Since 2020, many e-commerce operating companies have landed in the capital market. Following Ruoyuchen, Liren Lizhuang, and Qingmu Co., Ltd., Beijing Shuju Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shuju Zhilian") It will also sprint towards GEM .
Shuju Zhilian was established in 2008. It is a comprehensive full-link e-commerce operation service provider, providing e-commerce operations ( Tmall , Jingdong and other third-party platforms), channel distribution, and branding for domestic and foreign brands. E-commerce operations and marketing services such as effective marketing. The company focuses on maternal and infant nutrition, consumer electronics, beauty FMCG and other fields, and has long-term services for well-known brands such as Feihe , Kao, Oral, Braun , P&G , Citizen , L'Occitane and COFCO Fulinmen. brand.
It is understood that the company's predecessor, "Blue Label E-commerce", is a holding subsidiary of BlueFocus (300058.SZ), which was listed on the New Third Board in 2016. In 2017, Xiong Kun took control of the company and became the actual controller through the transfer of equity. In 2018, "Blue Label E-commerce" was officially renamed as Shuju Zhilian.
In 2019, Diju Zhilian was delisted from the New Third Board, but the company has not stopped rushing to the capital market. TMTpost Media APP found that as the industry's growth rate slowed down and competition became increasingly fierce, many leading e-commerce agency operating companies have experienced a decline in performance. At the same time, the deployment of private brands has become a trend for industry transformation and upgrading. Shuju Zhilian plans to raise 800 million yuan in this IPO and will invest 347 million yuan in brand acceleration projects, part of which will be used for the incubation of its own brands.
Main business shrinks, profitability declines, the fastest growing business is the least profitable
Shujuzhilian’s main business is divided into three major sectors: brand e-commerce operation services, channel distribution and quality marketing. Brand e-commerce operation services It can be further divided into two categories: online retail business model and brand agency business model. From 2019 to 2021, the company achieved revenue of 1.080 billion yuan, 1.473 billion yuan and 1.771 billion yuan respectively; net profits attributable to the parent company were 43 million yuan, 93 million yuan and 99 million yuan.
From the perspective of business structure, online retail business is the company's main business. However, this business has shrunk in 2021, with revenue falling to 883 million yuan compared with 941 million yuan in 2020, and the proportion of revenue in total revenue has also declined. dropped from 63.84% to 49.86%. The company explained that it was mainly due to the termination of cooperation with iRobot and and brands in 2021. While
's online retail business has declined, the company's channel distribution business has accelerated its growth, achieving revenue of 415 million yuan in 2021, more than three times the 108 million yuan in 2019, and its revenue share has also increased to 23.46%, making it a The company's second largest source of revenue.
Data source: Prospectus
The model of channel distribution business is that the company purchases goods based on the distribution authorization of the brand or its authorized agent, and then sells the goods to Tmall Supermarket , JD.com and other third-party e-commerce platforms Or other distributors, so they earn the price difference and the gross profit margin is also lower. In 2019, the gross profit margin of the channel distribution business was only 14.90%, and it will further decline to 8.00% in 2021. It can be said to be the company's least profitable business.
Data source: Prospectus
Looking at the overall gross profit margin of Shuju Zhilian, it was 29.49%, 25.35% and 22.13% respectively from 2019 to 2021, showing a downward trend year by year. The average gross profit margins of comparable companies during the same period were 37.42%, 37.27%, and 38.17% respectively. It can be seen that Shujuzhilian not only has a growing gap with its peers, but also deviates from the industry trend. Especially in 2021, its gross profit margin is about 16 percentage points lower than the industry average.
The decline in gross profit margin shows the decline of Shuju Zhilian’s industry status and the greater risk of customer loss. In 2021, the company lost two brand customers, iRobot and Quan'ansu. Although Kao was added, the gross profit margin of cooperation with Kao was not as good as before.
At the same time, the company's liquidity is also relatively poor, which is reflected in its operating cash flow. During the reporting period, the company's net cash flows generated from operating activities were -54.8982 million yuan, 16.9530 million yuan and -64.4809 million yuan respectively. They were net outflows in 2019 and 2021. This was mainly due to the company's advance preparation of goods and advance payment. Caused by too much money.As competition in the industry intensifies,
's head-on-head effect becomes more and more obvious. Both brands and ecological partners are gradually moving closer to the top in terms of resources and funds. Shuju Zhilian frankly stated in the prospectus that in the context of increasingly fierce competition, if the company cannot accurately grasp the development trend of the e-commerce industry and respond to market competition in a timely and effective manner, the competitive advantage will likely be weakened, which will have a negative impact on the company's future market competitiveness and operating results will be adversely affected.
