Is domestic make-up expensive？ We have the final say
Chinese make-up brand Hua Xizi.
Is the domestic make-up brand expensive? Is the cost performance high?
Recently, Huaxizi, a domestic make-up brand, which was pushed to the forefront by Li Jiaqi’s remarks, was found by many netizens to have a high price per gram. For example, the price of eyebrow pencil per gram is comparable to that of gold, and the price of loose powder per gram exceeds that of Chanel, an international brand.
On September 10th, Li Jiaqi introduced a Huaxizi eyebrow pencil in 79 yuan during the live broadcast that day. When he saw a netizen leaving a message saying that it was getting more and more expensive, he asked, "Where is it expensive? It’s been this price for so many years. Don’t talk nonsense with your eyes open. Domestic brands are very difficult … "Later, Li Jiaqi said:" Sometimes I find my own reasons. After so many years, my salary has not risen. Have you worked hard? " Since then, many topics around the high price of Huaxizi’s products, such as "Huaxizi’s response to the expensive eyebrow pencil", "Huaxizi’s exclusive monetary unit for migrant workers", "How expensive Huaxizi is" and "Huaxizi’s eyebrow pencil can buy two grams of gold for more than 980 grams", have been on hot search for many days.
At the same time, the price of domestic cosmetics has also been questioned by the public, and other cutting-edge domestic brands have been included in the list of cosmetics price competition.
The reporter randomly selected a number of domestic makeup brands including Mao Geping, Kazilan, Huaxizi, Perfect Diary, Little Odin, Tangduo, and other international brands such as Chanel (French brand), YSL Saint Laurent (French brand), Armani (Italy), Maybelline (American brand), MAC (Korean brand) and Yue Shi Feng Yin (Korean brand) to sort out and calculate the lipsticks and songs of each brand.
The reporter found that the prices of the above four categories are generally higher than those of domestic brands, regardless of the single product price or the price per gram/ml, while the prices of domestic brands Mao Geping and Huaxi Zi are obviously higher than those of other domestic brands, and the price per gram is even higher than some international first-line products.
Is domestic make-up expensive?
Based on the calculation of the lowest-priced products among the 12 brand series products, the top six domestic brands on the list all have Mao Geping and Hua Xizi. Compared with international brands, the price per gram of other domestic brands is even less than 1/10.
Specifically, in terms of lipstick, among the top six brands with the highest price per gram, domestic brands Mao Geping and Huaxizi are on the list, ranking fifth and sixth respectively. Among them, the price per gram of lipstick of the French luxury brand YSL is more than twice that of Mao Geping, reaching 100 yuan per gram. Korean Amore Pacific Construction Group’s brand Yueshi Fengyun has the lowest unit price of lipstick.
Price comparison of 12 brands of lipstick products
According to public information, Mao Geping himself is an iconic figure in China’s makeup industry, and has designed makeup for many movies, TV shows and stage plays, among which the most famous masterpiece is Liu Xiaoqing’s makeup in the TV series Wu Zetian. Subsequently, MAOGEPING started his own business, and successively founded Mao Geping Image Design Art School and Maoge Ping, a make-up brand. The brand has also attracted a lot of attention because of Mao Geping’s "face-changing" makeup technique.
The brand "Hua Xizi" was born in 2016, and its parent company, Yige Group, was founded in Hangzhou in 2014. It is a China beauty group integrating independent research and development, brand building, product sales and customer service. Compared with most domestic make-up brands, Hua Xizi positioned herself as a high-end make-up brand in China.
In terms of loose powder/powder cake (Little Odin brand has no information about this product for the time being), among the top six brands with the highest price per gram, only Mao Geping and Hua Xizi are still in the domestic brands, ranking third and sixth respectively. Among them, the price of Armani powder cake per gram is more than three times that of Huaxizi powder.
The Chanel Loose Powder with the price of 590 yuan ranks lower than many international brands in terms of price per gram, and even ranks behind Mao Geping and Huaxizi.
Price comparison of 11 brands of loose powder/powder cake products
In terms of eye shadow, among the top six brands in terms of price per gram (Little Odin brand has no information about this single product for the time being), domestic brands are still Mao Geping and Huaxizi, and YSL ranks first, and the price per gram of eye shadow is almost more than four times that of Huaxizi.
Price comparison of 11 brands of eye shadow products
In terms of eyeliner, among the top six brands in terms of price per gram (Armani brand has no information about this single product for the time being), the domestic brands on the list are Mao Geping, Odin Jr. and Kazilan, and Odin Jr. and the parent company of Perfect Diary are both Yixian e-commerce, which were founded in 2013 and 2017 respectively, and are considered as cutting-edge makeup brands. Kazilan, a veteran domestic product, was founded in 2001.
It is worth mentioning that the price per gram of Chanel waterproof eyeliner is as high as 866.67 g/yuan, which is more than 11 times that of Odin Jr., more than 7 times that of Kazilan and nearly 13 times that of Huaxizi.
Price comparison of 11 brands of eyeliner products
On the whole, Huaxizi, which has been controversial and concerned in recent days, is in the forefront of domestic brands, but there is still a certain gap compared with international brands.
