30 million portable mini fans from China have been sold in five years, becoming popular in North America and Southeast Asia | Insight Global

Written by Hu Yiting

Edited by Yuan Silai

Editor's Note: As globalization increasingly becomes the core strategy of many Chinese companies, how to compete in the global market has become an extremely professional topic. In the evolution of globalization, many Chinese brands have emerged at the forefront. In view of this, Hardcore氪specially launches the "Insight Global" column to explore the cutting-edge directions and opportunities of global brands from the growth and changes of brands, providing thoughts and inspiration for Chinese brand players and the industry.

This is our 33rd column - In 2016, JisuTech "JisuLife" was established in Shenzhen. After becoming the number one in the domestic handheld portable fan category, it went global in 2019. Up to now, it has accumulated more than 30 million units shipped overseas in the past five years. Currently, its pricing is in the mid-to-high range of $20 - $90, but it still ships tens of millions of units annually in North America and Southeast Asia. To explore how Chinese brands establish mid-to-high-end brand perception in the overseas small category track, we had a chat with Chen Liang, CMO of JisuTech.

In April in California, the Coachella Music Festival was filled with a lively atmosphere, and excited people held small fans, joining the carnival in the slightest coolness.

Beyond large music festivals, portable small fans have also entered the streets and households overseas, becoming an increasingly common daily item.

Portable small fans belong to a more subdivided category under small household appliances, and are slightly less noticeable compared to large items. However, in this sub-divided track, a leading company has emerged - JisuTech "JisuLife" from Shenzhen has raised the product pricing to $20 - $90, achieving the number one global annual shipment for three consecutive years, with over 30 million units sold overseas in five years.

Looking back at JisuTech's overseas expansion process, it can be seen that it started to layout overseas business in 2019, starting from the North American station of Amazon. Its first product became the number one in the category within just one year. Currently, JisuTech takes North America and Southeast Asia as the main markets and has become the number one in the usb fan category on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok (Southeast Asia).

In order to meet consumer habits and enhance the brand power, JisuTech's online and offline channel construction is carried out almost simultaneously. In terms of offline layout, it mainly focuses on large retail supermarkets and collection stores, and has now entered more than 3,000 offline stores worldwide, including Walmart and Costco.

Currently, JisuTech has more than 150 R & D personnel, accounting for more than 50% of the company. Under the technological iteration, the company has entered the stage of expanding products in subdivided scenarios and building the brand. Positioned in the mid-to-high end, but able to achieve tens of millions of shipments. Regarding this, we had a chat with Chen Liang, CMO and partner of JisuTech.

Domestic First, Subdivided Category Iteration

JisuTech started in China and was established in Shenzhen in 2016. It spent four years exploring the e-commerce model and launched multiple categories such as audio speakers and power banks during this period.

Until 2018, JisuTech decided to focus on the portable small fan category. Chen Liang told Hardcore氪 that at that time, there were many mixed products in the domestic market, and the national and industry standards had not yet been formulated. Inferior products generally had problems with battery protection measures and rough mold shell materials, and the prices were very cheap.

The founding team of JisuTech are all industrial designers. In order to create product differences, they invested in R & D and design in terms of wind power and battery life of the portable small fan. After the first long battery life handheld fan was launched on the domestic e-commerce platform, it quickly achieved the number one sales.

After verification in the domestic market, due to the obvious seasonal attribute of the portable small fan, in order to stabilize the supply chain and improve inventory turnover, JisuTech chose to go global in 2019.

With a high-end product and brand positioning and more e-commerce sales experience, in order to cover more users with higher consumption capacity, it set its first stop as the North American station of Amazon. One year later, its classic Bear Folding Fan became the number one in the category. Currently, JisuTech has launched dozens of products on Amazon, with the portable small fan as the main product, with a pricing range of about $20 - $90.

Classic Bear Folding Fan, Picture Source: Enterprise

Even though the small fan is a daily necessity, there is still room for iteration in terms of function and design. JisuTech observed that handheld fans are inconvenient in subdivided scenarios such as walking the dog, exercising, doing housework, and outdoor activities. Therefore, it pioneered the development of the bladeless neck-hanging fan to free the hands. This product also won the Best Seller in the first year it was launched overseas.

When talking about the positive market feedback, Chen Liang said that overseas users have the habit of giving gifts daily. After purchasing a small fan, they will recommend it or give it as a gift to family and friends, which also accelerates the sales growth.

