China's Cosmetic Sample Economy Explodes with 450% Jump

In the first half of 2023, the sales of trial-size skincare and beauty products on the JD platform were nearly five times that of the same period in 2019, and the sales of trial-size products in first-tier cities were 4.5 times that of the same period last year.

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Recently, HARMAY, a beauty concept store, announced the closure of its store located in Tianmuli, Hangzhou. Prior to that, in June of this year, HAYDON, the global flagship store located in Chuhehanjie, Wuhan, closed its doors, and nearly 20 HAYDON stores have now almost all ceased operations.

While these emerging beauty retail species riding the wave of the "sample economy" are caught in a "closure trend," the "sample economy" has exploded in another form. Cosmetic samples and trial-size products are not only booming online, but CHAILEEDO's visits to offline stores in China have also found that an increasing number of domestic beauty brands have joined this trend.

+115% on Chinese e-commerce platform on Tmall

Data from CHAILEEDO shows that on Tmall, sales of trial-size cosmetics have increased by 115% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, far exceeding other categories. Data from the JD Consumer and Industry Development Research Institute also shows that in the first half of 2023, the sales of trial-size skincare and beauty products on the JD platform were nearly five times that of the same period in 2019, and the sales of trial-size products in first-tier cities were 4.5 times that of the same period last year.

Generally, brands' official channels do not directly sell cosmetics samples. Purchasing full-size products to receive samples or receiving free samples are merely marketing and promotional tactics for beauty brands, and many samples are clearly labeled as "not for sale." Previously, samples sold by beauty concept stores such as HARMAY, ONLY WRITE, and HAYDON were often "not for sale." However, resold non-sale samples often have issues such as unknown sources, simple packaging, and difficulty in distinguishing between genuine and fake products.

However, faced with cosmetics that often cost hundreds or thousands of yuan, samples or trial-size products undoubtedly reduce the consumers' cost of trial and error. As a result, this "small business" has always been of great interest.

In 2012, L'Oréal Group launched the MyBeautyBox targeted at the millennial generation. It was a high-end skincare trial gift box that combined star products from the group's high-end brands according to their efficacy and consumer demands, creating different sample sets. In 2017, "Tmall U Xian" was established, targeting the cosmetics sample economy, allowing users to experience big brands and try new products at a low cost. Since then, "Tmall U Xian" has gradually developed into an important channel for brands to distribute samples, promote new products, and attract new members online.

Nowadays, based on CHAILEEDO's investigations, samples are gradually shedding the labels of "free" and "not for sale," and more and more brands are actively selling samples/trial-size products.

Data from JD shows that in the past five years, the number of skincare trial-size products has more than doubled. In the first half of 2023, the quantity of trial-size products in categories such as eye cream/serum, primer, foundation liquid/cream, and lipstick exceeded four times that of the same period in 2019.

Specifically, in the first half of this year, the top five best-selling skincare trial-size products on JD were all imported brands. In the second quarter, foreign brands accounted for 80% of the top 10 trial-size product sales on Tmall. This reflects that international brands are focusing on marketing and selling trial-size products through online channels.

In terms of marketing, when most brands sell trial-size products online, they also attract repeat purchases by offering full-size product "repurchase vouchers" as gifts to consumers.

Chinese Domestic Beauty Brands are in Craze Offline

If the online market belongs to international brands, then offline, Chinese domestic beauty brands are using trial-size products to captivate young consumers and drive market growth.

During CHAILEEDO's visits to stores such as Watsons, Sanfu, WOW COLOUR, LESHAER, and Dr. Plant in Wuhan, it was noticed that trial-size/sample products have gradually gained prominence. They have transformed from being "free gifts" to becoming actual "products." Trial-size/sample products and travel-sized products are not uncommon. In recent years, the popular trend of mini-sized essence products has given rise to single or dual-packaging options.

Overall, the unit prices of trial-size products are relatively low, mostly below 50 yuan ($6.9), with price range from 10 to 30 yuan ($1.4-$4.1) being the most common. Looking at the brands, most of the products sold through these channels are domestic brands, including Dr. Alva, Simpcare, Mask Family, Zhuben, SHELOG, BIOHYALUX, QuadHA, and MARUBI. The only Japanese brands available are the Freesia Hill brand at Watsons and JCprogram at WOW COLOUR.

