How Are Jane, Three Squirrels, and Bestore Using Private Traffic to Drive Sales?

Ten years ago, Wang Li drove to a hypermarket to stock up on snacks, where buy-one-get-one-free promotions were her battleground. Five years ago, her son set up a Taobao account for her, and she sat by the router waiting for the 11.11 countdown. Today, Wang Li opens a WeChat group, collects a coupon from customer service, and places another order via a mini-program. In her eyes, shopping has become more convenient—one WeChat is enough, saving the hassle of comparing options. Her son, who works in the internet industry, calls this 'private traffic.'

• What do you use to order takeout?
• Meituan, Ele.me.
• What about Heytea or McDonald's?
• Mini-programs. This is typical private traffic. Leading new tea brand Heytea, yogurt 'rising star' Jane, online bird's nest brand Xiaoxiandun, coffee dark horse Luckin, and beauty brand Perfect Diary—all star brands in their fields are leveraging private traffic with remarkable results. According to Heytea's official disclosure, as of December 31, 2019, Heytea's membership system had 21.99 million members. The Heytea Go mini-program added 15.82 million users last year, bringing total users to 21.5 million. The official WeChat account 'HEYTEA喜茶' is estimated to have 1.85 million followers, with headline articles averaging over 400,000 reads. The article about Bobo Bobo tea published in November last year even surpassed 990,000 reads. Xiaoxiandun, an online bird's nest brand, quickly established its market with fresh stewed concept, subscription service, and mini-program operations. Over five years, it built its own private traffic pool, maintaining a repurchase rate above 50%, with subscription customers (20% of total) contributing about 70% of revenue. Jane Yogurt, which recently secured 400 million yuan in financing and has achieved an average annual growth rate of 155% over five years, has over 1 million followers on WeChat. Liu Ruizhi, co-founder of Jane, once revealed to us that for typical brands (including internet products), the referral ratio of loyal fans recommending products to friends is close to 1:4, but Jane's private traffic backend data shows this ratio is as high as 1:8. In 2020, accelerated by the pandemic, private traffic became a hot topic across the internet. The achievements of star brands in private traffic have shown the industry the huge business opportunities behind it. So, what significance does private traffic hold for the food industry? How should brands operate private traffic? -01- Under Traffic Anxiety, Can Private Traffic Be the 'Savior'? In 2012, in Wuhu, Anhui, Three Squirrels was born. At that time, e-commerce was rising and Tmall was just emerging. Riding the wave, the squirrel took off. During that year's Double 11 promotion, Three Squirrels, only four months old, achieved daily sales of 7.66 million yuan, winning the top spot in the nuts and snacks category. Since then, this record has been broken every Double 11. A glamorous 'internet e-commerce brand' became Three Squirrels' label. In 2012, Zhang Liaoyuan confidently claimed in his blog that he saw the last opportunity in e-commerce: 'If you seize it within five years, you can build an e-commerce brand.' Three Squirrels frantically absorbed traffic, growing rapidly and becoming a new snack giant. Meanwhile, the 'magic of the glass slipper' was fading, and the five-year dividend period was nearing its end. On Double 11 in 2017, the fifth year for Three Squirrels, Zhang Liaoyuan did not see the doubling growth he had become accustomed to; the number stopped at 522 million yuan, only 14 million more than in 2016. The times had changed. As Zhang Liaoyuan said, 'The bottleneck of online traffic has arrived.' Many consumer goods companies are suffering from traffic anxiety. First, online traffic scale is gradually saturating. According to QuestMobile data, in Q2 2019, the monthly active users of mobile internet across the entire network peaked at 1.138 billion, a decrease of 1.93 million. From December 2018 to March 2019, and then to June, user time growth slowed from 22.6% to 11.8%, and then to 6%. The trends behind these numbers are worrying—the natural growth dividend of the pie is gone, and the next phase is competing for a share. Second, customer acquisition costs are rising. With rising logistics and labor costs, e-commerce platforms can no longer rely on cheap traffic, and advertising costs have increased. According to Analysys data, from Q1 2014 to Q2 2017, Tmall's customer acquisition cost rose by 62.5%; from Q1 2015 to Q2 2017, JD.com's customer acquisition cost surged by 164%, both exceeding 250 yuan. Third, user attention is shifting. During the period of explosive traffic growth, new brands and products kept emerging. Initially, they met demand, but later, there was an oversupply of choices, diluting brand loyalty. The cost-effectiveness of distribution and advertising declined, and even if consumers were attracted to buy, they couldn't be retained. Under these three pressures, traditional e-commerce channels face a dilemma: high saturation, no incremental space, high customer acquisition costs, and difficulty in accumulating brand traffic. In fact, consumption has not saturated; it has just shifted to a different place and a different way. Social scenarios have become the next traffic depression. According to the '2020 China Social Retail White Paper,' the penetration rates of social media and social retail in China have reached 97% and 71%, respectively, and Chinese consumers spend over 2.3 hours per day on social media. Consumer purchase decisions are also changing. In early offline and e-commerce scenarios, users would 