Xiaoxiandun’s user growth tips!

There is a Chinese saying that goes, "A glance at the beginning tells the end." The general meaning is that by seeing the beginning of something, you can foresee its final outcome. This is true for an individual and a company. Lin Xiaoxian, the founder of Xiaoxiandun, once said, "The cornerstone of the brand is product quality, so after receiving the angel round of investment, we used almost all of the funds to research and develop stewing equipment and polish products." Lin Xiaoxian himself comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine, which determines that the quality of Xiaoxiandun's products will not be bad.

Since 2014, Xiaoxiandun has created a new category in the bird's nest industry - freshly stewed bird's nest, and quickly became a dark horse. They firmly believe that products are the basis for winning users and the foundation for the survival of an enterprise.

Over the past few years, Xiaoxiandun has developed very rapidly and achieved outstanding results:

• The annual compound growth rate has exceeded 300%, ranking first in sales of fresh stewed bird's nests for three consecutive years, and has tripled for three consecutive years.
• During Double 11 in 2020, Xiaoxiandun’s online sales exceeded 465 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 263%.
• Among them, the repurchase amount accounted for 54%, and the number of users purchasing annual packages increased by 1674% year-on-year.

Some people say that the success of Xiaoxiandun is due to its seizing of market opportunities, some say it is due to its winning products, some say it is due to its good marketing, and some say it is due to the star effect of bundling with Chen Shu and Zhang Ziyi.

It is undeniable that these all make sense, but today there is no shortage of brands with money and resources that ultimately fail. When studying the history of Xiaoxiandun from its founder to product marketing, I believe that the most fundamental driving force behind its success is user thinking and its extreme care for users in this industry.

Being attentive does not mean innovation without rules or providing excessive services, but just the right amount of innovation and thoughtful products and services.

If you want to learn from Xiaoxiandun's successful experience, the most fundamental thing is to wear a careful eye and discover experience in products, marketing, services and other aspects.

Now I will take you through a detailed interpretation from 6 aspects.

01. Products are the foundation of dedication

In the past, the bird’s nests we ate were mainly dried bird’s nests and instant bird’s nests. Dried bird's nests are mixed with good and bad ones, and it is difficult to distinguish the real from the fake. It takes time and effort to soak, pick out the hair, and stew them before eating. Although instant bird's nest is convenient and quick, it faces the problems of high-temperature stewing, nutrient loss, a shelf life, and may contain additives.

Nowadays, young white-collar users are busy with work and have tight schedules, but they also have a strong need for nourishing food. At the same time, as consumers, everyone wants to eat fresh, nutritious food without having to make it themselves, and at an affordable price. This is what users need.

Obviously, freshly stewed bird's nest faces troublesome issues such as stewing process, shelf life, cold chain distribution, etc. Therefore, freshly stewed bird's nest is considered to be a "thankless" business. When Xiaoxiandun decided to enter the freshly stewed bird's nest market, no one else followed. The fact that it is willing to solve these problems shows that it cares about its users.

02. Careful insight and the first cycle package service

Xiaoxiandun pioneered the monthly and annual package service models, which is also a thoughtful service based on a deep understanding of users. Bird's nest is a nourishing health product. Eating one or two bottles will not be effective, so they simply sell it not by the bottle but by weekly, monthly, or annual packages. This makes it convenient for consumers to buy and worry-free to eat.

However, in order to allow consumers to adjust the delivery time and address at any time according to their needs after purchase. Xiaoxiandun has invested a lot of money to establish a cycle service management system. As long as users register on the Xiaoxiandun WeChat official account, they can modify the delivery address and time at any time in 3 seconds, providing a more flexible user experience.

03. Packaging design satisfies users’ ultimate experience

Xiaoxiandun’s product bottles are also leading the packaging trend in the industry. The design concept is to restore the user's habit of eating bird's nest in a bowl.

Lin Xiaoxian once read ancient books and studied the utensils used by the royal family to consume bird's nests during the Qianlong period. Finally, we combined tradition with modern craftsmanship to design the current bottle shape: the mouth of the bottle has changed from a small mouth to a large bowl shape, which not only fits the traditional habit of eating bird's nests in a bowl, but also solves the common problem of dead corners at the bottom of the bottle; the bottom of the bottle uses an imitation diamond pattern design to increase friction, making it easier to open the lid by hand.

From appearance to user experience, every detail is meticulous.

04. Customized membership services highlight the brand’s dedication

At present, the repurchase rate of Xiaoxiandun users is as high as 50%. The unit price of monthly packages is more than 2,000 yuan, and the number of members who purchase monthly packages for a period longer than that has reached 190,000, which shows the high stickiness and long-term trust of users in it.

In addition to good products, a truly good membership service must be one that allows users to truly feel the value and care, rather than gimmicks or routines. I have seen many membership benefits designed by companies, and they are all full of tricks. In comparison, Xiaoxiandun’s membership service is still very attentive.