"For a long time, the high-end market of China cosmetics has been monopolized by international brands. But today, many products of Huaxizi have cut into the middle and high-end price belt and achieved certain success. " Hua Mantian, the founder of Hua Xizi, admitted in an exclusive interview that in 2021, the unit price of Double Eleven Hua Xizi moved from 100 yuan to 200 yuan, becoming a mid-to high-end cosmetics brand, which was the positioning and goal of Hua Xizi.
Recently, some people in the beauty industry told reporters that on the whole, beauty products (make-up+skin care products) were considered as "profiteering products", but the price of domestic make-up skin care products was generally lower than that of foreign brands.
"Compared with toiletries and skin care products that are generally priced in grams and milliliters, makeup in the industry is usually priced by pieces. It is unreasonable to judge the value of a brand only from raw materials and production costs, especially for China brands, which must invest in R&D and innovation, so they must have reasonable profits. " Yu Jian, general manager of Kaidu Consumer Index Greater China, told the reporter that both international cosmetics brands and domestic cosmetics brands have experienced price increases in recent years, including factors such as rising supply chain costs and marketing costs.
An insider of a domestic beauty brand recently told reporters, "At present, the beauty brand basically forms its own supply chain and the products are relatively popular, and the hard cost is about 10%. Domestic brands are doing well now, the materials are solid, and the cost is more than 10%. If the cutting-edge brand does not have its own R&D supply chain and does processing, the cost will definitely be higher. "
On the eve of the 5th China International Import Expo(CIIE) last November, Fabry, President of L ‘Oré al North Asia and CEO of China, told reporters, "According to our observation, the price difference of similar products in different positioning markets is still very large, and different brands of products have their own innovation, quality and composition standards. Beauty products emphasize emotion and functionality, and the raw materials, formulas, categories and consumer experience of the products will cause price differences. "
How to seize the opportunity in the development of domestic cosmetics?
In recent years, domestic make-up brands have fought their way out of the make-up market spread all over Europe, America and Korea. On the road of rising and being recognized by the public, they are also facing layers of crises, among which "emphasizing marketing and neglecting research and development" is the label that new domestic brands generally bring.
According to the research report released by orient securities on April 30th, from 1990s to 2011, the consumption channels were mainly supermarkets and department stores, and the European and American mass price belts showed strong brand performance. From 2011 to 2018, e-commerce channels and online brand stores prevailed, Korean makeup performed well, and the price was cost-effective. From 2018 to 2021, online celebrity’s economic rise and over-the-top live broadcast reached its peak, and domestic brands such as Perfect Diary, Huaxizi and Polaiya seized the online bonus and achieved rapid rise. After 2021, the investment and financing of cosmetics slowed down, and the popularity of the industry declined, which further tested the brand’s comprehensive operational ability in many aspects such as products, channels and marketing.
"At present, China’s make-up market has formed a competitive pattern in which the mass price band is mainly domestic products and the middle and high-end price band is mainly European and American brands." According to the above research report, in 2022, Huaxi Zidan brand ranked first in China’s cosmetics category sales with a market share of 6.2%. Judging from the changing trend of brand market share, the market share of domestic brands positioned in the mass price band has increased rapidly in the near future, while the market share of foreign brands L ‘Oreal and Maybelline has declined. YSL, Lancome and Armani, which are positioned in the middle and high-end price band, show a clear upward trend. After 2021, the growth rate of new domestic cosmetics slowed down.
The share of domestic brands is facing the challenge of declining year by year. According to the data provided by McKinsey, a management consulting firm, from 2019 to the first half of 2023, among the top 20 brands in the beauty category of Tmall Mall, the proportion of local brands has dropped from 54% in 2019 to 28% in 2022, and further reduced to 20% in the first half of 2023.
"Previously, some domestic makeup brands relied heavily on KOL to bring goods, which is an unsustainable marketing model. However, in recent years, domestic cosmetics are gradually adapting to the new national trend and slowly returning to the creation of product quality. " Yan Jian said that it has been observed that more and more domestic brands have launched more innovative products and service experiences to enhance "differentiation". Outstanding performance in product design, efficacy and added value to consumers (such as educating consumers to use products to create various makeup). Further promote consumers to build trust in the brand, and the brand also pays more attention to research and development, which can slowly pull the premium power of the brand.
"Domestic brands are expected to break through through differentiated competition." Looking forward to the future, the above research report pointed out that thanks to the maturity of supply chain capabilities, the quality of domestic brands in China has not lost to international brands. From the perspective of supply chain, the threshold of makeup is low, the degree of homogeneity is high, and consumers are more willing to pay for originality and emotion. Domestic brands are expected to have differentiated competitive advantages in products, marketing and channels.
Talking about how to catch up with international brands in the future. Yu Jian said that make-up will have higher requirements for "fashion", so it is necessary to have a strong grasp of the latest international trends. In addition to differentiation in product strength and brand tonality and keeping up with the trend, domestic cosmetics brands also need to benchmark international brands and attach importance to investment in research and development and innovation.
（）
Reporting/feedback