Chinese companies are speeding up to go overseas, and a number of brands focusing on overseas markets have emerged in various fields——
Why do these products attract overseas consumers?
In recent years, Chinese companies have accelerated their efforts to go overseas, and a number of brands focusing on overseas markets have emerged in various fields. They are not well-known in China, but have many loyal consumers overseas, and some have even entered the forefront of the industry.
What are the Chinese brands that focus on overseas?
How do they stand out?
The international market provides a wider space
Turn on Boomplay to play music and dance to the beat, this is the 28-year-old Ghanaian man Xiuwansi's way of relaxing after work.
Boomplay is a music streaming APP that mainly provides global genuine music and video playback and download services for African users.
"I use it every day. It has a very comprehensive music library, covering all African singers I like, and the recommended songs are also in line with my taste." Xiuwansi told this reporter.
The popular music app on the African continent is “Made in China” and is operated by China Chuanyi Music Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
"When Boomplay was first launched in 2016, the number of installations in three months reached 100,000, which is the data of competitors in two years." said He Xiaoqiu, CEO of Boomplay.
Transsion Holdings also has a high reputation in Africa.
This brand is not well known to Chinese consumers, but it is the well-deserved "King of African Mobile Phones".
In 2021, Transsion's smartphone shipments in Africa will rank first, and its share of the global mobile phone market will also reach 12.4%, ranking third.
On the other side of the Atlantic, down jackets from Jiaxing, Zhejiang are popular in the United States.
Orolay's down jackets have been selling well on Amazon for many years, and its 092 series of down jackets has become popular in the United States. It has received more than 20,000 after-sales reviews on Amazon.com, most of which are five-star reviews.
Well-known American movie stars and Internet celebrities have been photographed wearing Ou Rong Lai down jackets.
New York Magazine published an article titled "Unlikely Story: This $140 Amazon Down Jacket Takes Down the Upper East Side," calling it "loved by fashionable women on New York's Upper East Side."
Founded only 10 years ago, SHEIN is another Chinese clothing brand popular in Europe and the United States.
With the advantages of high cost performance, fast update speed and variety of clothing, Xiyin has quickly won the favor of young groups in Europe, the United States and Australia and other countries and regions. The BBC said that Xiyin has more than 250 million fans online.
In May last year, Xiyin's self-developed APP replaced Amazon and topped the list of shopping APPs in the United States.
In June last year, according to the research report of Zhongtai Securities, the Xiyin shopping website was the world's largest popular clothing website that month, with 150 million visits, far ahead of old clothing brand websites such as Zara and Nike.
Some British media commented that Xiyin "caused a sensation in the fashion industry".
Anker Innovation, which focuses on digital product accessories such as chargers, data cables, Bluetooth headsets, and small electronic products, also stood out on the overseas track.
This Chinese company, which sells more than 90% of its products overseas, has more than 100 million users in more than 100 countries and regions around the world.
According to Euromonitor Information Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Anker is currently the "world's No. 1 digital charging brand" in terms of retail sales.
"In China, electronics, electrical appliances, textiles and other fields are in a state of competition, and the market competition is fierce." Xie Yi, a professor of the Department of Marketing at the International Business School of the University of International Business and Economics, said in an interview with reporters, "The international market provides Chinese brands with more opportunities. Great space and stage."
In-depth understanding of consumer needs in different regions
New York is the fashion capital of the world, bringing together all the mainstream fashion brands in the world. Why are Chinese down jackets so popular in New York?
"At the beginning of the company's establishment, the North American down jacket market was mainly divided into several categories. One was the top luxury brand priced at around $1,000 to $2,000, the other was the light luxury brand priced at $600 to $1,000, and the other was priced at $350. Up to 600 US dollars in the first-line sports outdoor brands, the price is quite high, and there are few down jackets suitable for urban women to wear daily." Qiu Jiawei, founder of Ou Rong Lai, told reporters.
After in-depth research, Ou Rong Lai positioned the product as a "down jacket that shuttles in the city". The target group is female white-collar workers and young mothers in the metropolis. It takes into account fashion and comfort, and is cost-effective.
"The price of the product is 100 to 150 US dollars, and the quality is also guaranteed." Qiu Jiawei said.
After identifying the market segment, the style design cannot be outdated.
In order to find out the preferences of the target group, Qiu Jiawei took the team to New York many times, found a cafe in Manhattan, ordered a cup of coffee, and recorded the brands, colors and styles of down jackets worn by pedestrians by the window.
"After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, we set up a professional data analysis team to always pay attention to the social media and official websites of more than 30 down jacket brands around the world, and analyze their products and evaluations." Qiu Jiawei said.
