text｜Wang Yaqi
Edit｜Siwen
In the ski resort, the handsome guy wearing fashionable ski suits has only a 50% chance of being a master.
Even the burton AK457, which was once praised by the Party, has become no longer strange now - more and more young people are falling in love with skiing, and these brands that were originally well-known in the niche circle have begun to be known to more new people. "Equipment" is no longer a ruler for determining whether the other party's skill is superb, nor is it a professional label for skiing masters.
But you will surely find a "newcomer" who is like-minded with you: someone wearing a "little turtle" on his butt, and the hit rate of the novice is 100%. There are also novices who are decent people who question "This turtle has hindered my handsome skiing posture", but they are often persuaded by "people coming over", "When you fall a big butt on the snowfield and your tailbone is painful , you will regret the self who dislikes the little turtle at the beginning." Then before the next ski experience begins, they will return to the little turtle's arms.
So I was happy to hear it. After word of mouth, the "little turtle" naturally occupied major ski resorts.
, what exactly is the "little turtle"? Or you can also understand it as a little banana, little polar bear , little husky... Enter "ski hip protection, knee pad" on Taobao, and you can get a favorite style - unlike large items such as ski shoes and skis with strong personal style, it is a type of ski protective gear. In layman's terms, it is a product that protects the hips and knees. It is very special. In China, this buttock protection has been improved by merchants, with a more cute shape and more practical functions.
is approaching Winter Olympics , skiing has ushered in an explosion. Many factories told "E-commerce Online" that since November, the orders for "little turtle" butt protection have surged. A factory in Baigou New City, Baoding revealed that the sales of this series of products have tripled compared with the same period last year. Another factory in Rongcheng County, said that from the docking point of view, major ski resorts have a very large demand for small turtle butt protection, and the market is unsaturated. Last winter, 100,000 sets of butt protection sets are sold, and this year's sales are expected to increase by at least 30%.
This is a screen-sinking product, which has seized the craze of the snow economy, and it does not have a high technical threshold like snowboard and snow glass . It is thanks to the wisdom of small businesses. Will it be a good business in the context of timely times?
The "little turtle" buttock protection
buttock protection is a product that has been around for a long time, but it is not as cute as it was at the beginning.
Its design was originally designed to prevent two types of damage: one is the impact damage of falling at low speed, which is usually the impact damage caused by falling butt piercing on the ground; the other is the high-speed piercing damage, which is mainly to avoid collisions with other people's equipment or damage caused by hitting trees. The former focuses more on buffering, energy absorption and shockproof, mainly for novices, while the latter is actually ordinary shockproof and is usually designed for veterans who don’t know how to fall butt. They will basically innovate in the material and focus on anti-penetration and other indicators.
On e-commerce platforms, the two are very easy to distinguish - buttocks with doll shapes such as turtles and bananas belong to the former, with a cute appearance and a price basically within a hundred yuan; buttocks with a silicone feel made of normal pants are mostly the latter, with a price ranging from 100-500 yuan. "For beginners, the little turtle is the most fragrant artifact. On the one hand, it is really comfortable, and on the other hand, it is to warn others that I am a novice, please go by." A ski enthusiast commented, "The little turtle occasionally has the function of attracting big guys to teach."
medium: the little turtle protects the buttocks; right: tight pants-shaped buttocks protects
Who are the people selling the little turtle? Last year we reported that merchants doing ski equipment were comprehensive merchants. Lengshan Snow Gear and Sijiaer Snow Gear Library mainly represent foreign brands; the other is mainly original brands, such as Nan'en, Vector, Nobaday, etc.But unlike these professional players, most of the "little turtle" buttocks are cross-border businesses, most of which are toy factories that make plush toys. This is not unfamiliar to them - toy merchants are good at developing new functions for dolls. From the air conditioner that can be rolled into a bear doll in one roll, it is , and now it can be simply improved to become a "little turtle" that protects the buttocks.
"At first, there were customers who customized the little turtle." Director Yang of Rongcheng County Tantu Toy Factory told "E-commerce Online" that the popularity of the little turtle buttocks is no longer very verified at present. On Xiaohongshu, wearing the little turtle to take photos seems to have become a trend that represents cuteness. #Turtle Buttocks# contains more than 800 notes. After noticing this phenomenon, Director Yang quickly began to look for more customers, focusing on ski resorts across the country. Currently, it has cooperated with more than 30 ski resorts, 3/5 of the orders come from ski resorts, and dealers on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Pinduoduo account for 1/5 of the orders, while the remaining are 1688 and fragmented offline orders.
"Although you can see many merchants selling small turtle buttocks on the e-commerce platform, I personally feel that there are actually not many factories producing this product." Director Yang revealed that from a regional perspective, orders in the north can account for 3/5, but the growth rate of order volume in the south is also obvious. "The demand for ski resorts is very high. Many of them are taking their kids to ski, and the buttock protection losses are also increasing. Generally, a ski resort will get 2-3 large goods in a snow season." In terms of product styling, another factory manager revealed that the little turtle is the most popular, accounting for more than half of the orders. Polar bears and bananas also fit the human buttocks, and they rank in the top three sales together with the little turtle.
11-January seasonal business
The little turtle's buttock protection is out of the circle, one is because it provides functional value for security protection, and the other is that it has unique emotional value.
