The old days are gone.
Source | Poly beauty
Author | The business of the branch is not easy to do, not only the experience of industry insiders on this year's 618, but also the industry's experience in the first half of 2024. Since the beginning of the year, it is not uncommon for brands to announce the closure of stores, and around 618 this year, many brands have closed stores, such as skin care brand Boscia, makeup brand NYX, perfume brand Marc Jacobs, etc.
A few days ago, Jumei learned that another makeup brand Tmall flagship store was closed - VNK, which was acquired by the veteran daily chemical company Lafang Jiahua Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Lafang Jiahua) in 2020, and as of the date of publication, the fans of VNK's flagship store were 2.45 million.
Search for VNK flagship store, you can see that although the homepage guide map of the store is still there, the baby page shows that all the products in the store have been taken off the shelves, and only the last one has been sold 20,000+ products called VNK Pure Bright Essence White Moonlight Cleansing Balm, priced at 159 yuan, of which the "100ml full-size" inventory is only 8, but the postage is 999 yuan, which should be the anti-shooting postage. Upon inquiry, the customer service said that the store had been withdrawn, and all products were removed from the shelves and no longer sold. As for whether an announcement will be made, customer service did not reply.
△ Image source Taobao
Querying the latest evaluation of the product, you can see that the last positive date is June 3, and the reviews from January to June, except for 3 in February, are only one per month on average.
In addition, the WeChat official account VNK cosmetics account will stop updating in September 2023, the Weibo platform VNK cosmetics account and the Xiaohongshu platform VNK cosmetics account will stop updating in December 2023, and the Douyin platform VNK official flagship store account will stop updating in March 2024.
In addition, the official flagship store of VNK on the Douyin platform has also stopped selling, there are only 2 products left in the store, the shipping fee is 99 yuan, and the latest evaluation date is 21 days ago. Upon inquiry, the Douyin store stopped selling at the beginning of the month.
What happened to the once-popular VNK?
Acquired by Lafang Jiahua, VNK went from a substantial growth of 315.75% to a loss
According to public information, VNK was born in 2016 and is a sub-brand of Zhiyouquan, focusing on the brand route of value-for-money, and its main categories include lipstick, eye shadow, foundation, eyebrow pencil and other makeup products.
In 2017, VNK cooperated with many B station up owners in marketing, and in September, it launched a co-branded eyeshadow palette "Mengli Xinghui" with beauty blogger @handsome you face, which was sold for 5 minutes and sold more than 10,000 units; In 2019, VNK was rated as the TOP1 most popular cosmetics brand by users; In the first half of 2019, Li Jiaqi ranked first in the list of affordable lipsticks in the first half of 2019, with VNK102# Apple Red topping the list, setting a record of selling 23,000 pieces in 5 minutes, and during the Double 11 in 2020, the sales of VNK's flagship store exceeded 10 million.
△ The source user said
Or based on the growth potential of this brand, Lafang Jiahua, which is looking for incremental growth, completed the acquisition of VNK in November 2020 by holding a 51% stake in VNK's parent company, Shanghai Chengru E-commerce Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Chengru).
According to the 2021 financial report disclosed by Lafang Jiahua, the operating income of the brand VNK was 98.6978 million yuan, a significant increase of 315.75% year-on-year.
But the good times didn't last long, and VNK began to take a sharp turn after experiencing rapid growth. According to the 2022 semi-annual report, VNK's revenue fell 46.57% year-on-year to 22.335 million yuan, and since the 2022 annual performance report, Lafang Jiahua will no longer disclose VNK's specific revenue data. According to the financial report, in 2022, Shanghai Chengru's operating income will be 34.422 million yuan, with a net loss of 6.6747 million yuan, and in 2023, Shanghai Chengru's operating income will be 28.652 million yuan, with a net loss of 21.0382 million yuan.
