A niche product becomes a dark horse, with some people making monthly sales of $560,000 with a single listing!

Een.com noticed that on many popular Amazon sites such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, the hot search terms "coffee maker" and "coffee machine" have risen in ranking, and have maintained a high level of product search popularity for a long time.

It is obvious that in recent years, more and more young people are using a cup of coffee to "renew their lives", and the coffee industry has indeed ushered in a wave of rapid growth. According to data from Zhaimen Canyan, as of June 10, 2024, the number of new coffee shops in the past year exceeded 87,600.

In terms of brands, Starbucks is still the leader, but Luckin Coffee, CooDi and others are taking advantage of the opportunity.

In 2019, Luckin Coffee, which was founded only 17 months ago, officially rang the bell on the 24th day after submitting its prospectus to the Nasdaq in the United States, breaking the record for Chinese companies going public in the United States, becoming the world's fastest IPO company, and the Asian company with the largest IPO financing scale on the Nasdaq in 2019.

Last week ( July 18), Luckin Coffee’s 20,000th store officially opened, making it the first coffee chain brand in the industry to exceed 20,000 stores.

The number of stores of Kudi, Starbucks and others has reached 7,000 respectively.

Compared with China, the coffee culture in overseas markets is even longer-standing, and compared with branded store sales, home-made coffee is also very popular. Among them, Chinese brand coffee machines are making a huge profit overseas.

In the second year of overseas expansion, sales increased by 300%

In 2017, Foshan Shunde Banli Electric Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Banli Electric") was established. It entered the consumer market mainly with small household appliances, and its vertical focus was coffee machines.

It is understood that Zeng Qiuping, the founder of Banli Electric, has many years of experience working in a coffee machine factory, which mainly does OEM for overseas brands. Perhaps it was this experience that prompted Zeng Qiuping to start a business with coffee machines.

At the beginning, Banley Electric did not start the B2C business. After all, as a relatively niche household appliance product, it was not easy to independently create a brand and sell the coffee machine in the early stages.

Therefore, in addition to the OEM business, Banley Electric also sells products including espresso machines, portable mini blenders, etc. to the Middle East, Europe and the United States through the B2B model .

But soon, Zeng Qiuping realized that OEM production and wholesale were not a long-term solution.

For example, not all B-end buyers can meet the minimum order requirements. Sometimes some buyers only need 300-400 coffee machines , and even the minimum quantity requirement for packing cannot be met . The problem of order loss is becoming increasingly serious .

For example, due to the influence of international trade situation and changes in production costs, the profit margin of OEM production has been continuously shrinking.

Therefore, it is urgent for Banli Electric to transform into a brand and do C-end business. In a media interview, Zeng Qiuping said, "In the future cross-border trade, it is completely unimaginable without a brand." Transforming from B2B to B2C and using the brand HiBREW to directly face individual consumers has become Banli Electric's top priority.

In 2019, Banley Electric started its C-end overseas journey with the brand HiBREW , and AliExpress was the first overseas platform it cooperated with.

Data shows that shortly after entering the C-end platform, HiBREW 's order warehouse shipment ratio has reached 2.5+ times the industry average , and it has become a gold medal seller on the third-party platform in just 7 months .

In the first year of B2C, HiBREW 's sales increased by 70%, and in 2020 it increased by another 300% year-on-year . In 2022, the authoritative American media CNBC reported on HiBREW , saying that its overall sales in 2021 increased by 70% year-on-year compared with 2020 .

Other data show that in 2019, the gross profit margin of HiBREW 's own-brand products was nearly 100% higher than that of Benley Electric's pure OEM business.

Although it was determined to serve the C-end at the same time, the growth of HiBREW was unexpected. During its wild growth, it brought extremely high revenue to Banley Electric.

From the market perspective, in its ongoing operations, HiBREW has noticed that many brand buyers come from the Middle East market. It is reported that shortly after entering the third-party platform, its sales in the Middle East market more than doubled, and more than 60% of orders on AliExpress in 2022 came from the Middle East market.

At the beginning, the main target was Europe and the United States, but it unexpectedly gained a group of consumers in the Middle East. How could we not be surprised? In the Middle East market, HiBREW 's average order value is even higher.

