"Overhead economy" continues to heat up, consumption needs to be cautious

　　Our reporter Ma Jing

　　"Hair transplant in the morning, go to work in the afternoon" "Don't let hair loss affect your appearance"... On subways, buses, elevators, outdoor large screens, and social platforms, advertisements about hair transplant can be seen everywhere, aiming at "overhead business".

Having a thick hair is the “top priority” of contemporary young people. Behind the single consumption of tens of thousands of yuan, the hair transplant market has gradually become a huge blue ocean, and it has also given birth to the “first hair transplant”.

　　However, behind the boom, market chaos and consumer disputes frequently appear.

Facing the fancy marketing around, hair transplant consumption needs to be cautious.

　　Hair loss troubles young people

　　Be careful that the ad is too foolish

　　"I knew that the process was so painful, I wouldn't go for a hair transplant." Mentioning the hair transplant experience six months ago, 30-year-old Mr. Chen expressed such emotion.

　　Due to work pressure and often staying up late, Mr. Chen's hairline has moved up significantly in the past two years.

He was moved when he saw advertisements for hair transplants in subways and elevators.

After comparing multiple institutions, he chose the cheaper solution.

"Each hair follicle unit costs 8.8 yuan." Mr. Chen pointed to a small piece on his head and said, after one operation, he spent nearly 20,000 yuan.

　　The principle of hair transplant is to transplant the hair follicles from the more hairy parts to the hair loss area.

On the day of the operation, Mr. Chen stayed on the operating bed for nearly 8 hours.

"One word, it hurts!" Mr. Chen couldn't remember how many anaesthetic needles the doctor had put on his head. He just remembered that the pain was so painful that his teeth were clenched.

During the recovery period, he also suffered from pain for many days without falling asleep.

This experience made him very suspicious of the "brainwashing" of hair transplant advertisements: "Hair transplants in the morning and work in the afternoon; thick hair grows out of a few hours of sleep... These advertisements are also daring to say!"

　　Half of the income is used for advertising

　　R&D is less than 1%

　　In fact, hair transplant technology was introduced to China as early as the late 1990s, but it has been tepid.

In recent years, as people's appearance awareness has increased, coupled with the increasingly younger hair loss trend, the hair transplant industry has gradually become a blue ocean.

According to iiMedia Consulting's data, the market size of my country's hair transplant industry in 2016 was about 5.7 billion yuan, and by the end of 2020, the market size had exceeded 20 billion yuan.

　　At present, the cost of a hair transplant is less than five figures, but more than 100,000 yuan.

The rapid development of the industry has pushed hair transplant institutions that started from a small department on the side of Beijing's Second Ring Road onto the capital market.

On December 13, Yonghe Medical, a hair transplant company, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The current total market value has exceeded 9 billion Hong Kong dollars.

　　According to data released by Yonghe Medical, the company's revenue in the first half of 2021 was 1.05 billion yuan, an increase of 75.1% over the same period in 2020.

Although the annual revenue exceeds 1 billion yuan, from 2018 to 2020, Yonghe Medical's annual profits are 54 million yuan, 36 million yuan and 163 million yuan, respectively.

Where is the money spent?

The prospectus stated that in recent years, the company's R&D expenditures accounted for less than 1% of revenue, but marketing accounted for about half.

In the first half of 2021, Yonghe Medical's sales and marketing expenses accounted for 54.9% of total revenue.

　　The reporter found through consultations on different platforms that the customer service left the consultant's WeChat ID and phone number on the grounds of sharing cases or providing solutions, and then guided the consultants to the store for free hair follicle testing.

The reporter came to the Beijing branch of Yonghe Medical for a test. Although the hair is in good condition, he was recommended a nutritionally stable package priced at 5,500 yuan.

After leaving without any consumption, the reporter received a call from customer service to introduce the hair care plan and recommended the next marketing activities.

　　According to analysis by industry insiders, with low repurchase rates and high customer acquisition costs, companies still need a lot of advertising to burn money to support business growth.

In 2020, Yonghe Medical has 51,000 hair transplant patients. Based on the marketing cost of 780 million yuan, the average drainage cost per customer exceeds 10,000 yuan.

　　Consumption disputes are difficult to protect rights

　　Comprehensive diagnosis before hair transplant

　　Due to the relatively low technical barriers of the hair transplant industry and the early stage of development, the industry has a mixed phenomenon, and many consumers have taken the road to defending their rights after hair transplants.

　　The reporter checked the China Judgment Documents website and found that in recent years, the number of civil disputes arising from the failure of hair transplantation has been increasing year by year.

Consumers are often sentenced to lose because of difficulties in appraisal or proof.

For example, in a case announced in April this year, consumer Ms. Du believed that the hair transplant surgery did not achieve the effect of the contractual promise, but the court stated that Ms. Du could not provide evidence to prove that the survival rate of transplanted hair follicles did not reach 95%. The claim that the company compensates its losses is not based on insufficient basis.

In another case, Mr. Zhu claimed that the number of hair follicles implanted by a company was less than the number agreed in the contract, but because he did not provide sufficient evidence to prove it, the court did not accept Zhu's claim.

　　"There is no appraisal agency on the market that can test the survival rate of transplanted hair follicles, and the hair transplant agency has not provided evidence that the survival rate is up to the standard. Isn't the contractual promise just empty talk?" Mr. Chen, who has experienced hair transplantation, found that hair transplantation There are a lot of "pits" in hair transplants. Due to the long recovery period, it usually takes 6 to 9 months to see the real results. Once consumers are not satisfied, the hair transplant institutions are easy to "should".

　　In addition, hair transplantation is an operation, and institutions must "practice medicine with a license."

In response to the frequent advertisements for hair transplant crash courses on the Internet, an undercover investigation by reporters found that the teachers of some training institutions did not have a doctor's qualification certificate at all.

Regular hair transplant doctors often need 5 to 7 years to perform hair transplant surgery.

The so-called "three-day fast" hair transplant training really makes the scalp numb.

　　"I will now recommend that my friends go to a regular hospital first." Mr. Chen reminded him from his own experience.

Dermatologists also said that the hair follicle test recommended by the sales staff can only be used as an auxiliary examination method, and professional clinical experience is needed to determine the cause of hair loss. It is recommended that consumers decide whether to transplant hair after a comprehensive diagnosis. Institutions with formal medical qualifications to avoid damage to their own interests.