How can a pair of Shunde fellows harvest the "health dreams" of tens of millions of years?

Text | Mountain Walnut

Understanding the lifestyle of contemporary young people's "one -sided death, one side of health", only one massage instrument is enough.

Close to the work of workers, you will be attracted by various "high -tech" massage instruments. From top to bottom, topped on the head, on the eyes, hanging around the neck, tied to the waist, and even hanging on the legs ... These seem to be full of technology. The portable massage instrument has become one of the important tools for young people to soothe "health anxiety", and it also brings the rise of a number of domestic massage brands including ease and SKG.

In fact, massage instruments are not new. From large massage devices such as massage chairs everywhere in the mall, to home massage deities that are mainly aimed at the "silver -haired crowd", Chinese massage instrument manufacturers will be full of MADE IN as early as the 1990s to do foundry business. CHINA's massage device is sold around the world.

But now, the wind direction has changed. With the iteration of demand and technical update, the massage device gradually moves towards lightweight, portable and intelligent, and major massage small electricity manufacturers have made their best to harvest young people's wallets. Whether it is to drop the top flow of heavy gold, expand the various types of "back pain" of people's contracted people, or combine technology with traditional Chinese medicine to tell a new story of "big health" ...

When "back pain" has become a business, demand and capital have pouted one after another, and the hot portable massage instrument market has always been involved in the "IQ tax".

The "back pain" of young people is becoming a big business

For 24 -year -old Tan Yu, the use of a massage instrument is a activity that she has a sense of ritual after get off work. Click on a fragrant candle, put on the neck massage instrument, and watch a movie with a projector, "can almost forget all the troubles."

Because of the operational operation of e -commerce, overtime is the norm for Tan Yu. "The reason for buying a neck massage instrument is very simple, that is, there is no time to go to the massage shop." In the fast -paced work, Tan Yu was moved by the grass on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu. Neck massage instrument.

Tan Yu is not an example. Open the little red book with the "massage instrument" as the keyword, you will gain a magical new world.

Under tens of thousands of notes, small massage instruments seem to be a must -have for young people's health, and many shared "wonderful effects" describing the massage instrument -"save the head" and "orthopedic doctors all all "The neck is finally back", "The sedentary party is really saved" ...

All kinds of massage instrument products are not only diverse in categories, from the head massage instrument to foot therapy machine, from head to toe, where sour treatment is sour, and there are many elements in the design -those who look like alpaca and cats in shape, The main feature of the cute style; there is also a full sense of black technology, and the head massage instrument is directly made into a massage helmet. Of course, there is also a warm line. Using traditional Chinese medicine physiotherapy to tell new product stories, all kinds of ancient methods and masters' techniques. It was concentrated in a small massage instrument ...

The hotness of massage instruments on social media is an important epitome of the current changes in the market in China. On the one hand, horizontal comparison of the penetration rate of massage devices in various countries. The penetration rate of 1.5%of the domestic massage device is far from the penetration rate of Japan and South Korea.

On the other hand, there are also many opportunities in the market segments. According to data from the Foresight Industry Research Institute, from 2014-2021, the size of the Chinese massage device market increased from 9.7 billion yuan to 18 billion yuan, of which, especially the increase in massage small electricity focusing on the subdivided field. From the perspective of the overall sales scale, massage small electricity has occupied over 50 % of the market share, and the cervical lumbar massage instrument and eye massage instrument have become "fragrant".

Take the massage instrument head brand SKG as an example. In 2021, SKG's cervical vertebral massage instrument sales reached 4.0504 million pieces, selling more than 10,000 pieces a day. In the major promotion reports of major e -commerce platforms, the massage instrument brand has also become one of the few "increments" in the home appliance stock market.

In the secondary market, the massage instrument brand has also become a high -growth star standard. In 2021, the "first share of the smart massage instrument" was easy to log in to the science and technology board. The SKG parent company also submitted a prospectus in the future and planned to be listed on the GEM.

But behind the hot demand, in the face of tens of billions of business, huge profits, IQ taxes, and visible development bottlenecks are issues that must be answered.

Mobility, marketing and technical dilemma, massage instrument is deeply trapped in "IQ Tax Doubt"

Is the massage instrument "IQ tax"?

Regarding this issue, a thousand people often have a thousand "Hamlet". However, according to the latest survey released by DT Finance, in the most popular IQ tax products in 2022, in addition to "beauty" and health care products, intelligent products such as home appliances and mobile phones have also become "IQ tax "High incidence area.

At the moment of consumption towards upgrading, the definition of "IQ tax products" is generalized, and the massage instrument of the two tracks of health and small home appliances has undoubtedly become the hardest hit area for IQ tax.

