In the somewhat dull makeup environment, Dewu (Chinese version of POIZON) has handed in a rather outstanding answer sheet.
“It’s not going up,” is the general sentiment towards the cosmetics market this year. According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of cosmetics from January to August this year amounted to 273 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5%. Monthly retail sales have been declining for three consecutive months, indicating a soft market.
Moreover, hidden behind the cold data are the increasingly saturated channels and the unpredictable marketing methods that cosmetics brands and merchants face, leading to a sense of confusion and powerlessness, with an urgent need to find new marketing channels and methods. Dewu is becoming the “new continent” that cosmetics brands and merchants dream of.
Recently, the latest data obtained by CHAILEEDO shows that in the past year, on the Dewu platform, the GMV of cosmetics brands has increased by 154% year-on-year, new merchants’ growth has increased by 161%, and billion-level merchants have seen a 100% annual increase. This can be described as a phenomenal growth performance, which is rare in the current cosmetics market facing widespread growth challenges.
So, what is the “key” for cosmetics merchants to achieve growth on Dewu?
The cosmetics and personal care brand GMV increased by 154%, a “Dewu Speed” that leaves others far behind.
Cosmetics have been one of the fastest-growing categories on the Dewu platform in recent years. It is understood that in 2023, Dewu’s cosmetics category GMV exceeded 10 billion. Now, well into 2024, how is the development of Dewu’s cosmetics progressing?
Recently, CHAILEEDO learned that Dewu’s cosmetics have continued to grow rapidly over the past year, achieving a qualitative leap in key data such as cosmetics GMV, the number of merchants joining, and billion-level merchants.
According to Dewu, in the past year, the GMV of cosmetics and personal care brands on Dewu increased by 154% year-on-year, new merchants increased by 161% year-on-year; active merchants increased by 124% year-on-year, and billion-level merchants saw a 100% annual increase. It is evident that both cosmetics brands and merchants are experiencing explosive growth on Dewu.
The sales performance of Dewu’s cosmetics during holiday promotions is particularly impressive. For example, during the Dewu Qixi Festival, cosmetics GMV increased by 100% year-on-year, young users increased by 150% year-on-year, accounting for 60%.
At the same time, gift box GMV year-on-year growth reached 250%, with over 1400 brands seeing annual growth rates exceeding 100%: international brands such as YSL, CHANEL, SK-II grew by over 180% year-on-year; high-end brands like THE GINZA, by Kilian, Le Labo grew by over 150% year-on-year; Chinese cosmetics brands like Flower Knows, Grain Rain, and KANS also performed exceptionally well, with growth rates exceeding 200% year-on-year.
Currently, under the pressure to grow, cosmetics brands and merchants are faced with a plethora of emerging marketing methods like short videos, leading to anxiety and confusion. Dewu, like a vigorously growing tree, provides cosmetics brands and merchants with a sense of certainty.
Quietly, Dewu has become one of the most promising platforms in the current online cosmetics market. In the “2023 China Top 100 Digital Retailers List” released in February this year, only eight comprehensive e-commerce platforms, including Dewu, were selected alongside traditional e-commerce platforms like Taobao, Pinduoduo, and JD.
On the other hand, Dewu’s vast young consumer base and its deep understanding of young people have become its unique advantage in the market. Data obtained by CHAILEEDO shows that Dewu’s APP users have exceeded 300 million, with over 90% being post-90s users. Among China’s 260 million post-95s, the user penetration rate is as high as 70%, with a balanced gender ratio of 52% male and 48% female.
In the uncertain beauty market, Dewu has achieved counter-trend growth by relying on its large young consumer base, providing the market with an unexpected, more internally-driven solution.
Major cosmetics merchants are leveraging new growth opportunities, with 9 major Chinese cosmetics brands experiencing explosive growth.
According to CHAILEEDO intelligence data, the online cosmetics market reached 238.14 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year growth of 4.02%. While maintaining a certain growth rate, the momentum seems to be leveling off, leading to increasingly fierce competition among platforms. Some believe that platforms should not blindly participate in internal competition but should instead look inward, dig deep into their inherent attributes, maximize their advantages, and achieve growth goals.
In a calm and composed manner, Dewu provides an answer—sufficiently rich product offerings.
At Dewu, good products equal good traffic, meaning that each additional product creates a new entry point for traffic. By catering to the diverse needs of the platform’s young users and continuously providing products that meet their requirements, such as major cosmetics, gift boxes, and potential race categories, merchants can achieve explosive growth.
Major cosmetics are Dewu’s advantageous products, precisely reflecting the platform’s characteristic of high average spending on cosmetics. During the Qixi Festival promotion period this year, international major brands like YSL, CHANEL, SK-II, La Mer, and HR all surpassed tens of millions in GMV, with several products becoming super bestsellers on Dewu.
Gift boxes are another product category with tremendous growth potential. During the Qixi Festival promotion period this year, Chinese brands experienced a comprehensive outbreak, which was closely tied to Dewu’s precise understanding of the gifting needs of young people.
