Monthly sales exceed 12,000 pieces, sellers rely on niche products for explosive sales

This is another relatively niche blue ocean category!

There used to be a famous joke in the photography world: "SLR cameras will make you poor for three generations, and photography will ruin your life." Because SLR cameras and their spare parts are very expensive, SLR enthusiasts have to face these problems.

With the development of mobile Internet technology and the popularization of smart phones, the video industry, especially the development of content dissemination and social methods such as short videos and live broadcasts, has undergone subversive changes in the photography industry: users of photographic equipment have changed from professional film production teams and high-end photography enthusiasts to ordinary users and mass creators. At the same time, changes in demand scenarios and continuous innovation in photographic equipment products drive each other, driving the niche category of photographic accessories belonging to the 3C track into the fast lane of development...

In the past, people only chose basic accessories such as tripods, memory cards, and batteries to "decorate" the main photography parts. Now, it is necessary to purchase accessories with expanded functions based on various usage scenarios. For example, for taking portraits, you need to use fill lights, large aperture lenses, and flash lights; for shooting videos, you need to prepare teleprompters and microphones, etc. Photographic lights, flash lights, light stands, tripods, gimbals, teleprompters, monitors, slides , moisture- proof boxes, UV filters, cleaning kits, camera bags, wristbands, CPL, GND filters and other photography equipment accessories continue to sell well.

As a result, more and more manufacturers extended their tentacles into this field, and a group of excellent players made a fortune. SmallRig and Ulanzi from Shenzhen are among the best.

Public data shows that SmallRig's annual revenue has exceeded 1 billion, and its sales in the imaging equipment category on Amazon have long been among the best, and its independent website data is also excellent; Ulanzi has also won the Best Seller on multiple Amazon lists , with monthly sales exceeding 12,000 units, and 700,000 private users at home and abroad , with extremely high fan stickiness ...

They have understood the underlying logic of "creating explosive products" in the competition among many peers , and their products continue to attract consumers around the world. What strategies are worth learning from them?

Annual sales exceed 1 billion! SmallRig relies on niche products to sell well

As early as 2007, Zhou Yang started selling photography accessories. At that time, photography products had not yet become available to ordinary people. However, the commercial competition was not fierce at that time. He could easily make money by working like a "porter", purchasing goods with his left hand and reselling them with his right hand.

In the general environment at that time, it seemed that everyone agreed with this business philosophy.

Until one thing happened that prompted Zhou Yang to change his sales mindset, laying an important foundation for him to distance himself from his peers in the future.

At that time, a photography enthusiast complained to Zhou Yang: There is no suitable expansion frame to match the 5D2 digital SLR camera. The general camera expansion frames on the market are large and heavy. It is already very difficult to carry them, let alone use them to shoot videos. Can you provide an accessory that is compatible with the 5D2 product?

Zhou Yang paid attention to the demands of consumers, but could not find suitable products after searching the market. So he came up with the idea of ​​making his own products and pioneered the production of special expansion frames for cameras. Since then, he has opened the door to customization - focusing on imaging users, creating products through high-frequency, small-batch and customized processes, quickly responding to user needs, and continuously launching supporting solutions for new products.

In 2013, Zhou Yang officially founded the brand SmallRig in Shenzhen. Starting with camera support products, it has developed into a global market segment brand covering four major product lines: camera support and stabilization, smartphone support and stabilization, lighting and control systems, and imaging power supplies, as well as a one-stop live broadcast room solution. It has more than 1,000 single products, which are widely used in live broadcast, VLOG, short video, documentary and other fields. It ranks first in market share in multiple categories in the global imaging accessories market, with annual revenue exceeding 1 billion. In 2024, revenue will continue to grow by more than 45% .

The consumer electronics market is booming, but it also has the natural defect of "quick birth and quick death". The concept of "time is money" is fully reflected in this field. SmallRig, who is well aware of this truth , implements the "one step ahead" strategy and insists on the birth of 1.5 new products every day. For this purpose, it has specially placed factories in Shenzhen and Dongguan, the places closest to the industrial belt . At the same time, there are many partners throughout the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, so as to provide products to consumers as quickly as possible.

