On September 19, Zhang Dayi, CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Ruhnn Holdings and the “first generation Internet celebrity” suddenly announced the closure of the online store he had opened for ten years. Picture source: @milksmelllbest female (Zhang Dayi Weibo account) "Daily Econ

html On September 19, Zhang Dayi, the CMO (chief marketing officer) of Ruhan Holdings and the "first generation Internet celebrity" suddenly announced that he would close the online store he had opened for ten years.

Picture source: @milksmelllbest female nai (Zhang Dayi Weibo trumpet)

"Daily Economic News" reporter noticed that the "My Happy Wardrobe" that was closed this time was in 2014, Zhang Dayi and Ruhan Feng Min, the founder of Ruhan Holdings (hereinafter referred to as Ruhan), jointly launched the Taobao store. This store carries Zhang Dayi’s highlight moment. On “Double Eleven” in 2016, the online store became Taobao’s first women’s clothing store with sales exceeding 100 million. Zhang Dayi has since become “the first person to sell goods on Taobao” The name of . From model to sales queen, Zhang Dayi has created many Taobao successes. The following years from 2016 to 2018 were the peak of Zhang Dayi's career. When she was at her most popular, it was revealed that her annual revenue reached 300 million. 2html In 2019, Ruhan went public in the United States, and Zhang Dayi became the first Chinese Internet celebrity to ring the bell on Nasdaq.

However, nowadays, the Internet celebrities who bring goods change frequently. In 2021, Ruhan delisted, and its stock price shrank by more than 70% in two years. The financial report during the listing period showed that it had never made a profit. After three years, "My Happy Wardrobe" has also left the show. "Zhang Dayi's closure of the online store will not affect Ruhan." Liu Ruolan (pseudonym), a senior e-commerce businessman who is familiar with Zhang Dayi, said in an interview with a reporter from the "Daily Economic News" that according to her understanding, Ruhan and The store completed its divestment.

Zhang Dayi who abandoned the "Fajia" clothing online store, what is the next goal? Faced with the fierce competition in the e-commerce market, how can Internet celebrities and companies navigate the second half of the Internet celebrity economy?

1500 words long article ends ten years of Internet celebrity store "Seeking stability" may become the main theme

"Today is the 10th anniversary of my happy wardrobe. The dull atmosphere of no 10th anniversary should also make old fans feel it." On September 19, Zhang Dayi published this long article of more than 1,500 words on his personal Weibo, detailing his experience in becoming an Internet celebrity, women's clothing, and e-commerce. He also lamented, "Celebrity e-commerce is wonderful, but it is suitable for small and beautiful, small and exquisite... In many cases, income does not represent profit. I don't like to take risks when it comes to saving face rather than dignity."

After two years of struggle, Zhang Dayi decided to close "My Happy Wardrobe". Public information shows that this Taobao women's clothing store, which grew up together with Zhang Dayi, has more than 12 million fans and is a "9-year-old store" certified by Taobao and "top 2 of Korean casual women's clothing stores."

Image source: Taobao

On September 20, when a reporter from "Daily Economic News" inquired about "My Happy Wardrobe" as a consumer, the customer service said that "there is no notification of clearance discounts yet" and pushed it to the reporter. He opened a store called "Black Label (the Vever)", "it will bring more satisfactory clothes to everyone." However, as to whether the unsold clothing will be sold in "Black Label" after the closure of "My Happy Wardrobe", the above-mentioned customer service said that it has not yet been notified.

Because Zhang Dayi’s statement attracted widespread attention, she also responded later that day: “I am just closing the Taobao store, not that I will stop making clothes.”

On September 20, a reporter from "Daily Economic News" tried An interview request was sent to Zhang Dayi through the Taobao store. The other party's customer service said: "The last new product will be launched on the 24th of this month. Our store will no longer launch new products and the store will not be closed for the time being."

"My happy wardrobe" Netizens were deeply moved by the closure of the store. "What girl doesn't have a piece of clothing from 'Zhang Dayi's Family' in her wardrobe?" Some consumers said, "Five or six years ago, 'Wu Huanxi' was a store I often visited."

Some fashion bloggers also felt this The store's style has recently become outdated."Her aesthetics seem to have suddenly stagnated in a certain year. The outside world has changed tremendously. She is still stubbornly creating grids, big flower elements, and forest girl style elements. Each of them makes me dream back to my junior high school... But it is said that There are many models of good quality, and the sharkskin pants I bought are very easy to wear.”

A netizen’s evaluation of the clothes sold by Zhang Dayi. Image source: Weibo screenshot

Zhang Dayi also mentioned his age in his statement about closing the store. , a few years after turning 33, I felt that my physical strength and energy dropped off a cliff, and "I am considered older in the Internet celebrity circle."

