Rumor: RELX Pressured Smoore to Stop Supplying YOOZ Vapes
On June 24, multiple sources told Bluehole that YOOZ, the trendy vaping brand founded in early 2019, may recently have encountered a supply-chain disruption. Rumors intensified after the YOOZ website went down and some products showed as out of stock. Blu
On June 24, news emerged from multiple sources that the popular e-cigarette brand YOOZ, established in early 2019, may be facing a supply chain crisis.
YOOZ website crash and out-of-stock rumors
Previously, Bluehole reported on its website (bluehole.com.cn) that YOOZ experienced a website crash this week, and some products showed as out of stock.
Website crashed on June 21
On June 21, the official WeChat mini-program store link showed some products were taken down
On June 21, the official WeChat store showed that some products were expired and did not exist
After refocusing on YOOZ's official account on June 23, Bluehole found that the aforementioned links had all been replaced, and the official website, mini-program, Tmall, and JD stores were all accessible and available for purchase. The previous out-of-stock speculation should belong to a miscommunication in the official new media operations.
Multiple independent sources indicate Smoore has stopped supplying YOOZ
After Bluehole released the above information, at least four independent e-cigarette industry insiders revealed to Bluehole that YOOZ may be facing a supply chain crisis.
A CEO of an e-cigarette brand told Bluehole that Smoore is no longer supplying YOOZ, and the industry comments that YOOZ is rather impatient. For Smoore, YOOZ is just a very small client, and RELX is also pressuring Smoore.
It seems there is new gossip here.
A senior supply chain person in Shenzhen told Bluehole that YOOZ's pods are no longer produced by Smoore.
Another insider familiar with Smoore's supply chain revealed that this issue is likely due to Smoore's insufficient production capacity. He also mentioned that the relationship between Smoore and RELX is not just a supply chain relationship, and there may even be a shareholding relationship.
"The supply cut is known within the industry," another e-cigarette brand CEO told Bluehole. "The core reason is that both YOOZ and RELX's supply chains are with Smoore, but RELX has a larger shipment volume. YOOZ, as a newcomer, should respect the industry leader, but YOOZ does not understand the rules and is too ambitious. From product design to website design, everything targets RELX, which has caused dissatisfaction from RELX.
"However, this approach was not considered excessive in the initial stage, and RELX did not mind. Until YOOZ began aggressively poaching RELX's offline channels, RELX was furious and decided to teach YOOZ a lesson, even considering putting YOOZ out of business, leading to the rumors of pressuring Smoore to cut supply to YOOZ.
According to Bluehole's understanding, when YOOZ was poaching RELX's offline channels, it offered at least the same treatment as RELX, even providing better conditions to entice RELX's channels to switch to YOOZ, which infuriated RELX and pressured Smoore to cut supply to YOOZ, or else they would cancel cooperation.
Among the emerging e-cigarette brands served by Smoore, RELX is likely its top client, reportedly shipping over 1 million sets per month. Smoore does not want to lose big for a small client, so it has taken some production capacity limitations as a warning to YOOZ.
Bluehole later sought confirmation from Smoore regarding the supply cut rumors, and relevant personnel stated that there is indeed limited production capacity, around 1.2 million sets this month, which may double next month, and can reach a capacity of 5 million sets per month after September.
However, they did not directly respond to the supply cut issue regarding YOOZ.
Bluehole sought confirmation from YOOZ founder Cai Yuedong regarding the website crash, out-of-stock products, and whether there was a supply cut, but Cai Yuedong did not respond.
Bluehole did not contact RELX for comments on this matter.
This internal strife among popular e-cigarette brands reflects how the supply chain can indeed hold the key to the survival of e-cigarette brands, but as brands grow stronger, the supply chain's influence will diminish.
Faced with a brand that ships over 1 million sets monthly, which supply chain would not bow down? :)
JD 618 e-cigarette battle, YOOZ falls out of the top ten
Before the JD 618 promotion, Bluehole asked Cai Yuedong whether YOOZ would participate in the JD 618 battle, to which Cai Yuedong replied that they would not participate due to being out of stock.
However, on the day of 618, YOOZ quietly participated in the JD e-cigarette ranking battle for a while, but its official store only had 154 followers, yet at one point became the number one e-cigarette, leaving the industry in disbelief, creating a topic of "operating fiercely but only having 155 followers."
On the day of 618, the self-operated store had only 154 followers and briefly topped the charts in Beijing at 3 PM
However, in the final official 618 e-cigarette battle report, YOOZ did not make it into the top ten, while the concurrently established popular brand Fulu FLOW took second place, Lingxi LINX ranked sixth, and even the latecomer Luo Yonghao's Xiaoye e-cigarette ranked fourth.
This marks the first setback for the popular e-cigarette brand YOOZ in 2019.
YOOZ was founded by Cai Yuedong, the former founder of Tongdao Dashi, and He Chang, the former founder of Huang Taiji, officially launched on January 20, 2019, with the initial team acquired by Cai Yuedong for at least 30 million yuan. This also led to Cai Yuedong's later statements in interviews that he had spent hundreds of millions on the YOOZ project.
In early March, Cai Yuedong confirmed that He Chang had left the YOOZ team and exited the shareholder list.
Bluehole previously reported a change in the shareholders and directors of YOOZ's operating company, indicating that a person related to the suspected Luckin investor, Dazhang Capital, entered the board, possibly gaining investment, but YOOZ did not disclose this information.
Bluehole will continue to track the rumors of YOOZ being cut off from supply. Additionally, we will publish an in-depth article on YOOZ's sales channels this week, so stay tuned.