It is understood that in the selection of sales channels in the field of cross-border e-commerce, SmallRig mainly uses independent platforms Smallrig and Coollcd, supplemented by third-party B2C and B2B platforms such as eBay and Amazon. Now its products have long been among the top in the sales of Amazon's imaging equipment category , and the natural traffic of the independent site has also shown a steady growth trend.

Let’s first take a look at SmallRig’s performance in the Amazon channel. The BS ranking data released by Amazon shows that many of SmallRig’s products continue to rank among the top in the imaging equipment category; and have long been at the top of the list in the “Professional Video Stabilizers” subcategory .

In terms of brand power, SmallRig's brand search volume on Amazon is as high as 2 million times, the product repurchase rate is 47%, and the repurchase sales account for 32%. SmallRig has grown into a very influential brand overseas, which can be seen from the performance of its link traffic. Customers recognize this brand very much. 71.22% of customers purchase through specific searches of the brand name "smallrig" .

Judging from customer reviews, the gender ratio of SmallRig products is 74% male and 26% female. This shows that the main users are male video producers. Consumers like to use mobile phones to shoot video blogs outdoors, and have certain requirements for the installation of accessories such as lights and microphones for mobile phone video stability. SmallRig products are positioned as high-quality and cost-effective video stabilization. Relying on important selling points such as "good quality, simple and easy to use, stable, sturdy, and light weight", it has successfully captured a group of loyal fans.

Through relevant software, we found that the total monthly sales of SmallRig products on the Amazon platform far exceeded 4,000 units. Analyzing the mobile phone holder related products separately, SmallRig has always maintained rapid product innovation and iteration, and has timely followed up on the development of mobile phone accessories for the new iPhone. Click on any product link, and the entire set of A+ design styles is consistent and clear at a glance, which is very attractive for consumers to place orders.

SmallRig's performance in the independent station channel is also noteworthy. The Smallrig website was built from scratch in 2016, and now has 418.8K visits per month, which is a relatively large number of website visits. According to estimates, the monthly sales of SmallRig website is as high as US$125,640 (Note: This is an estimated value, which may be slightly different from the actual situation) .

The website traffic analysis by channel mainly focuses on natural search and direct traffic. In the data of the past year, natural search accounted for 2.106 million, accounting for 52.2%, direct traffic accounted for 910,000, accounting for 22.55%, and referral accounted for 298,000, accounting for 7.39%. The high proportion of direct traffic indicates that the website ranks high in search engines, thus attracting a large amount of organic search traffic. Natural search data is also very objective. Many consumers may have been familiar with the website and directly entered the URL of the website to visit. The referral traffic is relatively low, and the quality and quantity of referral traffic may need to be further improved.

The website's natural traffic trend chart shows the growth of natural traffic over the past eight years. As can be seen from the chart, natural traffic has shown a steady growth trend, reaching 71K in January 2024, finally reaching a considerable level.

The top three traffic sources of the website are mainly concentrated in the United States, the Netherlands and Turkey. Among them, the United States has a high number of visits of 118,000, accounting for 33.76%, which shows that the website has a wide user base in the United States and the promotion activities are effective. At the same time, SmallRig also has a certain user base in the Netherlands and Turkey, with 33,000 visits from the Netherlands, accounting for 9.41%, and 17,000 visits from Turkey, accounting for 4.85%.

Like Amazon, SmallRig's independent website users are also mainly male, with 160,000 male users accounting for 73.65% and 57,000 female users accounting for 26.35%. The age distribution is mostly 25-34 years old, followed by 35-44 years old. According to the source of users, in terms of content and marketing strategy, we provide them with content that they are interested in, and design relevant marketing activities to increase user participation and loyalty, thereby further increasing user stickiness. This excellent practice of increasing website visibility and sales is exactly what SmallRig has been doing.