To date, HiBREW 's market has covered the United States, France, Russia, Spain, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, etc.

In terms of online sales channels, HiBREW has also expanded to multiple European and American third-party e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Darty, Cdiscount, and Fnac .

Take Amazon as an example. It has many products on sale with prices ranging from US$59.99 to US$259.99. Although its market share on this platform is not high, an espresso machine that was only launched in January this year has good monthly sales and a rating of 4.4 stars, ranking 48th on the BS list in the " Semi- Automatic Espresso Machines " category .

In addition, HiBREW has also created an independent website. According to Similarweb data , although the total number of visits to its independent website hibrew.com is not as high as that of similar products, the data is constantly increasing. In June, its visits reached 39,000, and the average monthly visits in the past three months were 48,500.

In terms of traffic source share, the United States ranked first, accounting for 11.53%, up 110.3% from the previous month ; followed by Indonesia ( 3.97% ), Hong Kong, China ( 3.63%), France (3.5%) and Bahrain (3.33%). Except for the Indonesian market, the share of visits from the other four major markets is increasing.

Google Trend data shows that over the past five years, the global search popularity of HiBREW has continued to grow, especially since July last year, when its attention has remained high and reached peaks many times.

As it continues to penetrate overseas markets, HiBREW is also continuously enriching its product matrix to win more favor in the increasingly competitive coffee machine market. HiBREW 's current product series consists of four major series: multi-capsule coffee machines, portable coffee machines, espresso machines, and ground coffee machines, supplemented by accessories such as milk frothers.

The category market is declining, but it is growing against the trend

In fact, compared to HiBREW, the overseas coffee machine brand that performs better on Amazon is Gevi .

If you search the brand Gevi directly on the Amazon platform , you will find that many of its products are performing well. Take a drip coffee machine priced at $142.47 as an example. Although it has only accumulated 2,789 reviews since it was launched, its rating has reached 4.4 stars. Judging from the recent reviews, different buyers have given five-star praise in terms of product quality and user experience.

In terms of sales, the product sold more than 1,000 units last month. In the Amazon " Coffee Machines " category BS list, the listing is also ranked 34th.

Not only this product performed well, Gevi 's two coffee machines priced at US$119.99 and US$139.99 also sold more than 1,000 units respectively last month.

Among them, the product priced at US$119.99 has received more than 2,000 reviews since it was launched, ranking fifth on Amazon's BS list in the "Super-Automatic Espresso Machines" category .

Another product ranked first in Amazon's "Commercial Espresso Machines & Coffee Makers" category BS list, and the 30th listing on the list was also a Gevi product .

According to information, Gevi is Guangdong Yumtu Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yumtu"), a home appliance company founded in 2004 and located in Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong. The executive director is Guo Jianqiang.

Qichacha data also shows that Guo Jianqiang is the vice director of Guangdong Xinbao Electric Appliance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xinbao Electric Appliance"), a listed overseas company.

From this perspective, Gevi is indirectly the overseas coffee machine brand of Xinbao Electric. As there is a saying that " for every three coffee machines exported from China, at least one comes from Xinbao Electric ", it can be seen that Gevi 's revenue situation is not bad.

From the timeline, Gevi entered the overseas market at the same time as HiBREW . In 2019, it also entered the European and American markets with coffee machines, and chose Amazon as its preferred platform for overseas expansion.

After continuous efforts, in just two or three years, Gevi has achieved good market performance on Amazon's US site, with sales volume closely following the leading brands and occupying a considerable share of the coffee machine market on the platform.

Multiple data websites show that when searching for the two keywords "coffee maker" and "coffee machine" on Amazon , Gevi ranks relatively high.

How did Gevi capture overseas consumers? It may be related to its hard work in product research and development.

It is reported that many of Gevi 's products require field practice and investigation by the participating team before development. For example, for its smart hand-brew coffee machine product , the team will go to various coffee shops to learn the process of making hand-brew coffee in order to better understand the market demand for the product.

In addition, before the product is launched on the market, baristas in different markets will be allowed to use it to experience it, allowing professionals to identify more product deficiencies and make up for them.