Under the topics of "Massage instrument is an IQ tax?" Such as Zhihu and Xiaohongshu, it is a green "leek". A Xiaohongshu blogger described the cervical vertebral massage instrument to himself: "Someone feels that someone has held my fate's back neck, and the vitality mode even wants my little life."

Although the experience is personalized, behind the "IQ tax product" of the massage instrument, the market is actually the market's question of its actual value and business model of its products.

First of all, from the perspective of the actual value of the product, the head massage instrument brand is close to Apple's gross profit margin, which is a huge profit. However, whether the actual value of its product has core technology support, you need to get a question mark.

The easy financial report shows that from 2018 to 2021, its comprehensive gross profit margin is close to 60%, and the comprehensive gross profit margin of the upcoming SKG parent company will also be more than 50%in the future. Essence

But small massage instruments cannot be compared with mobile phone hardware at the technical threshold.

On the one hand, on the hardware end, the massage instrument is more like a "vest" in traditional massage therapy, and the degree of innovation in the technical route is not great.

The massage techniques claimed by the major massage instrument brands are nothing more than two types: one is an electromagnetic pulse massage represented by SKG, and the other is the imitation hand -physical kneading massage represented by the easily.

The technical principles of electromagnetic pulse massage are actually applied in the traditional electrotherapy instrument. The internal structure is to stimulate the skin surface and muscle deep in the depths of the skin through the electromagnetic wire core and coils to achieve the function of relaxation.

At SKG, pulse technology has become a mysterious "secret scripture technology". Earlier, the non -network analysts had dismantled the hardware of the SKG massage instrument in "Hard Euctity Demolition" and found that it was more like an "vest" in an electrotherapy instrument. wide.

The technical route that is easy to adopt is more "simple and rude". In short, it is to drive the massage head or airbag through internal machinery and motor. Novelty, but the packaging of talked has become the "antique method" solution.

Li Peng, the director of the Institute of Home Appliances and Light Industry Industry Research Institute of the China Household Electric Research Institute, said in an interview that in recent years, the principle of many portable massage in the market is still the use of mechanical motion or air bag squeeze squeezing production to produce production. The massage function of kneading, cracking, slap, swinging, and vibration of the human parts to achieve the massage function.

So, since there is no significant innovation on the core technology route, how does massage instrument manufacturers tell "scientific and technological stories"?

Financial and economic nobles found that there are three main methods of the head manufacturers:

First, in terms of functional design, crazy "volume" details. "Six -star Sleep Counter", "3D Technology Noodle Materials", "Yoga Cloth", "Graphene 5 seconds of heat" ... Don't let go.

Financial Wuji randomly entered the image of Tmall's flagship as a consumer and asked about the basis of "42 ° C thermal compresses" on its product page. The customer service did not answer positively, and only repeatedly emphasized the selling point of its graphene materials.

Second, in terms of product positioning, touch the porcelain "smart wear" and "medical equipment" products. According to the AI ​​Finance News Agency, SKG has been claiming to be "joint research and development of bone injuries and pain rehabilitation experts" on its brand propaganda materials, which more frequently hints that it is effective in cervical pain and other diseases, and even claims to be medical -grade products.

In addition, at the end of 2020, the SKG brand strategy upgraded new product listing, SKG president Liu Junhong has made it clear that "providing smart wearable and medical device products for everyone and every family" is part of the SKG development vision mission and strategic development plan. Essence

But in a strict sense, the massage instrument itself only plays a health care role, which is far away from medical devices with high thresholds.

Third, in terms of intelligent technology, if the hardware is not enough, the various software functions come together. A simple Bluetooth connection music playback function, in the massage brand mouth, became "mobile phone Bluetooth 3D stereo surround audio therapy", "48DB light -like as cyclic white noise" ...

The above -mentioned packaging around intelligence and technology brings more premium possibilities for the terminal price of the massage instrument brand.

But the high gross profit and high premium did not make the ease "easy". The latest semi -annual report shows that in the first half of 2022, revenue decreased by 15.65%year -on -year, with a loss of more than 300 million in half a year, and net profit decreased by 185.72%year -on -year. The "Science and Technology Board" has not easily brought growth blessings to imagination. Its stock price has fallen by more than 70 % since its listing last year.

It is not that consumers do not like massage, but the bubbles of the massage instrument brands have been pierced.

Anxious massage device brand is looking for a new way out

In fact, after repeatedly trapped the "IQ Tax" dispute, it is difficult for the massage instrument brand to conceal anxiety itself.

