Hello, I’m Frank from SnowPlus Overseas Business Department. Today I’m very happy to communicate with all the elites here and discuss the future development trend of the e-cig industry.
SnowPlus is a young and fast-growing brand. From its establishment in January to today, we have experienced a series of processes, such as product testing, sorting out the supply chain, listing and so on. At present, we have achieved excellent results in brand and sales.
At the team building level, we have many elites in top product R&D teams such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Apple, Foxconn, marketing talents of fast consuming brands such as Budweiser, Heineken, Wrigley, CocaCola, and operation experts of Google, Uber and ofo. The whole team has a very strong ability of overseas financing and market expansion. When we gather together, opening the overseas market becomes a mission-like goal.
Since June 2019, SnowPlus has received investments from several venture capital funds and investors, amounting to over US$100 million. Here, I would like to thank all the investors who believe in and look forward to us once again, and in the future, they will be rewarded with better results.
In terms of sales, SnowPlus sold 400,000 units in June and 800,000 units in July. In just four months, we have ranked second in China and third in the world.
Every product of SnowPlus will be tested thousands of times before it goes out of the factory. Keeping improving is an important part of our team concept. What we do is to give users the most comfortable and carefree user experience. So far, SnowPlus has many products such as electronic cigarette, electronic coffee, invisible smoke, disposable cigarette and nocturnal fluorescence series, and has formed the product matrix of “electronic cigarette + disposable cigarette + innovative products”.
Among them, electronic smoke contains five classic fashion color matching and fluorescence special models, and contains 17 innovative flavors. Recently, it launched a series of non-disturbing invisible smoke models. On the basis of zero tar of traditional electronic smoke, it completely eliminates visible smoke and does not interfere with people around it. In addition, we have introduced e coffee as an alternative to electronic cigarettes.
In terms of market channels, by the end of July, the SnowPlus brand had covered 100 cities nationwide, with more than 150 dealers and more than 20,000 terminal retail stores, covering all kinds of offline channels such as large supermarkets, chain convenience stores and so on.
At the domestic market level, SnowPlus has successfully landed in the first and second tier cities. Our Direct stores have opened in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Tianjin and many other cities, and are all in the bustling downtown areas. Our goal is to increase the number of Direct stores to over 1000 by the end of the year.
In foreign markets, we have developed more than a dozen countries and regions, including North America, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, the Philippines, and established local sales channels, operations and marketing systems through core regional markets. At present, it accounts for 15% of overseas marketing. In the next year, we plan to increase the proportion of international sales to 50%.
From the global market point of view, the growth rate of e-cigarette market can be described as rapid. Since 2012, the growth rate of e-cigarette market has been almost explosive. It has not been stable until 2017. The growth rate of e-cigarette market has steadily increased by about 26% annually. Expanding the overseas market has become an irreplaceable part of the strategic planning of SnowPlus enterprises. 。
As for overseas marketing development, SnowPlus, like many other enterprises, is facing all kinds of difficulties and unknowns. We are constantly trying to sum up experience and seek brightness in constant exploration. We are well aware that overseas market is a soil where great opportunities and risks coexist, and all these require us to work with courage and patience.
Cultivating overseas market, of course, can not be separated from the diversification of channels and landing cooperation. At present, SnowPlus’ channel cooperation strategy in the development of overseas markets is divided into three aspects:
1. Self-management model
2. Joint venture model
3. Distribution model
First of all, let’s talk about the self-management mode. We should set up our own local team in different areas that need to be expanded, and establish offline physical stores. We should use team strength to lead the research and development of flavors. At the same time, we should carry out a series of work, such as market development, opening up sales channels, and intensive cultivation and meticulous cultivation of market.
In addition to the joint venture model, we know that each market has its own characteristics. Take the Chinese market for example, in recent years, we have seen too many American enterprises become uncomfortable and sick after coming to China, and how to control the markets of different countries has become an eternal problem in the overseas market. In this regard, the strategy adopted by SnowPlus is to form in-depth cooperation with powerful local companies, form joint ventures, and create value with the strengths of the two companies. In India, for example, we have adopted the strategy of forming joint ventures and made remarkable progress locally.
Finally, when we come to the distribution model, we will send a very professional team to the local market for in-depth investigation, and give sufficient market support to local distributors. At the same time, we will establish a systematic sales strategy based on our survey, and provide customized services for users on the basis of local customs.
Sharing “China Intelligent Manufacturing” with global consumers is the common goal of many Chinese entrepreneurs. Our team has also discussed many times that its goal is not only the domestic market, but also to become a young, attitudinal and innovative brand in the foreign market. In the future, we will also introduce more interconnected upgraded products.
