How Deep Is the Water in the Agency Business of Men's Skincare Products?

Recently, Mr. Zhang noticed that there are more and more advertisements for purchasing foreign men's skincare products on behalf of others in his WeChat Moments. From the minimalist skincare products of Nordic countries to the artisanal products of Japan, these imported goods labeled as "niche" and "high-end" are quietly occupying the washstands of Chinese men. But do you know? The agency import channels hidden behind this may be even more worthy of consideration than the products themselves.

According to the data of a certain cross-border platform, in 2023, the imported categories of men's skincare products increased by 67% year-on-year, among which the Nordic cosmeceutical line and the Korean functional line have become two dark horses. Ms. Li, as a practitioner, revealed: "Now, by acting as an agent for a men's facial cleanser that is not very popular but has solid ingredients, the profit margin can reach 1.8 times that of the female cosmetics products of our peers."

• Upgraded Demand: The average annual skincare consumption of Chinese men has broken through the 600-yuan mark.
• Supply Gap: The domestic brands that specialize in men's product lines account for less than 30% of the market demand.
• Premium Space: The unit price of imported products is generally 40 - 60% higher than that of domestic products.

The supply chain experts from Zhongshitong pointed out that there are currently three typical misunderstandings in the market:

• Blindly pursuing "niche" products leads to difficulties in record-filing. A certain German brand was returned in full containers because it contained unapproved ingredients.
• Believing too easily in "original factory authorization", in fact, most of them are transferred by secondary distributors.
• Underestimating the storage cost, the loss rate of products with active ingredients that have high temperature control requirements reaches 15%.

To successfully operate an import agency, three key points need to be grasped:

• Qualification Verification: Require the brand side to provide ISO22716 certification and free sales certificates.
• Ingredient Pre-screening: Conduct a preliminary review of the formula by referring to the Catalogue of Cosmetic Raw Materials Already in Use.
• Channel Matching: For functional products, cross-border e-commerce is preferred, and for basic product lines, general trade can be considered.

When imported men's skincare products complete the transformation from "luxury goods" to "daily necessities", the next focus of competition is emerging. Should we continue to pile up ingredient parameters such as nicotinamide and bosin? Or should we, like a certain Swiss brand, create a sense of ritual with magnetic suction packaging and AI skin type detection? Perhaps the answer is hidden in your shopping cart.

Now click on the screen and leave a comment about the imported men's skincare product category you most want to try. We will randomly select three readers and present them with the electronic version of the Cross-border Beauty Compliance White Paper.