Design is Just the Standard: Elevate Your Vision to Captivate
Warren Buffett announced his investment in the smart jewellery sector in 2017, stating that incorporating intelligence is an industry upgrade for jewellery to adapt to the times, and smart jewellery is the future of the jewellery industry.
The entry of the stock god undoubtedly brought new changes to this industry.
Many domestic enterprises are venturing into jewellery exports and wearable smart devices, but brands applying wearable technology to jewelry are few and far between.
Totwoo, a smart jewellery brand from China, is a pioneer in this field.
In October 2015, Totwoo had its global debut in Milan, creating a buzz in both the jewelry and wearable tech sectors. Since then, it has raised over 30 million RMB（5 million USD) in funding.
Totwoo is not just a jewelry brand; it carries a tech DNA. The name "Totwoo" signifies "two" for two people and "to" for connection, emphasizing the connection between people, which is the core of the Totwoo brand.
Entering the jewelry industry through smart jewelry, Totwoo's vision is to be an innovative jewelry brand that is full of love, fun, and style.
With precise positioning in the smart jewelry sector, Totwoo has carved out its own niche in the highly competitive jewelry market with its differentiated product strategy.
PART 01: Beyond Design—Innovation Unleashed
The global jewelry market is valued at 70 billion USD, presenting a massive opportunity, yet with fierce competition. Beyond traditional jewelry brands, emerging designer labels and platforms have surfaced, and tech companies have also entered the arena.
For example, Kayne Eras Group in the U.S. acquired Zales Jewelers and Blue Nile. In the UK, M&S Bank launched its high-end jewelry series, Marks and Spencer Fine Jewellery Collection.
In such a vast and competitive market, building unique advantages to enhance competitiveness becomes crucial.
Totwoo, as the world's first smart jewelry brand integrating social, tech, and fashion, offers insights into navigating international waters.
Totwoo is under Beijing Xinyou Lingxi Technology Co., Ltd., and its founder, Wang Jieming, was recognized by FAST COMPANY as one of China's most innovative entrepreneurs.
Co-founder Marco Dal Maso is an Italian jewelry designer, receiving multiple awards for jewelry design. Both believe that smart jewelry can provide a better emotional experience than traditional jewelry.
Wang Jieming emphasized that for traditional accessories, design is standard, but revolutionary innovation comes from going beyond design.
The low cost of replicating jewelry makes unique design alone not a guarantee of significant market opportunities. It might lead to being a small and exquisite brand with difficulty sustaining its value.
Design competition is not the sole crucial factor; the ability to shape fashion is even more vital.
Taking examples like De Beers' "A Diamond Is Forever," Swarovski's innovation in cutting artificial crystals, and Pandora's experiential innovation, their success as jewelry giants often lies beyond design in some form of innovation.
So, can smart jewelry be considered innovation beyond design?
Several smart jewelry pieces have emerged, but the mass appeal remains weak because the smart jewelry industry is still immature, with many brands yet to succeed in mass production.
Mass production is a critical factor influencing a brand's success in the smart jewelry industry.
Totwoo's contract factories, primarily producing millions of smartwatches and smart bracelets annually, still struggle to produce Totwoo's products, resulting in high overall costs.
From its founding in 2015 until 2021, Totwoo only achieved mass production and global sales profitability. The challenges along this journey were evident.
Therefore, Wang Jieming pointed out that smart jewelry is not merely "a smart bracelet in a different jewelry shell"; it's the collision and fusion of two worlds.
Examining Totwoo's product marketing strategy, it deemphasizes "technology" and "smart." Instead, it emphasizes "love" and connection.
They integrate technology into traditional craftsmanship, making the product appearance devoid of obvious smart elements.
Totwoo highlights stainless steel as its main material and chooses the sun and moon as product elements because they are primary symbols in Western love. This is evident in Totwoo's first black technology couple bracelet.
Interactive through touch, couples can feel each other's longing no matter where they are.
In just three weeks online, it successfully entered the top 10 best-selling bracelets in the United States. This indicates that smart jewelry is not just a "pseudo-demand."
The popularity of couple bracelets in overseas markets reflects the Western emphasis on ritualized expressions of love.
In China, people buying jewelry often consider its sense of value, while overseas, people prefer products that express emotions, considering various holidays as opportunities for emotional expression.
Therefore, Totwoo's rapid rise in overseas markets is due to targeting fundamental human needs. It doesn't just sell jewelry or smart elements but sells the emotional expression of love and connection.
PART 02: Entering the U.S. Market through an Independent Site
From its founding in 2015 to achieving mass production in 2021, Totwoo prioritized an independent site as its first step into the U.S. market.
