70 Days into the Online Sales Ban, E-Cigarette Resellers Fight to Stay Alive

It has been nearly 70 days since the online ban on e-cigarettes, namely the "Notice on Further Protecting Minors from E-Cigarettes"(hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") was issued on November 1, 2019.

From the initial carnival, to the panic after the ban was issued, to the current smooth surface, the e-cigarette industry has gone through a process from ignition to atomization.

In January 2020, there was no war and no good news in the domestic e-cigarette industry.

E-cigarette companies that have withdrawn products from major shopping malls are working hard to deploy offline businesses.However, another path to continue its life, WeChat has become the backbone of e-cigarette companies in coping with the current situation.。On the seemingly calm online line, the activities of e-cigarette micro-merchants are turbulent, but they move forward with fear.

Agent: I want to wait

Liu Jie (pseudonym) clearly remembers that after the online ban on e-cigarette sales was issued on November 1 last year, her troubles followed that afternoon.

First, the crowd was chaotic. In the e-cigarette WeChat group formed by Liu Jie and three friends,What should I do if more than 200 messages popped up within one lunch?" rdquo; Should we still let WeChat sell it?" rdquo; Will you be caught selling again?" rdquo;All discussions revolve around an online sales ban.

By 4 p.m., two of the people in the group had already asked a merchant to refund the goods. One person was 3000 yuan and the other was 2700 yuan. After that, the two announced that they were quitting.

“The uncertainty in the future is too great.& rdquo; They said to Liu Jie.

On one hand, a friend quit, and on the other hand, one of Liu Jie's regular customers asked her: Can I smoke (e-cigarettes)? I heard it was banned. At first, she answered patiently:It's okay, the country is setting standards, but it's just that it's not allowed to sell online, but it's not said to stop selling offline.。

But with too many answers to such questions, she began to get impatient. In the end, Liu Jie simply searched for some information and wrote a description of removing e-cigarettes from shelves and posted it on his circle of friends. ldquo; If there were any questions later, I would directly send the compiled information to him." rdquo;

At the same time, Liu Jie is still dealing with higher-level agent large micromerchants.

She had just finished taking 4000 yuan worth of goods and was preparing to open a few discount sold well orders on the Double Eleven Day. In fact, since mid-October, Liu Jie has begun to publish preferential rules in his circle of friends. She sells disposable cigarettes,Get the goods for 25 yuan each and sell it for 39 yuan. It is profitable and sells well.。

“For an agent at my level, this is not bad.& rdquo; Liu Jie told AI Blue Media.

Now, unopened boxes are still piled on the balcony of the home. Daweishang's tone was a little soft and carefully peeped at Liu Jie: Sister, are you quitting? rdquo;

What Daweishang means is that if you refund it, you can transfer the payment now. But based on the trust they have built over the past few months, Daweishang still hopes that Liu Jie will wait.

“I never thought about quitting at all, so I reassured her,I won't refund it, but I won't take the goods for the time being. I have to wait for the country to have a specific opinion on this thing (e-cigarettes) before deciding whether to refund it or sell it.。& rdquo; Liu Jie said.

Like many small agents and micro-businesses, selling e-cigarettes is not Liu Jie's main business. She works in promotion planning for a real estate company. However, the real estate industry has been sluggish in recent years.When her monthly salary was lowered from 7000 yuan to 4000 yuan, Liu Jie developed a sense of crisis that he wanted to do something.。

She entered the e-cigarette bureau in February this year, when the e-cigarette market was booming. In 2018, the self-media uncle who came ashore, former uber China executives, and Luo Yonghao, who was deeply embarrassed, all entered the industry with great excitement. Domestic top player Yue Shi has been exposed to multiple rounds of new financing in a row, and IDG source code Sequoia Mountain Travel DST has quietly emerged.

JUUL from the United States was secretly crossing Chencang in China, arranging troops. Even if the March 15 party a month later named e-cigarettes as harmful, causing the industry to tremble slightly,But the power of capital is too strong, and money still surges in。

When Liu Jie entered this business, he described a rainbow shining on him.“” She is the kind of person who trusts too much in money and luck, thinking that places with high popularity will have long-term rewards.

