Let me guess if you've experienced the following things
You want to get a new phone, but you haven't thought about the brand and model, and then open JD.com and start browsing to see if there are any products that make your eyes shine;
Recently, cycling has been very popular, and you also want to try it, but it is a bit expensive to buy a new car, so I opened Xianyu to see if there is a suitable second-hand car to pick up the leaks;
To prepare the soft decoration of the new house at home, it is necessary to purchase a lot of furniture, and it is too troublesome to buy one by one, and you also have to consider the problem of collocation. Forget it, why don't you go to Red Star Macalline to take a look, maybe it will be solved directly.
And when you do this, have you ever thought about these questions:
Now the official websites of many electronic products are doing very well, but why are many people still willing to place orders on JD.com?
When Xianyu did not appear, was it very inconvenient for people to trade second-hand goods?
How can there be a shopping mall like Red Star Macalline that allows people to buy all their furniture in one stop?
Maybe you didn't think about it that way at all, because of youSubconsciously, the value of these platforms has been recognizedand unconsciously begin to accept a concept:Category owner
Successful category owners can reduce the mismatch between supply and demand
Category ownerWhat is a Category Master?
Here's an example. Generally speaking, we buy a specific product in our daily life. But many times, when we want to buy this product, the first thing that comes to mind is not the product or the brand itself, but the platform where the product is sold. For example, as mentioned above, I want to buy a mobile phone, and many people's first reaction is not to say that I want to buy Huawei, Xiaomi, and oppo, but to open JD.com, find the category of mobile phones in the product list, and then compare them, and find a mobile phone that meets their needs to place an order.
Like JD.com,A platform that aggregates one or more products, and then helps these products and corresponding brands sell through their own traffic guidance, is called a category owner
So, why is there a category owner?
Because there are more and more goods in this world, and the needs of consumers are becoming more and more diverse, many times, supply and demand cannot be accurately matched. WhileThe emergence of category owners has largely bridged this mismatch between supply and demand
For example, if you think about it, before there was no second-hand trading platform like Xianyu, how could you trade the old mobile phones and computers that you don't use? How do you buy second-hand products that no one else needs, but you really want to buy?
Are you asking for help in the post bar? Or do you ask friends and relatives to help you inquire? Found no,It's really cumbersome and inefficient
The appearance of Xianyu solves this problem very well. You can easily browse the second-hand items you are interested in on it, and you can easily compare prices; Something you don't use yourself can also be hung up, and the pricing of similar or identical products can also give you a reference. Under the protection of the platform, sellers and buyers can trade with peace of mind.
Matching products and users as much as possible is the value of category owners.
For merchants, a category that suits their own products can greatly improve operational efficiency.
Or take JD as an example, JD's years of operation and capital investment have made 3C digital products including mobile phones and computers become the dominant category of the platform, and the logistics speed is fast and ensuring** is the consistent perception of many consumers on JD digital products. This kind of brand endorsement and shaping of consumer perception is where JD.com's value lies. Then, even if the product strength and official website construction are as strong as Apple and Huawei, they will choose to cooperate with JD.com to broaden their sales channels.
For users, a suitable category master platform will enhance the happiness of consumption.
Take Sam's Club, which has been in the limelight in China in the past two years, for example, most of the product categories in it can actually be found in Walmart supermarkets that are "the same mother" as it. However, compared with Wal-Mart, Sam's Club products generally have some characteristics: large packaging, high total price but acceptable units, and few or only one optional brand for each category.
The reason why it has such a selection logic is that it is very clear about its core target users: customers who consume more food, have requirements for quality of life, and want to quickly buy good quality products in a certain category rather than repeated comparisons.
When the right user encounters the right product, how can the user be dissatisfied?
A successful category owner is a traffic owner with a unique identity
Sounds like a category owner is good business. So, can anyone do it?
Apparently not.
What are the core characteristics of a successful category owner? It is to be able to distribute traffic. It is able to rely on its own brand effect to attract traffic and distribute it to the various products and brands it aggregates. For example, as mentioned above, JD can attract users through its own brand effect, obtain user traffic, and then transmit traffic to a certain brand and a certain product on the platform.
In other words,The category owner is also a brand, but it is not **itself, but **traffic.
So, why can category owners drive traffic? Traffic is essentially an end result, and the reason why you get traffic is because of thisCategory owners have a unique label that allows it to reach their target audience and address their real needs.
Take Red Star Macalline as an example, it solves a real need of many consumers: how should I choose to buy furniture for new house decoration? What are the differences between different brands and products in the same category? How to match products in different categories?
In order to answer these questions, Red Star Macalline came into being, which is to bring together many furniture categories and corresponding brands, such as Mercury Home Textiles' bedding, Quanyou Home Sofa Mattress, etc., so as to make an aggregate of furniture categories.
After that, these category aggregators can try to set their own labels, so that the category is strongly associated with them, and then implant the concept deeply in the user's mind.
For example, many users' understanding of Red Star Macalline is a platform that can help users solve their furniture needs in one stop. Because of this, when many users think of the category of home furnishing, the first thing that jumps into their minds is not the specific furniture brands such as Mercury Home Textiles, Quanyou Home Furnishing, and Si Kexin, but Red Star Macalline, which makes all categories of furniture.
At this time, the category aggregate will become the category owner, and it will have the right to represent the category, and become the traffic owner with a unique identity, and it will be able to distribute the traffic of this category. The relevant brands of this category will also actively or passively gather under the banner of the category owner, and use the traffic of the category owner to broaden their channels to reach users.
On the contrary,If the category aggregator doesn't have its own label and doesn't make users think of the category aggregator before the product, then it can't be a successful category owner.
