Global From Asia TV Show
E-Commerce Entrepreneur Interview
Episode 12: Keep Going! 10 Years of Solid Work Helped Build SKG into a Top Independent Brand in China
About the guest
Jenifer Jiang, co-founder General Manager of SKG, is mainly responsible for their SKG brands from China to a foreign country in a comprehensive business operation. The business started in 2007, the business went through a lot of difficulties especially when it had just started. In 2009, their SKG products found JD platform and had their chance to turn the business fate around. Their company then formed a strategic cooperation with JD platform and then rely on JD to sell all their SKG products.
People / Companies / Resources Mentioned in this Episode
- SKG
- JD Platform
Show Length 15:20 / Download Options
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Podcast Transcription
Mike: Thank you everybody for tuning in to the Global from Asia TV series. We’re here in Guangzhou China as part of our Cross Border e-commerce series and we have with today the co-founder General Manager SKG Jenifer Jiang. Thank you for being here, Jenifer.
Jenifer: Thank you, I am Jenifer. I am from SKG company of Taiwan and I am responsible for overseas companies. I am mainly responsible for our SKG brands from China to a foreign country in a comprehensive business operation.
Mike: Ok, great! We use your products at home ourselves. It’s great and how did the company start?
Jenifer: There’s a lot to say about this startup. So we SKG company is from 2007. I remember it was our founder, Liu Jie. He’s also the group’s President, Jack. So we call him Jack. Then he came to Guangdong alone. Then he wanted to start his own business in Guangdong and he was thinking what he could do. He just saw Philip. And Philip is one of the top 500 companies in the world. Then he had an idea. We certainly want to be a better company or rather creative. And then it was because he had access to a book. So this book it’s called the World is Flat and then its author is Thomas Friedman. I remember. And then he looked at the book and he saw that there was a great deal of inspiration: Global manufacturing and global sales are all about flattening Chinese products. China’s products are manufactured globally and then sold globally. It’s an inspiration. And so he was inspired by that. So it starts to come to mind the most nibbler company must be the world 500 strong. Then he consider Philips. So then he thought about doing this home appliance business. And then came to our home appliances — Shunde. So we went to Shunde to start our SKG brand of home appliances.
Mike: Ok thank you. And next question is what skills or experiences did you have before you start, you think that could help you get these going?
Jenifer: We feel empathy for both of us because we also joined the company together. Then we do the SKG brand together. We, SKG was going through a lot of difficulties. After starting SKG brand appliances. We want to sell Chinese products abroad. In fact, in 2007, it was very difficult. It’s not as easy as we thought it would be to go overseas. And then what was it like? Three years in a row. In ’07,’ 08, almost all of us were supposed to fail. Three years is a failure. We made products of China abroad. Then selling overseas which was a failed experience. And then that leads to a lot of inventory. A lot of inventory and then we found that one channel is TV shopping. Then we’ll start selling appliances on TV shopping. But again on TV shopping failed. So how do we do that? and we have a lot of inventory. Money was also a difficult thing. And there’s a lot of pressure. And then maybe in 2009. And then the jd.com that this platform developed rapidly. At that time, our SKG products found JD platform. We want to do inventory liquidation. But there was a chance for a turnaround. We put our SKG product inventory on JD platform. Everything we put was sold out and then you can sell it all out every day. Sales are very good and that’s where it comes from. So our company then formed a strategic cooperation with JD platform. And then rely on JD to sell all our SKG products. And we can cooperate in depth. That’s the first stage. And then there’s the second stage. When our JD operation developed. And then our product because our SKG product is a global brand that originated abroad. A free brand, product of ourselves. And at that time we also want to go in and to cooperate with taobao Tmall. But in fact Taobao Tmall do not accept. Do not accept your international brand and international products. You can’t sell the products sold overseas. No Tmall was Taobao. So we’ve identified our own brand line that has been sticking to it. So we went online and then we went offline. Products from China are made in the world and then go back to China and then go abroad. It’s a bumpy line.
Mike: You guys, so many products and your brand is so strong. How did you decide which products to expand into?
