No store, not MLM: Taiwan supplement brand Jerôsse to expand in Singapore, Malaysia with novel distributor model
Unlike the usual retail model, Jerôsse’s products are not sold in brick-and-mortar stores. Although the products are sold by individual distributors, it is not positioned as a direct-selling brand either.
Almost 99 per cent of its distributors were previously users of its products who subsequently decided to become both users and sellers of the products.
These distributors will share their personal experiences while selling the products on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and more recently TikTok and The Little Red Book.
Without the need for a retail store, this mode of business has become a hit amongst full time housewives, Kevin Lu, CEO of Biotech Lab, told NutraIngredients-Asia at Beauty Asia Fair held in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands between April 17 and 19.
Jerôsse began six years ago in Taiwan with an initial focus on weight management and beauty-from-within supplements. Today, there are over 6,000 distributors selling Jerôsse’s products in Taiwan. Half of these distributors are full time housewives, said Lu.
This year, the brand will expand into Singapore and Malaysia, where Lu is seeing market opportunities among the Chinese.
“We are interested in these two markets because there is a large population of Chinese. About 30 per cent of Malaysia’s population are Chinese. In Singapore, the percentage is even higher. Both markets are familiar with the Taiwanese culture and products.”
Jerôsse’s products are both formulated and manufactured in Taiwan. Some of its products are Ultimate Renewal Premium powdered beverage for weight management formulated using patented ingredients such as D-ribose. It also contains vitamin C, calcium, and dietary fibre.
Another example of its products is Snow White cap said to promote skin brightening. It is formulated using Kewpie’s hyaluronic acid branded Hyabest.
Aside from weight management and beauty-from-within, the company has also developed five other SKUs for general wellbeing, such as Turbo for managing hangover effects and Lutein Ex sachet drink for eye health.
Similar to Taiwan, Lu is adopting the same retail strategy in both Singapore and Malaysia. The target is to expand to 1,000 distributors in three years’ time.
Winning on three fronts
Describing its retail strategy as ‘revolutionary, Lu believes that doing so would benefit both the consumers, distributors, and the company itself.
“It is win-win situation for all three parties involved – the consumers, the distributors and the company.
“For offline retail, the company would need to pay a fee for stocking our products on shelves. We might as well distribute the fees as revenues to our product distributors.
“For the distributors selling our products, they can also enjoy good profit since they do not need to sell the products through a physical store. This also means that the consumers can buy our products at a lower price,” he explained. The distributors can also purchase the products at discounted prices.
He also emphasised that it was different from direct-selling or multi-level marketing (MLM), since the latter focused heavily on the recruitment of downlines to sell the products, which was not the focus for Jerôsse.
Since the products are sold on social media platforms, he said that it was crucial for the distributors to have a good knowledge of the products and know how to create text and visuals in the form of photos or videos for marketing purposes.
Healthy ageing
In terms of new product development, Jerôsse is hoping to expand its range of supplements for supporting healthy ageing.
Lu said that in June, the brand would be launching products for bone and joint health.
“Most of our consumers are women in their 20s to 40s. Through them, we can also expand our consumer base to their parents. This is why we are developing products for healthy ageing.”
