＂2022 Beauty Hot Search List＂ was released： Cost-effective becomes a key word for consumption. Pain and opportunities coexist in the beauty industry.

Every reporter: Wang Ziwei

In 2022, it became a watershed for new brands. Brands that survived the cold winter of capital and the pain of transformation survived, while those that could not survive gradually disappeared in the wave of the market. It is no exception for beauty brands.

Recently, Vipshop released "Hot Search List of Beauty Cosmetics in 2022" (hereinafter referred to as "Hot Search List"). The list shows that in 2022, consumers are price-sensitive, and "cost-effective" and "flat replacement" have become the consumption keywords of young consumers this year.

This year can be described as two days of ice and fire for beauty brands.

From the perspective of the consumer market, beauty is still a big category favored by consumers. According to public data, during Tmall double 11 in 2022, the sales of beauty products and personal care products reached 42 billion yuan, with sales exceeding 200 million pieces. Among them, the GMV of Top5 brand exceeded 1.3 billion, and the sales of TOP20 brand exceeded 19.1 billion yuan.

Vipshop platform, the overall sales volume of beauty products increased by 58.8% year-on-year in 2022; In the live broadcast room in Li Jiaqi, double 11, domestic brands such as Polaiya, Youshiyan, Kuadi and one by one are sold out.

At the same time, it should also be noted that in the field of beauty cosmetics, players in collection stores are also experiencing a "cold wave", and related brands have shrunk their fronts to varying degrees; In addition, the listed new brands have also encountered a roller coaster of market value: after the listing of Perfect Diary, the market value has evaporated by hundreds of billions.

Beauty collection shop, a store in Mei. Image source: Every reporter Liu Xuemei photo

In this case of "ice and fire", there are many people in the industry who look at the domestic beauty market. The industry believes that the gradual development of domestic consumers’ aesthetics has actually brought new opportunities to new brands of domestic products. In this context, European and American giants began to set up investment companies, deeply rooted in the China market, and had firm confidence in the market. Domestic enterprises also "bought luxury goods" abroad.

Beauty consumers in 2022 are more sensitive to price. According to the statistics of Hot Search List, in the current challenging economic environment, many consumers’ ideas have changed and become more rational and pragmatic, and the popularity of search terms such as "cost performance" and "flat replacement" remains high.

In this context, the trend of domestic products and cutting-edge brands with obvious cost-effective advantages ushered in the "market year". On the platform of Vipshop, the sales of brands such as Ximuyuan, Zhuben, Grain Rain and Yeast Color doubled.

"Hot Search List" shows that functional skin care is also a highlight of the beauty market in 2022. According to the annual search data of Vipshop, hyaluronic acid, salicylic acid and nicotinamide became the three hottest beauty ingredients in 2022, followed by Centella asiatica, 377, VC, astaxanthin and alcohol A.

In the White Paper on New Consumption in China in 2022, Yang Boya, the founder of Half-One, said in an exclusive interview that users in China have their own unique aesthetics on good skin condition, which means that users in China have a clear localization trend on their ideal good skin condition.

This trend is also reflected in the field of makeup. "Hot Search List" shows that "pseudo-plain face" and "atmosphere" are the mainstream trends of makeup in Vipshop’s 2022 station.

In addition, thanks to the vigorous rise of outdoor activities, the concept of year-round sun protection is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Vipshop data also shows that in 2022, compared with buying hair and body care products, young people of generation Z after 90 and 95 are more willing to spend money on sun protection.

The "roller coaster" experience of Perfect Diary’s parent company, Yixian E-commerce (YSG.US, USD 1.47/share, with a total market value of USD 822 million) in the US stock market has not scared off domestic brands, and listing is still the choice of domestic beauty brands. According to incomplete statistics of the media, since 2020, 19 domestic beauty-related enterprises have gone public.

On December 22nd, Shanghai Shangmei Cosmetics Co., Ltd., the parent company of domestic beauty brand Kanshu, was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the "first domestic beauty stock of Hong Kong stocks".

In addition, some brands have begun to acquire international brands to supplement their product lines. In July 2022, Shuiyang announced that it planned to acquire 90.05% equity and some creditor’s rights of the parent company of EviDenS de Beauté, a French high-end cosmetics brand, for about 337 million yuan.

This is not a case. According to the incomplete statistics of the beauty media "Qingyan", since 2018, seven companies including Yixian E-commerce, Gaolang and Polaiya have established capital ties with foreign beauty brands and companies through investment and acquisition, and established corresponding industrial funds.

Although it is a world of ice and fire, the impact of new brands on foreign brands has made international brands feel pain. It has become the choice of many international brands to tap new domestic brands and share a piece of China makeup market.

The obvious signal is that in May this year, two American giants, L ‘Oreal and Shiseido, successively set up investment funds in China.

According to the enterprise survey data, on May 5th, L ‘Oré al held 100% shares in Shanghai Meifang Business Consulting Co., Ltd. and 100% shares in Shanghai Meifang Investment Co., Ltd., which was the first company established by L ‘Oré al in China market with a registered capital of 100 million RMB, and was committed to investing in innovative beauty technology.

In the same month, Shiseido also established the first entity of China investment fund "Ziyue Fund", and Xiamen Ziyue Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) was incorporated, with a capital contribution of RMB 501 million, of which Shiseido (China) Investment Co., Ltd. contributed 98.0%.

According to public information, the above-mentioned beauty companies have laid out a big health track in a deep or shallow way, focusing on technologies related to dermatology. Among them, Ziyue has made frequent efforts in oral beauty and medical beauty tracks, and Meifang has also made efforts in the local perfume market in China, investing in new domestic brands such as Wenxian.

With the maturity and optimization of China’s beauty market in terms of channels, brands and supply chains, foreign-funded enterprises are no longer blindly buying local brands or independently developing new brands, but making commercial investments in a more flexible way.

national business daily