Who bought the sky-high priced face cream in Xiaohui Zhang's live-streaming room? | Business Friday

Text | He Zhexin

Editor | Qiao Qian

Wendy said that she initially paid attention to Zhang Xiaohui because "she is from our era and feels very familiar."

Like many people, she also first learned about GOTUKOLA, MY.ORGANICS, Augustinus Bader, and ARgENTUM in Zhang Xiaohui's live stream. She self-mockingly said that her English proficiency has deteriorated significantly after retirement. At the beginning of watching the live stream, she had to prepare a pen and paper. When the anchor mentioned a product, she quickly wrote it down.

Wendy is 56 years old and rarely uses social media. After her daughter went to study in Germany, she posts on Xiaohongshu more frequently than on Moments. She registered an account and leaves a message under her daughter's posts every day: "Baby, eat well, drink well, and be happy every day."

Many people say that Zhang Xiaohui's live stream is different from others, with culture and aesthetics. Wendy agrees, "Other live streams are noisy and chaotic, and it's simply impossible to watch them."

When introducing eye shadow, Zhang Xiaohui described the color as the "fairy's veil" in Botticelli's famous painting "Spring", and said that the nude lipstick looks like "the color of a French art film heroine's lips after just having kissed". Before the end of a live stream, Zhang Xiaohui put on a Chole dress with a velvet shawl and read Shakespeare, as if it were a classical literature class.

Zhang Xiaohui is in her early 60s, with bright eyes and smooth cheeks. With the help of a beauty camera, one could believe that she is just over 40. When introducing skin care brands, she slightly angrily mentioned the pressure of appearance anxiety that society gives to women. She said that for skin care products, less is more, and a consistent daily skin care routine is better than spending a lot of money on fillers.

Wendy strongly agrees.

"At first, I only bought the Augustinus Bader lipstick," A few days later, Wendy placed an order for a bottle of cream. It is 30 milliliters and costs a little over 2,000 yuan. When asked about the effect, Wendy hesitated for a moment and said, "The skin feel is not bad."

"People who watch Zhang Xiaohui's live stream already have a high purchasing power, and Zhang Xiaohui's way of speaking makes people believe that she is really using this product." Zhou Yu, an insider in the live streaming industry, told 36Kr.

Zhou Yu gave an example of a nail polish. Generally, the anchor would just say that it dries quickly, but Zhang Xiaohui would further explain how long it takes to dry approximately and how long after applying the first layer can the second layer be applied. "These are the pain points that users themselves haven't noticed."

In an offline sharing session, Zhang Xiaohui said that when she applies neck cream, she often stands in front of the bathroom mirror and wonders whether she should apply it upward or downward. She mentioned that a French brand's physical therapist demonstrated for her. Strangely, although the audience didn't see it with their own eyes, they already have the impression that this brand's cream can prevent neck wrinkles.

"She is very good at visualizing the demands that users have difficulty describing psychologically." Luan Ju, the former head of beauty care merchants on Xiaohongshu E-commerce, summarized.

Last year, Xiaohongshu established the strategy of "buyer" e-commerce, hoping to find the possibility of making profits from this platform that generates "40 million shopping demands" every day. Luan Ju said in a podcast program that the biggest difference between Xiaohongshu's e-commerce and other platforms lies in "people". It hopes that users can establish a link with buyers to be attracted to the products they recommend.

According to her, buyers are the first batch of seed users of the brand, not salespeople. The fans of buyers are also the core consumers of the brand. As the brand develops, "it spreads out in circles."

"As a niche brand with a relatively high unit value, our cooperation with Xiaohongshu has led to a significant data growth feedback on multiple social media platforms, directly driving the subsequent brand promotion." Isabelle Zhuang, the general manager of Augustinus Bader in China, once gave such an evaluation.

In the just-ended Zhang Xiaohui's Double 11 live stream, Augustinus Bader sold 14 million in a single session. One of the founders of Augustinus Bader, Charles Rosier, predicts that the overall business is expected to achieve a 40% growth this year, with sales expected to be between 130 million and 140 million US dollars. In the future, the possibility of selling the brand is not excluded.

Xiaohongshu has always been the "ladder" for overseas skin care brands like Augustinus Bader to enter China. Some new domestic brands and domestic agents have also begun to notice the seeding opportunities under the buyer e-commerce model.

Shuiyang Co., Ltd. recently acquired the American luxury brand ReVive and already has three high-end skin care brands. In the first half of 2024, most of Shuiyang Co., Ltd.'s marketing expenses were spent on the seeding and promotion of high-end brands. Data shows that two products of Evidens de Beaute, the Super Mask and the Essence Sunscreen, have the highest penetration rate among the high-end luxury population on Xiaohongshu.

High-priced beauty products may also be able to find an online sales model on Xiaohongshu that rivals the circle effect of offline stores, but the prerequisite is to find a buyer like Zhang Xiaohui. As for Zhang Xiaohui's fans, you can say that they are high-end users who are particular about product quality, brand origin, cultural concepts, and even the founder's story. This is also the group that brands most hope to reach.

Since the "real socialite" Zhang Xiaohui became popular in her live stream, more and more similar live streamers have appeared on Xiaohongshu. The characteristics of these live streamers are very similar: they are mature women, come from a well-off background, have rich experiences, and have a good aesthetic taste. CTT is a Xiaohongshu buyer with less than 40,000 fans. In her notes, most of them are about the good product experience of following Zhang Xiaohui and Yi Nengjing. Brands should perhaps be vigilant that when the personas and product selection of buyers are similar, price comparisons will reappear.

Another uncertainty in using "people" as a medium to convey brand value is that buyers may not know why their fans follow them.

The post-90s Xiaohongshu user @rukton is a fan of Zhang Xiaohui. She said that she was purely influenced by Zhang Xiaohui's seriousness. "Many of my friends regard consumption as entertainment and a way to relieve stress. Zhang Xiaohui represents a completely different type of person. She is really good at consuming and is willing to think about how to consume to make herself happier."

@rukton once vowed not to spend a penny on high-priced cosmetics, but still placed an order for the most popular scalp care product Mr Organics in the live stream. Recently, she found that it is cheaper to buy it on Taobao, so she switched to placing an order on Taobao.

In June of this year, Zhang Xiaohui made her debut on Taobao. The live stream viewership just exceeded 10 million, and she gained 195,000 followers. The highest unit sales was more than 3,000. This is not a result worth reporting.

Zhang Xiaohui is the most perfect Xiaohongshu buyer, but her success may only belong to Xiaohongshu.