In 2022, JisuTech iterated the bladed fan to the bladeless model, which is more convenient for children to use safely. In the past two years, its R & D team has re-optimized the structural design of the air duct and motor, so that the bladeless product has a better performance in wind power. Last year, JisuTech once again invested in the R & D and design of the motor, launching the high-speed energy-saving small fan category, and embedding the aerospace-grade turbine fan blade, so that the wind power of the product is increased by 30% at the same rotational speed.

Chen Liang told Hardcore氪 that the R & D and innovation of the high-speed energy-saving fan system can ensure high-speed wind power while having less battery life attenuation, and it can still be used for 16 - 18 hours in the first gear.

High-speed Energy-saving Small Fan, Picture Source: Enterprise

In addition to the core functions, the high-speed energy-saving small fan of JisuTech also has a higher charging efficiency. Users can use the fast charging head of their mobile phone to charge it before going out, and it can be fully charged within 1.5 - 2.5 hours for a whole day of use.

Currently, the high-speed energy-saving small fan is the main product of JisuTech, and in the future, it will also launch high-performance products with a larger battery capacity in subdivided scenarios such as the desktop and outdoor.

Emphasizing Basic Needs, Targeting Subdivided Groups

The small fan is still a general-purpose product. During the process of going global, JisuTech chose to enhance the core performance rather than launching products limited to specific regions to meet the usage needs of users in different countries.

Chen Liang believes that the four basic needs of users for portable small fans are generally long battery life, strong wind power, portability, and low noise. In the process of balancing these selling points, the company chose to classify products with different performances.

This year, JisuTech has launched three major series of high-speed energy-saving small fans: Life, Ultra, and Pro. The Life series products all have 5 levels of wind power adjustment, equipped with a 5000mAh battery capacity that can last for about 20 hours, suitable for daily use; the Ultra and Pro series have set 1 - 100 levels of wind power gears, allowing users in different hot regions to adjust the wind speed at will. They both adopt a turbine air outlet design and are equipped with a three-phase high-speed energy-saving fan, matching the groups pursuing high performance.

After collecting user feedback, JisuTech conducts small-version iterations for some products every year; when new research results are obtained for core components such as the motor, it will complete the large-version iteration of the core components in 2 - 3 years.

While classifying and iterating, due to the different purchasing groups in North America and Southeast Asia, JisuTech also launches single products for use in more subdivided scenarios and differentiated marketing.

Chen Liang introduced that the main purchasing group of the brand in North America is middle-aged family women aged 35 - 45, while in Southeast Asia, it is mainly young people.

Facing the parenting needs of family women, JisuTech launched the Baby Stroller Fan this year. It adopts an octopus-like attaching shape, allowing it to be fixed on the baby stroller. It is equipped with a bladeless and strong wind power (wind speed up to 5m/s) design, adding functions such as air purification and 270-degree automatic head shaking. It can last for 17.5 hours to meet the needs of babies when they fall asleep.

Baby Stroller

In addition, middle-aged women in North America generally experience hot flashes during menopause, and they have a higher demand for cooling and heat dissipation. Therefore, in terms of marketing content and promotion, JisuTech conducts deeper exploration of the lifestyle and stage of this group.

In the second-largest market, Southeast Asia, the consumer groups in the two key regions of Thailand and Malaysia are mostly young people who pursue fashion and trends. JisuTech has put more effort into online and offline advertising. It cooperates with local influencers to launch more localized marketing content and signs local popular spokespersons to enhance brand awareness.

Overseas Social Media Marketing, Picture Source: Enterprise

At the same time, JisuTech enters high-end supermarkets in places like Bangkok to get closer to more consuming power groups and improve users' acceptance of product prices.

Compared with the previous judgments on the consumption power in Southeast Asia and North America, Chen Liang observed that due to the rapid development of e-commerce platforms such as TEMU in the North American market and the richer product options for users, the price sensitivity of North American consumers is higher than that of the purchasing group of the brand in Southeast Asia, and the price system in the North American market has also become more complex than in the early stage.

In response to this, JisuTech found that young consumer groups in Southeast Asia are willing to pay for appearance, performance, and fashion trends. The company chose to layout brand spokespersons, fashion stars, campus activities, and offline music festivals and other marketing actions. In North America, because the targeted consumer group is older, it emphasizes the shaping of functions and scene content in marketing.

Currently, JisuTech has taken the lead in the portable small fan track, taking North America and Southeast Asia as the core markets, with overseas accounting for about 70% of the total revenue. However, it also faces the impact of macro factors such as economic downturn and changes in the consumption environment. How to strengthen consumer perception to maintain brand premium is quite important.