Obviously, although Lafang Jiahua is trying to find a second growth curve and alleviate the aging problem of the brand by entering the makeup industry, combined with the current account operation and store closure, Lafang Jiahua has not operated VNK well, and has even gradually abandoned VNK because it has fallen into further losses. From the sales volume of more than 10 million in the past to the closure of Tmall and Douyin channels, the loneliness of VNK can be seen.
The market value is less than 1/5 of the peak, and the second curve of Lafang Jiahua is difficult to achieve
Of course, VNK is not the only one who is lonely, Lafang Jiahua, which acquired it, as the first private daily chemical company, is not doing well now.
Specifically, in 2017, Lafang Jiahua was successfully listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to investor.com, in the month of listing, Lafang Jiahua's share price increased by 395.54% from the issue price of 18.39 yuan per share, and the market value soared from 4.618 billion yuan to 12.688 billion yuan. After that, Lafang Jiahua gradually turned from prosperity to decline. At present, the market value of Lafang Jiahua is 2.36 billion yuan, less than 1/5 of the peak.
△ Image source snowball
In addition, combined with the previous financial reports, Lafang Jiahua's revenue in 2023 will be the lowest in the past five years, and the net profit attributable to the parent company will be comparable to that in 2021.
In terms of the performance of the brand side, in 2019 and 2020, Lafang and Meiduosi are its pillar brands, with revenue of 740 million yuan and 721 million yuan respectively, accounting for 75.61% and 77.95% of the total revenue respectively.
In 2021, 2022, and 2023, Lafang and Yujie are its pillar brands, with revenues of 760 million yuan, 680 million yuan, and 700 million yuan respectively, accounting for 68.78%, 76.17%, and 81.62% of total revenue, respectively.
From 2019 to 2023, the specific data of the independent brands Mansina, Binchun, Shengfeng, etc., the agent brand Delper, the integrated brand VNK, and the new domestic brand T8 are gradually no longer mentioned in the financial report. According to the 2023 financial report, the main brand composition of Lafang Jiahua is independent cleaning and care brands such as Lafang, Yujie and Medosi, as well as the agent brand Ruiboxi, and the sales revenue of Ruiboxi is 80 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.24%.
It can be seen that the proportion of Lafang Jiahua's pillar brands in total revenue will only briefly be less than 70% in 2021, and then it is still gradually increasing.
In addition, Lafang Jiahua has also invested in Medical Aesthetics International Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Medical Aesthetics International), the world's largest share of medical aesthetic institutions, trying to find increments in the medical aesthetic track. At the end of the reporting period, Lafang Jiahua held 14.81% of the shares of the medical aesthetic company. However, Medical Aesthetic International will be in a loss-making state in 2022 and 2023. In 2022 and 2023, the revenue of Medical Aesthetic International will be 330 million yuan and 680 million yuan respectively, and the net loss will be 70 million yuan and 40 million yuan respectively. Although the loss decreased, it still increased the profit but did not increase the income.
In the case that the second curve is difficult to achieve, Lafang Jiahua may only be able to continue to deepen the original main category of cleaning and care. In terms of products, in the 2023 financial report, Lafang Jiahua's main business mainly includes cleaning and care, soap and others, and cleaning and care is the only one among the three categories with revenue and gross profit margin growing, with revenue of 730 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.51%, a gross profit margin of 47.41%, and a year-on-year increase of 2.43%.
However, in recent years, the domestic cleaning and care market has been fiercely competitive, and many beauty companies have also entered the washing and care track, such as Proya Group launched an effective washing and care brand specializing in scalp microecology, Shangmei Co., Ltd. launched a functional cleaning and care brand focusing on natural plants, Yiye Washing and Care, Giant Biotech launched a scalp health care brand Handels, and Freda launched a scientific cleaning and care brand specializing in scalp microecology. This is undoubtedly a greater challenge for the old brand marketing is not enough, can not be seen by consumers, and the new brand is not in the green.
Source: Lafang Jiahua financial report, Xueqiu
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