For example, the TV series "Flowers", which was recently broadcast on Tencent**. Think about it carefully, did you go to watch "Flowers" because of Tencent**? Not. On the contrary, it is because "Flowers" is broadcast exclusively on Tencent** that you are willing to buy Tencent** members**. If one day Youku, iQiyi or other *** TV series with the same hit, I believe that it will be difficult for you to continue to pay for Tencent** members.
Successful category owners are always one step ahead in the game of coopetition
Speaking of which, have you noticed a problem?The category owner and the brands it aggregates are largely in a competitive relationship. They are interdependent and cooperative, but there is also potential competition.
How to understand this relationship?
In most cases, the category owner and the brands it aggregates are in a partnership. This is easy to understand, the category owner brings traffic to the brand, and in the process, the category owner will get paid from the brand in the form of admission fees, advertising fees, commissions, rents, etc.; In exchange, the brand gets the qualification to aggregate under the category owner, obtains the traffic entrance and the traffic distributed to it by the category owner, so that more users can reach themselves, which can be converted into attention and even sales.
Because of this,Most of the time, the category owner and the brand are still in a happy and harmonious manner
But there will be exceptions. What are category owners most afraid of? I am most afraid that after the brand grows bigger, I will bypass myself and stand on my own; As for the brand, it will be afraid that the category owner will sit on the ground or squeeze itself after it becomes bigger.
Regarding the former, we can imagine such a scenario:
You love buying nuts from Tmall, there are many brands for you to choose from. Originally, you don't have any brand preference, and every time you click in from Tmall, you will basically choose a brand randomly for different reasons such as packaging, discounts, etc. But from a certain day, you will gradually start to choose brand A, because their products are very suitable for your needs and are obviously different from other brands.
Later, more and more people are doing this, and brand A is becoming more and more famous, if you are the brand side, will you think at this time: continue to stay in Tmall, I still have to pay all kinds of fees, or I will go out to build an independent station or official website, bypassing Tmall, then the money I make is not all my own?
If there are more and more brands doing this, can Tmall not panic?
Regarding the latter, there is also a classic case: the 2004 "Gree Guomei breakup" incident.
Many young people may not know that in 2004, Gome was a well-deserved leader in the domestic home appliance chain retail industry, and many home appliance brands rushed to cooperate with it, including the current "air conditioning brother" Gree, and Gree at that time was not as influential as it is today. In February 2004, several stores of Chengdu Gome privately reduced the price of two best-selling Gree air conditioners, Gree believed that this seriously damaged its own first-class system and brand image, and finally decided to stop supplying to Gome after negotiations were fruitless.
From the perspective of the category owner, both of the above situations point to an experience:Only by making yourself more irreplaceable, making your label unique and unique enough in the minds of users, so that users can always think of themselves before the brand, can you get the initiative in this competition game with the brand. The traffic of the category owner can also have enough value.
Successful category owners can be very versatile or vertical
By now, you know the advantages of a category owner and what it takes to be a successful category owner. But have you ever found thatThere seems to be some difference between the category owner and the category owner?
I'm not referring to the category differences they contain, but the path they choose.
For example, most people are now very accustomed to online shopping, generally speaking, the vast majority of our daily life consumption needs can be met on **Tmall, Jingdong, and Pinduoduo. But on the contrary, there are a small number of niche and very segmented needs, and these platforms cannot meet you.
For example, if you want to buy a bottle of Chanel limited edition perfume that has been discontinued, it will be really difficult for you to buy it on a general shopping platform. At this time, when you go to Xianyu and get things, you will often have surprises.
For example, if you want to learn about the early entrepreneurial history of the Internet in China, some books on the subject have long been out of print. What to do? Instead of struggling to find it on Dangdang and Jingdong, it is better to squat directly on catching more fish.
The above real needs actually reflect the two types of category owners that users will encounter in their daily lives:
One is like Tmall**, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Walmart, etc., which are insideIt includes a wide range of products, which can solve most of the consumption needs in your daily life. Such a category owner, we can be calledAll categories are the main ones
There is also a category of category owners, which are not so large and complete, butFocus on addressing the needs of certain niches。For example, you can trade products that are non-standardized and difficult to be priced uniformly, including limited edition sneakers, out-of-print books, and so on. Another example is Xianyu, where you can trade all kinds of second-hand products, including digital products, books, clothing, daily necessities, and so on. Such a category owner, we can be calledSubdivide the category master
The main of all categories, winsThere are many categories and large traffic。However, it is difficult to build and expensive to maintain.
The subdivision of the category is the winnerFocused, verticalto focus on meeting those niche, specific needs. That's what it's aiming atAll categories are not covered by the owner
In recent years, many previously slightly niche sub-category owners have gradually become known, such as:
More and more people are accustomed to buying and selling all kinds of second-hand products on Xianyu, buying and selling used books on catching fish, buying and selling limited edition sneakers on Dewu, and learning about the company they want to join on the pulse. Even if you want to buy some cheap food that is about to expire, you can also visit one of the expiring food stores.
Buying and selling second-hand products, buying and selling various limited edition products, asking for insider information about the company you joined, buying discounted food ......Didn't these needs exist before?
Definitely not, but it's going to be a little more laborious because there's no one to focus on these needs. But those aboveSubdivide the category masterThe advent of changed all that. Their existence makes our lives more convenient and simpler.
They are also instructive for entrepreneurs:There is never a shortage of opportunities in this world, in those places that are not covered by giants, in those places where there are real user needs, there are opportunities and directions for growth, as long as you are unique enough and enough for users to remember you.
In the future, as your lifestyle and consumption habits become more and more refined, there will be more and more such vertical and niche needs.
Therefore, for many sub-category owners, the good times that belong to them have just begun!
And this may also be your chance!
Personal opinion, for reference only.