In fact, before November 1, Liu Jie not only subsidized her life by relying on the thousands of yuan she earned from selling e-cigarettes, she even felt that she should resign and specialize in micro-commerce.

“If you become a high-level agent, you are a big micro-business company. The profit is basically 50/50. The temptation is too great。And before November 1, although there have been rumors that the country has opinions on this industry, it is basically safe.& rdquo; Liu Jie's reasons for not giving up are simple and crude.

“I haven't made enough money yet, so I want to wait.& rdquo; She said.

Big WeChat: Spread the goods out

Wu Ting (pseudonym) is Liu Jie's best friend and a big WeChat business.

Before November 1, it was normal for her to earn 10,000 to 20,000 per month; but after that, it dropped to several thousand yuan. rdquo;

Wu Ting always says that an agent at my level, but the implication is that her resources are strong enough and funds are abundant. Her main business is running an advertising company.

At the beginning of last year, she tried to promote e-cigarettes in her circle of friends. After discovering that there was a lot of demand from smokers, she took money and entered the market and directly became the highest regional agent for this small cigarette.Up to 7,000 to 8,000 pieces can be sold in retail and wholesale a month, with each piece priced at 17 yuan and retail at 39 yuan.

In October last year, she joined the game again, and the brand is one of several leading e-cigarette players in China.The merchant gave her a policy of getting 300,000 yuan for purchase at a 30% discount, and she could just give 100,000 yuan, which is called a shareholder-level agent.

Behind aggressive investment, the return is also large enough. Wu Ting's micro-business career expanded rapidly. At most, there were 40 to 50 small agents taking goods from her a month.

Everything went too smoothly. The high profits, ease of operation and broad prospects of e-cigarettes made Wu Ting non-stop on this road. Until November 1, she felt powerless to fight in front of the "Announcement".

The biggest impact is that small agents are forced to retreat and leave.From November to the present, the number of small agents who often take goods from Wu Ting has dropped sharply to more than a dozen; followed by a decline is the order volume.“It used to be two or three orders a day, but now it's one order two or three days. This is talking about retail. rdquo;Wu Ting said that the volume of goods shipped by agents has also dropped crazily. rdquo;

Although many small agents choose to return the goods, they do not withdraw from Wu Ting's agent group. This group is still very popular today.The small business operators crowded inside are still waiting for the opportunity。& ldquo; When will the national standard be released? What new policies have come out? I am now their source of information, because their information is relatively closed and they still trust me more, so they chat. rdquo; Wu Ting said that everyone is watching." rdquo;

But Wu Ting couldn't wait and see. She represented two brands and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for goods piled from floor to roof. She couldn't hope that the small agents would share her inventory. Therefore, after November 1, Wu Ting made a bold decision to lay out offline and spread the goods.

Taking advantage of the connections she maintained by running an advertising agency for many years, Wu Ting began to build an Internet cafe system throughout Sichuan Province. E-cigarette merchants also cooperated to follow up at this time. From November last year to now, Wu Ting has built 37 stores in Sichuan Province and the entire Chengdu East Railway Station.——

Wu Ting knows very clearly that nowadays, WeChat cannot just be done online. ldquo; In fact, I still have to use my own network to do a lot of offline laying.No matter how big it is, he will not just sell it online。”

Although this set of actions has prevented Wu Ting from making almost no money for the three months from November to the present, she still insists on it. ldquo; I bought 100,000 yuan in goods, and so far there are still fifty to sixty thousand yuan left in the warehouse.If it is normal, it is normal to be able to earn 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a month. Now, for these two months, it is several thousand yuan.”

At present, whether it is a big merchant like Wu Ting or a small agent like Liu Jie, they are all waiting for the legendary national standard for e-cigarettes to be released. They truly believe that as long as the national standard is released, public opinion will know that the country allows the sale of e-cigarettes rather than suppresses it. ldquo; There are too many misunderstandings about e-cigarettes nowadays." rdquo; Wu Ting said.