On the one hand, from the current competitive pattern, the overall industry of the massage instrument brand is relatively low. According to the data of Xingye Securities, the number of small online and offline massage manufacturers in China exceeds 3,000. Under the fierce market competition, the phenomenon of product homogeneity is serious.

On the other hand, in the process of expanding the market, head manufacturers are far greater than technical investment. Taking it as an example, although it is called a technology company, it is not strong in terms of R & D investment or research and development personnel structure.

From 2018 to 2021, the proportion of easily R & D expenses accounted for current revenue from 5.04%to 3.97%, while sales expenses increased from 36.02%to 40.76%in the same period. In the first half of 2022, the easy -to -sell costs reached 228 million yuan, and the R & D expenses were only 30.31 million yuan. The sales cost was 7 times that of R & D expenses.

From the perspective of personnel structure, in the first half of 2021, the number of ease R & D personnel was 123, accounting for 12.18%of the total number of companies in the company, and the proportion was increased. Only 8.94%.

It is worth mentioning that Chen Qing, who has been listed as a "core technician" in the prospectus, has recently left it easily for personal reasons. Chen Qing has entered a relaxed in 2017, and has the experience of Foxconn, Huawei and other companies.

Under the pressure of product homogeneity and marketing costs, the massage instrument brand began to look for new ways in crowds, categories and channels.

First of all, in terms of crowd strategy, the crowd of the product is gradually covered to all ages. Finance has observed that on the details of the product product details of multiple massage instrument brand products, "Sending Elderly Recommend", "No Tedicate Narrowing Elderly" will be listed as one of the selling points.

On the one hand, the "silver -haired crowd" has natural needs for health care. With the intensification of my country's aging, the size of silver -haired people with massage instrument consumption habits is also expected to further grow. On the other hand, the above -mentioned massage instrument brands anchor the gift giving scene, and most of the young buyers are due to family emotional needs.

From the business of young people to the parent business of young people, "easy" is entering the same rivers with the same competition.

Secondly, in the category, Chinese medicine physiotherapy has become a new track. Since 2021, it will easily launch Jiang Xiaozhu's smart Minghuo moxibustion box, start the "hardware+consumable" model, and use a series of consumables such as moxibustion boxes to increase consumption frequency. In essence, it is to solve the low repurchase rate of the massage instrument.

Specific to pricing, the price of moxibustion boxes is 399 yuan-899 yuan, which is in line with the logic of fast consumption. The moxibustion series, including the moxibustion box, realized revenue of 60.24 million yuan, accounting for 5%of the main business income, and a gross profit margin of 55.02%.

But in addition to sales, opening related second -hand idle websites, consumers do not seem to buy moxibustion boxes. Many users mentioned in the resale information that "used twice", "buy impulsive, and half of Ai Zhu" ...

The reason behind it is not complicated, and the moxibustion box is still a re -engraving of a relaxed massage instrument product -to help the traditional Ai Bi replace the vest with simple intelligence. On the patent transcript displayed on the Jiang Xiaozhu's product page, the exterior design patent is more, and the invention patent accounts for relatively low.

In order to show consumers as soon as possible, the "big health universe" they built -the e -commerce rises and SKG have extended a new round of war to offline channels. As of the end of June this year, the number of stores in the country has reached 202, of which the proportion of direct business stores was close to 80 %. This is the pioneering model that easily sets itself when it is listed -shopping center stores, transportation hubs (including airports, high -speed rail stations, etc.) are places with large people. While improving the brand image Seeing Gao Ping Effect and Gao Returning Rate.

According to the research of Great Wall Securities, in just three years from 2017 to 2020, the relaxed offline channel repurchase rate increased by nearly 14 percentage points, which benefited from the contribution brought by direct -operated stores to a certain extent.

The SKG on the other side also accelerates offline layout this year. According to public information, as of May 31, 2022, SKG has more than 100 flagship stores and specialty stores and more than 1,000 cooperative stores.

The pioneering of offline retail formats is destined to bring greater pressure on the massage instrument brands -it must rely on more stable and large -scale products to enhance the brand and bargaining capabilities.

This is destined to be a more difficult long -distance running competition for the current massage instrument brand. At the beginning of the century, Both Easy and SKG were born in the home appliance manufacturing town in Shunde, Guangzhou. At that time, they might not think that a small portable massage instrument would reshape and extend the traditional massage instrument. Essence

Twenty years later, the massage instrument was divided into complex multi -faceted multi -faceted in the market -IQ tax, huge profits and low technology thresholds, but in any case, there are always people who are as sweet as they are in the face of health.

(The interviewee in the article is a pseudonym)

- END -