The beauty economy has thrived in recent years, and small appliances in personal care have emerged as a potent force. Traditional home appliance brands, such as Povos, Bear Electric, Midea, and others, have continuously tried to enter the household beauty device market. In addition, internet giants like Huawei, Xiaomi, Tencent, and others have quietly entered the scene, with Xiaomi investing in four beauty device companies within a year.
The competitive landscape is stratifying amid intense competition. JOVS is a domestic beauty device brand that has broken through in the bustling track. Since its establishment, JOVS has successfully secured two financing rounds in the billion yuan range. After entering the Japanese market for two years, JOVS has sold 100,000 hair removal devices, claiming the top spot in sales in 15 categories, including electronics, beauty and health, and hair removal, on Japan’s Rakuten platform.
As a category with a prolonged usage cycle and low repurchase rate, how has JOVS managed to create high average order value products in a short time and successfully penetrate the Japanese market, the “home turf” of beauty devices?
Positioning: A High-end, Intelligent Beauty And Skincare Brand
In the past, the stereotype of “Made in China = cheap goods” had been a pain point for domestic products, and the beauty device category was no exception. As early as 2016, some white-label sellers brought domestically priced beauty devices to Amazon, emphasizing low prices. However, JOVS initially differentiated itself from other domestic products, positioning itself as a high-end intelligent beauty and skincare brand.
According to JOVS, high-end products are not just about raising prices. It’s about ensuring every touchpoint with the user is of high quality. Therefore, in the early stages of product development, JOVS conducted user research from multiple dimensions, such as the usage scenario, motivation, and utility evaluation of hair removal devices. At that time, the product usage cycle was a significant pain point in the market. Typically, an 8-week cycle completes an entire hair removal process, and after this period, the device risks becoming unused.
Thus, JOVS adopted the design concept of “multi-use without idle time,” combining hair removal and beauty devices. JOVS added skin rejuvenation effects to the hair removal process, protecting the skin during hair removal and allowing the device to be used independently as a skin rejuvenation beauty device after hair removal, completely solving the category’s pain point of idle devices gathering dust.
Considering users’ hygiene needs, JOVS also incorporated a multi-filter head design for different areas, eliminating user concerns about usage.
JOVS’s “Hair Removal + Skin Rejuvenation” beauty device breaks the traditional single-functionality issue of hair removal devices. It has also become JOVS’s core technological barrier. In its first year online, JOVS achieved a single-product GMV exceeding 300 million.
International Expansion Strategy: Differentiation
In 2020, JOVS established its overseas business unit, initially focusing on the European and American markets. Successfully entering the U.S. market strengthened JOVS’s positioning as a high-end brand and set the stage for further expansion into other countries, creating a “downward” potential.
In its international expansion strategy, JOVS made some localization adjustments. Compared to domestic users who prioritize creating consumption scenarios, users in Europe and America are more concerned about product functionality and brand values. Recognizing this, JOVS downplayed scene setting in its promotion, instead emphasizing the intelligent practicality of its products to attract these users through product strength and brand values.
In less than a year, JOVS secured the top spot in sales for similar products in the United Kingdom and was recognized as the best hair removal device of the year by an independent British newspaper.
After establishing a strong presence in developed countries in Europe and America, JOVS shifted its focus to Japan. Japanese users have a mature understanding of the beauty device category, eliminating the need for additional market education and the cultivation of essential habits.
Unlike the predominantly female consumer group for hair removal devices in China, males are also a significant consumer group for these products in Japan. JOVS added a powerful mode to its product lineup to target male users with relatively thicker hair. The packaging design also aligns with Japanese aesthetic preferences, featuring a minimalist and natural style.
While strengthening product capabilities, JOVS continuously invested in core technology research and development. The product iteration cycle for local Japanese brands is typically 2 to 3 years, whereas JOVS can launch new products within six months to 1 year.
In 2021, shortly after launching on Japan’s Rakuten platform, JOVS consistently secured the top spot in five categories. In the first half of 2023, JOVS’s hair removal device achieved the top sales in 15 categories on Rakuten, including electronics, beauty and health, and hair removal. By 2023, JOVS’s hair removal device had accumulated over 100,000 units in sales in Japan.
Promotion: Relying on Top Influencers Online, Expanding High-end Channels Offline
Hair removal and beauty devices require strict endorsement from top influencers to prove the brand’s capabilities and dispel market doubts. To achieve this, JOVS primarily collaborates with top influencers in the educational and beauty fields, employing a strategy of high-profile promotion to ignite discussions continuously.
On the one hand, these influencers utilize content to educate, explain products, and conduct comprehensive reviews, planting seeds of interest in the products.
On the other hand, leveraging the professionalism and influence of these influencers in the industry enhances product trustworthiness, reaching diverse fan bases in different vertical fields to increase brand awareness.
With significant online buzz generated, the brand’s offline presence also needs to keep up, especially in the Japanese market, where the physical economy is more developed than the e-commerce economy.
To fully integrate into the Japanese market, the JOVS team made considerable efforts to secure partnerships with high-end supermarkets and home appliance chains in Japan, such as Ginza and Nojima. Furthermore, JOVS has established brand awareness and momentum through pop-up stores, large music festivals, and outdoor billboards.
So far, JOVS has garnered nearly one million users in over 70 countries worldwide.
Summary
JOVS is one of the successful representatives in the beauty device industry. With intense market competition and price wars, JOVS successfully navigated through innovative products and collaborations with top influencers, achieving long-term brand development.
JOVS implemented a differentiated marketing strategy in global expansion, making localized adjustments based on different markets and user needs, leading to remarkable achievements. With the rise of the beauty economy, the beauty device market is witnessing a trend towards segmented categories.
JOVS, with its profound understanding of consumer pain points and continuous technological innovation, has successfully stood out in the fiercely competitive industry.
In the future, driven by consumer upgrades, maintaining a leading position in the competitive beauty device market will require continuous exploration of market demands and deep investment in technological research and development.