Huang Xiaodong, the founder of Mask Family, told CHAILEEDO that the 5ml-sized sleeping mask sold at LESHAER is not a sample but a mini version of the brand's offline-exclusive product. This product has achieved good sales and has increased the brand's offline sales by around 20%. The brand representative of You&Pure also stated that the 5ml You&Pure gel sulfur acne essence is not a sample but the regular size. "Using it once or twice can effectively reduce acne. The frequency of using acne essence is not high, so 5ml can last for a long time," further explained the brand representative.

At an offline store of Dr. Plant, Dr. Plant Soothing Special Care Trial Set is priced at 29.9 yuan ($4.1), which includes 15ml of moisturizing repair lotion, 10g of face cream, 1 sheet mask, a basic skincare experience, and a sun hat. According to the store staff, this set is suitable for consumers who are traveling during the summer. The brand has also previously launched similar trial sets for its Dendrobium series products.

In addition, some retail chains have collaborated with brands to create customized trial sets, such as Sanfu's custom-designed SHE LOG Matsutake Mushroom Travel Bag and WOW COLOUR's custom-made Zhuben Qinghuan Plant Essence Cleansing Oil Set.

An offline channel operations manager for a beauty brand told CHAILEEDO that chains like KKV also have many custom-designed products. Custom-designed products are a way for retailers to leverage their store advantages and centralized purchasing power to lower prices for the brand, ultimately promoting sales.

Multiple brand representatives and individuals involved in physical retail channels have expressed that cosmetic trial-size products and even smaller-sized products are currently popular in the new retail channels. In other words, beauty brands have downsized their product capacities and made smaller sizes and lower prices the norm in offline channels.

Small Products with Big Opportunity

A beauty brand's offline channel operations manager told CHAILEEDO that, based on his observations, for many offline stores, the regular 30-piece box of essence ampoules has a high average price per customer, but individual sales of single ampoules perform better. In his opinion, the current sales model for single ampoules is similar to the sales approach of Meiji face masks in the past. Consumers can freely choose products from different brands with different effects and create their own combinations. The same logic applies to products like 30g facial cleansers and 50g lotions, where reducing the volume and lowering the average price provides consumers with more opportunities for selection, which is becoming a trend.

"The emergence of small-sized products is a joint choice made by both the channels and the brands. The channels consider the purchasing power of in-store customers, while the brands consider the quality of their own products. By offering smaller sizes at lower prices, they attract consumers to try them out, achieve sales, and then generate repeat purchases. This is a proven and effective approach," he further explained.

Chang Kai, the founder of Hangzhou Chuanxi Technology Co., Ltd., also pointed out that the current trend of trial-sized and travel-sized products was driven by the previous popularity of samples from major brands. Young people not only have a desire to try new things but also consider purchasing several small-sized products at once as a consumption method. "The consumer group for trial-sized products is skewed towards the younger generation, which can also drive overall store traffic and performance," he added. Huang Xiaodong bluntly stated, "The rise of small-sized products is the channels and brands catering to the preferences of young people."

In contrast to domestic brands actively launching small-sized products, international brands use samples as part of their major promotional marketing or to generate interest in new products. The core function of samples is to help brands attract new users.

For example, a certain international beauty brand's Tmall flagship store currently has 10 links to experience gift sets, covering most of the brand's individual products and all skincare sets, with prices ranging from 19.9 yuan to 249 yuan. The experience gift sets include sample products and a discount coupon that can be used for purchasing full-sized products later, emphasizing a "try before you buy" approach. It is worth mentioning that most of these experience gifts are exclusive benefits for brand members, and consumers must join the brand's membership program to make a purchase. This also indicates that experience gifts not only promote consumer conversions but also allow brands to engage in refined private domain operations by having consumers join their membership.

Wen Ximing, General Manager of the Bio-MESO Division, also stated that selling trial-sized products and samples is a way to attract new customers through a trial experience. As the cost of acquiring traffic increases, companies are allocating part of their marketing budget to offer consumers the opportunity to try products.

Ultimately, with consumers becoming more cautious and making more rational purchasing decisions, the trend of experiencing before buying is becoming increasingly popular. Whether brands use sample marketing or directly introduce small-sized products, the goal is to lower consumers' cost of trial and error and stimulate more consumption potential. However, whether it results in a one-time purchase or repeat purchases ultimately depends on the product's quality.