The growth rate of the industry is slowing down, opening up the second growth curve
The business model of e-commerce agency operations is mainly to provide services for brands. Therefore, only by maintaining cooperative relationships with brands can we go forward in the long run. But in fact, the binding between agency operations and brand owners is not strong. After many brands grow, they will look for other agency operators, or directly form their own teams for e-commerce operations and marketing. This has brought greater uncertainty to the performance of agent operators.
Therefore, as the growth of e-commerce consumption formats tends to slow down, industry competition gradually intensifies, and brand customers are easily lost, e-commerce agency operating companies are now beginning to seek a breakthrough. In addition to constantly improving digital services in all channels, all links, and all scenarios,
's current leading agency operating companies are no longer willing to be brand porters, but hope to copy the brand development experience to their own products. On the brand. In this way, not only can we get rid of dependence on brand owners, but we can also increase profit margins by controlling costs.
For example, Yiwang Yichuang has created the food brand "Every Fresh", Liren Lizhuang has created the beauty brands "Meiyitang" and "Yurongchu", Ruo Yuchen has also launched New Zealand professional clothing care brand "Blooming Family", and Shuju Zhilian also plans to embark on the road of establishing its own brand. The
prospectus shows that Shuju Zhilian plans to raise 800 million in this IPO, of which 347 million will be used for brand acceleration and incubation of its own brands. On the one hand, the brand acceleration project is to support and accelerate the development of high-quality domestic and foreign brands in the beauty FMCG, maternal and infant nutrition, consumer electronics and other industries; on the other hand, it is to incubate its own brands, such as the mid-to-high-end silver-haired personal hygiene products brand " "Doctor of Nursing", including self-developed products, building brand promotion and sales channels, etc.
Data source: Prospectus
In addition to "Dr. Nursing", the company also plans to develop IP lipstick products in the field of beauty to cater to the differentiated needs of consumers in the beauty market, and to seek brands in the fields of children's oral care and snacks Opportunities to set up,
In view of the increasingly fierce competition among current generation operators and the phenomenon that enterprises are beginning to seek reforms, some people in the industry said that generation operations, as the downstream of e-commerce platforms and brands, have different developments in the e-commerce industry. Stages require different ways of playing. Obviously, the past single focus on a certain category and pure generation operation no longer have sustainable competitiveness.
A quarter of the funds raised will be used to purchase real estate, and cross-link transactions are complex.
The prospectus shows that the second largest purpose of this fund-raising is the comprehensive operation service center project, with a planned investment of 252 million yuan. Among them, 213 million yuan was planned to be used to purchase real estate and decoration in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange made inquiries about this, asking for explanations of the reasons and rationality for the purchase.
said that in order to cope with the increasingly fierce industry competition, the company urgently needs to build a comprehensive operation service center to enhance e-commerce operation capabilities, design capabilities, supply chain capabilities, etc., and further enhance the company's comprehensive competitiveness. This project will build an e-commerce operation and maintenance center, MCN and its live broadcast center, supply chain center, imaging creative center, etc., and requires supporting space for implementation.
In fact, previous companies in the same industry, such as Yiwang Yichuang, Liren Lizhuang, Qingmu Co., Ltd., Kaichun Co., Ltd. and Ruo Yuchen, all included comprehensive operation service centers in their initial public offering investment projects, and also carried out site purchase. Investment, but in terms of area and site purchase costs, Shujuzhilian exceeds its peers.
Data source: Shuju Zhilian’s response to the second round of audit inquiry letter
In addition, Shuju Zhilian also has some problems in internal control.In the past three years, the company has had multiple related transactions with directors, supervisors, senior managers, other core personnel and their close family members.
For example, the legal person Cheng Songyan is not only a shareholder of the company, but also holds multiple core positions as director, deputy general manager, financial director and board secretary of the company, which has reflected the unreasonableness of corporate governance. From 2019 to 2021, Shuju Zhilian also had related transactions with Cheng Songyan and his close family members, with amounts of 14,300 yuan, 16,600 yuan, and 1,800 yuan respectively.
At the same time, five senior executives including Xiong Kun, the actual controller of Shuju Zhilian, Wan Chaoyang, chairman of the board of supervisors, Dai Bosen, supervisor, and Liao Xinhua, deputy general manager, and their close family members also had related transactions with Shuju Zhilian. . Among them, Wan Chaoyang’s spouse opened an online store and purchased products sold by the company. The company explained that these purchases were personal purchases and the purchase amounts were small and had no significant impact on the company's business and operating results. However, this still reflects the company's lack of awareness of internal control, and the company did not disclose the selling price of related-party transaction products or prove the reasonableness of the price of related-party transactions. (This article was first published on Titanium Media APP, author/Zhai Biyue)
