From OEM to cross-border business, it sells 2 billion a year!

What about those big sellers who transformed themselves from OEM to brand?

When talking about the term "OEM", most people think that this road is not easy to walk. Not only are they controlled by big sales, but they also have to be careful not to be replaced by competitors. After all, without core craftsmanship and technology, they have almost no say.

Based on this, some OEM factories have begun to transform into brands and cross-border businesses, and there are many successful cases, such as the big seller of sanitary ware Ruierte, the leading brand of thermos cups Hals, the big seller of luggage Xinweifa, and the new energy unicorn Delan Minghai ...

The OEM factory transformed into a cross-border business, and it became a hot seller after listing

When it comes to sanitary ware exports, I believe many cross-border people are familiar with it.

As the base of the sanitary ware industry, Xiamen's local products are sold to various overseas countries all year round, accounting for almost half of China's sanitary ware exports. It has also nurtured a number of companies that occupy a very high market share in the international market, and Ruier is one of them.

In 1999, in a small factory of more than 400 square meters, Ruierte started in the Xiamen sanitary ware market with a water tank accessory.

Later, based on the prevalence of OEM in the Xiamen sanitary ware market, Ruier mainly provided OEM services to well-known sanitary ware brands in the ODM model. It was not until 2021 that it officially began to build its own brand.

While transforming from an OEM to a brand, Ruierte also entered Amazon to grab the C-end market. Currently, Ruierte sells nearly 20+ ASINs on Amazon, with a store star rating of 4.6, and the prices of bathroom accessories products are mostly between US$20 and US$200.

However, knowing full well that "OEM is not the future", Ruier invested a lot of funds in research and development early on, and also laid a solid foundation for subsequent brand building.

In 2001, Ruierte pioneered the "double-speed one-piece drain valve"; in 2003, it opened up the European market with its hidden water tank and UF cover series; in 2004, Ruierte expanded its production line; in 2008, the company developed and produced smart bathroom products. Since then, the company has been increasing its research and development and investing heavily.

In the first half of 2023 alone , R&D expenses reached 47.026 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31.02%. At present, the company has more than 1,800 patents.

With sufficient R&D confidence and the soundness of Xiamen's sanitary ware industry chain, the company's products have expanded from the initial water tank accessories to water tanks and accessories, smart toilets and covers, same-floor drainage products and others. It has not only grown into a world-renowned sanitary ware brand, but also "the Ruierte that can be seen everywhere in overseas family bathrooms."

In 2016, Ruier Technology was officially listed on the A-share market, transforming from a contract manufacturer into a listed company. The small factory of 400 square meters was replaced with a smart factory of over 200,000 square meters. It is also one of the few sanitary ware companies listed on the A-share market.

After going public, Ruier Technology continued its previous performance and delivered a good report card. Taking the first half of 2024 as an example, Ruier Technology's revenue was 1.143 billion yuan, of which overseas revenue was 333 million yuan, an increase of 18.79% compared with the same period last year.

Smart toilet seats and covers are the fastest growing category of Ruier in recent years. Data shows that the revenue of this category in the first half of the year was 687 million yuan, accounting for 60.11%. This is also reflected in the industry data. In the first half of this year, the sales volume of smart toilet seats and covers showed a steady growth trend, especially in the high-end market and emerging markets.

This has a lot to do with Ruier's continuous improvement. It is understood that in order to meet the needs of the European and American markets, Ruier has continuously adjusted and developed a series of products. For example, to adapt to the installation conditions of American toilets, the installation hole spacing of toilet covers will be adjusted; to cater to the aging trend, aging products will be developed.

In fact, it is not just Ruier. In recent years, Xiamen sanitary ware companies have seen a clear trend of product homogeneity and price wars. More and more OEM factories have realized that they need to move higher up the industrial chain and go overseas as independent brands rather than OEMs.

Take Jianlin Group as an example. Initially, it mainly worked as an OEM for internationally renowned brands such as Moen, DELTA, and Kohler. In 2021, it entered Amazon to establish itself in cross-border e-commerce. Its main bathroom products include shower heads, faucets, etc., and also involve a series of products for scenes such as kitchens.

With the accumulation of OEM and the development of Amazon's online brand channels, Jianlin Group has formed a multi-blossom profit model. Relevant data shows that on Amazon alone, Jianlin Group 's sales in 2023 increased by more than 5 times compared with 2022. Its small category products also ranked first on the best-selling list in the kitchen scene.

Obviously, the successful transformation of Ruierte and Jianlin Group from "Made in China" to "Smart Manufacturing in China" not only highlights the development of Xiamen's sanitary ware industry, but also emphasizes the importance of brand. "Building a brand" has become the pursuit of most sellers.

After transforming into brands, they are now doing very well!

The editor learned that in recent years, there are many brands that have transformed into OEM in various categories, and they have achieved good results.

Hals was once the OEM for famous water cup brands such as Yeti and Stanley, and won stable orders and profits with its excellent quality and reputation. In 2011, Hals rang the bell at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, becoming the first A-share thermos cup stock.

However, with the changes in the global competition landscape, Hals realized the risks of relying solely on the OEM model and began to incubate its own brand in 2016.

Today, Hals has four major brands, HAERS, SIGG, SANTECO, and NONOO, covering the fields of mass, high-end, sports, and fashion. Its overseas business has also been growing steadily in recent years. In the first half of 2024, the company's revenue was 1.393 billion yuan, of which overseas revenue was as high as 1.196 billion yuan, both of which were growing.

Xinweifa was originally just a luggage factory in Xiamen that specialized in OEM for international brands. Since 2012, it has transformed into a cross-border e-commerce company and entered Amazon. It was also one of the first cross-border merchants to "take the lead". Now it has become a company that has incubated many luggage brands including Ecosusi and Bagsmart.

As early as 2017, Xinweifa's revenue on Amazon accounted for 90%, and it became the number one in Amazon's storage bags category. As of August this year, its two major brands ranked first in the sub-category, with estimated monthly sales of millions of US dollars.

Delanminghai BLUETTI is also one of the brand sellers that transformed from OEM. Before the branding, Delanminghai was not in a good situation and even mortgaged its house to pay employees' salaries.

It was not until 2019 that Delan Minghai began to select some products with independent intellectual property rights, printed the brand logo on them and sold them on Amazon. In 2020, it opened up the overseas energy storage power supply market with the brand BLUETTI, launched overseas crowdfunding platforms and developed independent websites, and successfully completed the transformation from OEM to its own brand.

Just one year after going online on Amazon, its sales exceeded 100 million yuan, and two years later it became the third largest in the world. In 2022, its sales business increased by 300% year-on-year. During the same period, the company's portable energy storage products achieved sales revenue of more than 2 billion yuan.

Huami Technology used to be the OEM for wearable devices such as Xiaomi wristbands. However, in 2015, it was not content with this and chose to become its own brand manufacturer, launching the brand AMAZFIT. Its products have also gradually expanded from the initial smart wristbands to diversified smart wearable devices such as smart watches and sports headphones.

Now it has made a brilliant turn. In 2018, Huami Technology officially landed on the New York Stock Exchange. Later, driven by the continuous growth of the wearable device market, its products also ushered in good development.

From sellers to big-name brands, a group of traditional foreign trade companies are carving out their own new world through cross-border e-commerce and are becoming the ones dancing on the cusp of the trend in various categories.

Cross-border

OEM

Xiamen Bathroom