21st Century Business Herald reporter Tang Weike and intern Wen Ruonan reported from Guangzhou
In the era of beauty supremacy, the beauty track is increasingly segmented. In recent years, the little colored pupil is expanding at an unprecedented speed with the preference of young people.
The history of color pupil is not very long, strictly speaking, color pupil belongs to the branch of contact lens products. It was first proposed by Johnson & Johnson in the United States to help people with eye injuries cover eye blemishes, and later widely used in film makeup.
Because it is no longer limited to the function of correcting vision like traditional ordinary contact lenses, it has gradually penetrated into work and life, and has become a trendy cosmetic product for fashionable people to dress themselves up and highlight their personality.
The production of color pupils gradually changes the properties of contact lenses, because compared to simple contact lenses, color pupils have an additional layer of “pigment layer”, which can enlarge the pupils and beautify the eyes, which means that not only myopic people can wear it, but also non-myopic people who want to beautify their eyes will also choose to buy.
Therefore, with the production and sales of colored pupils, many young people have fallen in love with this contact lens with dual attributes. In particular, “pseudo-plain makeup” is a new fashion trend for young people in Generation Z, and beauty pupils cater to this trend.
However, the basic user market of the industry is still affected by the myopic population. According to the data of the National Health Commission and the National Visual Health Report, by 2020, the number of myopic patients in China will reach 704 million, and the overall myopia patients will be 50%, of which the prevalence of myopia in the 16-24 age group will reach 94%.
At present, China’s color pupil industry is constantly breaking the circle and ushering in an outbreak. According to the forecast data of Mob Research Institute, by 2025, the market size of China’s color pupil industry will reach 50 billion yuan, which is expected to become the most important market in the world.
However, because the market penetration rate is getting higher and higher, there are many users, and the security problems behind it cannot be ignored. Especially under the prevalence of marketing models such as live streaming, the quality of its products and the safety of its use should be paid more attention.
Nuggets tens of billions of market
A few days ago, Shanghai Median E-Commerce Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of MOODY, the brand with the largest online sales, has completed a series C financing of more than 1 billion yuan, which is jointly led by Wuyuan Capital and KKR, and GGV Jiyuan Capital continues to increase its weight as an old shareholder.
However, in the color pupil industry, it is not MOODY’s family that is “favored”. JUDGING FROM THE FINANCING SITUATION, NEW BRANDS SUCH AS COFANCY, KELALA, AND 4LOOK HAVE RECEIVED CAPITAL BLESSINGS.
In August this year, Cola also completed a series B financing of 400 million yuan, and up to now, the cumulative financing has exceeded 500 million. COFANCY, which has been established for just over two years, has also completed two financings, including many well-known investment institutions such as Sequoia China.
In addition, crossover players are also ready to move. In March this year, Perfect Diary’s official Weibo released the news that the “Xingyue” series of new color pupil products were launched in the official flagship store of Jingdong, and the products were produced by Taiwan’s Xinqi Technology.
In April, a number of biomedical companies also stepped in.
In April, Aibo Medical acquired a 55% stake in Jiangsu Tianyan Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. and accelerated the production of color pupil through complementary businesses. According to the data, Jiangsu Tianyan currently has an annual production capacity of 10 million contact lenses, and the company plans to add some equipment after the acquisition, which can achieve an annual output of 30 million pieces.
In the same month, Haohai Biotechnology subscribed for 60% of the equity of Hebei Xinsikang, a domestic foundry, for RMB 40 million. According to the data, Hebei Xinsikang is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of soft contact lenses, and has obtained 4 medical device registration certificates for soft contact lens products approved by the State Medical Products Administration, with a production capacity of about 20 million pieces per year.
However, Haohai Biotechnology does not stop there. According to its announcement disclosed in May, the company will hold a 79% interest in Contamac, a British silicone hydrogel production line company. It is understood that Contamac Holdings is mainly engaged in the manufacture of contact lenses and intraocular lens materials, including silicone hydrogel materials, breathable materials, hydrophilic lens materials and hydrophobic intraocular lens materials, and is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of independent optometry materials.
This means that the acquisition of Haohai Biotechnology is conducive to building the company’s core competitiveness in the domestic market.
Because from the perspective of domestic contact lens and color pupil production lines, the import registration certificate of silicone hydrogel material is only held by individual international manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson, Cooper, and Alcon, and no domestic manufacturer has the relevant qualifications. In fact, silicone hydrogels with higher oxygen permeability have become the mainstream materials for soft contact lenses in the international market, with a market share of 65%, but the penetration rate in China is not high. And as a third-generation material, the unit price of silicone hydrogel is relatively higher.
After all, Mob Research Institute has predicted that by 2025, the market size of China’s color pupil industry can reach 50 billion yuan, which means that the market worth tens of billions is waiting to be tapped.
Industry insiders also affirmed, “In recent years, the rapid increase in the consumption frequency of Chinese color pupil users and the pursuit of quality have made China gradually become the world’s largest and most important single market.” Xu Bingdong, managing partner of GGV Capital, said.