The popular 092 series of down jackets is inspired by the observation of daily life.
Qiu Jiawei said that at the beginning of his business, he was catching up with his lover's pregnancy. The down jackets on the market were either too thin or bloated and did not fit well. Therefore, the team decided to improve the design of down jackets. Body shape adjustment elastic.
This design has been recognized by consumers, "warm and stylish, with adjustable elastic, it is my favorite of more than 20 winter coats." A US consumer reviewed on Amazon.com.
"An important reason for the success of Chinese brands overseas is that brands have a deep understanding of the unique needs of consumers in different regions and have achieved localization in specific marketing strategies, products, prices, etc." Xie Yi said, "This source From the company's detailed understanding and in-depth analysis of the target market's economic characteristics, cultural differences, consumer preferences and other factors."
There are many differences in cultures, languages, religions and races among African countries.
Since the establishment of Transsion Holdings, it has established a department dedicated to market research and user insight, and sent special personnel to go deep into Africa, not only to visit core cities, but also to towns and villages to better understand the products and services that local consumers need.
In the era of feature phones, Transsion Holdings launched the first mobile phone, the TECNO T780 with dual SIM and dual standby, in response to the pain points of African users' large usage of phone cards and high cross-network tariffs, which was a great success in Nigeria.
Subsequently, Transsion Holdings also launched a series of mobile phones with distinctive features such as four-card four-standby and ultra-long standby, which further opened up the African market.
When mobile phones enter the "smart" era, taking pictures has become an important function and selling point.
At that time, the cameras and algorithms of other brands of mobile phones in the African market were not developed for local users. When the light was darker, the faces of dark-skinned people in the photos were not clear.
To this end, Transsion has built an artificial intelligence dark-skinned imaging technology research and development platform from the perspectives of data, algorithms, and computing power to bring better imaging experience to local users.
"The first impression of the people around me about the Transsion phone is that it looks good in taking pictures." Xiu Wansi said.
Establish a brand image on the basis of product strength
"Chinese enterprises can deeply participate in international competition, and it is inseparable from domestic advantages in supply chain, e-commerce and other aspects." Xie Yi said, "For example, China is competitive in the textile industry, mobile phone manufacturing and other fields. Brands have a competitive advantage at the base level.”
At the start-up stage, Ou Rong Lai was backed by the down jacket production base in Pinghu, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, and there were sufficient supporting enterprises and practitioners in clothing design, hardware manufacturing, down jacket production and other links.
"This gives us a comparative advantage in terms of product production cost, delivery speed, and order-turnover speed, with low inventory risk and the ability to quickly respond to new market demands." Qiu Jiawei said.
In February 2021, the factory invested and established by Ou Rong Lai in Jining City, Shandong Province was officially put into operation. The planned production standard of the factory is 10 sewing production lines, employing more than 600 people and an annual output value of more than 60 million yuan.
With the expansion of the business scale, Qiu Jiawei realized that the mode of shipping from domestic to overseas consumers is not conducive to the further development of the company, so he began to build his own overseas warehouses in New Jersey, Germany, Yorkshire, England and other places.
"Nowadays, we first ship the goods in bulk to overseas warehouses, and then distribute them from overseas warehouses, which greatly shortens the time required for consumers to receive goods, return and exchange goods, and improve the shopping experience." Qiu Jiawei said.
Transsion's success is also built on the basis of a complete domestic supply chain.
A relevant person in charge of Transsion told this reporter that in the early days, in order to meet the diverse needs of consumers in different countries for products, Transsion relied on the advantages of domestic diversified supply chains and adopted flexible production and supply of "small batches and multiple batches". model to flexibly respond to changes in the overseas market environment.
Transsion's mobile phone brands have cultivated a fixed consumer base in Africa, and the brand effect has gradually been released.
In the "2021 Most Favored Brands by African Consumers" Top 100 list released by "African Business" magazine, Transsion's three mobile phone brands TECNO, itel and Infinix ranked 6th, 21st and 25th respectively.
"In Ghana, almost all of my friends use TECNO phones. After their recommendation, my first phone was also TECNO," Xiuwansi said.
Ou Rong Lai also has a group of loyal fans overseas.
In 2018, Oulonglai American fans organized a charity donation meeting with the theme of "wear Oulong down jacket and donate excess clothing to charity".
"A down jacket creates a huge amount of energy," NBC reported.
"This shows that Chinese brands not only focus on cost performance, but also establish a brand image on the basis of product strength, and successfully make overseas consumers have a positive association with the brand." Xie Yi said.
Our reporter Zhao Hao