南方财经全媒体记者杨雨莱广州报道

Burn the “latest night oil”, eat the healthiest food. Young people are adopting a "punk health" regimen in recent years. Data reveals that nearly 84% of health-conscious consumers are between the ages of 18 and 35. In 2022, the retail sales of vitamins and dietary supplements (VDS) more than doubled compared to 2013, indicating robust growth in the health product industry.

BYHEALTH, founded in 1995 and native to Zhuhai, has benefited from its location in the special economic zone and favorable policy resources. Since its listing in 2010, it has stood as the epitome in the VDS field, maintaining the top market share domestically. As of the end of September 2023, BYHEALTH's total market value reached 32.3 billion USD. This places it at the forefront of VDS companies globally, surpassing the second-ranked company by over 20 billion USD.

How has BYHEALTH managed to stand out among its competitors? The sustained high-quality development of the company hinges on R&D innovation. In 2022, BYHEALTH invested a substantial 1.6 billion yuan in R&D. And it has a total of 339 patents domestically. BYHEALTH has also acquired the Australian pro-biotic brand Life-Space, as well as the over 80-year-old children's nutritional supplement brand Pentavite from Bayer. These acquisitions have become new growth points for BYHEALTH.

BYHEALTH's early rapid growth was facilitated by its business model. At that time, many leading brands operated through direct selling, which reduced sales costs significantly, but also led to various problems. BYHEALTH, on the other hand, took a different approach by supplying products to pharmacies, supermarkets, and other retail terminals through distributors. After years of operation, a vast network of pharmacy sales became a significant core competitive advantage.

The model, however, laid hidden risks in its future development. Following the medical insurance reform in 2019, the growth rate of health product retail in national pharmacy channels plummeted from 5.4% to 0.9%. In 2020, it even dropped to a staggering -16.9%. Meantime, the market was quietly undergoing changes. With a main purchasing power from post-90s starting to practice health regimen, and their consumption habit of shopping online, over-reliance on offline channels led to the first profit decline of BYHEALTH in the first half of 2022 since 2016. A reform in marketing channel was in a desperate need.

In 2021, BYHEALTH started a reform to integrate online and offline businesses and achieved an initial success. During the "618 Shopping Festival" in 2023, BYHEALTH's total sales exceeded 800 million yuan, a year-on-year growth of over 40%. In the first half of 2023, its online channel revenue increased by 61.8% year-on-year. Nevertheless, hovering over by ruthless rivals, it is still a tough fight for BYHEALTH to regain the same advantage of having a strong online channel with its pharmacies network.

The distribution channels, once was proudly considered a "sharp blade" to carve a way out for BYHEALTH, have become the most fragile link in need of reform. When the advantages of a company are no longer applicable to this era, only continuous self-innovation can pave the way for renewed high growth.

出品:南财国际传播中心 21新媒体中心创意互动中心 

策划统筹:于晓娜丁青云

内容统筹:谭婷张楠

责任编辑:黄欣然

设计统筹:林军明 

视频统筹:白宇航 

执行统筹:黄欣然 

监制:施诗 

海外运营监制: 黄燕淑 

海外运营内容统筹: 张然 

英文翻译&配音:李莹亮 

运营支持:曾静娇 

审校:强燕黄志明