In the early stages, to convey brand philosophy and reach users, they experimented with Google ads. Their first couple bracelet, featuring the sun and moon, surpassed Swarovski and Pandora to become one of the top three best-selling single items on Google Shopping in the U.S. within three weeks.
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They also gained recognition on major social platforms globally.
Observing their independent site, Adam found that its design focuses on user experience and product showcase, featuring several important characteristics:
The site adopts a simple and clean white background as the main color, complemented by high-quality jewelry photos and illustrations to showcase its product line, presenting a visually appealing minimalist luxury effect.
Totwoo's site uses high-definition product images, allowing users to clearly see the details and texture of the jewelry, enhancing the desire to purchase.
Totwoo's site employs interaction design, enabling users to easily browse and purchase products. For example, when users click on a piece of jewelry, the site displays detailed information, including material, size, and price, facilitating direct ordering.
The site design emphasizes the shaping of the brand image. Through clean design, high-resolution images, and interactive experiences, Totwoo's smart jewelry is portrayed as high-tech, high-quality, and fashionable.
Totwoo's site integrates social media functions, allowing users to share products, comment, and like through the site. This integration increases user engagement and loyalty, enhancing brand awareness.
Although the overall website experience is good, according to PageSpeed Insights test results, both the PC and mobile versions have relatively slow page loading speeds, mainly due to oversized images. It is recommended to adjust image sizes appropriately.
Currently, their independent site, totwooglobal.store, has a total visit volume of 518,000 in the past three months, showing an upward trend with a 94.6% increase in October compared to September, reaching 187,700.
During the year-end shopping season, searches for jewelry items have seen significant growth in recent months, boosting Totwoo's independent site traffic.
Analyzing traffic sources for the independent site, social media, paid search, and direct visits constitute the main components, with social media traffic accounting for 41.53%.
This proves the success of their operational strategy on social channels, attracting many users to access their site through social media platforms.
Simultaneously, paid search and direct visits are also significant traffic sources, indicating that Totwoo has invested in SEO and website optimization, improving conversion rates for users accessing the site directly or through search engines.
Totwoo mainly promotes its products to the target audience through overseas events, social media, fashion bloggers, and celebrities. This helps new consumer brands rise quickly.
Taking their performance on TikTok as an example, Totwoo has 400,000 followers and has garnered 4.6 million likes on TikTok. The growth of their couple bracelets on TikTok is also rapid.
Based on Totwoo's videos on TikTok, they focus on the core of the brand, using "love" and "connection" as creative backgrounds. They tap the jewelry lightly, and the partner's jewelry flashes and vibrates in response.
This real interaction enhances users' impression of the brand.
Their performance on Facebook ads is also impressive. According to reports, their average monthly ROI on Facebook ads reaches 4.5.
High ROI and conversion rates indicate the success of their advertising strategy and product design. This underscores Totwoo's professional capabilities in marketing and innovative thinking in product design.
According to their latest meta ad data, out of 500 ads, Christmas promotion ads had the highest material utilization, with 17 ads currently running.
The material background features a couple sitting in a restaurant, tapping their smart bracelets lightly. The partner's bracelet vibrates and flashes, conveying the message that no matter the distance, they express their longing for each other anytime, anywhere.
PART 03: Multi-Platform Strategy
In addition to an independent site, Totwoo operates on various platforms such as SHEIN, Amazon, AliExpress, Walmart, eBay, Newegg, and Alibaba, with an overall average order value exceeding $100.
By operating extensively on multiple channels, Totwoo showcases its products to global consumers, enhancing brand awareness and sales. After officially entering Amazon in 2022, it became the top new product in the U.S. within just one month.
Totwoo's ability to achieve good sales performance on well-known e-commerce platforms like Amazon indicates consumer recognition of its product quality and market positioning.
Additionally, Molly noticed that for the same model, the prices on Amazon, AliExpress, and other platforms are consistent with the official website. However, the price on SHEIN is significantly lower than on other platforms.
For example, the Sun&Moon touch couple bracelet is priced at $129.99 on SHEIN, while on the independent site and third-party platforms, it is $149. This suggests that in certain situations, Totwoo might adopt different pricing strategies on different sales channels.
In such cases, Totwoo may adjust product prices based on different sales channels and market demands to maximize profit and market share.
However, this pricing strategy needs to be balanced. Pricing too low on certain sales channels may damage the brand image, reduce perceived product quality, and impact consumer trust and loyalty.
Therefore, in formulating pricing strategies, Totwoo needs to consider multiple factors, including market demand, competitive environment, brand image, etc., to ensure the reasonableness and sustainability of product pricing.