How Xiaohongshu e-commerce finds increment in the outdoor boom

In recent years, traffic has become more and more expensive, and traffic depressions such as Xiaohongshu have also become the first choice of major businesses, for example, the field of outdoor has also gained good growth on Xiaohongshu.

In recent years, lifestyles related to "sports" and "outdoor" have become more and more common among young people, and have gradually become a new trendy social currency.

Starting from frisbee in the early two years, camping, hiking, skiing, these sports that seem to need some "thresholds", in addition to their own social attributes in the sports circle, but also because of the hidden labels behind them, such as the niche and middle class, everyone constantly wants to participate and try.

Therefore, in addition to core enthusiasts, consumers on the edge of the circle are very willing to make their first payment attempt for the recognition of these outdoor identities, in addition to wanting to experience more dopamine-secreting affairs.

1. Outdoor brands ushered in rapid growth

It can be seen that from the luxury sports brand Archaeopteryx to the camel that started from e-commerce, as long as the product strength is acceptable and the marketing is in place, everyone can get a piece of this big pool.

In the newly released first-quarter financial report, Amalfen turned losses into profits quarter-on-quarter, achieving a net profit attributable to the parent company of $5.1 million, and at the same time, achieving revenue of $1.183 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13%. Andrew Page, Chief Financial Officer of Amalfen Sports, directly affirmed in the financial report that the group's Arc'teryx brand is growing at a rapid rate, and its excellent financial performance has improved the overall growth and profitability of Amalfen.

In the user membership section, from the most objective and quantifiable data, the number of members of Arc'teryx in 2018 was 14,000, and by September 2023, the number of members has grown to 1.7 million. Let's talk about the other two running sports brands, Ang Run and HOKA, their actions and performance in the past two years can be described as very bright. As a professional sports running shoe, he is a choice of both fashion and performance in the minds of users (the former is fashionable, while Hoka is more like a science and engineering man who makes shoes diligently). But their pricing has narrowed this difference, and running shoes with an average price of more than 1,000 yuan have directly become the new favorite of running enthusiasts and commuters who pursue fashion and taste.

In terms of sales scale, HOKA and On are already very close, and are rapidly growing into a brand with a scale of nearly $2 billion club under the continuous surge.

According to Fashion Business News, the sales of Swiss sneaker brand On increased by 20.9% to 508 million Swiss francs in the first quarter, equivalent to about 4.05 billion yuan, while HOKA also became the strongest brand of the group, with annual sales increasing by 27.9% to US$1.807 billion, and in the past year or two, HOKA and On have seized space on the "shoe wall" of shoe retailers, changing 80% of previous stores The retail shelves have long been occupied by Nike and adidas shoes.

Back to our local outdoor brands, there are many excellent and fast-growing outdoor domestic brands such as Kaile Stone and Camel, which will not be repeated here.

Second, where users plant grass and where to consume

So, where do consumers complete the process from planting grass to trying?

At present, it seems that there are many emerging social grass planting platforms, among which Xiaohongshu is a good field. Whether it is for the attempt of sports or the purchase of outdoor sports brands, it is a good planting position.

Taking lululemon as an example, most of the users of Xiaohongshu's platform are women, so lululemon occupies such a field at the right time, place and people.

The rapid growth of China is absolutely inseparable from the blessing of Xiaohongshu. It can be seen that whether it is the brand's official announcement of the latest brand ambassador, or the sharing of the mid-year promotion to pick up the must-buy, or the user's daily sharing of Lulu's outfits, it can get very good traffic and discussion.

In the past, users completed the consumption conversion in offline stores or Tmall after planting grass in Xiaohongshu. As visual animals, we are easily attracted by the beautiful state of life presented by the creators of the platform, whether it is a "liuzi" who advocates a white lifestyle and diet or a follower of this lifestyle, or a chubby girl's self-confidence blooms, we can get positive or negative comments on the platform.

If there is traffic, there is an opportunity, and this opportunity not only belongs to the brand, but also to the creator, but also to the platform. Where there is traffic, the brand's business grows. What Xiaohongshu can bring to the brand is not only live sales, but also the influence of allowing users to go from online to offline, truly participate in the experience of the brand, and turn from a marginal passerby to a loyal consumer.

