The once glorious vertical e -commerce has become the "tears of the times", where is the transformation path

Recently, the official website of Mi Na announced that the company will stop the honey bud app service on September 10, 2022. Maternal and baby vertical e -commerce companies lose another city.

Not only the honey buds, the once -prosperous Jumei Youpin, Beauty Theory, Le Beewang, and Mushroom Street faced shutdown, transformation or delisting. The old players are Dangdang and Vipshop, and the volume is also difficult to be the same as JD.com, which is transformed from the digital field. In the encirclement of comprehensive e -commerce, the vertical e -commerce companies that have touched the ceiling of the ceiling are gradually losing their positions.

The retreat of vertical e -commerce is just like the epitome of a industry entering the dusk. Whether to sell a giant or transition to survive, it has become a realistic problem in front of many companies. Why did the once glorious vertical e -commerce become "tears of the times"? What are the business laws behind? A reporter from China City Daily conducted in -depth interviews and analysis.

Why is the vertical e -commerce declined at the dark

Around 2010, the rise of vertical e -commerce in China is characterized by "narrow and deep", providing consumers with professional product purchase services in specific market segments.

For more than 10 years, in the myth of getting rich overnight, investment came one after another, and the unicorn has emerged. The story of "small and beautiful" has emerged in the fields of flowers, mothers and infants, luxury goods, fresh, wine and pets.

On May 16, 2014, Jumei Youpin was listed on the US New York Stock Exchange. The opening price was $ 27.5, a 22%increase from the issuance price. When Siku.com landed on Nasdaq on September 22, 2017, when it became the "first share of Chinese luxury e -commerce companies", it broke on the first day and opened for $ 12.1/share. Compared with Jumei Youpin 3 years ago, the treatment is dwarfed, indicating that the market is abandoning vertical e -commerce. The reporter checked the data of the company, and the financing information of many players in this field stayed before 2016.

It may not be possible to see the dawn until it goes on the market. In April 2020, Jumei Youpin delisted, and the stock price before its privatization had fallen 93%compared to the issue price. Saku 2021 lost about $ 88.66 million throughout the year, a cliff -like decrease of 686.56%year -on -year, and the stock price was less than $ 1 for a long time. The company's investigation shows that Siku is listed as the executed person because of "false delivery" and "refusal to refund" and other public opinion and judicial storms. In addition, pet e -commerce Boqi.com, mother and infant products e -commerce baby trees have not yet gone out of losing money, and alcohol e -commerce wine fairy nets are listed. Vipshop's first quarter of 2022 showed that the company's revenue fell 11.11%year -on -year, and the net profit of the mother after deduction fell by 29.10%.

Vertical e -commerce has approached the dark moment. According to Yibang Power Data, 36 vertical e -commerce closures in the first eight months of 2021, including the previous markets such as Yi 23, Tongcheng Life, Global Tesco, and Finding Oil Network.

"The user base of vertical e -commerce itself is limited, and it is easier to touch the ceiling. In addition, the requirements for accurate sales of traffic have increased the difficulty and cost of traffic acquisition." Industry insiders told reporters.

"On the one hand, vertical e -commerce drainage capabilities are weak and traffic costs are getting more and more expensive. Compared with all -class e -commerce and video e -commerce companies, vertical e -commerce has weak ability to attract and retain consumers; on the other hand, vertical vertical Insufficient e -commerce operation capabilities, most vertical e -commerce supply chain management capabilities, brand building capabilities, big data analysis capabilities, and weak acceptance capabilities for new models such as short videos and live broadcasts. " Hong Yong said.

"In the early days, the vertical e -commerce stalls were not large. They used concepts to tell stories, burn money to fight price wars, launch customer advertisements, make money and drink, and construct a false and prosperous market." Yang told reporters, "The success myth of vertical e -commerce may be a pseudo -proposition at the beginning. Fans obtained by relying on low -cost subsidies are more sensitive to prices and are easy to come. Once the price of vertical e -commerce has lost its advantage, and then the advantage of the price Without operating their own characteristics, users will grow stagnant and even lose. "

The stronger platform of the strong platform

"When did I start to abandon vertical e -commerce? Maybe I bought fakes, maybe I changed my mobile phone, or forgot them. In recent years, except Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, I have never installed other e -commerce apps again . "Lu Fen, a 25 -year -old white -collar worker in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, said," This does not require any 'disconnection of departure'. The alternative of e -commerce is very strong.

Theoretically, the efficiency of vertical e -commerce should be higher, and it can be deeply cultivated in a certain category. It not only meets the highly divided labor and highly professional development trend, but also provides more intimate services to enhance consumer stickiness.

In fact, the reporter found that consumers will not stay, and they will always be more cost -effective. It is not a competitive product that kills vertical e -commerce, but a comprehensive e -commerce platform. During several e -commerce iterations, Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo and other head players divided the market. Live e -commerce companies such as Douyin and Kuaishou gradually rose. Logistics and anti -risk capabilities are also a dimension reduction of vertical e -commerce.