The SnowPlus brand concept can be summarized as two points:
1. Create the healthiest electronic cigarette to make users feel the most comfortable.
2. Always stand with young people.
My team and I are thinking every day about what brand we want to be. What kind of idea do we want to convey to the outside world through our brand?
Excellent and outstanding products have a common characteristic, that is, they can solve existing social problems, which is also our goal from the beginning, to minimize the harm of cigarettes to health.
So let’s talk about the second point. Why do I insist on standing with young people? Because I am also from a younger generation, I hope to stand with our generation forever, and continue to accept younger culture, and continue to create products that young people love.
At the cross-border marketing level, we have cooperated with many well-known music festivals, such as strawberry and mini flute, to let young people experience our products in an environment full of fashion, freedom and artistic elements, and to make “SnowPlus” a hallmark of their avant-garde. Such combination approach is undoubtedly extremely effective. Effective attempts are also areas that our team needs to explore more deeply in the future.
At the same time, our cooperation with domestic variety arts has also made breakthroughs and significant marketing results, “China’s New Rap”, “This! Many of the head dancers in Street Dance have become loyal users of SnowPlus products. At the same time, we have reached further close cooperation with China Creation and Ullens Art Center. In addition, SnowPlus is actively exploring opportunities for cross-border brand marketing cooperation abroad to meet global consumers in a more attitudinal and creative way.
3. Corporate Responsibility
Fashion and youth are the characteristics of our SnowPlus brand, but for such an enterprise, there will always be some outside concerns, especially in terms of compliance and regulation. In the past, the National Health Commission announced that it would further develop the supervision and research of electronic cigarettes.
But what I want to express is that, at first and now, SnowPlus has always been highly concerned about the industry’s regulatory policies and standards, and constantly improves the quality of products in accordance with the actual situation and requirements. We firmly believe that excellent products are the cornerstone of achieving everything. At this point, we will never lower our baseline.
On the other hand, as a social enterprise, SnowPlus is very clear about its sense of social responsibility. Whether it is product packaging, official website or training of offline salesmen, we have always followed a train of thought, that is, strictly prohibiting the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors, and establishing strict spot checks and punishing violations. We”ve also set up distributor management mechanism. We stop the purchase and use of electronic cigarettes by minors through online e-commerce, and intercept the purchase behavior of minors through commercial channels from the source through big data and other means.
In terms of brand promotion, we will also strengthen the awareness of publicity compliance and social responsibility, oppose all acts that hint and encourage minors to use electronic cigarettes, and try to avoid the use of electronic cigarettes by adults in assembly places, especially those with minors.
4. Opening overseas market & win-win (operation & plan)
With the continuous diversification of product matrix and the participation of more investors, SnowPlus will pay more attention to two aspects in the market: the first is to speed up the deep cultivation of overseas sales channels and product development; the second is to innovate overseas market cooperation mode to win-win future of global atomization technology consumption.
Overseas market expansion has always been the goal of our team. In terms of sales channel development, we adopt the “three-dimensional and multi-dimensional” cooperation mode, and take cooperative joint ventures, franchised distribution and regional agents as the basis of the three-dimensional cooperation framework system. We provide multi-dimensional norms and 360 degree complete support programs in product, logistics, brand and local marketing to help partners achieve rapid sales channel and product deployment, brand publicity and short-term profitability.
We attach great importance to the foreign market, and the whole team has done a lot of work for it. For example, in order to cater to consumers in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, the SnowPlus team, after careful and rigorous survey of user habits, launched a Red Bull-flavored cartridge in particular, and has planned to promote it in the near future.
On August 28, this year, the official website of SnowPlus Overseas Edition was officially launched. As an important milestone of SnowPlus’s opening up overseas market, the official website of SnowPlus Overseas Edition will integrate brand display and commodity sales to provide global consumers with perfect experience of product purchase, logistics distribution and consulting services.
Global Logistics System:
Our global logistics layout has been developed as early as 2 months ago. At present, with the Asia-Pacific Shenzhen Warehouse and Dongguan Warehouse as the central warehouse, we have signed more than 40 professional e-cig logistics providers to cooperate with our global logistics delivery.
In the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, Russia and other core operating countries, we are also opening overseas warehousing system. The matched overseas logistics system has been tested online and will realize global intelligent logistics management in the future to meet the all-round needs of online users and offline agents.
As for trade terms, we open a series of models of DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), DAP(Delivered at Place), FOB (Free On Board), FCA (Free Carrier) according to the particularity of the region, in order to cooperate with agents worldwide.
Acknowledgment:
Finally, to achieve such brilliant results, SnowPlus can not do without the help of everyone, including our friends from all walks of investment, media and senior industry experts. Thank you again for coming. SnowPlus looks forward to working together to create a better future.