According to Dewu, after 9 Chinese brands participated in the “Major Brand Day” event during the Qixi Festival promotion, catering to users’ gifting needs for Valentine’s Day led to explosive sales growth. For example, Grain Rain launched a Snow Muscle Three-Piece Valentine’s Day gift box, with its pink limited-edition packaging precisely targeting young people’s gifting needs, allowing it to once again top the skincare track as China’s TOP1 single product.
Furthermore, many brands have tapped into the demand for “women gifting men” by introducing “men’s gift boxes,” driving rapid growth in this niche segment. For instance, Mistine, a Thai national brand that focuses on “sunscreen,” saw its sales triple during this year’s Qixi period with the launch of a new men’s gift box, becoming another major hit for the brand.
It is worth mentioning that potential race categories such as personal care, colored contact lenses, wearable armor, and essential oils also achieved impressive sales figures. Among them, men’s grooming became the fastest-growing niche segment across the entire Dewu industry.
With a sufficiently rich product offering, Dewu has given wings to its cosmetics sector, enabling brands and merchants on the platform to truly experience explosive business growth.
Wang Qing, a distributor who joined Dewu in May 2023, specializing in major perfume brands such as BVLGARI, VERSACE, and Burberry, shared with CHAILEEDO that he manages around 500 SKUs daily with just 4 staff members. By leveraging a diverse range of products, he seized opportunities in multiple product categories, earning nearly 5 million yuan in just 10 days.
“During my first month on the platform, with the overlap of the 520 Valentine’s Day and 618 promotions, relying on the explosive BVLGARI series official Pour Homme gift box, GMV exceeded 700,000 yuan with a comprehensive profit margin of 20%,” Wang Qing said.
Qian Feng, a skincare product distributor who joined Dewu in 2020, manages brands like RNW, UNNY CLUB, and auou with a team of 5 people, handling around 470 SKUs daily. By capitalizing on major promotion events, especially gifting occasions, they have achieved impressive monthly sales exceeding 20,000 units for individual products.
CHAILEEDO’s analysis of multiple cases reveals that the explosive growth of these merchants’ businesses is closely tied to Dewu’s support for new products, the platform’s promotion and gifting incentives, the alignment of products with consumer needs, and other factors.
Understanding oneself is the key to understanding the world, and the same goes for e-commerce platforms. Through deep insights into the platform’s target customer base, respect for user experience and business logic, Dewu has ultimately achieved explosive growth in the cosmetics sector, providing promising business opportunities for cosmetics merchants.
Easy management, high efficiency, and low operational costs make the beauty business healthier and more sustainable.
Faced with the ever-changing online channels, people can’t help but ask, what kind of platform truly meets the needs of beauty brands and merchants, and can genuinely drive the healthy development of the industry?
In response to this, after visiting over fifty well-known beauty companies, CHAILEEDO found that health and sustainability are frequent topics among beauty professionals when discussing the future. Clearly, facing the awkward situation of expensive traffic, platform fees, and loss-making promotions, beauty merchants hope to find a healthier development model. Their requirements for platforms extend beyond just business growth to the accumulation of brand and customer assets.
At Dewu, with easy management and high efficiency, merchants can quickly start up without additional investment, benefiting from low return rates, fast payments, and other advantages that provide a business model closer to the essence of the beauty business.
For example, unlike traditional e-commerce platforms, Dewu’s platform relies 90% on organic traffic, offers professional customer service, requires no graphic design, and supports new product traffic, significantly reducing operational and manpower costs for merchants, allowing them to focus on the core of their business.
Xiao Wei, a distributor specializing in high-end personal care brand L’Occitane, operates with just 2 people on Dewu, managing nearly 500 SKUs daily. In just six months, they achieved their goal of earning millions monthly.
A significant advantage of Dewu is its extremely low return rate. Its innovative “inspect before shipping” model and precise matching of products to customers result in a much lower beauty return rate compared to the industry average.
In addition to being more user-friendly and simple in operations, another major advantage of Dewu is its strong penetration among young people. This allows beauty brands and merchants to truly invest in the future, accumulate brand and customer assets, and achieve long-term development.
As Pan Kaijie, Senior Vice President of Operations for L’Oréal North Asia and China, once said, “In the course of history, the downfall of some classic brands often stems from the decline in influence among the younger generation of consumers, a critical point that is often overlooked in the interpretation of L’Oréal’s success story by the outside world, but is particularly crucial.”
For beauty brands and merchants, the lack of in-depth understanding of young people is precisely the missing link. As the beauty market becomes more refined, the new demands, product preferences, and consumption concepts of young people will play an increasingly crucial role. How brands continue to grasp and maintain influence among young people is key, and entering Dewu may be the most direct and effective way.
As an e-commerce platform well-versed in the lifestyles of young people, Dewu’s sustained growth demonstrates its enormous potential in the beauty industry, serving as a bridge for beauty merchants to more possibilities and becoming a definitive answer in the ever-changing beauty market.