It is precisely because of this pursuit of excellence that Gevi has developed the world's first four-in-one smart hand-brew coffee machine . In terms of design , the product has also broken through the "gooseneck" constraints of traditional hand-brew pots , and won the 2021 German Design Award Red Dot Award.

The attention paid to the product has also been reflected in the market. In 2022, the overseas coffee machine market declined due to economic conditions such as inflation, but Gevi grew against the trend. It is understood that in the first half of 2022 , the sales of Gevi coffee machines increased by about 30% .

Not satisfied with the American market, Gevi is now gradually expanding into markets such as Europe and the Middle East, and has developed more third-party cooperative e-commerce platforms.

Google Trend data shows that Gevi 's global search popularity has continued to rise over the past five years, with the first wave of search popularity peaking in 2020, and another peak in the year-end peak season of 2021, followed by multiple peaks in 2022 and 2023. Until now, July has entered the traditional overseas sales peak season, and Gevi 's search popularity has risen again.

At the same time, Similarweb data also pointed out that Gevi 's independent website gevi.com has been rising in the ranking of category websites in the United States, rising 2,501 places last month. In addition, the total number of visits to gevi.com has been rising over the past three months; in terms of traffic sources, the top five markets are the United States (62.68%), Hong Kong, China (8.66%), Turkey (5.73%), India (4.72%), and the United Kingdom (4.14%).

From the brand's official website, Gevi not only has coffee machines, but also ice makers, vacuum cleaners and other home appliances, but coffee machines are still its main product. But in the future, how far Gevi can go with coffee machines remains unknown ...

Monthly sales of a single listing: $560,000

HiBREW is doing better in the Middle East, while Gevi is focusing on the United States.

But in fact, by searching for "coffee maker" on Amazon , you will find that the best-selling overseas brand is actually Ninja .

It can be clearly seen that Ninja's sales on Amazon are far behind those of HiBREW and Gevi . Most of its product listings can achieve monthly sales of thousands, ranging from 4,000 to 7,000 units.

For example, a single-cup coffee machine was launched on Amazon last year , priced at $79.99. Although it had only over 2,700 reviews, its monthly sales exceeded 7,000 units last month, with monthly sales reaching $560,000. The listing ranked sixth on Amazon's " Single -Serve Brewers " category BS list .

Another coffee machine from Ninja has accumulated nearly 24,000 reviews since it was launched , and sold more than 6,000 units last month. In the Amazon " Coffee Machines " category BS list, this listing ranks sixth, and the 11th, 14th, 30th, and 32nd in the TOP50 of the same list are all Ninja products .

Taking cold brew coffee machines as an example, Ninja ’s single listing can achieve monthly sales of more than 4,000 units. Since its launch, the listing has accumulated more than 17,000 reviews and has a high popularity on Amazon.   The Cold Brew Coffee Makers category ranked seventh in the BS list .

Even its derivative product, coffee makers , are selling very well, with monthly sales of more than 2,000 units and nearly 10,000 reviews.   Coffeemaker Pots ranked second in the BS list .

In the overseas coffee product industry, Ninja can be said to be a leading brand.

If you look closely, Ninja is a kitchen appliance brand under JS Global Living, a global small appliance giant . JS Global Living has a very high market share in many markets at home and abroad. But in fact, Ninja is not its "own child".

SharkNinja was founded in 1998 , and its business has long spread to many countries around the world, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It owns the whole-house appliance brand Shark and the kitchen appliance brand Ninja.

In 2017, SharkNinja was acquired by JS Global Lifestyle, and has since become the "spear" of JS Global Lifestyle to attack overseas markets, while its subsidiary Joyoung has focused on the domestic market.

Last year, JS Global Lifestyle spun off the SharkNinja business and intended to list it separately on the New York Stock Exchange. However, the performance will still appear in the 2023 annual financial report for the time being. According to the financial report, Ninja brought JS Global $44 million in sales revenue in 2023.

Ninja focuses on various small kitchen appliances. Not only does its coffee machines sell well, but its blenders, ice cream machines , etc. are also very popular overseas.

