Oct 29, 2020
4 min

Brand Journeys to Singles’ Day 2020: #3—Volition Beauty Harnesses Digital Innovation To Reach Chinese Consumers

Insight Report
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DIpil Das
Singles’ Day (also termed 11.11 Global Shopping Festival by Alibaba) is held annually on November 11 and is the largest global online shopping festival. In the lead-up to this year’s event, our Brand Journeys to Singles’ Day 2020 series profiles 11 brands that are participating in Singles’ Day, and we explore each brand’s journey on Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform, Tmall Global.
In this report, we spotlight Volition Beauty, a collaborative beauty brand.
Volition Beauty: Brand Background
Operating as an online collaboration platform, Volition Beauty was designed as a way to share ideas about innovative skincare products. The brand’s business model is set up to allow beauty consumers, enthusiasts and chemists to create their own products through crowdsourcing and community vetting. The brand’s platform encourages “innovators” to submit their idea for a “beauty breakthrough,” irrespective of their beauty industry experience. If the idea makes the cut with the brand’s team of experts, it is submitted to the “beauty community” for a vote. The beauty innovations that receive enough community votes are then made and sold by the brand, enabling users to create their own beauty products. As well as on the brand’s website, Volition Beauty products are sold at retailers in North America and internationally, such as Cult Beauty, Mecca and Sephora. Each innovator earns a commission on the net sales of their product. The packaging for Volition Beauty products includes a picture and short biography of the community member who conceived the product.
Brand Spotlight
In the cosmetics category, retail sales in China increased by approximately 16% year over year in September 2020, amounting to around ¥29.6 billion ($4.4 billion), according to Statista.  As demand for such products expands further in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in China, cosmetics retail is set to maintain its growth momentum in the near future. Furthermore, consumer demand for high-quality and trustworthy beauty brands is on the rise, particularly among the growing urban population, driven by higher levels of disposable income and the influence of key opinion leaders (KOLs) on social media platforms. Although it can be challenging for smaller businesses to stand out, China’s digitally savvy consumers provide an opportunity for beauty brands to differentiate themselves by leveraging technology, such as Volition Beauty’s crowdsourcing business model. The brand is using this year’s Singles’ Day as a route to enter the China market, having joined the event through Alibaba’s Go Global 11.11 Pitch Fest on September 15, 2020.   Digital Innovation and Consumer Insights Digital transformation in the beauty industry, which is already one of the fastest-growing consumer goods categories, is well under way, as social media and e-commerce shopping channels have revolutionized the way brands can connect with consumers. Using this year’s Singles’ Day as a route to enter the China market gives Volition Beauty access to a whole new base of digital customers. Establishing an online presence on Tmall Global will allow the brand to optimize engagement with Chinese beauty shoppers and gain insights into its new target market. The brand will engage with external ecosystems—such as Alibaba’s marketing network, social media platforms and KOLs—to understand the demands of local beauty shoppers. Volition Beauty’s business model stands it in good stead to learn and adapt to consumer demand through their direct input. High-Quality and Personalized Consumer Experiences Paul Deacon, Chief Marketing Officer at Volition Beauty, has emphasized that maintaining the integrity and quality of ingredients is the key to success for beauty brands looking to enter China. The Covid-19 pandemic has made health, wellness and clean personal and skin care a priority for many consumers in China and worldwide. To deliver clean beauty offerings and keep customers engaged in a highly competitive market, brands are increasingly leveraging technology to personalize products and services. Volition Beauty anticipates that beauty enthusiasts in China will respond positively to their collaborative platform as it gives them the opportunity to be personally involved in beauty product conception. Crowdsourcing provides Volition Beauty with a source of inspiration and fortifies its reputation among the beauty community. This engaging business model can be used alongside social channels and KOL content to best cater to consumer demand. For Singles’ Day, the brand is preparing to feature bestsellers that it expects will appeal to Chinese consumers, such as its hydrating Snow Mushroom Water Serum and its Celery Green Cream—both of which advocate the benefits of plant-based beauty.  

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