"Women's clothing brands targeting young customers need to constantly develop new ideas. Thinking about the latest fashions and styles requires a lot of energy and cost every season. After reaching a certain point in wealth, many people will choose to seek stability." in When talking about the reason why Zhang Dayi closed the store, Liu Ruolan (pseudonym) told the reporter of "Daily Economic News".

A reporter from "Daily Economic News" contacted Zhang Dayi many times on September 20 through Zhang Dayi's Weibo, Xiaohongshu and other social media accounts, as well as Zhang Dayi's online store and other channels, trying to learn more about the situation, but as of No reply was received before publication.

The first-generation Internet celebrity who captured the first wave of e-commerce traffic Is the next step a maternal and child blogger?

Zhang Dayi’s history of fame is a microcosm of China’s Internet celebrity model. Traffic, capital, and sweet girls have caught up with the rapid advancement of the times. In Zhang Dayi's own words in the documentary "Internet Celebrity": "Internet celebrities are a bit like the coal bosses of the past. (The public) thinks (we) study less but earn more."

Zhang Dayi, now 37 years old, returns to More than ten years ago, they were the first generation of Internet celebrities to seize the first wave of e-commerce business opportunities.

Zhang Dayi shared his experience at the 2019 Super Red Man Festival. Picture source: Photographed by reporter Zhang Jian

Because of her beautiful appearance, Shanghai girl Zhang Dayi often appeared in fashion magazines such as "Xinwei" and "Ruili" during her college years. She is a slightly famous model. But she does not think that professional modeling is her real way out. "Modeling is selling your appearance. If you work too much, you will feel like a zombie," she once said in the documentary.

In Wenzhou, more than 400 kilometers away from Shanghai, there is Feng Min who, like Zhang Dayi, does not want to submit to fate. In 2011, Feng Min and his wife founded Taobao women's clothing store Libelin. Its performance once entered the top ten list of Taobao. Zhang Dayi is the model of "Libelin".

"After three or four years of Libelin's development, the manager was very tired and encountered a bottleneck. At that time, Zhang Dayi, who modeled for Libelin, had accumulated 200,000 followers on Weibo, and many young women followed her to learn how to dress. Feng Min and his wife made the decision to close the top ten stores on Taobao and give all their resources to Zhang Dayi." Liu Ruolan told the "Daily Economic News" reporter about Zhang Dayi's growth history.

Feng Min, Chairman of Ruhan. Picture source: Photographed by Zhang Jian, a daily reporter.

In 2014, Zhang Dayi’s online store “My Happy Wardrobe” opened. In the same year, Ruhan was established. Founder Feng Min served as chairman and received Series A financing. "In 2016, the sales volume of 'Wu Huanxi' on 'Double Eleven' exceeded 100 million." Liu Ruolan recalled that Zhang Dayi gained fans on his personal Weibo and then redirected them to Taobao stores to place orders. She and Ruhan found A very cost-effective way of promotion.

At that time, Li Jiaqi and Wei Ya were still trying Taobao live streaming as amateurs, but Zhang Dayi had already taken off and let Ruhan taste the benefits. In 2019, Ruhan was listed on Nasdaq in the United States and became "the first Internet celebrity e-commerce stock in China". According to Southern Metropolis Daily, as the second largest shareholder, Zhang Dayi holds 13.5% of the shares and is worth nearly 600 million yuan. However, Ruhan was not favored by the capital market after its listing and was delisted two years later.

Talking about Zhang Dayi, Liu Ruolan commented: "She works very hard, is efficient, and is a workaholic. She has her own aesthetics for clothing and does everything herself from layout to selection."

Where will Zhang Dayi's next career focus be? The reporter noticed that after Zhang Dayi closed some stores, she also has a Taobao clothing store the Vever (Black Label), a Tmall beauty store "big eve beauty", etc. Still in business.

In addition, Zhang Dayi is quite active on Xiaohongshu. She often updates her "daily life with babies" and shares "good things for mothers and babies", and she seems to be a happy mother and baby blogger. At about 17:00 on the 20th, Zhang Dayi had 304,000 fans on Xiaohongshu, and also put the products of her beauty brand "big eve beauty" on Xiaohongshu.

