DIpil Das
New Products Were a Pillar of 2019’s Singles’ Day
In the kick-off event for Singles’ Day 2019, Alibaba announced more than 1 million new products would be launched by the more than 200,000 participating brands. Over 200 leading international brands, such as beauty brands SK-II, Shiseido and Givenchy, also launched hundreds of Singles’ Day-themed special-edition products.
Since the start of the year, Alibaba has emphasized that new product launches would be a key component of its 2019 Singles’ Day strategy, with a goal of including 100 new products that each achieve over ¥100 million ($14.2 million) in sales.
Crossover Limited-Edition Products Saw Explosive Sales
Brand mashups are a phenomenon in China: Mixing brands or brand elements (especially unusual ones) can turn conventional products into unique offerings, prompting customers to scramble for them.
These products recorded remarkable sales during the first day of pre-sales, which is a warm-up promotional period that lasted from October 21 to November 10 this year during which merchants promoted products and could actually complete the sale although the transaction is not processed until Singles’ Day.
These were some of the more notable examples:
MAC-Angel Chen beauty set (left); Pokémon-themed gift set by Shu Uemura (right)
Source: Tmall [/caption] [caption id="attachment_99937" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Estée Lauder’s Ribbonesia-themed lipstick
Source: Tmall [/caption] Tmall-Exclusive Customized Gift Boxes Tmall-exclusive customized gift boxes were another popular tactic to refresh offerings. Brands created customized gift boxes, bundling products and promoting them as gifts for the holidays. Skincare brand L'Occitane launched limited-quantity Tmall-exclusive hand cream sets, most of which had a strong Christmas look and feel. [caption id="attachment_99938" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
L'Occitane’s Tmall-exclusive hand cream sets
Source: Tmall [/caption] Beauty brand Givenchy launched a Tmall-exclusive customized gift box featuring its signature rouge, base powder and fragrance, together with a Givenchy handbag as a gift, branded as a Tmall Double 11 (Singles’ Day) product. [caption id="attachment_99939" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Givenchy’s Tmall-exclusive customized gift box
Source: Tmall [/caption] Nutrition and health supplement brand Swisse, a top-performing imported brand on Tmall Global in past Singles’ Days, launched a Tmall-exclusive customized gift box for its Bellezza Della Pelle (“Skin Beauty”) oral skincare product. The gift box also contained a cosmetics bag and an autographed photograph of Wu Chun, Swisse’s brand ambassador and a well-known Chinese singer and actor originally from Brunei. [caption id="attachment_99940" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Swisse’s Bellezza Della Pelle gift set
Source: Tmall [/caption] Japanese coffee brand Tasogare partnered with Tmall to launch a customized drip coffee gift box containing five coffee bags and a tailor-made Tasogare-branded hand drip coffee pot. [caption id="attachment_99941" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Tasogare’s Tmall-exclusive customized gift box
Source: Tmall [/caption] Promoting New Arrivals Singles’ Day is an ideal occasion to promote new products. Local sports and apparel brand Li Ning promoted its new sneakers during the Singles’ Day pre-sale promotion period, along with limited-edition gift boxes containing a waist bag and three socks. [caption id="attachment_99942" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Li Ning’s new sneakers (left) and gift box (right) Source: Tmall [/caption]
Drone and camera technology company DJI sold all 1,600 units of its new launch Osmo Pocket camera in the first 40 minutes of pre-sale.
