Behind the hot contact lens market_ the industry price system is chaotic

Behind the hot contact lens market: the industry price system is chaotic

Reporter Xu Liqing and Li Xianglei reported from Beijing that "compared with traditional glasses, contact lenses are more convenient and beautiful to wear, especially the types, colors and patterns of color contact lenses are very rich, and they are deeply liked by the younger generation of consumers." Contact lens user Xiang Li (pseudonym) told the reporter of China Business News that contact lenses are not only for people with myopia, but also a big hobby in the beauty industry. Nowadays, there are more and more contact lens users like Xiang Li. It is estimated that by 2025, the market size of contact lenses is expected to exceed 11 billion yuan, and its development space may exceed that of the European and American markets. In recent years, with the rise of the post-90s and post-00s younger generation of consumer groups, the popularity of contact lenses has been rising. In this field, there are not only internationally renowned brands such as Johnson & Johnson and Bausch & Lomb, but also local brands such as Haichang. Yang Qingshan, a marketing expert, believes that the market size of contact lenses will become larger and larger, and from the perspective of marketing, the market is equal to the number of people in demand + purchasing power. Contact lenses on the market today not only meet the rigid needs of people with myopia, but also meet the aesthetic requirements of the beauty industry. At the same time, the audience's spending power is also increasing, which will promote the overall development of the industry. Nowadays, contact lenses seem to have become a trendy item to show off their personality, and they have also become a hot topic among the public. According to the "National Vision Health Big Data Report" released by the Public Opinion Data Center of People's Daily Online in April 2019, there are currently 600 million myopia patients in China, accounting for 50% of the population. According to Zhiyan Consulting, the size of China's contact lens market has reached 7.67 billion yuan in 2018 and has maintained a high growth rate. It is estimated that by 2025, the market size of contact lenses is expected to exceed 11 billion yuan, and its development space may exceed that of the European and American markets. A few days ago, CNPP data research and the top ten brand networks released the 2019 consumer favorite contact lens brand ranking, and Bausch & Lomb, Johnson & Johnson Anshiyou, and Haichang several leading brands occupy the top three positions in consumer favoritism. Ms. He, a contact lens agent, told reporters that consumers pay great attention to the experience of choosing contact lenses. In terms of material, contact lenses mainly include silicone hydrogel material and hydrogel material. The oxygen permeability of the former is relatively high, 7 times higher than that of hydrogel, and it is more breathable and moisturized after wearing. The hydrogel material is softer and better to wear. However, even if the product of the same material is different from one brand to another, the product characteristics will be different, and the feeling of consumers wearing it will be different. Regarding the difference between brands and relatively low-end products, Mr. Tang, who is engaged in contact lens agent sales, told reporters: "Many consumers are willing to choose big brands, in addition to the comfort and style of wearing, the more important thing is the quality. Big brands may have more mature contact lens manufacturing processes, such as the materials used, the water content of the lenses, oxygen permeability, the process of grinding the lenses, etc. Some relatively cheap and low-grade products are due to the lack of technology, and the most direct reflection of consumers is their lack of comfort. In fact, contact lenses are not the only thing that is on the public agenda today, they started to be popular a decade ago. According to the "2018-2023 China Contact Lens Market Analysis and Investment Prospect Research Report" released by Booz Data, the average growth rate of China's contact lens consumption from 2010 to 2017 was 17.6%, much higher than the world's average growth rate of 2.5%. Contact lenses are divided into two types: transparent and color. According to Zhiyan Consulting, the market size of color contact lenses (beauty) in China was 1.208 billion yuan in 2017, and its market size increased to 1.404 billion yuan in 2018, and the proportion of color contact lenses in contact lenses increased from 6.50% in 2012 to 18.30% in 2018. The reporter found that in recent years, many brands such as Haichang, Bausch & Lomb, Hailien, Johnson & Johnson Anshiyou and other brands have continuously launched a variety of new contact lenses. Not long ago, Hai Lien launched a series of color films. Prior to this, Johnson & Johnson Anshiyou directly cooperated with the beauty brand Maybelline to launch a new limited gift box, making the idea of contact lenses becoming a part of eye makeup successfully attracted market attention. In this regard, Lai Yang, president of Beijing Jingshang Circulation Strategy Research Institute, said that in fact, this market is not only the market of myopia groups, but also the consumption of beauty people, especially the pursuit of fashion by young people, which has produced a huge contact lens market. With the strong demand and the expansion of the market scale, the competition for products is also more intense. In addition to traditional brands, domestic medical device companies are also trying to enter. Not long ago, Yuyue Medical purchased 20% of the shares of Jiangsu Shizhun for 42 million yuan to enter the contact lens market. The reporter checked Tianyan and found that there are currently more than 100,000 enterprises with contact lenses in China. Among them, 25,000 were newly added enterprises in 2019. However, Ms. He told reporters that although there are many companies that have entered the game, there are only a handful of businesses that can really produce products, and most of them are mainly engaged in the sale of foreign brands. In this regard, Lai Yang said that the large scale of Chinese contact lenses and the scarcity of local brands have made many companies see business opportunities. However, its technical threshold technology is very high, and many enterprises have no technology to only take the road of operation and sales. The price system of the industry is chaotic in China, although there are more than 100,000 companies operating contact lenses, and they are increasing every year, but the manufacturers are extremely rare, most of the products come from overseas brands or OEM factories, and the price system is very chaotic. This also makes the development of the entire industry full of uncertainties. "The industry is very chaotic, some of the same products are sold for a few hundred yuan, and some are sold for a few dollars." Ms. He said.The reporter inquired about the prices of several big brands of contact lenses on the Tmall platform and found that the difference in the prices of several big-name products was not particularly large. However, the prices of other contact lenses on the market range from a dozen yuan to hundreds or thousands of yuan. Regarding this phenomenon, Lai Yang said that the domestic contact lens consumer market is huge. However, due to technical limitations, there are fewer domestic enterprises that can produce contact lenses, and the intermediate channels cause price chaos. Zhang Ze, general manager of Tmall Pharmacy, has publicly stated that the current domestic market demand for good quality and wide variety of glasses is increasing, but it is an indisputable fact that it relies on imports. "In sales, different companies will adopt different channel strategies, different distributors, agent systems, and different ways of cooperation, so there is great flexibility in operation. In this case, it may be difficult for manufacturers to directly control the price of the channel. Manufacturers may have uniform price requirements, but dealers can use various ways of discounts to attract consumers and expand their market share. Lai Yang said. In addition, in Lai Yang's view, there is also a situation that manufacturers cannot control the channel too much. Because there are many dealers, it is good for manufacturers. But when there are many dealers, it will be more difficult to manage. Especially now, the contact lens market mostly relies on overseas brands, different channels, and domestic sales, without strict industry pricing standards, and the price system is naturally chaotic. In addition, the current contact lens market is relatively loose, the quality of products is uneven, and product quality and safety are also the focus of controversy. On May 23, 2018, the National Medical Products Administration released the Annual Report on National Medical Device Adverse Event Monitoring (2017), pointing out that contact lenses belong to the category of medical devices with a high incidence of adverse events. Not long ago, Johnson & Johnson Vision Health was controversial for recalling some contact lens products that did not meet quality standards. However, according to the reporter's understanding, the State Drug Administration has carried out a nationwide crackdown on illegal sales of contact lenses from May to the end of November 2018. "At present, the scale of enterprises operating contact lenses is huge, and many violations of laws and regulations such as unlicensed operation are frequent, which seriously disrupts the market order, resulting in a chaotic contact lens industry, and consumers are easy to be deceived when choosing contact lenses." Economist Song Qinghui said.