This last one is an honourable mention for a fallen powerhouse. Jumei YouPin is a beauty and cosmetics retailer, and is commonly cited as being ‘the pioneer of the cosmetic group-buy business model’. Jumei achieves this through implementing a ‘direct-purchase’ model similar to VIP Shop, also supplying overseas brands via Cross-Border eCommerce.
From the Highest of Highs, to a Public Delisting.
Back in 2013, Jumei processed an estimated 22.1% of China’s online beauty product GMV, making them China’s top online beauty retailer. The company listed on NYSE the stock exchange in 2014, before quickly achieving a valuation of US5.5 billion. Launching into the CBEC space in 2015, Jumei was once touted to be a ‘VIP-Killer’. Meanwhile, the world was going crazy for its hunky millennial founder Chen Ou, nicknamed ‘Mr Right’.
However, in recent years, Jumei’s market share has substantially diminished. A string of counterfeit scandals shook consumer and investor confidence, and landed Jumei in court. Meanwhile, Jumei was battling the dramatic rise in market competition from both small and major players, notably Alibaba. It is widely regarded that Jumei’s organisational structure likely stifled the platform’s ability to adapt to aggressive industry changes, such as the emergence of KOL and livestreaming technologies. Before delisting from the NYSE in April, Jumei’s valuation had plummeted down to a mere US$227 million. You can check out their investor centre here.