Jenifer: Actually SKG company now our newest product is household beauty which is the beauty product of personal care. This household beauty is also included in the massage category of massage products. So what is our purpose? To make this product. So we develop and design on our own. The aim is to make everyone ten years younger. Let everyone be ten years younger and this is one of our purposes and goals. And then about our business situation, 50% of them are online and 50% are in our offline channels. That’s it.
Mike: All right thank you and we talked a lot about work and business. When you are not working, what’s your hobbies?
Jenifer: My personal favorite is playing badminton and then the other thing is playing ping-pong, it’s also a sport. In fact, people like we do the Internet or do our business types. We often on business so we need to do more sports. So I like playing badminton and table tennis very much when I was very young. It’s a personal hobby.
Mike: And my last question for this segment is what kind of customers would you like to meet internationally or what kind of people would you like to meet?
Jennifer: Our company now, we have our own brand. In fact, we want to find our brand distributors and agents more. Our brand partners are based on the SKG brand to explore our market at home together or some markets across borders. Because SKG is researching and developing products ourselves and some of our core categories are self-produced. And as we see this patent wall we have a lot of products that have our patent protection. So, the original intention when we started this product was that (WHAT IS THE INTENTION). So our aim has always been global manufacturing and global sales. Of course, it also wants to find some global customers and distribution brand agents abroad.
Mike: All right now for some more additional questions we have for Jenifer that talking to her about business models. So it’s exciting to talk to you. I would say you are doing F2C factory to consumer. You have Amazon, eBay there also Taobao, Tmall . Do you want to share some of your experiences with F2C?
Jenifer: Yes, we’ve always been. Let me just say a few words about overseas. We’re also pretty like F2C model. That’s what the channel we have now. It’s the Amazon that is our direct distributor or distribution brand. And then there’s eBay, Aliexpress. And then there are some other platforms on the line. In fact, we are developing from our own products. And then you design and then you make our own production. And then sell it all over the world. A channel for global sales and then directly to consumer 2C. And then there’s the 2B side and then the distribution agent brand.
Mike: Ok, great, exciting, because some people would talk to say cannot do F2C. But you are doing it, it’s great. And my second question is you worked with some e-commerce sellers and you have some ways to cooperate. Maybe you can share also how you work with sellers?
Jenifer: Ok Ok in fact we should say there are three kinds of models. Let me start by saying what kind of patterns we have. There are three business models.So how do we get to some of the vendors or some customers? How do you generate some join points? So now we have a pattern. The first one is self-run, which means our direct camp. So the online B2C segment is the SKG’s own brand. So we’re in 28 countries and we’re in the direct camp. It’s retail. The second model business model is our brand is also given to our online distributors. That’s a distributor of B2B that’s online. Our SKG products are distributed to all major sellers and then distribute our products. So how do we work together in this process? So let’s start with an example. For example, we can provide special products for distributors and then the customization is, for example, in a region. Then we can guarantee that the product will be competitive. It could be a SKG brand, that’s one kind of model and then this is the second one. The third mode is that we also do our own direct offline. Offline is our SKG brand. Then it is a distribution agent and brand agent in a regional market country. For example, we’re in the polish market. Then we have such a state acting distributor. For example, our SKG products are given to the first level agent in Poland. The distributor has the following sub-agent and the third agent distributor. His channels are also diverse. He could be online or he could be a store. So how do we work together? That first gave him the highest cost performance and guaranteed product quality. What the brand should do is service and some routes after sale and we’re going to give him a little bit of a rebate as well. And then go to market with this distributor. SKG, for example, can give him some marketing expenses. Or some support for things like exhibitions and things like that. We talk to a lot of distributors or our brands. So what kind of policies do we have? The first one is that we can develop together in the product direction. Or SKG itself. So let’s say we can customize the development and model products for a particular customer. So this is the support on the product. The second is funding. So for example, we can go with some of the sellers such as Sailvan, we work together. So he has a certain amount of scale that we can do with his money. For example, payment days, for example, a few months or half a year or something like that. We can all talk about this second. The third one is our brand promotion. We can work with the distributors so we can invest some of our SKG. Work with distributors to do brand promotion abroad.
Mike: All right thank you. And how could people find your company online?
Jenifer: Our official website is www.skg.com
Mike: Easy one, great! All right thank you so much Jenifer.
Jenifer: Thank you.