"Platform centralization is a major trend." Lai Yang believes that each e -commerce company wants to have a private domain traffic and build its own 'independent kingdom'. But only a few companies can become large comprehensive e -commerce platforms.

“垂直电商只经营一个品类市场，购物频次和量级是不够的，利润也有限，需要持续花费成本获客与召回。”一位电商业内人士对记者表示，对消费者而言，到Vertical e -commerce platforms are not the shortest path. Buying together on the integrated e -commerce platform is more in line with shopping habits. "Consumers' purchase behaviors will be concentrated on a few comprehensive platforms. Not only have we rich choices, but many products are exposed through algorithm recommendations, interconnected, and more personalized. Merchants are also willing to promote products on large platforms, and competition is even more competitive. Fierce, consumers are more likely to benefit from the price war. "Lai Yang said that the volume of vertical e -commerce is small, low in traffic, and single categories. The merchants settled in are limited, and the price and service have advantages.

Throughout the development of Internet e -commerce, resources and flows gather towards the head, the Internet is oligopolized, and e -commerce has entered a stronger era of strong people. Some experts believe that this is also in line with the "Metcaoff Law", that is, the value of a network is directly proportional to the square number of the number of network nodes. Understanding nodes as users can explain why the core of Internet growth is "user growth", and the essence of burning money to fight the price war is also "robbing users".

"At present, vertical e -commerce has rarely succeeded in the world. The high customer acquisition cost of vertical e -commerce and the low operating efficiency are too low, and there is no way to compete with the comprehensive e -commerce platform." Zhuang Shuai, the founder of Bailian Consulting, told reporters that the only way out is to become a supply chain company, settle in the comprehensive e -commerce platform and content e -commerce platform to develop, and abandon the independent e -commerce platform model.

"Opening the flagship store on the comprehensive e -commerce platform, develop personalized, exclusive agency rights or own brands, and transform from vertical e -commerce to vertical brands, can you survive from fierce market competition." Lai Yang also holds holding There are similar views.

How to transform from the winter to vertical e -commerce

Vertical is a starting point, but it is not the end.

JD.com, who started digital vertical e -commerce, is a model of transformed players. In 2008, JD.com began to sell department stores on sale daily. From vertical e -commerce transformation comprehensive e -commerce platform, it can now compete with Taobao and Pinduoduo. Self -built logistics is a fulcrum that Jingdong successfully transformed into a comprehensive e -commerce by vertical e -commerce. Recently, Jingdong Logistics has become the first "Urban Datsuki" project in the country in the "Asia One" Intelligent Logistics Park in Banan, Chongqing.

Looking at Amazon again, it started with the book category, and now it is a world -class comprehensive e -commerce. The latest data shows that Amazon has 310 million active buyers around the world.

However, it is also necessary to see that if you choose horizontal expansion categories, vertical e -commerce must face Taobao, Pinduoduo and JD.com, which have basically completed the category layout. As the giant's siphon effect worsen, there are fewer and fewer opportunities left to small and medium -sized players, and it is very difficult to break through.

When people lose their land, they all exist. The vertical e -commerce company is still holding the traditional business line in the hands of the decline. The accumulation of many years in the professional field is a difficult competitive advantage. Many companies do not sit still, but lose weight, maintain the value of IP, retain loyal users, and actively look for transformation opportunities.

In 2017, Jiuxian.com began to deploy offline retail channels and opened "Jiuxian.com International Famous Wine City". The proportion of offline sales has increased, and its financial situation has also begun to turn. It has gradually been washed away the traditional label of "vertical e -commerce". At the end of 2020, the number of "Jiuxian.com International Famous Wine City" was 549, and offline revenue increased from 290 million yuan in 2018 to 890 million yuan in 2020, accounting for 24%of Jiuxian.com's total revenue.

"Vertical e -commerce can provide users with more added value products and services when integrated the upstream and downstream resources of the industrial chain." Industry insiders said that this requires vertical e -commerce to "make the standards to make features and non -standard products. Make a brand. "

In 2017, Honey bud began to transform from the platform to a brand management company. It built its own supply chain and created its own channels. The honey buds' own brand "Bunny Mom Selection" was officially launched, mainly to solve the pain points of consumers. Recently, Honey buds cut off the APP business, reducing the operating costs of independent platforms, and concentrating on the development of live e -commerce and own brands. The unicorns, who had traveled half of their lives, finally returned to the integrated e -commerce platform.

"In today's continuous development of e -commerce, there are many tools for e -commerce merchants or e -commerce platforms, such as PC -end web pages, APPs, WeChat applets, borrowing third -party platforms, etc. One of the tools for operation. "Cheng Liang, a special researcher at the Internet of the Internet Electronic Commerce Research Center and a lawyer of Shanghai Rongfu Law Firm, said in an interview with a reporter. Continue to serve users.

Facing the trend of transformation, industry insiders said: "Whether it is vertical deep cultivation, provides personalized professional services; or to expand horizontally and take the road of expanding categories. For vertical e -commerce, both roads are not easy to go."

The transformation is a must, leaving a lot of vertical e -commerce in the twilight.

■ China City News Reporter: Fang Ziwei

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