SmallRig has placed many advertisements on channels such as Google and Facebook, and many of its operating methods are worth learning from independent website peers.

As can be seen from the figure, all Google search ads are based on brand words, which shows that brands attach great importance to their visibility and brand awareness in search engine results.

In terms of advertising creativity, Google search ads use official website links and combine with typical structures such as product descriptions or discount information, which shows the brand's professionalism in advertising. In addition, brands include product descriptions or policy expressions in advertising copy, which increases the possibility of users clicking on ads. In this way, brands can not only increase brand awareness and exposure, but also effectively promote sales and enhance user experience.

SmallRig ’s ads on Facebook are mainly based on carousel scene images, and video materials are mainly installation. This shows that the creative direction of Facebook ads tends to use carousel scene images and video materials of product installation to attract target audiences, show users the functions, features and advantages of the product, and thus encourage them to buy.

By doing every basic work well and accumulating a series of little things, SmallRig finally achieved an impressive record in the field of cross-border e-commerce.

Achieved 5-fold growth in 3 years, Ulanzi products’ monthly sales on Amazon exceeded 12,000 units

Ulanzi , a brand under Shenzhen Youlanzi Technology Co., Ltd., can be said to be another outstanding player in the field of photographic equipment accessories. It was established in 2016 and focuses on the research and development, production and sales of mobile phone and camera photography and video equipment accessories. In August 2022, it successfully completed a tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing, exclusively invested by Nut Capital.

As we all know, photographic equipment accessories include travel, documentary, portrait, indoor, street photography and other usage scenarios. There are a large number of consumers for different shooting scenarios and creative needs. Targeting the target group, Ulanzi is committed to providing content creators with lighter and more portable accessories suitable for single-person shooting . Therefore, its current core products include tripods, camera stands, photography fill lights, lenses, microphones, quick release plates, live broadcast rooms and studio kits, etc., all revolve around the keyword "lightweight".

In response to the pain points of the photographic equipment industry, such as the large variety of accessories, complex interface standards, and diverse personalized needs of photographers, Ulanzi provides users with efficient equipment integration products and solutions. For example, in order to reduce the difficulty of using traditional screw mounts and facilitate the change of video shooting scenes for personal video creators, Ulanzi has specially developed a quick-release mount product. Users only need to snap the mount into the device to quickly switch equipment.

Currently, Ulanzi products are exported to more than 100 countries overseas, serving more than 5 million users worldwide. The revenue is very considerable, having increased fivefold in three years.

In the journey of cross-border e-commerce going global, Ulanzi adheres to the dual-track strategy of third-party e-commerce platforms and independent websites, and has entered platforms such as Amazon and AliExpress. Currently, many products are listed as Amazon Best Sellers. The independent website built by itself is also doing well, with 700,000 private users at home and abroad . Many fans also play the role of product manufacturers and make suggestions for product development from time to time . The industry's first equipment tree ( Gear Tree) product - allowing individual users to operate multiple devices at the same time in a small space, is co-created by Ulanzi and B Station Up Master.

Analyzing Ulanzi's performance on Amazon channels, the total monthly sales of the product far exceeded 12,000 units . The product has attracted a large number of overseas consumers with its advantages such as "affordable price, lightweight, high quality, and sturdiness", of which 60% are boys and 40% are girls.

Ulanzi link traffic is mainly purchased through advertising search product keywords, while assisting independent sites, Facebook, X, Instagram, Youtube and other platform operations to increase off-site exposure.

As for the independent website, Ulanzi started construction in 2019, and now has 345.3K visits per month, with an estimated monthly sales of over $121,608 (Note: This is an estimated value and may deviate slightly from the actual situation. )

In terms of traffic sources, Ulanzi traffic is mainly concentrated in direct traffic and natural search. In the data of the past year, direct traffic accounted for 1.666 million, accounting for 36.75%, natural search accounted for 1.177 million, accounting for 25.97%, and natural social accounted for 842,000, accounting for 18.56%.

