Anker and SHEIN invested in an Amazon category sales champion

In the cross-border e-commerce market crowded with competitors in 3C, home furnishings, clothing, toys and other fields, there is a player that has quietly topped the Amazon category sales list by relying on niche categories. Even Anker and SHEIN, two cross-border giants, couldn't help but invest in it.

Ranked among the top 3 brands in Amazon categories , many of Donner's products are firmly on the BS list

In the cross-border circle, there are many sellers running in popular tracks such as toys, shoes and clothing, and home furnishings. Today we will talk about a billion-level seller in a niche track - Donner.

When it comes to Donner , most sellers are probably unfamiliar with it, but it has been deeply involved in overseas markets and has been stationed on Amazon for 11 years.

In June this year , Google and Kantar jointly released the " 2023 China Global Growth Star List" . The popular plus-size women's clothing brand BloomChic and Temu, which set off a low-price internal circulation craze, were on the list. As the only musical instrument brand on the list , Donner can be said to be very low-key .

Donner has opened up the overseas market with niche and even unpopular categories. Its products include keyboards, electric drums, guitars, effect pedals, ukuleles, mandolins, amplifiers, DMX wireless , etc.

Donner is well-known in the musical instrument industry . Since the brand was launched and entered Amazon in 2012, it has been recognized by the market. In 2014, its products ranked No. 1 on the Amazon BS list . Until now, many of Donner's products still maintain good sales performance on Amazon.

Een.com searched Amazon and found that many Donner products were included in the BS rankings of the category, among which guitar products were the most numerous and ranked high.

In addition, an electric guitar pedal under the Donner brand has received good market response since it was launched on Amazon in 2021. It has long occupied the Amazon BS list, has the Amazon Choice logo, has more than 19,000 reviews , and has a rating of 4.4 stars.

Other accessories such as guitar pedal jumpers firmly occupy the top 1 and top 4 of the Amazon category BS list. Guitar power DC sockets carry the Amazon Choice logo , and other guitar power adapters also sell well, with as many as 9,000 reviews and ratings ranging from 4.4 to 4.7 stars.

Not only Amazon, Donner also sells on platforms such as SHEIN, Walmart, and eBay . The average monthly visits to its independent website remain between 140,000 and 200,000 .

Received investment from Anker and SHEIN, and sold 1.5 billion yuan in small categories

In the niche track, Donner ran steadily and calmly, and achieved good results one after another, which was highly recognized by capital.

Tianyancha information shows that Donner's parent company Guangzhou Lanshen Technology Co., Ltd. ( hereinafter referred to as "Lanshen Technology" ) has obtained three rounds of financing, including the A round of financing led by GF Securities in 2019 , the A+ round of financing led by GF Qianhe in 2020, and the B round of financing in 2021 with the participation of Anker Innovations, SHEIN , IDG Capital and others .

These investors have now become Donner shareholders.

Time goes back to the past——

Donner was launched in 2012, three years after its parent company Guangzhou Lanshen Technology Co., Ltd. was established, and the brand was listed on Amazon as soon as it was launched.

When it first entered the overseas market, Donner successfully opened the door to the track with its innovative mini guitar pedal (which still maintains a good market recognition on Amazon and carries the Amazon Choice logo), which was a good start.

Since then, in 2014, the brand's ukuleles ranked No. 1 on Amazon's Best Seller list .

In 2018, Donner expanded its global market through Amazon, and more than 30 countries became its sales destinations. At that time, its market share increased significantly and its brand awareness expanded rapidly in the musical instrument circle.

In 2020, Donner ranked among the top 3 global Amazon musical instrument brands , with annual revenue reaching 1.5 billion yuan. It officially launched an independent website and expanded its market to more than 100 countries.

In 2021, Donner increased its R&D and production, entered the field of smart hardware, and developed music APPs . Many of its products won the Red Dot Design Award, European Product Design Award, IF Product Design Award , Golden Dot Design Award, China Design Intelligence Award, and even won the " World's Smallest 25-Key MIDI Keyboard " award.

In 2022 , it became a brand highlighted by many well-known media such as The New York Times, PR Newswire , Los Angeles Weekly, Yahoo, Guitar World, and Music Radar . Two of its products also appeared on the New York Fashion Week show, becoming the first musical instrument brand to display at the fashion week .

In 2023, Donner displayed many star products and new products at the NAMM Show , the world's largest musical instrument exhibition , which were recognized by many professionals .

Donner has taken steady steps and has expanded into more than 100 markets around the world, covering both online and offline channels . In order to better meet the needs of development, it has also set up branches in Shenzhen, the United States, Germany and other places .

Currently, Bluesun Technology’s musical instrument products cover almost all categories. Its four brands , Donner , Eastar , Moukey and Reditmo , respectively manage different categories and have achieved good sales results on Amazon.

Donner : Keyboards, electric drums, guitars, effects pedals, ukuleles, mandolins, amplifiers, DMX wireless, etc.
Eastar : Violin, wind instruments ( recorder /trumpet/harmonica/flute ) , children's drums, etc.
Moukey : Microphone , headphones , tongue drum , party lights, etc.

Reditmo : Children's products.

Donner is blazing a new trail in a multi-billion dollar market dominated by giants

Although the track is slightly less popular than home furnishings, shoes and apparel, Donner faces considerable competitive pressure.

In the musical instrument circle, Yamaha, Pearl River Piano, Steinway, Kawai, Fender, etc. are brands with a century-old history and are deeply trusted by consumers.

Just take the electric guitar market, which is the most important market for Donner, as an example. Well-known brands such as Fender , Yamaha, Gibson , and ESP LTD are very popular. So how can we find more opportunities and gain more market share in the musical instrument market dominated by giants?

Donner avoids being in the spotlight and targets music lovers and beginners as its main customers . In terms of product development, it uses new materials to transform traditional musical instruments, so that mid-priced products can also achieve the same timbre and sound quality as traditional high-end brand products . Tianyancha information shows that as of now, Donner has 171 product patents alone .

Through its high-quality, mid-priced, and entry-level-friendly brand positioning, Donner has successfully gained a group of audiences, and its sales on platforms such as Amazon have continued to rise. In 2020, its revenue reached 1.5 billion yuan, and many of its products have firmly occupied the Amazon category BS list.

Donner has also put a lot of effort into marketing . On social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok , Donner has a large number of fans .

In order to improve user stickiness, it also developed a music community APP for beginners - Donner Music.

There is no need to explain how successful establishment of a brand’s social media matrix will benefit marketing.

In addition, Huang Ke, co-founder of Bluesun Technology, once said in an interview with the media that during the back-to-school season and the Q4 holiday season, its entry-level musical instruments and some portable musical instruments will be transformed into products with gift attributes. This brings more room and angles for its marketing and R&D .

Compared with other fields, musical instruments themselves are a very slow-growing market because the market they target is relatively niche. According to statistics released by Music Trade in 2022, before 2020 , the annual growth rate of the global musical instrument market was 2.6%; from 2020 to 2022, slightly stimulated by the epidemic, the growth rate only reached 3.9% .

But this also has an advantage. Huang Ke once said that the musical instrument market is relatively small, with annual sales of about 20 billion US dollars , so the industry is less affected by the overall environment . Even if the economy is not very prosperous, demand will not shrink .

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