Chinese Fragrance Brand Documents Launches Creative Drinks

Abstract: Chinese innovative fragrance brand Documents has launched creative drinks such as smoothies inspired by the classic fragrance of Eau de Parfum, and offers some of the classic fragrances with corresponding flavors of ice cream every weekend in Huaihai, Shanghai, China.

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According to CHAILEEDO, the beverages launched by Documents incorporate various aromatic ingredients into the special drinks to mobilize consumers' senses of taste and smell. For example, the drink named Naive is made with lime and crisp peach flavors. The brand claims that the drink is inspired by the smell of NAIVE fragrance, which has the notes of lime and peach.

In recent years, there have been multiple cross-border attempts by perfume brands in China and the international market with French fragrance brand Diptyque having used food as a gimmick for its cross-border attempts, collaborating with Shanghai dessert store Chikalicous to launch a dessert of the same name, Eau des Sens. This limited dessert will only be sold for one month. Other industries are also looking at the perfume category, for example, the classic Chinese sugar brand Dabaitu has launched Dabaitu perfume, claiming to have the scent of Dabaitu sugar. As a fragrance brand, Documents has launched a drink, which brings unprecedented novelty to users on the one hand, and positively promotes the brand's own business expansion on the other.

According to official information, Documents was founded in 2021 as an innovative fragrance brand, starting from the 15 % - 25 % fragrance sector and creating a unique style called "CHANKU".The brand is committed to creating a "new Chinese fragrance" with novelty, rarity and diversity. The brand has received attention for its high pricing and high-end positioning, with its home fragrance product "Silver Charcoal Drops" priced as high as $396, far exceeding the pricing range of international brands such as Jo Malone (Jo Malone Freesia priced at $94) and Dior (Dior Sauvage priced at $112).

After color cosmetics, fragrance seems to have become the most promising beauty sector in recent years. On the one hand, foreign perfume manufacturers, such as Firmenich, Givauton, etc. have entered the Chinese market, looking for opportunities to put into production in China. On the other hand, international high-end fragrance brands have also entered the Chinese market, such as the French brand L'Artisan Parfumeur, the British brand Penhaligon, European brand BYREDO, and so on, and have achieved good results. L'Artisan Parfumeur made the list of young people's favorite imported niche perfumes in the 2020 Tmall Tanabata campaign.

The local Chinese market has also seen the rise of fragrance brands with some heat, such as Scent Library, RE, Scentooze, Plustwo, etc. For example, in 2019 ToSummer debuted as a niche, original, oriental story fragrance brand. The first store is located in Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, which has also made ToSummer the most sought-after local beauty brand among young consumers in recent years.

Based on this, Documents is finally anchored on the luxury market, which best reflects its own brand creativity and design capabilities. Through the perfume's mature supply chain, it cooperated with global head fragrance giants, invested in packaging and packaging materials raw materials and technology to quickly solve the problems at the production end, and focused on highly concentrated products with 15%-25% fragrance content that is most suitable for Chinese people. The main product perfume 30ml pricing $127, 90ml for $267.

Data from the industry institute shows that Chinese sales of fragrance concept products reached $0.9 billion in the first half of 2021, up 21.07% year-on-year. Euromonitor data also shows that the Chinese fragrance market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14.9% between 2015 to 2020, while the growth rate for the next five years is even more optimistic, expected to be 22.5%.

Nowadays, many innovative brands are using e-commerce platforms as their main front, while Documents is focusing on developing offline space. Documents have opened its first offline store in Shanghai. As of November 2021, the store's performance is two times higher than the average of its peers, including a bag pick-up rate of over 30% and a customer unit price of over $150. Starting from December 2021, Documents opened new stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu one after another. It is reported that Documents has revealed that it will open offline flagship stores overseas in the future.

The stores are located in Shanghai's busy shopping district and Beijing is located in the high-end luxury mall SKP-S, which also carries the necessity of perfume and luxury experience. In terms of category selection, Documents has chosen the most creative and innovative fragrance as its core product to occupy the position of high-end perfume, including the launch of the brand's beverage products, which also aims to export the brand's comprehensive image to consumers. From this perspective, the Chinese perfume and fragrance market, as well as the new generation of luxury brands in China, may have more new possibilities.