Currently, its membership is divided into four levels: VIP members, who become members by purchasing and consuming; Platinum members, who have a cumulative consumption of 6,000 yuan; Diamond members, who have a cumulative consumption of 20,000 yuan; and Black Diamond members, who have a cumulative consumption of 80,000 yuan. All membership services include 1V1 nourishing butler, birthday gifts, high-end offline activities, visits to production centers, customized holiday gifts and island swallow-hunting trips. Different levels of members enjoy different rights and interests.

1. Customized member birthday gifts

Most companies’ birthday gifts are text messages or coupons, which are either too ordinary or indistinguishable, and may even seem lacking in thought.

Xiaoxiandun’s birthday gifts are divided into different levels. VIP members receive a 100-yuan gift certificate with no threshold. Platinum members receive a gift certificate and a customized gift - a customized gift box of rose scented candles. The more advanced diamond members receive customized crystal photo frames.

These two gifts are just right for the lifestyle and taste of Xiaoxiandun’s consumer group, and have both practical and commemorative value. Maybe these gifts are not the most expensive or the best. But they are all carefully selected.

Member customized birthday gift

2. Customized membership festival gifts

I also emphasized in my book "Super User Growth " that holidays are a good time to care about users. However, some companies either do not take it seriously or just casually send greetings on New Year's Day, Christmas, Women's Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day and other holidays. This kind of indiscriminate and irregular concern without specific expression not only has no effect, but is also annoying. In my book, I talked about the six-interaction principle, which tells companies that they must carefully find scenarios that allow for friendly and profound interactions with users.

Xiaoxiandun chose the Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year as the two dates, which must have been carefully considered. First of all, these two festivals are important to all Chinese people. Secondly, these two festivals are times for reunion, gathering, and gift-giving. Now, isn’t it popular to give health as a gift? So this is exactly related to Xiaoxiandun. It not only strengthens the gift-giving scene of Xiaoxiandun, but also promotes sales. When users receive gifts on happy holidays, they will naturally be happier and their desire to consume will be aroused.

Therefore, giving gifts to customers is a very thoughtful act, and it is a wise move with small investment and big returns.

3. Targeted high-end offline activities

Only when people meet face to face can they have a deeper relationship. The same goes for businesses and users. Xiaoxiandun has created opportunities for its member users to engage in high-end offline activities. In this way, in addition to enjoying good products, users can also participate in circle activities such as illustration, tea tasting, and reading, which not only increases user stickiness but also helps users create social value. This is the added value of being a member.

We will find that these activity themes are very consistent with Xiaoxiandun’s target user group, namely, female white-collar workers aged 25-35 in first- and second-tier cities who have certain purchasing power and pursue taste and quality of life. So these membership activities represent a lifestyle and way.

Xiaoxiandun also offers brand activities such as factory tours and the "Search for Sea Swallows" tour. On the surface, these activities may seem to have nothing to do with sales, but all of these things are aimed at strengthening consumer trust, and where there is trust, there will naturally be sales. Things that are done with care often may not seem so utilitarian, but they will allow the company to continue to make money.

05. Nourishing butler’s private domain service is attentive

Sometimes you just need to be more attentive than your competitors and consumers will come to you. In terms of private domain traffic, I can also see that Xiaoxiandun is more attentive than other brands. When you buy Xiaoxiandun Bird's Nest and add the nourishing housekeeper Dan Xiaoxian's corporate WeChat, she will greet you like this.

When we add Yanziwu’s private domain services, we will see a health consultant named Smart who will say hello to you.

From a user's perspective, one is a nourishing butler, one is called a health consultant, one is called Dan Xiaoxian, and the other is called Congming. From the perspective of communication skills and value transfer, it is obvious that we prefer Dan Xiaoxian. She speaks from the customer's perspective and appears to be more attentive.

06. Empty bottle recycling, focusing on corporate social responsibility

If you are a member of the annual package, you will collect hundreds of empty bottles in a year. They take up space at home, and throwing them away at will is not environmentally friendly and wastes resources. Then you can participate in Xiaoxiandun’s empty bottle recycling program. This program, launched in 2019, has completed four phases and recycled a total of more than 470,000 bottles. Consumers can exchange bottles for coupons, which is both a public good and profitable.

When a company grows big, it cannot just think about making money, but also has to consider how to give back to society and assume social responsibility. Leading users to do charity work will increase user interaction and stickiness, and also enhance brand reputation. Public welfare activities like this often don’t make money and are thankless in the short term, but such things require more care.

Nothing is difficult in the world if you set your mind to it. Similarly, success is most afraid of those who are determined.

Final Thoughts

Through the above 6 points, I think you can look at the success of Xiaoxiandun from a new perspective. It is not the success of a single product, marketing or communication, but it is determined by its original intention.

Over the years, I have become more and more convinced that companies that can withstand risks, cross economic cycles, and achieve sustainable growth all focus on their users and put "treating users with care" first. If you study it carefully, you will find that their products, brands, marketing, services, channels, and organizations are all user-centric.

At this moment, I remembered a sentence I once said, "What hinders business growth is never the skills and methods of acquiring customers, but the attitude towards customers." Today's Xiaoxiandun may still have many imperfections, but as long as it sticks to the "customer service spirit", it will definitely get better and better.

Whoever wins the hearts of users wins the market.

Author: Yan Tao Sanshou

Source: Yan Tao Sanshou