'compare three stores'—comparing brands, prices, and value—making rational purchases. But as choices increase, consumers don't want to spend more decision-making costs, and more personalized emotional consumption takes precedence. For example, if you see a product in your Moments and think it's good, based on trust in acquaintances or an impulse at that moment, you make a purchase decision. This process rarely involves rationality; it's more emotional consumption. The concept of private traffic emerged. So, what is private traffic? Let's use an analogy. Platforms like Taobao, JD.com, and Baidu are public traffic platforms, like the ocean, where consumers are fish swimming around. Brands pay to rent a fishing spot, and willing fish take the bait. In contrast, private traffic platforms like self-media, communities, and WeChat accounts are fish ponds built by the brand itself. Though smaller, the fish are their own. Brands have more autonomous management rights and can directly and repeatedly reach users. In the past, during the traffic dividend period, brands were scenery and users were tourists; many would buy tickets as they passed by. Now, users are tired of the scenery and want to build relationships. Brands must manage these relationships like romantic ones—targeting users with similar profiles, repeatedly engaging them, and cultivating loyalty. Of course, private traffic is not a magic spell that can 'save the market' just by chanting it. There is still much work for brands to do in acquiring and operating private traffic. -02- Building Your Own Fish Pond: How Can the Food Industry Acquire Private Traffic? This spring, snack giant Three Squirrels also tasted the sweetness of private traffic. In Moments, Three Squirrels targeted ads to specific audiences, directly linking to official account or mini-program activity zones, guiding target users to follow the account and enter the mini-program to purchase products. With the linkage of 'Moments + Official Account + Mini-Program,' Three Squirrels' official account follow rate exceeded 30%, orders surpassed 24,000, and the cost per order was below 30 yuan. Regarding conversion rates, the advantage of private traffic lies in targeted audience delivery—spending limited budget on those most likely to buy. In turn, these people receive high-frequency communication and discounts, strengthening their affinity and loyalty to the brand. This is a virtuous cycle. In this cycle, the entrance to the private traffic pool is the foundation for all subsequent conversions. When digging this entrance, brands need to clarify their target audience—Who will buy? What are they most likely to buy for? What do they need most right now? Take Moments ad placement as an example:
  • If a person loves nuts and often searches for product reviews, push them nut product videos;
  • If they love yogurt and value for money, place yogurt discount ads in their Moments;
  • If they're staying home recently and often order takeout, show them 'delivery to door' ads. Three Squirrels' Moments ads targeted different groups, including snack lovers, nut lovers, e-commerce users, and general audiences, with creatives including promotions, product images, and videos. Jane Yogurt, a premium yogurt brand, also expanded its social retail direction through Moments ads for follower acquisition and mini-program direct purchase. Jane's Moments ads mainly targeted users interested in maternal and infant information, directly linking to official account follows. Within two months, they gained over 100,000 followers with an average cost per follower below 15 yuan and a CTR of 0.62%. Jane's ad label cards highlighted 'free shipping' and 'coupon discount' information, linked to mini-program direct purchase to attract clicks and purchases. Customers could receive coupons after logging in, promoting conversion. Mini-program direct purchase orders reached nearly 40,000 with a CTR of 1.55%. Another snack giant, Bestore, seized the pain point of staying home during the pandemic and launched a series of Moments ads based on the 'long holiday at home' scenario. Using one-click jumps from Moments ads to mini-programs, they transformed in-store scenarios into home delivery services. The mini-program intelligently identifies nearby stores based on location, allowing online orders to be fulfilled by store delivery or warehouse direct shipping, providing 'contactless delivery to home.' During the campaign, Bestore's mini-program attracted over 55,000 visitors with a cost per visitor under 5 yuan, and orders reached nearly 40,000. In building a social retail ecosystem, brands like Three Squirrels, Bestore, and Jane Yogurt leverage the advantages of Moments ads, combined with oCPA and oCPM intelligent bidding tools, to achieve targeted audience reach. With optimized ad creatives, they effectively attract clicks, and by jumping to official accounts, they accumulate brand private traffic, or jump to mini-program e-commerce to increase conversion opportunities. It's worth noting that these brands' Moments ads are not solely for one-time purchases. By jumping to 'official accounts,' they not only accumulate private traffic but also, through continuous content operations, attract audiences to increase brand affinity or promote repeat purchases. In other words, after building the fish pond, the next step is managing it so the fish can continuously generate value and even attract other fish. So, what should brands do? -03- Managing the Fish Pond: How Should Brands Operate Private Traffic? Open the comment section of Jane Yogurt's official account, and you'll see many loyal fans leaving messages. They not only repurchase but also recommend Jane to friends and family. This is the sustained value of private traffic—retention and referral. To achieve this goal, content is fundamental. Does the brand, category, product, packaging, or experience have topics? Can it generate interaction? Does it meet needs? Is it worth recommending? Otherwise, it's just a self-indulgent exercise. 