[caption id="attachment_99943" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
DJI’s Osmo Pocket camera
Source: Tmall [/caption] More new products in various categories could also be found on Hey Box, a dedicated product-debut marketing channel accessible only on the Tmall app. The Chinese name of Hey Box is literally translated as “little black box” as Tmall wanted to create a sense of mystery to customers in the product discovery process. Many brands launched new products via this channel starting from the pre-sale period on October 21. For example:
Häagen-Dazs’ Christmas-edition ice cream cake (left); Lux’s Viya-themed fragrance shampoo (middle); Honor x SportPRO sports Bluetooth earphones (right)
Source: Tmall [/caption] TMIC Shortens New Products’ Development Cycle Brands and retailers can also partner with the Tmall Innovation Center (TMIC), the retail innovation arm of Tmall, to launch a product designed from scratch, leveraging consumer insights from Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms to ensure the product maps to Chinese consumer tastes. According to AliResearch, Alibaba’s research academy, the new product development cycle of fast-moving consumer goods can be shortened from 18-24 months to just nine months with TMIC. Global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev partnered with TMIC to tailor-make craft beer for Chinese consumers. The company said it shortened the development cycle for new products from one year to three months by collaborating with Alibaba, according to an October report by financial information services provider Zhitong Caijing. Earlier this year, Anheuser-Busch InBev worked with TMIC to produce a new craft beer for Chinese New Year. Armed with the insight that Chinese drinkers prefer dark beer with unusual twists thanks to Alibaba, the company created a porter beer with hints of orange and chocolate – not only an original creation but which carries an auspicious meaning for the Chinese New Year, a very strong selling point for any product around that time of year. In this year’s Singles’ Day, Anheuser-Busch InBev used its Tmall flagship page to promote a 12-bottle set of at least four different brands selected at random. [caption id="attachment_99945" align="aligncenter" width="507"]
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s 12-bottle beer set that contains at least four varieties selected at random
Source: Tmall [/caption] Retail group VF Corporation also partnered with TMIC this year, using customer insights to better tailor its apparel brand Dickies to local streetstyle. Dickies also launched new items on Hey Box almost every day during the pre-sale period. [caption id="attachment_99946" align="aligncenter" width="478"]
Dickies launched new items on Hey Box almost every day during the pre-sale period
Source: Tmall [/caption] Electric toothbrush brand Roaman worked with TMIC to launch a new avocado-color electric toothbrush, taking just three months to develop the product, including determining color, shape and materials. The brand gave the product an avocado color and named it Xiao Guo Shua (小果刷), which literally means “mini-fruit brush” in Chinese, to specifically target female consumers, according to Alibaba. [caption id="attachment_99947" align="aligncenter" width="422"]
Roaman’s avocado-color electric toothbrush
Source: Tmall [/caption] Why Do New Products Matter? New products work as a magnet to drive traffic and sales to merchants’ Tmall flagship stores – and prior years’ results show just how important they are to overall campaign results. In this year’s first day of pre-sales, around 100 new products recorded over ¥10 million ($1.4 million) sales each, according to Alibaba. Tmall data shows that in 2018, sales of new products represented 31% of total product sales on Tmall, and sales of a hero product can account for as much as 30% of the total sales on a brand’s Tmall flagship store. International brands Unilever, L'Oréal and Shiseido have announced that more than half of their new products for the China market will be developed and launched through Tmall. As of September 2019, Tmall had launched over 90 million new products on its platform. New products recorded strong sales growth across categories on Tmall in 2018, particularly skincare, cosmetics and personal care, according to AliResearch. [caption id="attachment_99948" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
*3C is a general term for electronics products among Chinese speakers, which includes computers, communication and consumer electronics
Source: AliResearch [/caption] New products also attract new customers. A generic shampoo, chocolate bar or lipstick cannot instantly grab shoppers’ attention but if the product earns endorsements from pop idols, from online key opinion leaders (KOLs) or if the product features on-trend brands or popular animated figures, customers will be more eager to pre-order or even pay a premium to get a unique offering. AliResearch data shows that in 2018, customers who bought new products more often (over 25% of total consumption spending on Tmall excluding apparel) spent more than twice the average. Key Insights Brands and retailers on Tmall adopted different approaches to creating new products for Singles’ Day promotions, including launching crossover limited-edition items, Tmall-exclusive customized gift boxes and other Singles’ Day-themed products. Brands also promoted new products on the main page of their Tmall stores and launched new arrivals via the Hey Box channel. Some collaborated with TMIC to incubate new products specifically for the China market.