Moreover, many users have inquired whether a certain brand's financing of 40 million dollars is true; Bluehole will also publish an article revealing the truth soon.
— Bluehole New Consumption, exclusive report.
YOOZ website crash and out-of-stock rumors
Previously, Bluehole reported on its website (bluehole.com.cn) that YOOZ experienced a website crash this week, and some products showed as out of stock.
Website crashed on June 21
On June 21, the official WeChat mini-program store link showed some products were taken down
On June 21, the official WeChat store showed that some products were expired and did not exist
After refocusing on YOOZ's official account on June 23, Bluehole found that the aforementioned links had all been replaced, and the official website, mini-program, Tmall, and JD stores were all accessible and available for purchase. The previous out-of-stock speculation should belong to a miscommunication in the official new media operations.
Multiple independent sources indicate Smoore has stopped supplying YOOZ
After Bluehole released the above information, at least four independent e-cigarette industry insiders revealed to Bluehole that YOOZ may be facing a supply chain crisis.
A CEO of an e-cigarette brand told Bluehole that Smoore is no longer supplying YOOZ, and the industry comments that YOOZ is rather impatient. For Smoore, YOOZ is just a very small client, and RELX is also pressuring Smoore.
It seems there is new gossip here.
A senior supply chain person in Shenzhen told Bluehole that YOOZ's pods are no longer produced by Smoore.
Another insider familiar with Smoore's supply chain revealed that this issue is likely due to Smoore's insufficient production capacity. He also mentioned that the relationship between Smoore and RELX is not just a supply chain relationship, and there may even be a shareholding relationship.
"The supply cut is known within the industry," another e-cigarette brand CEO told Bluehole. "The core reason is that both YOOZ and RELX's supply chains are with Smoore, but RELX has a larger shipment volume. YOOZ, as a newcomer, should respect the industry leader, but YOOZ does not understand the rules and is too ambitious. From product design to website design, everything targets RELX, which has caused dissatisfaction from RELX.
"However, this approach was not considered excessive in the initial stage, and RELX did not mind. Until YOOZ began aggressively poaching RELX's offline channels, RELX was furious and decided to teach YOOZ a lesson, even considering putting YOOZ out of business, leading to the rumors of pressuring Smoore to cut supply to YOOZ.
According to Bluehole's understanding, when YOOZ was poaching RELX's offline channels, it offered at least the same treatment as RELX, even providing better conditions to entice RELX's channels to switch to YOOZ, which infuriated RELX and pressured Smoore to cut supply to YOOZ, or else they would cancel cooperation.
Among the emerging e-cigarette brands served by Smoore, RELX is likely its top client, reportedly shipping over 1 million sets per month. Smoore does not want to lose big for a small client, so it has taken some production capacity limitations as a warning to YOOZ.
Bluehole later sought confirmation from Smoore regarding the supply cut rumors, and relevant personnel stated that there is indeed limited production capacity, around 1.2 million sets this month, which may double next month, and can reach a capacity of 5 million sets per month after September.
However, they did not directly respond to the supply cut issue regarding YOOZ.
Bluehole sought confirmation from YOOZ founder Cai Yuedong regarding the website crash, out-of-stock products, and whether there was a supply cut, but Cai Yuedong did not respond.
Bluehole did not contact RELX for comments on this matter.
This internal strife among popular e-cigarette brands reflects how the supply chain can indeed hold the key to the survival of e-cigarette brands, but as brands grow stronger, the supply chain's influence will diminish.
Faced with a brand that ships over 1 million sets monthly, which supply chain would not bow down? :)
JD 618 e-cigarette battle, YOOZ falls out of the top ten
Before the JD 618 promotion, Bluehole asked Cai Yuedong whether YOOZ would participate in the JD 618 battle, to which Cai Yuedong replied that they would not participate due to being out of stock.
However, on the day of 618, YOOZ quietly participated in the JD e-cigarette ranking battle for a while, but its official store only had 154 followers, yet at one point became the number one e-cigarette, leaving the industry in disbelief, creating a topic of "operating fiercely but only having 155 followers."
On the day of 618, the self-operated store had only 154 followers and briefly topped the charts in Beijing at 3 PM
However, in the final official 618 e-cigarette battle report, YOOZ did not make it into the top ten, while the concurrently established popular brand Fulu FLOW took second place, Lingxi LINX ranked sixth, and even the latecomer Luo Yonghao's Xiaoye e-cigarette ranked fourth.
This marks the first setback for the popular e-cigarette brand YOOZ in 2019.
YOOZ was founded by Cai Yuedong, the former founder of Tongdao Dashi, and He Chang, the former founder of Huang Taiji, officially launched on January 20, 2019, with the initial team acquired by Cai Yuedong for at least 30 million yuan. This also led to Cai Yuedong's later statements in interviews that he had spent hundreds of millions on the YOOZ project.
In early March, Cai Yuedong confirmed that He Chang had left the YOOZ team and exited the shareholder list.
Bluehole previously reported a change in the shareholders and directors of YOOZ's operating company, indicating that a person related to the suspected Luckin investor, Dazhang Capital, entered the board, possibly gaining investment, but YOOZ did not disclose this information.
Bluehole will continue to track the rumors of YOOZ being cut off from supply. Additionally, we will publish an in-depth article on YOOZ's sales channels this week, so stay tuned.
Moreover, many users have inquired whether a certain brand's financing of 40 million dollars is true; Bluehole will also publish an article revealing the truth soon.
— Bluehole New Consumption, exclusive report.
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