New Chinese Cosmetics Brands Splurge on Livestreaming to Open Up Market(Yicai Global) Nov. 10 -- Many newly established Chinese cosmetics brands, such as Binarix and Winona, are leveraging e-commerce platforms, including TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin and Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao, for most of their marketing and sales. But such channels come at a cost.
Yunnan Botanee Bio-Technology Group, which owns top skincare brand Winona, spent CNY1.3 billion (USD185 million) on sales and marketing in the first nine months, a jump of 36.8 percent from the same period last year, according to the Kunming, southwestern Yunnan province-based company's third-quarter financial report.
A new brand on the rise spends over CNY1 million (USD138,085) a month on marketing, and this figure goes up during big promotional events such as the 618 and Double 11 shopping festivals, the head of a Chinese skincare brand said.
Most of the goods being touted by live sales hosts on Douyin during this year’s Double 11 gala, which runs until the middle of the month, are young domestic brands. A make-up artist told Yicai Global that over 80 percent of her sales during the e-festival are of Chinese labels.
Binarix’s livestreamed sales on Douyin are doing particularly well during the Double 11 festival, the general manager of the Chinese cosmetics firm said. The two-year-old company had been planning to sell 60 percent of its products on Taobao and 40 percent on Douyin during the gala, but it looks like it will sell more on Beijing-based Douyin.
Binarix does most of its marketing through lifestyle services platform Xiaohongshu and Douyin and most of its sales on Alibaba’s Tmall and Douyin. While Winona is mainly available on e-retailers such as Tmall, Vipshop, and JD.com as well as an online marketplace on WeChat.
Turnover at this year’s Double 11 shopping bonanza has not been as good as in previous years. Makeup sales up to now are around 10 percent lower than last year, and that of skincare products are only between 5 percent and 10 percent higher than last year, an industry insider told Yicai Global.
Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor
