréal Group’s Mass Cosmetics Division, all of which were related to distribution channels. CHAILEEDO notes that L’Oréal was both the starting point of Wu’s career and remains the company where she has worked the longest.
After leaving L’Oréal, Wu served as General Manager of Shanghai Sishe Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Sishe) from July 2015 to January 2018. Founded in July 2015, Shanghai Sishe developed the online beauty app, which aimed to help women with makeup-related issues.
From February 2018 to September 2021, Wu held several key positions, including E-commerce General Manager at Shanghai CHICMAX Cosmetics Co., Ltd., Vice President and COO at Guangzhou Taotong Technology Co., Ltd., and General Manager of Cross-border E-commerce and Online Business at Bellamy’s Food Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Bellamy’s).
Before joining Botanee Group, Wu served as COO of Shanghai Weiliang E-commerce Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Weiliang) from October 2021 to February 2025. Public records show that Shanghai Weiliang is an e-commerce service provider specializing in online distribution for beauty and personal care brands. Its partner brands include The History of Whoo, Laneige, Sulwhasoo, Avène, LG, and others, in addition to operating its own skincare brand.
It is evident that “beauty” and “e-commerce” have been the defining themes of Wu Xiaojing’s 17-year career. Her appointment at Botanee Group will undoubtedly leverage her extensive experience in online channels.
In December last year, Botanee Group’s Deputy General Manager Xu Zhihua resigned for personal reasons. His original term was set to end with the second board of directors on May 8, 2025. Xu joined Botanee Group in October 2023 as an Assistant to the President of Marketing before being promoted to Deputy General Manager.
Regarding Botanee Group’s executive role assignments, an investor relations report from April 2024 stated that Xu Zhihua was responsible for the online business unit, while the offline business was led by Bian Shenghui, and Zhang Mei oversaw the central platform, which included M&A activities such as the acquisition of Yuejiang. Xu’s departure created a vacancy in the online business leadership, and Wu Xiaojing’s appointment is expected to fill this gap.
Channel Strategy Behind Botanee Group’s Billion-Dollar Ambition
“I’ve set a top of 15 billion yuan for Winona.” Botanee Group’s founder, Guo Zhenyu, has repeatedly expressed his vision for the brand’s long-term growth.
However, due to the decline of online traffic dividends and the cooling macroeconomic consumer environment, achieving this goal remains a significant challenge for Botanee Group.
According to financial reports, in the first three quarters of 2024, Botanee Group achieved revenue of 4.018 billion yuan, marking a 17.09% year-on-year increase. However, net profit attributable to shareholders—excluding non-recurring gains and losses—declined by 32.81% to 341 million yuan. This drop was primarily due to the company’s dynamic adjustments to promotional strategies and product (brand) sales structures in response to market demand, leading to a slight decrease in gross profit margin.
CHAILEEDO data further shows that in 2024, Winona’s GMV on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms reached 2.805 billion yuan, with total product sales of 21.96 million units.
Botanee Group has consistently emphasized an omnichannel strategy, leveraging offline channels as a foundation while prioritizing online platforms. Through its deep private domain operations under the Open Market Operations (OMO) model, the company has successfully integrated online and offline sales channels.
Historically, Botanee Group has generated 70–80% of its revenue from online channels, with Alibaba platforms playing a dominant role. In the first half of 2024 alone, Alibaba channels accounted for 30.78% of the company’s main business revenue. In comparison, despite a 43.3% year-on-year increase, Douyin (TikTok China) contributed only 13.6%—less than half of Alibaba’s share.
CHAILEEDO has observed that Botanee Group has been increasing its investment in Douyin over the past year. On the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s investor Q&A platform last year, Botanee Group’s board secretary publicly stated that the company had strengthened its marketing efforts on Douyin in 2024, collaborating with multiple influencers and implementing various promotional strategies that positively impacted sales growth.
Botanee Group emphasized its focus on Douyin operations, noting that during Douyin’s Super Brand Day in September last year, Winona achieved a total GMV of over 48.7 million yuan, marking a 178% year-on-year growth, with total exposure exceeding 300 million views. Additionally, in July, August, and September, Winona explored an innovative variety show live-streaming + CEO-led sales model through its collaboration with Douyin See Music Project: Happy Music Festival.
According to third-party data, during the 2024 Double 11 shopping festival, Winona made a breakthrough on Douyin, ranking among the platform’s Top 9 beauty brands by sales. The brand also performed well across multiple e-commerce platforms, ranking Top 9 in Tmall’s beauty category, Top 2 in JD.com’s domestic beauty category, and Top 5 in Vipshop’s beauty and skincare category.
At the core of Botanee Group’s channel strategy is its expansion from the sensitive skin market to Sensitive Skin PLUS, with a strong foundation in medical channels. The company has gradually expanded offline, while its online strategy has evolved from simply selling products to offering holistic skincare solutions for problem-prone skin.
In 2025, offline expansion and global expansion are expected to be key themes for Botanee Group. Historically, the company has been conservative with offline expansion. However, this year, Botanee Group has integrated its hospital-end and OTC business units into a Medical Division, focusing on three key channels: in-hospital, out-of-hospital, and HuiFu (smart skincare services). This division aims to provide consumers with a one-stop dermatological care solution.
Additionally, in the first half of last year, Botanee Group established its Southeast Asia headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, marking a critical step in its global expansion. Winona products have already launched in the Thai market. The company plans to develop two key offline channels: KA beauty retail chains and local medical aesthetic clinics. Simultaneously, it will establish a presence on major local e-commerce platforms. Notably, Winona has already entered over 40 stores of Beautrium, Thailand’s largest local beauty retail chain.
“Botanee Group must always operate as if it’s Day One of a startup,” Guo Zhenyu once stated.
With Wu Xiaojing now on board, the question remains: Can Botanee Group not only build a second growth curve but also find new momentum in its channel strategy to empower its dermatological vision? The industry will be watching closely.