1. Differentiation strategies for different brands

Recently, we have been seeing professional outdoor brands such as HOKA, Salomon, and Saucony conducting live broadcasts with different strategies on Xiaohongshu, and the brand side combs the pallets to find out non-popular styles and non-classic colors for discount sales in the live broadcast room of vertical talents, and there are also big KOLs who have signed exclusive live broadcasts on the platform, their tone is high, the fan base is large, and the brand broadcasts new products and hot models at the original price in the live broadcast room, and a large number of fans pay for it. No matter what kind of strategy it is, as long as it is transformed and in line with expectations, it is a good strategy for sustainable execution.

The brand has completed the transformation from community grass planting to e-commerce on the Xiaohongshu platform through self-broadcasting + Dabo. This is also what Xiaohongshu has been seeking since it started e-commerce, so what reason do consumers have to buy here?

2. The e-commerce of the platform can find a breakthrough in the vertical category

From the perspective of the brand, the e-commerce platform cannot be said to be less now, but what core competitiveness should Xiaohongshu use to retain the brand, so that the brand can set aside HC within the team to specialize in the operation of Xiaohongshu, which is what Hongshu e-commerce should think about.

At present, it seems that the sales of several female anchors with tonality from the head have exceeded 100 million, and Xiaohongshu has copied many such cases, and has also made breakthroughs in e-commerce data. The high unit price and good quality of the Red Book live broadcast room have left a good impression in the minds of consumers, and the lifestyle behind these anchors makes consumers very willing to pay. So in addition to female stars like Dong Jie and Zhang Xiaohui, the vertical category is a good breakthrough.

We see that there is no shortage of outdoor professional bloggers such as Amanda, Grandma, etc., who share and do live broadcasts, and with the brand live broadcast strategy mentioned above, the conversion is impossible to be low, because the consumer demand of the target group is there.

In the past, consumers went to Taobao and Tmall to complete the last step of shopping conversion after planting grass in Xiaohongshu, but now, discounts or scarce items are directly offered here, so that fans finally have the reason to buy here.

The verticality of their fan base is not a problem, and finding a way to monetize creators is also a boost for the sustainable and healthy growth of creators on the platform.

3. See social marketing opportunities at the circle level from the content

If Dewu started as an e-commerce company and they want to do content socialization, then Xiaohongshu has more natural advantages, and the content community is already one of the best in China. How to make good use of this natural advantage, I believe that both the platform itself and the brand are well aware of the advantages and importance of content. Judging from the budget appropriation of outdoor sports brands, Xiaohongshu is already a necessary place for brands to set aside their budget for social marketing.

Xiaohongshu's current influence on outdoor offline is undoubted, whether it is the drainage effect of a certain scenic spot, or the official cooperation check-in, Red Book is indeed empowering commercial attractions and outdoor routes, bringing a large number of young people and outdoor enthusiasts. The "Wugong Mountain", which has been very popular in the past year, is the best example.

When the influence is verified, the brand and the platform themselves see more possibilities, and the two sides continue to explore how to play. Brands gather enthusiasts to participate in activities on Xiaohongshu, increase consumer favorability through such event marketing, and encircle outdoor users into their brand marketing scope. Xiaohongshu also took advantage of this activity to expand its user base, and it has always been eager for male users, which is of course a very good growth opportunity.

Imagine if Xiaohongshu can hold outdoor events and fan activities, similar to Sparta but without such a high professional threshold, brand sponsorship, KOL gimmicks, and must also be able to gather a lot of vertical users and brand favor. Or for the strategic operation of outdoor creators and MCNs, through incentives and activities, let potential users try to publish high-quality content, let people who are already outdoor bloggers publish content that users want to see, make good use of "popular science", "macro explanation" and "sincere sharing", how to establish the uniqueness and quality of content is something that needs to be broken through and thought, and it is certainly not spotless to attract users to click through the cover and title (which is of course also important).

Finally, at the moment when young people are anxious about life, there is an experience that can relax physically and mentally is what everyone is looking forward to, and a hearty outdoor sports experience can make young people secrete a lot of dopamine.

This article was originally published by @法拉 on Everyone is a Product Manager. Reproduction without the permission of the author is prohibited

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