"Although her current main business of making money is not on Xiaohong. Books, but for Internet celebrities, traffic is a sense of security. " Liu Ruolan analyzed to "Daily Economic News" that "Zhang Dayi can not make money on Xiaohongshu, but I am afraid it will be difficult to accept to stop sharing and stop increasing followers. "

Picture source: Zhang Dayi Xiaohongshu screenshot

Online business has become "heavier" Zhang Dayi and we can't always understand young people

"With the development of various Internet platforms and the era of competition for traffic, we have also made sandwich Biscuit has gone through the process of being unable to transfer and not daring to transfer platforms. I really want to change my mind, but I don’t have the courage. I’m afraid I’ll pick up the sesame seeds and lose the watermelon. "Zhang Dayi's long article revealed the reason why she closed several online clothing stores, but it was actually a helpless move due to the changes in the live broadcast e-commerce market.

Zhang Dayi said bluntly that many celebrities have switched to other platforms, but they seem to have done it. Although it is booming, it is actually just hanging on.

As one of the leading Internet celebrities in the industry, why does Zhang Dayi think it is difficult to change channels? "The core reason for the difficulty of changing channels is the problem of platform algorithm. Taobao is 'shelf logic' and dithering. Music is a 'hit logic', and the anchor's successful experience and inherent methodology cannot be copied to new platforms. " Lu Jia (pseudonym), a veteran in the e-commerce industry who has incubated many well-known Internet celebrities, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that whether it is an individual Internet celebrity or an MCN (multi-channel network) company, the more successful it is, the more difficult it is to change platforms. .

Zhang Dayi is still launching new clothing products on September 16. Photo source: Weibo @张大奕eve

Lu Jia believes that the most successful case in the industry is Luo Yonghao, who moved from Douyin to Taobao. “However, Lao Luo’s sales data. It's just 'smooth' and doesn't have much explosive volume. Moreover, Luo Yonghao is a rare "content master" among Internet celebrities who sell goods, and is not an Internet celebrity such as Zhang Dayi who sells goods. "

This time, Zhang Dayi closed the clothing online store, which once again attracted the attention of the outside world to the meager gross profit margin of the clothing category.

"The explosive logic of some e-commerce platforms has over-stimulated users, leading to impulsive consumption and incorrect goods. Problems such as boards have caused the current return rate of women's clothing to be as high as 80%. "Lu Jia further told reporters that compared with the return rate, in fact, what the clothing industry ultimately looks at is the comprehensive inventory rate.

Not only Zhang Dayi closed the online women's clothing store, but on the eve of this year's "618" promotion, Douyin's leading women's clothing store has 500 "Lola Code" with tens of thousands of fans suddenly stopped broadcasting, which caused widespread concern and heated discussion in the market. According to Feigua data monitoring, "Lola Code" once achieved sales of more than 144 million yuan in a live broadcast. Um.

Image source: Feigua Data

Live e-commerce is "following the old path of traditional clothing companies", which makes Zhang Dayi feel that the hidden costs are getting higher and higher. Lu Jia also told the reporter of "Daily Economic News", He and Zhang Dayi share the same sentiment that “e-commerce is booming but declining.” “In the past, e-commerce was just for girls to buy some clothes, and the threshold for businesses was very low, and only one or two female college students could open it. But now, online business has become "heavier". It doesn't cost 20 million to 30 million yuan to open a Tmall store. It is impossible to open it and requires an experienced team.

Due to factors such as the "heavy" online store and the extremely high return rate, Zhang Dayi realized, "Celebrity e-commerce is wonderful, but it is suitable for small and beautiful, small and exquisite products, otherwise it is just an assembly line product." ".

Despite the changes in public online shopping habits, an increasingly prosperous live streaming e-commerce market has been created in just a few years. “The scale of my country’s live streaming e-commerce transactions will reach 4.9 trillion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 40.48%.” The “2024-2029 China Live Broadcasting E-commerce Industry Market Analysis and Investment Risk Trend Forecast Research Report” predicts that my country’s live streaming e-commerce transactions will reach 4.9 trillion yuan in 2024. The scale will reach 5.3 trillion yuan.

However, in the e-commerce market with a transaction scale of trillions, Internet celebrities iterate very quickly, and traffic "myths" such as Li Jiaqi, Dong Yuhui, Xiao Yang Ge, Guangdong couple, Big Wolf Dog couple, and Seven Bosses emerge from time to time.

Feigua Data’s monitoring of Douyin masters’ transactions during the big promotion. Image source: Feigua Data

“Zhang Dayi ‘defeated’ many people when he was young, and Internet celebrity e-commerce is originally an industry for young people. , Only 21-year-olds can understand the language of 21-year-olds, and no Internet celebrity who sells goods can always understand young people." Liu Ruolan told the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that next, Zhang Dayi may "make some simple items. Making a single product well and making it perfect is definitely her way."

Source: Daily Economic News

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