With the strong domestic supply chain advantages, Ninja 's products can be updated and iterated quickly, while also taking into account the richness of the product matrix. In the mid-to-high-end kitchen appliance market, Ninja has gained recognition and favor from consumers. Taking the coffee machine product as an example, it has already become the leader in the category.

Most coffee machines are made in China

Some say that this is the "golden age" of the coffee industry.

In China, Luckin Coffee is surging and Kudi is growing rapidly. Overseas, the home coffee machine market is also continuously releasing its growth potential .   Research shows that the global coffee machine market size will be approximately US$ 1.33 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach US$16.72 billion in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 3.3% from 2024 to 2030 .

Compared with the market worth hundreds of billions of dollars, this figure may be just a fraction, but the coffee machine itself is a niche home appliance product with a high unit price, and the potential for future dividends is still being released.

On Amazon, searching for the keyword "coffee maker" shows only 2,000 listings for sale, but the monthly sales of leading brands are basically thousands of units, and even as high as 8,000+. In such a market situation, "Made in China", which has a strong supply chain advantage in many industries, is more likely to thrive in the market.

In the past few years, a number of new coffee machine brands have emerged in China, such as Cyetus, xBloom, Wirsh, Cyetus, Kalerm, Wacaco , etc.

For example , WACACO made its first appearance on the "China Cross-border E-commerce Brand Influence TOP100 List" jointly launched by the National Business Daily and Shenzhen Yishi Technology last year. Although it ranked 99th, it is the only overseas brand on the list that specializes in coffee machines.

Not only emerging brands, but also OEM factories are eyeing the coffee machine market. The above-mentioned HiBREW is a brand transformed from an OEM factory.

In addition , Biyi Co., Ltd., the "first stock of air fryers", also established a coffee machine division in 2022, and quickly completed the trial molds of several coffee machine products in a short period of time. Today, Biyi Co., Ltd. has applied for dozens of coffee machine-related patents, involving Italian coffee machines, drip coffee machines, capsule coffee machines, etc.

As mentioned above, the supply chain advantage is well known. “The world looks to China for home appliances, and China looks to Foshan for home appliances.” In Foshan, Shunde is a gathering place for home appliance manufacturing and has the world’s largest home appliance industry cluster .

It is understood that the annual output value of Shunde's home appliances exceeds 300 billion yuan, with more than 3,000 related production and accessories companies. The total output of home appliances accounts for about 15% of the country, and the export volume accounts for about 10% of the country.

In Shunde, home appliances such as air conditioners, rice cookers, and microwave ovens have always occupied the first place in the global market share, and leading home appliance companies such as Gree and Yilon have their headquarters stationed here.

But China's reputation as the "world factory" is no exception in the coffee machine market. Although its coffee culture is not as good as that overseas, it provides nearly 80% of the world's coffee machines . Among them , Shunde's coffee machine production is also the world's number one . HiBREW , Gemilai, Cyetus, Kalerm, STARESSO, WACACO and other coffee machine newcomers also come from Shunde.

Data from Foshan Customs showed that from January to May 2024, the export value of Shunde coffee machines was 1.32 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.4% .

At present, Shunde's coffee machine production accounts for about 1/3 of the country's total. Dongguan and Ningbo are also coffee machine industry clusters. These industrial belts have laid a solid supply base for overseas coffee machine sellers .

Data from the General Administration of Customs show that in 2023, China's exports of coffee machines (drip coffee machines, distillation percolation coffee machines, pump coffee machines, other electric coffee machines or teapots) reached 95.548 million units , and the cumulative export value of drip, distillation percolation, pump and other coffee machine products was US$2.1 billion.

According to CCTV's financial report, from the beginning of this year to now, Shunde coffee machine export orders have soared, and the export off-season is still "booming" .

The person in charge of overseas markets for a coffee machine company said that they have been receiving continuous orders since January this year , and overtime has become the norm . The existing production lines can no longer meet the delivery of orders , and the number of production lines is constantly increasing .

From the market perspective, the proportion of coffee machine orders in some emerging markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East has increased from 10% to 20% in previous years to 30% to 40% this year .

At present, the "coffee economy" is becoming increasingly hot, and how can overseas sellers seize this trend to make a fortune?

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