Presumably everyone already knows the hot topic of sanitary napkins on the Internet.
In fact, there have been many discussions about “menstrual poverty” in the past few years. This time, it can get attention in the public opinion field. The problem is not “menstruation” but “poverty.”
When asked about “Dare to use the three no brand”, the straightforward answers such as “Life is difficult” and “I have difficulties” finally aroused transgender resonance.
I think this is a good thing. At least we can now openly discuss the issue of sanitary napkins. This was unimaginable in the past when the menstrual discoloration was discussed.
For me personally, in the process of researching consumer products, I hardly paid attention to the category of sanitary napkins. So when I first saw the topic of “menstrual poverty”, my first reaction was why I didn’t think about it before?
The main reason is of course that I don’t use it myself, so I don’t care about it. The other thing is that even in this era, everyone discusses sanitary napkins.
I have read a lot of articles and materials about menstrual poverty. In my opinion, this is not only a gender issue, but also a business issue.
The so-called “menstrual poverty” is not an isolated case, or even a global problem. The key is why people think it is expensive.
The basic contradiction here is that in the eyes of users, sanitary napkins are more like livelihoods and are necessities of life. In terms of the frequency of users, even if the unit price of a sanitary napkin is not high, it will be a lot of expense over time.
But in the eyes of merchants, sanitary napkins are nothing special. They are just personal care products in the fast-moving consumer industry. They are no different from toothpaste, shampoo, and shower gel.
For any company in this industry, the pursuit of profit is the first priority, which is the main cause of today’s phenomenon.
Someone proposed the solution of tax reduction. Lowering the tax rate is good, but lowering the tax rate does not necessarily lead to a reduction in retail prices.
Why do you say that? For top merchants, the greater possibility of tax reduction is either to give merchants more room to adjust prices and immediately earn more profits, or to give merchants more budget space to invest in marketing and other expenses To consolidate the advantages of the brand, and then earn more profits in the future. This is the basic logic of daily chemical giants’ capital pursuit of profit.
If you understand this logic, you will find that sanitary napkins are becoming more and more expensive, almost inevitable.
In this issue, I will explain this fundamental contradiction by briefly describing the development and market analysis of domestic sanitary napkins.
In addition, once again, this is a global problem. Africa and India are far more serious than China. Developed countries have done better, but they have not been completely resolved.
01
In 2019, the “In-Depth Report on Sanitary Napkin Industry” issued by Zhongtai Securities divided the development of domestic sanitary napkins into four stages, namely: 1982-1997 market introduction period, 1998-2005 stable development period, and 2006-2014 integration Growth period and consumption upgrade period from 2015 to present.
It can be seen that as the penetration rate increases, the price of representative brands is constantly increasing. It is an indisputable fact that sanitary napkins are becoming more and more expensive.
This development path is roughly similar to other personal care brands. The biggest difference lies in the competition between local companies and foreign companies.
Students who have read the content of my previous “Consumer War” series should know that the market for products such as shampoo and shower gel was opened by giants such as P&G and Unilever that entered China in the early 1990s. Only after that did local companies that can compete, but international brands always dominate the market.
As early as the 1980s, the state used precious foreign exchange to introduce a production line from Japan for commercialization.
At that time, Chinese women generally used menstrual pads. Sanitary napkins were easy to use, but the price was several times that of menstrual pads. In the era when they were just eating, there were too few families that could afford sanitary napkins, so the phenomenon of “menstrual poverty” existed from the beginning.
But Xu Lianjie, a native of Fujian, took a fancy to this business opportunity. According to the public account “A Brief History of Sanitary Napkins in China: A History of Women’s Aphasia”, Xu Lianjie discovered that women in Hong Kong were using sanitary napkins, and his wife didn’t even know what sanitary napkins were, so she sighed. : The world is going to pay big money.
So in 1985, Xu Lianjie founded Hengan Group in Quanzhou.
At present, Hengan Group is already a daily chemical giant with a market value of more than 70 billion Hong Kong dollars. It is mainly engaged in three major businesses: sanitary napkins, tissues and disposable diapers. Our common Anle, Anerle, Xinxiangyin, and Anerkang , Qidu Space, etc., are its brands.
Here is another mention of the concept of industrial clusters. Quanzhou, the headquarters of Hengan Group, is known as the “Hometown of Sanitary Napkins” and has a large number of sanitary napkin manufacturers. The bulk sanitary napkins involved this time were produced in Quanzhou. Many small sanitary napkin brands are commissioned by factories in Quanzhou and then sold under OEM.