- Pokémon-themed gift set by beauty brand Shu Uemura: 13,000 pieces were sold in the first 10 minutes of the pre-sale period.
- MAC-Angel Chen beauty set, a crossover limited edition product between beauty brand MAC and designer Angel Chen: 10,000 pieces were sold in the first 20 minutes.
- Estée Lauder partnered with Japanese artistic group Ribbonesia, known for its art works made from ribbon, to launch a Ribbonesia-themed lipstick: The brand recorded nearly ¥500 million ($80 million) in sales in the first 25 minutes of the pre-sale period – more than it sold in total during last year’s Singles’ Day.
MAC-Angel Chen beauty set (left); Pokémon-themed gift set by Shu Uemura (right) Source: Tmall [/caption] [caption id="attachment_99937" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Estée Lauder’s Ribbonesia-themed lipstick Source: Tmall [/caption] Tmall-Exclusive Customized Gift Boxes Tmall-exclusive customized gift boxes were another popular tactic to refresh offerings. Brands created customized gift boxes, bundling products and promoting them as gifts for the holidays. Skincare brand L'Occitane launched limited-quantity Tmall-exclusive hand cream sets, most of which had a strong Christmas look and feel. [caption id="attachment_99938" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
L'Occitane’s Tmall-exclusive hand cream sets Source: Tmall [/caption] Beauty brand Givenchy launched a Tmall-exclusive customized gift box featuring its signature rouge, base powder and fragrance, together with a Givenchy handbag as a gift, branded as a Tmall Double 11 (Singles’ Day) product. [caption id="attachment_99939" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Givenchy’s Tmall-exclusive customized gift box Source: Tmall [/caption] Nutrition and health supplement brand Swisse, a top-performing imported brand on Tmall Global in past Singles’ Days, launched a Tmall-exclusive customized gift box for its Bellezza Della Pelle (“Skin Beauty”) oral skincare product. The gift box also contained a cosmetics bag and an autographed photograph of Wu Chun, Swisse’s brand ambassador and a well-known Chinese singer and actor originally from Brunei. [caption id="attachment_99940" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Swisse’s Bellezza Della Pelle gift set Source: Tmall [/caption] Japanese coffee brand Tasogare partnered with Tmall to launch a customized drip coffee gift box containing five coffee bags and a tailor-made Tasogare-branded hand drip coffee pot. [caption id="attachment_99941" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Tasogare’s Tmall-exclusive customized gift box Source: Tmall [/caption] Promoting New Arrivals Singles’ Day is an ideal occasion to promote new products. Local sports and apparel brand Li Ning promoted its new sneakers during the Singles’ Day pre-sale promotion period, along with limited-edition gift boxes containing a waist bag and three socks. [caption id="attachment_99942" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Li Ning’s new sneakers (left) and gift box (right) Source: Tmall [/caption]
Drone and camera technology company DJI sold all 1,600 units of its new launch Osmo Pocket camera in the first 40 minutes of pre-sale.
[caption id="attachment_99943" align="aligncenter" width="700"] DJI’s Osmo Pocket camera Source: Tmall [/caption] More new products in various categories could also be found on Hey Box, a dedicated product-debut marketing channel accessible only on the Tmall app. The Chinese name of Hey Box is literally translated as “little black box” as Tmall wanted to create a sense of mystery to customers in the product discovery process. Many brands launched new products via this channel starting from the pre-sale period on October 21. For example:
- Ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs launched a Christmas-edition ice cream cake on October 21.
- Personal care brand Lux debuted a Viya-themed fragrance shampoo on October 21 (Viya is a popular livestream host on Taobao).
- Honor, a brand of mobile phone manufacturer Huawei, launched Honor x SportPRO sports Bluetooth earphones on October 22.