1. Build a Memorable Brand Internet celebrity Li Ziqi has over 80 million followers across platforms, creating a unique 'pastoral idyll' persona in consumers' minds. In Li Ziqi's Tmall flagship store, a three-pack of Liuzhou river snail rice noodles is priced at 77 yuan, with a promotional price of 39.7 yuan, and monthly sales exceed 1.5 million units. At the promotional price, this single product alone could generate over 700 million yuan in annual GMV for the store. In comparison, established snail noodle brands lag behind. In their Tmall flagship stores, BaWang's 280g×3 pack is priced at 38.4 yuan with monthly sales of over 55,000; HaoHuanLuo's 300g×3 pack is priced at 38.7 yuan with monthly sales of over 300,000. Fans buy because they like Li Ziqi as a person, resulting in high loyalty and purchasing power. The rise of private traffic reflects people's emotional connection to brands or products. During the traffic dividend era, everyone focused on traffic, traffic, traffic, making brand touchpoints increasingly hollow and vague. As the economy develops, people's spiritual needs rise, requiring humanized, tangible brands. By operating private traffic, brands show consumers that they have personality and can converse, rather than coldly waiting for payment. Using a 'living' brand to dialogue with users and giving consumers clear memory points is essential to avoid being lost in the contact list. Building a warm, memorable brand is the first step. 2. Interact Frequently and Meet Needs Internet celebrity yogurt brand LePur, during its preparation phase, attracted 3,000 fans for MVP testing: making 100 boxes of yogurt daily, inviting fans to taste, and improving the next day's 100 boxes based on feedback. Today, LePur still uses a 'user co-creation' model, where fans conduct product testing, vote, propose new product ideas, and participate in packaging design, driving continuous product updates. There are two keywords in this case: interaction and needs. The essence of private traffic is managing relationships between people. As the saying goes, 'Seeing each other creates affection.' To warm up relationships with users, frequent interaction is necessary. But it's also a skill; if done poorly, it becomes harassment. If you just post sales messages in Moments and constantly create flash sale groups, users will get annoyed. LePur, however, chooses to interact with fans frequently through testing, voting, and idea submissions, giving users a sense of participation and deepening emotional ties with the brand. On the other hand, through fan feedback, LePur gains first-hand knowledge of user needs—which products they dislike, which they love, and what new products they hope the brand will launch. Meeting needs is the fundamental way to retain users. Using feedback and data from the private traffic pool, brands can predict whether products will be popular, how to optimize existing products, which products might become hits, and which are not worth further investment. 3. Cultivate Your Super Users Xiaoxiandun, as an emerging brand, has grown over 150% for two consecutive years and ranked first in fresh stewed bird's nest sales nationwide for three consecutive years. Much of this success is attributed to its old customers—the repurchase rate has remained above 50%, and subscription customers (20% of total) contribute about 70% of revenue. These old customers have extremely high brand loyalty. Maintaining an old customer brings higher returns than acquiring a new one. Chen Yaguang, COO of One Cow, shared in a FBIF live stream that 20% of old customers can contribute 50% of sales, and their profit contribution can even reach 80%. Additionally, old customers are less price-sensitive and have higher positive review rates. A loyal user will also spontaneously promote the brand, generating more users through referrals and reducing customer acquisition costs. FBIF interviewed Liu Ruizhi, co-founder of Jane Yogurt, who revealed that the referral ratio of loyal fans in the private traffic pool is as high as 1:8. This is the value of super users. They not only have the ability and desire to continue paying but also spontaneously help the brand grow and maintain its image. Potential super users are within the brand's private traffic pool. Through daily operations, brands can increase opportunities for interaction and relationship building, such as new product pushes, activity interactions, valuable content or daily life sharing, and referral incentives, encouraging users to grow into super users. -04- Conclusion As Sister Dao said in a recent article, private traffic is like a brand having a personified IP, allowing users to find an 'ideal boyfriend,' giving the brand a 'virtual spokesperson,' and giving data hands. For brands, public traffic is like renting a house—the landlord has the final say, and it's not truly yours. Private traffic is like buying a house—once you spend the money, the traffic you get is yours. These owned traffic assets are extremely valuable to brands. Especially in the food and beverage industry, which is a basic need with high repurchase rates and sufficient customer lifetime value, it is very suitable for private traffic. Private traffic is more of a strategy than a simple tactic. Before riding this wave, everyone should think: Is your brand worth remembering? Source: FBIF Food & Beverage Innovation (ID: FoodInnovation) Author: Cici