With Wu Ting's strength, she felt that she could wait for half a year to a year. She expressed optimism about the future but still hesitated,She firmly believes that without bad news, the market will return to its original state within one to three months; But she is also worried that negative news will come out.

“That way, it will be difficult to move any more.& rdquo; She said.

Hidden JuUL

Those who are more worried about negative news than Wu Ting are not only domestic e-cigarette companies. JUUL, the American e-cigarette giant that secretly entered China before, but unexpectedly, may now be more low-key.

Although JUUL is based in the United States, it is the leader in this industry. In 2018, its valuation reached a peak of US$38 billion, which is unmatched by no domestic manufacturer to date. As a result, when they quietly entered China, domestic e-cigarette companies were extremely excited.

However, on December 26 last year, new consumption from the media Blue Hole revealed that JUUL had dismissed employees and quit China. In addition, JUUL, which has been plagued by various domestic and international scandals for a year, had nearly halved its valuation by the end of 2019.

A source confirmed to AI Blue Media:In fact, JUUL has not yet completely withdrawn from China. Its removal from the shelves is due to a problem with the core raw material of nicotine salt。

Another senior practitioner in the e-cigarette industry said.“It is very likely that JUUL will be removed from the shelves and its dealers will transform into WeChat to digest the inventory.& rdquo;

According to Ran Finance, after JUUL entered China in 2018, it adopted an authorized distribution model and selected two dealers in China, Hangzhou Taoyatao Information Technology Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Jinyonghe Trading Co., Ltd. The former is the owner of JUUL's Tmall flagship store, while the latter is the owner of Jingdong's flagship store.

At the end of November 2019, a text message from the JUUL Genuine Experience Store appeared on the mobile phone of e-cigarette buyer Chen Feng (pseudonym).

The text message only revealed one message: Add WeChat.

At that time, it had been almost three months since JUUL went offline on Tmall and Jingdong; it had been almost a month since the ban on online sales of e-cigarettes was introduced on November 1.

“The JUUL cigarettes sold by this WeChat store are 20 yuan cheaper than the 145 yuan in the official flagship store.& rdquo; Chen Feng said that WeChat even participated in the promotion of Double Eleven. The one-time purchase price of 10 boxes is only 1000 yuan, and the average price is 100 yuan per box.

More importantly, the electronic express bill shows that the cigarettes and bombs are shipped from the Hangzhou warehouse of JUUL's official flagship store, which is completely consistent with the express information from Tmall JUUL's flagship store at that time. The information points to Hangzhou Taoyatao Information Technology Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as Taoyatao).

“Our company does not have this behavior.& rdquo; Lu Xiangyang, general manager of Taoya Tao Company, denied the existence of such sales to AI Blue Media.

Even so, all JUUL cigarette bombs legally imported into China are labeled with Chinese product logos on the back. In the dealer column, Hangzhou Taoyatao Information Technology Co., Ltd. is also marked.The cigarette bomb packaging purchased by Chen Feng through his WeChat account also bears this label.

However, if you buy JUUL cigarettes through purchasing, the box will be in English on the back and will not be labeled with a Chinese label. rdquo; Chen Feng said.

Photo: Black Sheep 5

As the operator of JUUL's Tmall flagship store, Taoyatao warehouse has a backlog of JUUL e-cigarette products. Lu Xiangyang is unwilling to disclose specific figures, but he is also waiting for news at the moment. ldquo; We are still negotiating with them (JUUL)." rdquo; He said.

“(JUUL stops selling) There will be some impact,But it's not enough to say that the company can't survive without it。& rdquo; Lu Xiangyang said.

In the summer of 2019, Tao Ya Tao signed a contract with JUUL China and became its official distributor. Qixinbao shows that Tao Ya Tao changed its business scope on July 10, 2019, adding electronic smoking equipment and accessories; on August 5, it changed its business scope again, including online sales in retail, and increased sales of flavors and fragrances.