Häagen-Dazs’ Christmas-edition ice cream cake (left); Lux’s Viya-themed fragrance shampoo (middle); Honor x SportPRO sports Bluetooth earphones (right) Source: Tmall [/caption] TMIC Shortens New Products’ Development Cycle Brands and retailers can also partner with the Tmall Innovation Center (TMIC), the retail innovation arm of Tmall, to launch a product designed from scratch, leveraging consumer insights from Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms to ensure the product maps to Chinese consumer tastes. According to AliResearch, Alibaba’s research academy, the new product development cycle of fast-moving consumer goods can be shortened from 18-24 months to just nine months with TMIC. Global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev partnered with TMIC to tailor-make craft beer for Chinese consumers. The company said it shortened the development cycle for new products from one year to three months by collaborating with Alibaba, according to an October report by financial information services provider Zhitong Caijing. Earlier this year, Anheuser-Busch InBev worked with TMIC to produce a new craft beer for Chinese New Year. Armed with the insight that Chinese drinkers prefer dark beer with unusual twists thanks to Alibaba, the company created a porter beer with hints of orange and chocolate – not only an original creation but which carries an auspicious meaning for the Chinese New Year, a very strong selling point for any product around that time of year. In this year’s Singles’ Day, Anheuser-Busch InBev used its Tmall flagship page to promote a 12-bottle set of at least four different brands selected at random. [caption id="attachment_99945" align="aligncenter" width="507"]
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s 12-bottle beer set that contains at least four varieties selected at random Source: Tmall [/caption] Retail group VF Corporation also partnered with TMIC this year, using customer insights to better tailor its apparel brand Dickies to local streetstyle. Dickies also launched new items on Hey Box almost every day during the pre-sale period. [caption id="attachment_99946" align="aligncenter" width="478"]
Dickies launched new items on Hey Box almost every day during the pre-sale period Source: Tmall [/caption] Electric toothbrush brand Roaman worked with TMIC to launch a new avocado-color electric toothbrush, taking just three months to develop the product, including determining color, shape and materials. The brand gave the product an avocado color and named it Xiao Guo Shua (小果刷), which literally means “mini-fruit brush” in Chinese, to specifically target female consumers, according to Alibaba. [caption id="attachment_99947" align="aligncenter" width="422"]
Roaman’s avocado-color electric toothbrush Source: Tmall [/caption] Why Do New Products Matter? New products work as a magnet to drive traffic and sales to merchants’ Tmall flagship stores – and prior years’ results show just how important they are to overall campaign results. In this year’s first day of pre-sales, around 100 new products recorded over ¥10 million ($1.4 million) sales each, according to Alibaba. Tmall data shows that in 2018, sales of new products represented 31% of total product sales on Tmall, and sales of a hero product can account for as much as 30% of the total sales on a brand’s Tmall flagship store. International brands Unilever, L'Oréal and Shiseido have announced that more than half of their new products for the China market will be developed and launched through Tmall. As of September 2019, Tmall had launched over 90 million new products on its platform. New products recorded strong sales growth across categories on Tmall in 2018, particularly skincare, cosmetics and personal care, according to AliResearch. [caption id="attachment_99948" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
*3C is a general term for electronics products among Chinese speakers, which includes computers, communication and consumer electronics Source: AliResearch [/caption] New products also attract new customers. A generic shampoo, chocolate bar or lipstick cannot instantly grab shoppers’ attention but if the product earns endorsements from pop idols, from online key opinion leaders (KOLs) or if the product features on-trend brands or popular animated figures, customers will be more eager to pre-order or even pay a premium to get a unique offering. AliResearch data shows that in 2018, customers who bought new products more often (over 25% of total consumption spending on Tmall excluding apparel) spent more than twice the average. Key Insights Brands and retailers on Tmall adopted different approaches to creating new products for Singles’ Day promotions, including launching crossover limited-edition items, Tmall-exclusive customized gift boxes and other Singles’ Day-themed products. Brands also promoted new products on the main page of their Tmall stores and launched new arrivals via the Hey Box channel. Some collaborated with TMIC to incubate new products specifically for the China market.