Marketing attributes crescendo
Spectacles and contact lenses are currently the main glasses options for myopic patients, the latter of which has the effect of liberating both eyes. Since the 80s of the 20th century, international companies such as Haichang and Bausch Lomb have entered the Chinese market, contact lenses have developed rapidly in China, and after the 90s, contact lenses have gradually become popular. In the early days, contact lenses were more functional.
However, the production of color pupils has gradually changed the properties of contact lenses, because compared to simple contact lenses, color pupils have an additional layer of “pigment layer”, which can enlarge the pupils and beautify the eyes, which means that not only myopic people can wear it, but also people without myopia who want to beautify their eyes will also choose to buy.
Therefore, with the production and sales of colored pupils, many young people have fallen in love with this contact lens with dual attributes. According to CBNData data, 70% of consumers who buy contact lenses will also buy colored pupils; 32.9% of online color pupil sales were contributed by non-myopic consumers, which means that color pupil as an attribute of beauty products is gradually accepted by consumers.
However, from the perspective of the producer, the “pigment layer” technology of the color pupil has become the core technology of the enterprise, and the production must ensure that the pigment cannot be removed from the contact lens and enter the ocular surface tissue, otherwise it will have a high risk of eye infection. In addition, from the perspective of beautification function, the design and update cycle of the pattern is also an important factor in enterprise competition.
From the perspective of the current color pupil enterprises in China, the new stars have cut in from the pattern design.
According to the statistics of the 21st Century Business Herald reporter on the flagship store of the Taobao platform, the official flagship store of MOODY has more than 70 kinds of color pupils on sale, and COFANCY (candy) also has more than 30 kinds of colors, and its main differentiated pattern, currently the first functional high-gloss pupil, the selling point is to create a three-dimensional sense of eyes.
Older contact lens companies have relatively few suits, with 22 suits in Johnson & Johnson’s Anshiyo flagship store, while Cooper has only 3 colors of color pupils on sale.
“Beauty products have always had the characteristics of strong marketing, and Caitong currently has such a trend, because the variety of rich suits means that more attention should be paid to the later marketing to promote the frequency of consumer purchase, which is the same as the color design and marketing logic of lipstick.” Industry insiders frankly told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter.
From the current marketing situation, KOLs in the color pupil industry, such as bringing goods, IP co-branding, big-name endorsements, membership systems, and private domain communities, are all used by various companies.
In fact, public information shows that many of the founding teams of the new color pupil brand are from marketing. Taking the COFANCY team as an example, its CEO served as the director of e-commerce operations of Afu essential oil, and during his tenure, he won the first place on Tmall Beauty Double 11 for two consecutive years, creating a variety of innovative ways to play in the e-commerce industry; In addition, its co-founder Caroline Chen was also a former Taobao multi-million-level celebrity shopkeeper.
Security risks remain
However, the color pupil that is popular in the capital market has repeatedly caused many negative events such as complications due to irregular production and sales and unclear user precautions more than ten years ago, which also makes the color pupil industry not optimistic before.
So, while today’s colored pupils add points to beauty, do they still bring unpredictable health risks?
Shen Xuzhong, the attending physician of the fundus of Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, publicly said, “If ordinary contact lenses are not worn properly, all problems encountered will appear in the colored pupils, such as sensitive eyes, dry hair, keratitis, conjunctivitis, corneal damage, corneal edema, corneal ulcers, giant papillary conjunctivitis and other complications.” In addition, the color pupil also has an additional layer of pigment, and large manufacturers usually use a ‘sandwich-style’ structure to sandwich the pigment layer between the lenses. However, many colored contact lenses are prone to problems such as pigment shedding and adhering bacteria because the process of the pigment layer is not up to standard, and the pigment cannot be fully wrapped. Other manufacturers will attach the pigment directly to the inner or outer surface of the contact lens, which means that more bacteria and microorganisms will adhere to it, and it will greatly increase the risk of color loss. ”
A study published in the American journal Clinical and Experimental Optometry in 2014 tested the pigment distribution of 7 kinds of commercially available color films, and the results also showed that the pigment of some of them was exposed to the surface of the lens, and did not fully envelop the pigment as claimed by various manufacturers.
“The country has long clearly designated contact lenses as Class III medical devices, wearers should first undergo eye examination, go to relevant qualified optical stores to buy big brands, regular color contact lenses, and wear them under the guidance of professionals.” Therefore, the qualifications of relevant online platforms and live streaming goods are questionable. Secondly, the quality of its products should also be carefully screened. Professor Huang Minli of the Department of Ophthalmology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University said.
In addition, Professor Huang Minli specially reminded that “wearing soft contact lenses with beauty pupils or cosmetic effects should be performed at a qualified medical institution or optometry clinic, under the guidance of professionals, and should choose qualified products produced by regular manufacturers; When wearing, it is necessary to clean, disinfect and wear in strict accordance with the operating procedures; In terms of the length of use, it should be used according to the specifications and characteristics of the product, such as daily throwing type, weekly throwing type should be used on schedule, regularly replace lenses, it is strictly forbidden to use beyond the deadline, it is strictly forbidden to wear overnight, and regularly review the ocular surface. If there is any discomfort or abnormality during the wearing process, it should be checked by a qualified unit or medical institution in time to avoid damage to the ocular surface tissue caused by delay, resulting in permanent visual damage. ”
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