Valuation exceeds $1 billion! What is the magic of a Chinese company that became a unicorn in one year?

Under the dual effects of the epidemic and Amazon's account ban, the industry's attention to independent websites has reached an unprecedented level, and Chinese brands' overseas expansion has also ushered in an explosive period. The well-known independent website seller SHEIN has become a benchmark in the industry, and its successful independent website strategy has attracted a large number of sellers to the independent website.

Cross-border independent websites have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and catching up with SHEIN has become the goal of most sellers. The fastest growing one is Cider, an overseas unicorn that has been established for only more than a year. There is also the domestic Antarctic e-commerce company that claims "everything can be Antarctic" that is benchmarking SHEIN and is about to launch a cross-border independent website.

After winning four rounds of financing within one year of its establishment, what is the magic of the new “Internet celebrity” Cider?

The cross-border overseas market is so hot that new e-commerce players are emerging one after another. From the independent website giant SHEIN, to Zaful under Cross-border Communication, to the unicorn Cider that won multiple rounds of financing within one year of its establishment, Chinese fast fashion brands have made a name for themselves overseas with the independent website model.

Recently, Cider has completed its fourth round of financing of US$130 million. This round of financing was led by top international venture capital firm DST Global and legendary Silicon Valley venture capital firm A16Z (which has invested in Facebook and Twitter). After this round of financing, Cider's valuation exceeded US$1 billion , making it one of the fastest growing unicorn companies in the world.

This also makes people in the industry curious about Cider's singing journey.

(Picture from Cider official website)

In September 2020, Cider won nearly 10 million US dollars in angel round financing led by A16Z and IDG Capital; in December 2020, Heyu Capital led the Pre-A round of financing; in June 2021, DST Global and A16Z led the US$22 million A round of financing.

As a fast fashion DTC brand founded in May 2020, Cider has targeted the highly potential Z-generation women's clothing market. With its trendy designs, extremely fast new product launches, and high cost-effectiveness, it has quickly captured the wardrobes of young girls in Europe and the United States and has become a new "Internet celebrity" that is being enthusiastically sought after.

On many overseas social platforms, you can see many fashion bloggers buying Cider's clothes without any promotion. Currently, Cider has more than 2 million fans on social media around the world, and has been exposed 1 billion times , which is enough to show how popular Cider is among young girls in Europe and the United States.

With over one million daily visits, what is the difference between Cider and SHEIN?

According to foreign media statistics, Cider's page visits have been steadily increasing. According to the data in July, its daily visits have exceeded 1.8 million . Although it is not as good as SHEIN, for a brand that has only been established for one year, it is an excellent achievement, which shows its popularity.

As a fast fashion brand, the rapidly rising Cider is called the successor of SHEIN by industry insiders, mainly because the two have many similarities, in addition to the same sales categories, real-time retail model, self-built digital system, and the same supply chain model. Official news, Cider is establishing a factory direct sales market, will be deeply tied to the factory, and thus improve its supply chain integration capabilities.

But in comparison , Cider and SHEIN are still different. SHEIN has a wide range of products , ranging from clothes to shoes, pets and household items, just like a department store; while Cider is positioned for young women of Generation Z and focuses more on building a fast fashion brand .

(Picture from Cider official website)

Compared with SHEIN's low-price strategy, Cider's clothes are priced slightly higher, ranging from $20 to $40. Its homepage is simple and elegant, with clothes classified by function, mood and scene , and some products are specially designed with copywriting that can arouse consumers' desire to buy. For Generation Z who likes new and trendy things, this setting is undoubtedly more attractive.

At present, there are more and more independent brands going overseas, and most of them have chosen the overseas women's clothing market, which has a large market and potential. The strategies of these brands are similar, bringing domestic online celebrity evaluations, live streaming and other gameplay to overseas, and using price advantages to gain higher profits. But in the long run, it will definitely be a process of sifting through the sand. If sellers want to go further, creativity, vitality, accumulation and good operations are undoubtedly indispensable.

Comparing with SHEIN, Antarctic E-commerce also has its own cross-border website

As cross-border overseas expansion is in full swing, many domestic brands have chosen to expand their overseas expansion, and Antarctic E-commerce, which claims that "everything can be done by Antarctic people", is no exception. In the semi-annual report released by Antarctic E-commerce recently, its net profit fell by 42.85%. For this reason, Antarctic E-commerce said that part of the reason was the investment in new cross-border e-commerce projects , which led to an increase in the expense rate.

The financial report shows that in the next five years, Antarctic E-Commerce will focus on the two main lines of "brand + consumer goods", combine "digital + supply chain", reach "users + channels", and focus on expanding six major business lines. The cross-border independent platform is one of the key business lines of Antarctic E-Commerce.

Nanji E-commerce will create multiple overseas sales platforms for women's clothing, children's clothing, home furnishings and appliances through the self-operated model . The first to go online this time is the fast fashion brand Fommos. The outline of Fommos can be simply summarized as a benchmark against SHEIN, such as good quality products at low prices, integration of clothing factories, building a flexible supply chain and self-operated platform.

On American social networking sites, Fommos is introduced as a B2C fast fashion e-commerce platform, with categories including clothing, home furnishings, sports and outdoor . It is not difficult to see that the fast fashion brand may just be the entry point for Antarctic E-Commerce to move towards an independent website, and it will expand to other categories in the future. Industry insiders are already well aware of this strategy.

But if Fommos wants to truly compete with SHEIN, it has a long way to go. SHEIN's flexible supply chain was not built overnight, and the growth of private traffic across the overseas Internet also requires time to accumulate. In addition, the clothing made by Nanjiren Factory is mostly basic styles. The future development of fast fashion and basic styles are two completely different fields. Whether Fommos can occupy a place in the fast fashion field remains to be seen.

It makes sense that most Chinese sellers choose to build their own independent websites overseas. Under the wave of Amazon account bans, it is not uncommon for big sellers on the platform to go bankrupt and lay off employees. Independent website sellers have not been affected and have achieved impressive revenue, which makes most Amazon sellers envious.

Lechuang's independent website had a half-year revenue of 225 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 368%;

Jihong shares' half-year revenue was nearly 2.5 billion yuan, and was not affected by the account blocking trend;

There is a seller in the auto parts category who earns 10 million with a cost of 50,000.

In general, there are quite a few sellers who have delivered impressive results, such as SHEIN, Banggood, Xike, Treader and Starlink, which are all independent sites that are selling well. Although they have not disclosed their revenue data for the first half of 2021, judging from their platform traffic and capitalization process, their revenue data and profits should be very good.

For Antarctic E-commerce, Fommos is its first step to expand overseas, and also the layout of its private domain traffic accumulation. From domestic channel e-commerce to cross-border self-operated e-commerce, Antarctic E-commerce has a huge span. If it wants to compete with the top cross-border e-commerce brands, it needs to be cautious in all aspects. Because in the fast fashion track, it is not just Fommos that is sprinting forward. Industry insiders are also waiting and watching: Who can stand out from this track and become the next SHEIN?

Independent website

Antarctic E-commerce

Cider