Little turtle buttock protection is not an foreign product, but a Chinese merchant's own creativity. Although the skiing economy continues to heat up, data shows that the number of skiing per capita in China is currently only 1.6 times, and the probability of converting from a one-time player to a ski enthusiast is less than 1%. There is still a big gap compared to the conversion rate of 5% abroad. The influx of novices has diluted the professional player group, and they need some practical entry-level products. Safety is often the first thing they consider, and the demand for ski protective gear is more urgent. The demand for
shows differentiated characteristics at home and abroad. Many consumers have reported that some professional internal protection and buttocks will still hurt when worn - this is mainly due to differences in climatic conditions. The snow resorts in European countries are mostly natural snow, and the snow is soft and thick, and falling will not give people a lot of pain. The "little turtle" can protect the buttocks buttocks buttocks can play a limited role. If you are not careful, you will fall into the snow layer; but domestic ski resorts are mainly artificial snow, with thinner snow paths and easy to freeze. More elastic and thick doll-shaped hip protection and knee pads can resist the hard ice layer well, protecting tailbone and knee bones.
The reporter learned that although the "little turtle" protects the buttocks, it looks like a doll has more strips, but it is still a certain difference from ordinary dolls, which does not mean that it is not professional. Generally speaking, its cost and selling price will be a little higher than that of ordinary dolls.
"First of all, you need to add an additional layer of waterproof membrane to the material, and the cost is about 10% higher; secondly, in terms of technology, generally dolls can use a flat seam machine, but it is very thick and requires purchasing a new machine, and the processing fee will also be 10-15% higher. The overall cost is about 15-20%. Although the gross profit margin will be a little more than ordinary dolls, it is not too high, about 10%. " Director Yang said.
In other words, this is still a product that mainly sells volume, and it has the problem of long-term stocking time. For example, normal plush dolls only need to be scaled in the factory in proportion to the size, and each model can be equipped with sufficient spot quantity, but "little turtle buttock protection" is a seasonal business, and the business market mainly depends on the winter November to January. "In order to control inventory, we will also prepare spot stocks, but not many. We usually order 1,000 special styles. According to the order quantity of 1,000, the production cycle of is about 10-15 days."Director Yang also revealed that perhaps due to storage considerations, the pace of changing ski resorts has now begun to become small and many times.
Interestingly, the little turtle buttock protection was just a positioning of protective gear from the beginning, and gradually extended some emotional value. Ski novices wearing "little turtle" buttock protection did not mind being shady at all. Posting black photos of "falling up and over" has also become an interesting thing on the road of skiing learning. Previously, actor Lin Gengxin posted a ski photo of himself " turtle shell body protection" and commented: "The great god will never bring a little turtle, they are all new and soft girls. "This remark was also laughed by fans as "hinting that he is soft and cute" and "Lin Gou is really afraid of falling." With the heating of the skiing economy, the industry has gradually made jokes about "learning skiing advances depends on falling butts".
Homogeneous track
But does skiing really depend on falling? Can you not be afraid of falling with a little turtle?
Professional snow friend Li Ran said that wrestling is difficult for beginners to avoid, but you should still try to protect yourself during skiing. "You cannot rely on protective gear. You have to learn how to touch the ground, turn, and stop strength by yourself, and have a real improvement in skills. Otherwise, you will be unable to live without the little turtle. Just like a swimming ring, it should be an advanced prop. "As mentioned above, the little turtle buttock protection is more about dealing with impact damage during low-speed gliding. The current rapid growth market is partly due to the increase in skiing novices, but the market size of ski suits and snowboards is not on the same level as the market size of skiing suits and snowboards.
According to statistics from the American Snow Sports Industry Association, the United States, with an average annual skiing number of 55 million, the total retail sales of personal skiing equipment in 2016/17 was US$4.3 billion, or about RMB 27.5 billion. Among them, clothing products accounted for the majority, accounting for 65%; equipment products accounted for 29%; accessories products accounted for only 6% - and, it is often difficult for novices to develop real skiing hobbies. 3. Zhang Yi, the head of Ctrip theme tour platform, once said that 80% of ski tourists are beginners, and more than 90% skiing 1-2 times per snow season on average.
s ski equipment classification is very rich
Under the experiential skiing economy, the biggest beneficiary of "little turtle" buttock protection is still the ski resort. After individual consumers purchase it, if they use it at a low frequency, they will choose to sell it on second-hand platforms such as Xianyu, but the price will often be cut in half. In comparison, a ski resort brings much higher economic benefits, and the rental price ranges from 30-60 yuan, such as Tianjin Panshan Sliding The little turtle in the ski resort is 60 yuan/set/time, while the factory price on 1688 is only about 20 yuan. Compared with ski suits, ski hip protection is less frequently consumed. Snow friends will buy multiple ski suits because of novel styles and different colors, but hip protection does not have such consumption potential. And because the entry threshold for "little turtle" butt protection is low, it also means that its core competitiveness is not strong and homogeneous products are flooded. But its rise is still worth learning from - "little turtle" butt protection is a product launched by merchants after combining the development stage of the ski industry and insight into the differentiated needs of domestic consumers. There are many abilities required, including observation of the industry and market The judgment, the classification of people and the innovation of products.
is actually in line with the logic of market development: the leading brands are innovating in products, technology and technology. In recent years, domestic skiing brands have emerged, including Vector, which is a female perspective, and GOSKI that is moving closer to the professional direction; but under the head, small and medium-sized merchants also have their own business experiences, and can find the entry point for segmentation in the huge consumption trend, which is also a unique feature of Chinese merchants. In the highly developed environment of e-commerce, their high sensitivity to business opportunities can allow them to quickly find and even create consumption trends. This may be the most valuable business spirit.
