Recently, the news of "Chinese cosmetics are on fire in South Korea" rushed to the hot search. According to the data, in the first eight months of 2023, the export value of Chinese cosmetics to South Korea was about 190% year-on-year**. Not only South Korea, since 2023, China's cosmetics exports have maintained rapid growth. In 2023, the retail sales of cosmetics in China will reach 414.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51%。China's exports of beauty, cosmetics and toiletries amounted to 45.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 228%。Among them, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea are the most important export destinations. Data**, domestic beauty sales are expected to increase by 21% year-on-year in 20232%, with a market share of 504%, surpassing foreign cosmetics brands for the first time.
Why is the sales of domestic beauty products increasing sharply? What is the password for domestic beauty to get out of the circle? What difficulties do Chinese local cosmetics have to overcome to stand out from international competition?
Sales continue to grow.
Behind the continuous growth of domestic cosmetics, first, domestic beauty cosmetics take advantage of the national tide and integrate traditional Chinese cultural elements, which is in line with the current popular aesthetics; Second, the product quality has been greatly improved, and it has the ability to meet the needs of a new generation of consumers; Third, new and old brands actively innovate and upgrade, expanding product sales. * Zhuang Xiaojie, Secretary General of the China Science and Technology Alliance of the Health Industry (in preparation) and President of the Cosmetics Industry Branch of the National Health Industry Enterprise Management Association, said.
In recent years, consumers' recognition of domestic brands has been increasing, and more and more consumers are willing to try and support domestic beauty products. According to a questionnaire survey organized by the Consumer Protection Committee of Longwan District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, at present, young people aged 20 to 35 are the main consumers of domestic cosmetics, accounting for 7068%, of which 59 were between 1 and 5 years old52%。In addition, a survey report shows that 48% of beauty consumers aged 18 to 49 prefer local products.
A scholar who has been paying attention to domestic beauty for many years told reporters that domestic beauty is gradually getting rid of the low-end and cheap image of the past through improving quality, innovative research and development and brand building, and has been recognized by more and more consumers. Moreover, domestic beauty products are more cost-effective, and consumers can often buy domestic beauty products with good quality with lower **.
Experts said that in the past two years, the demand for mass culture consumption has been relatively high, which has stimulated the deep integration of culture and consumer goods to a certain extent, and a number of domestic beauty innovative consumer brands have emerged, which have quickly won the favor of consumers while competing with international brands in the market competition. Excellent quality and brand characteristics, not only to meet the domestic consumer demand, many products are also exported to other countries and regions.
Both inside and outside the circle.
In recent years, domestic beauty products have gradually begun to make efforts in quality. Taking Bloomage Biotech as an example, the company's R&D investment from 2020 to 2022 will be 14.1 billion yuan, 28.4 billion yuan, 38.8 billion yuan, accounting for the proportion of revenue1%。In the first half of 2023, the company's R&D expenses will reach 18.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 404%。The ratio of R&D investment to sales amount is about 5%, the number of new skin care products launched every year is controlled in the single digits, and the product development cycle is 12 to 24 months.
Pan Qiusheng, chairman of Shanghai Jahwa, said that high-quality products are the core of domestic beauty products. At a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to acquire traffic, there is a need for highly competitive products and a superior user experience that will keep consumers loyal to the brand. R&D and innovation are the guarantee of the safety and efficacy of high-quality products. At present, all the strategic layouts of Shanghai Jahwa revolve around R&D and pursue quality improvement. Shanghai Jahwa's report for the first three quarters of 2023 shows that the company has achieved an operating income of 509.1 billion yuan, of which R&D expenses are 114.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 819%。
At the same time, many domestic beauty brands continue to make efforts in brand image innovation. For example, we should work brand image building, and enhance brand image and market competitiveness by cooperating with internationally renowned designers and developing co-branded models. Launched many products with unique selling points to meet the changing needs of consumers.
As domestic consumers' confidence in local products continues to grow, local makeup brands are expected to become the dominant brands in the market. Pan Qiusheng said. According to the data released by the Prospective Industry Research Institute, China's cosmetics exports are expected to exceed US$5.6 billion in 2023, and China's cosmetics export market will continue to grow. This also means that the international competitiveness of domestic beauty brands is constantly improving.
Make up for the shortcomings of R&D.
As the world's second largest cosmetics market, China's beauty market is developing from 100 billion yuan to trillion yuan, but the share of more than 5,000 cosmetics companies in China is still limited. In terms of high-end cosmetic raw materials and formulations, the domestic cosmetics industry still needs to strengthen cooperation between industry and academia to narrow the gap with foreign manufacturers. At the same time, it cannot be ignored that the development of domestic beauty products in the international market still faces some challenges and needs to improve its own strength.
In 2022, the "Action Plan for Further Improving the Quality of Products, Projects and Services (2022-2025)" jointly issued by 18 departments including the State Administration for Market Regulation proposed to promote the cultivation of a number of high-end brands in the fields of consumer goods such as cosmetics, clothing, home textiles, and electronic products. At the beginning of November 2023, the State Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement on matters related to the encouragement of innovation and standardized management of new cosmetic raw materials, encouraging the development of new cosmetic raw materials in combination with China's traditional advantageous projects and characteristic plant resources, and supporting the use of modern science and technology for the research and innovation of cosmetic raw materials.
Domestic beauty has gradually entered the era of competition for hard power. In Zhuang Xiaojie's view, the cosmetics industry needs to make all-round overall planning from positioning, raw materials, production to technology research and development, and focus on innovation and improvement of core technologies.
Zhuang Xiaojie said that the changes in the domestic beauty industry are taking place in the context of consumption upgrading. In recent years, consumers have become more and more recognized by domestic beauty, and the brand value of domestic beauty has gradually increased, but in order to get a share of the pie in the mid-to-high-end market and win the right to speak, it is necessary to improve the level of scientific and technological innovation. She suggested that first, we should improve R&D and production equipment, second, improve manufacturing technology, third, develop new materials, and fourth, have both safety and practicality.
Tian Shaolei, Director of the Sixth Inspection Division of the Food and Drug Inspection Center of the State Drug Administration, said at the 2023 China Cosmetics International Cooperation Forum that the domestic beauty industry should learn from and absorb international advanced management concepts, management standards and management methods on the basis of continuing to carry forward its existing advantages, gradually achieve integration with international standards, improve the quality management and supervision level of China's cosmetics production, and promote China's cosmetics enterprises to become bigger and stronger.
A number of experts told reporters that although there is a certain gap between domestic cosmetics and international brands, in recent years, domestic cosmetics brands have made significant progress in technology research and development, product innovation, and brand building. In the future, through continuous technology research and development and product innovation, improve product quality and attractiveness, and launch products that meet market demand, the gap is expected to gradually narrow, and it can also increase consumer awareness and favorability, and occupy more shares in the domestic and foreign markets. (Reporter Yang Xiufeng).
*:Economy**.