Sales volume exceeds 10 billion! Another big seller becomes popular in Southeast Asia

Some people say that with the arrival of the "low fertility rate" era in China and other developed countries , most maternal and child brands are having a hard time.

However, it was in this context that MAKUKU, a major maternal and infant brand created by a Chinese overseas team, emerged as a dark horse and harvested the wallets of countless overseas mothers.

With sales exceeding 10 billion, it became popular in Indonesia with its maternal and child products

According to public information, MAKUKU currently sells a wide range of products, including maternal and child products (such as bottles, pacifiers, diapers, wet wipes, etc.), milk powder, complementary foods, children's clothing, toiletries, cotton products, women's and personal care products, etc., and its global monthly sales have exceeded 100 million yuan, and the number of stores and retail stores worldwide has exceeded 10,000.

In terms of online sales, MAKUKU performed best in Indonesia in the Southeast Asian market.

Data shows that since its establishment in November 2020, in just over four years, MAKUKU has become the third largest diaper brand in the Indonesian market.

Among all the small stores on TikTok, MAKUKU Indonesia is the largest, with as many as 102 product categories and the largest number of fans, reaching more than 1.44 million.

In the past month, the brand has sold more than 10,000 units in Indonesia, with sales reaching Rp1.569 billion (about RMB 714,000). Since the product was launched in the Indonesian store, it has sold a total of 850,600 units, with total sales reaching Rp137.593 billion (about RMB 65.52 million).

In addition, MAKUKU also delivered a good report card in TikTok's Philippine store.

According to Fast Moss data, the brand sold 11,100 pieces in the past week, with sales of ₱5,473,600 (about RMB 682,000). In addition, from the time the product was launched to now, a total of 186,200 pieces have been sold, with total sales reaching ₱107 million (about RMB 13.334 million).

It is worth mentioning that MAKUKU's rapid growth in Southeast Asia was also reflected in the past two years. Official data show that at the end of 2021, MAKUKU officially launched its first diaper in the Indonesian market, which was subsequently welcomed by a large number of parents. From October to December 2022, the brand's sales in Indonesia reached 110 million. As of January this year, the total sales of MAKUKU TikTok stores around the world have accumulated to more than 12 billion yuan.

It is not difficult to find from the above data that MAKUKU has successfully established a reputation in Southeast Asia, especially in the Indonesian market, in just over four years.

How does MAKUKU break through the heavy competition?

In the early years, maternal and infant products were very popular in China and many countries around the world. Seeing this business opportunity, more and more brands squeezed into this track and began to compete fiercely. Coupled with the decline in fertility rates in many countries in recent years, the sales of maternal and infant products in some developed economies were once sluggish, causing a large number of brands to start looking for new markets for survival, which can be said to be a roll-around.

MAKUKU has not only achieved outstanding results in the Southeast Asian market, but also received huge support two years before its launch. Data shows that in April 2021, MAKUKU announced the completion of an angel round of financing of 185 million yuan, setting a record for the largest first-round financing of a new maternal and infant brand in China; less than a year later, it received another 30 million US dollars in Pre-A round of financing in January 2022.

So in such a fiercely competitive field, how did MAKUKU break through in the global maternal and infant market?

On the one hand, MAKUKU chose the right market.

At that time, the fertility rates in many countries continued to decline, and Southeast Asia not only had a large population base, but also had the largest number of newborns in Asia, which would inevitably drive up the prices of maternal and child-related products. After the founder discovered this potential business opportunity, he quickly set his brand target on the Southeast Asian market.

Among the many countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has the largest population, and the fertility rate has remained high. Data shows that in the decade before 2023, the average number of babies born in Indonesia each year was about 4.5 million; last year, there were 15.7 newborns per 1,000 people in the country, and the fertility rate was much higher than that of other countries. High birth rates often drive a surge in demand for maternal and infant products. According to statistics, the revenue of this product in the market reached more than 90 million US dollars last year, and it is expected to rise to 125 million US dollars in 2029.

After gaining a certain understanding of market demand and local user consumption levels, the founder of MAKUKU decided to enter the Indonesian market mainly with mid- to high-end maternal and child products.

On the other hand, MAKUKU pays special attention to creating differentiated products.

When it first entered the market, MAKUKU was not in a hurry to launch a series of fancy products. It chose to start with diapers, a product that is in urgent need of mothers and babies, and put a lot of effort into its research and development and design. Unlike traditional diapers, MAKUKU uses China's leading SAP technology to make diapers more water-locking and non-caking. It also launched three series of products, Slim, Comfort, and Pro Care, targeting different segments of the mid-to-high-end market with different needs.

Thanks to its highly cost-effective products, MAKUKU has a significant competitive advantage in the Indonesian market and quickly occupied the majority of the market share.

At the same time, MAKUKU also used e-commerce and social media platforms to push the brand to the top of the market.

It is reported that it entered the market through offline distribution in the early stage, and later established an independent brand website, and then opened stores on platforms such as Lazada and Shopee. In the past two years, it has begun to switch to the TikTok platform for continuous marketing and promotion, and cooperate with influencers, which has greatly increased the brand's popularity and sales.

With multiple brands entering the market, the maternal and infant market continues to grow steadily

It can be said that MAKUKU does have a way to build a brand overseas. There are many brands in the same field that have also achieved great success overseas. Their experience is worth learning and reference for other sellers.

Among them, Yoboo is worth mentioning. Yoboo officially launched TikTok Shop in the Philippines in July 2022. With its keen market insight and innovative marketing strategies, it took only half a year to win the first place in the cross-border maternal and child vertical sales in the Philippines. There is also the brand Momcozy, which was founded in 2017. In just a few years, it not only swept TikTok, but also dominated the Amazon best-seller list and became the top seller in the breast pump category on the platform.

Although the fertility rate in many countries and regions around the world is showing a downward trend, as the economy improves, people's quality of life has improved. In the new generation of parenting concepts, parents have higher and more comprehensive standards for infant products, and are therefore more willing to spend money on them.

Against this background, the size of the maternal and infant market has shown a steady growth momentum.

According to an institutional survey report, the global maternal and infant products market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5% between 2023 and 2030, and the market size will exceed US$308.42 billion by 2030. In addition, the scale of global maternal and infant care products is also on the rise, reaching US$42.5142 billion in 2024 and will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6% between 2024 and 2031.

In addition, according to forecasts, the scale of the global maternal and infant industry is even more astonishing, and is expected to be close to 1.4 trillion US dollars by 2027. It can be seen that the global maternal and infant market will continue to prosper in the future. When relevant sellers go overseas, they can choose markets with development potential and prepare marketing strategies in advance, and perhaps they can capture new business opportunities.