After that, JUUL became a disappeared and visible mystery in China. At first, only the response from the U.S. headquarters was left: We look forward to continuing the dialogue with relevant parties so that our products can be put on shelves again.

Now, there is more JUUL's official WeChat voice hidden on the Internet: JUUL authentic, 10 boxes of XXXX yuan, 20 boxes of XXXX yuan. Another cigarette rod……

Waiting for explanation”

“There seems to be no clear article saying that sales on WeChat are not allowed. Nowadays, policies are all vague.& rdquo; Jiang Jun, a person who has long been engaged in WeChat research, told AI Blue Media.

In Jiang Jun's view,A brand often dies from two situations, one is called random pricing and the other is hoarding”。The harm of random prices is that offline dealers get the goods for 10 yuan and sell them for 20 yuan. But WeChat also gets the goods for 10 yuan, and ships the goods on WeChat for 12 yuan, so other offline goods cannot be shipped.

“In the market can be seen, e-cigarette cartridges from 12 yuan to 20 yuan around a variety of prices. Make customers lose trust in both brands and products.& Quran: The Quran says to the Quran:

AI Blue Media found through a query of past reports that Relx and other domestic first-line e-cigarette brands have official sales layouts on WeChat channels. After the "Notice" was issued on November 1,Many e-commerce companies need to squeeze inventories that need to be sold and released for export, making micro-commerce a disaster area with chaotic prices.——“”。

“In fact, after the ban was introduced, it did not hit the micro-business channel, but let a lot of goods enter the micro-business channel.& rdquo;Jiang Jun analyzed.

Searching for domestic e-cigarette related brands on Weibo, it is easy to find the WeChat account selling from the results.A micro-business company that sells Yuexie e-cigarettes told AI Blue Media that the Yuexie console + two cigarette bombs set sells for 175 yuan, and the price of a box of three cigarettes is 75 yuan. At Convenience Bee, the price of the Yuexie e-cigarette set is 299 yuan, while a box of three cigarettes is 99 yuan.

In comparison, the dealers of some e-cigarette manufacturers have stricter price control. ldquo;We have a special management platform in this channel that can control prices。In addition, we do not encourage dealers to hoard goods. Instead, it promotes dealer shipments through continuous sales policies and activities.& rdquo; A director of the WeChat management department of a well-known domestic e-cigarette brand disclosed to AI Blue Media.

Photo: Black Sheep 5

In an interview with AI Blue Media, Zhang Geng Bin, founder and CEO of Aiwei e-cigarettes, believed that there is currently no law stipulating how e-cigarettes should be sold. In the long run, referring to tobacco-related management measures, the WeChat channel is not suitable as a sales channel. rdquo;

The above-mentioned director also revealed to AI Blue Media that after the release of the "Notice" on November 1, the only change was that there would be resistance to the investment promotion of WeChat, and those who were ready to join became wait-and-see. ldquo; After all, those who run micro-businesses are small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, earning money to subsidize their families. After seeing the policy or some negative things, you will hesitate.& rdquo;

This is exactly the same situation faced by small agent Liu Jie and big micro-business company Wu Ting. However, JUUL, which has been transformed into a micro-commerce company, does not have the common problems of these micro-commerce companies because of its overseas background.

“The problem with JUUL is that if it is sold out, it may be completely finished in China. rdquo; Jiang Jun said.

A person engaged in regulatory research in an e-cigarette company told AI Blue Media: It is still quite difficult for you to amend a law for such a supervision of atomized core e-cigarettes. rdquo;

The source revealed: Domestic companies dare not invest money. Because the risk is too great,What we learned is that in May and June this year, the entire e-cigarette standards and regulatory policy may be introduced, but it is not a law or a regulation.。”

In fact, Wu Ting, as a big micro-business company, also mentioned this item that was extremely expected and was about to be released to AI Blue Media. This is more like a lifeline for e-cigarette micro-businesses.

At present, whether it is micro-businesses, distributors, or e-cigarette companies, they all seem to be waiting for such a statement to be released. Prior to this, all practitioners in this industry were experiencing the magical changes in the e-cigarette industry while trembling.