Each traffic source has something to be praised for: the high proportion of direct traffic is because the website has a certain degree of brand awareness and loyalty, and users habitually visit directly. At the same time, it can be seen that Ulanzi attaches importance to the important source of natural search traffic, and through continuous optimization of website content and SEO strategies, the website ranks high in search results. Moreover, Ulanzi's natural social traffic also accounts for a large share. Natural social traffic often comes from sharing and recommendations on social media platforms, indicating that the website attaches importance to social media promotion and has a certain degree of activity and influence on social media.

Ulanzi's traffic sources are concentrated in the United States, Portugal and Japan, with 252,000 visits from the United States accounting for 51.69%, 49,000 visits from Portugal accounting for 9.99%, and 19,000 visits from Japan accounting for 3.85%. This shows that the United States is the main source of the website's audience, and the product is well-known in the American market.

Ulanzi's products are more in line with the interests and needs of male users. Naturally, the consumers of the independent site are mainly male. In detail, there are 222,000 male users, accounting for 71.97%, and 86,000 female users, accounting for 28.03%. The age distribution is mostly 25-34 years old, followed by 35-44 years old.

Taking advantage of the wind, it is a good time for sellers to make money in overseas markets!

To sum up the development history of Ulanzi and SmallRig, their journey from overseas novices to world-renowned brands seems to be very easy. The reason behind this luck is actually the strength of accurately hitting the trend time and time again. Whether it is insisting on deepening vertical operations, or building their own user communities to understand customer needs very early, and developing excellent products that are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and superior to their peers, with the help of China's strong supply chain advantages, they finally broke out completely in the era of the rise of social media. Every step is a model of creating a hit.

Data shows that the global camera accessories market has a promising future, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.2%. It is expected that the global market size will exceed US$8.43 billion in 2030. Ulanzi and SmallRig are just two excellent examples of photography accessories going global. Hohem, Viltrox, Zhiyun, Neewer and other related players are also doing well . Strength does not allow these excellent players to be low-key. In the era of rapid development of cross-border e-commerce and the continuous popularity of short videos, almost everyone has become a self-media blogger, more potential stocks will surely stand on the center of the world stage in the future.

Apart from photographic equipment and accessories, each category is likely to continue to produce outstanding players. The era of globalization of Chinese brands has arrived.

At present, many manufacturers seem to be in a very contradictory state: they want to tap into the overseas market very much, but they are held back by various concerns. This is because the journey for novice players from 0 to 1 and then to successfully creating a hit product may not be smooth sailing. Many people often have to go through a lot of trial and error before they can understand the underlying logic of product selection, link promotion, advertising and other links... A professional brand incubation and operation team can help sellers skip the novice awkward period and successfully gain a foothold overseas.

E-EN has been deeply engaged in cross-border e-commerce for 14 years, providing market and marketing services to many global Internet giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft Bing, Alibaba, TikTok, Amazon, etc. , and has accumulated rich experience and resources in e-commerce overseas expansion.

Een.com originated from the Een Community, an e-commerce overseas marketing BBS in 2011. Since 2023, Een has begun to develop its brand overseas incubation business - Een Overseas. The core members of the team are senior executives and marketing operations experts from leading cross-border companies . As an elite team with 14 years of experience in e-commerce overseas , we can eliminate the pain points of unprofessional overseas market analysis, imperfect operation system, and inaccurate brand positioning . From industry analysis, user research to optimization suggestions and delivery strategy formulation, we provide tailor-made brand overseas plans and implementation for domestic companies with global e-commerce layout needs, such as consumer brands, technology brands, fashion brands, industrial brands, and cross-border platform head sellers with independent station operations and full overseas marketing needs , helping sellers reduce the trial and error costs of global layout and explore digital overseas with ease; and provide new opportunities for sellers on cross-border e-commerce platforms to help them achieve "selling globally" at low cost.

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