On November 1 last year, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued a document requiring e-cigarette companies not to sell e-cigarettes online, urging e-commerce platforms to close e-cigarette stores promptly and remove e-cigarette products from shelves. For practitioners in the e-cigarette industry, with the loss of online channels, offline has become the most important, even the only, scenario to reach users. Offline channels are scarce, and more intense competition has shifted offline. Convenience stores, nightclubs, and shopping malls have become battlegrounds for e-cigarette brands, with fierce competition. Offline is not like online; some e-cigarette companies failed to survive this struggle and left bleakly, while others still rely on burning money, using high entry fees to subsidize offline market grabbing. Some leading brands are expanding their territory, and RELX悦刻, at this moment, has boarded the fast train of new retail, demonstrating the strength of an industry leader. Caption: RELX悦刻 flagship store lands on Wujiang Road Pedestrian Street in Shanghai On January 11, RELX悦刻 announced that its first global flagship store officially opened on Wujiang Road Pedestrian Street in Shanghai. As an innovation test field for RELX悦刻's new retail, the flagship store will provide innovative services such as customized e-liquid, laser engraving on devices, and interactive communication, offering RELX悦刻 fans a smarter and more valuable experience. The opening of the flagship store marks the comprehensive upgrade of RELX悦刻's new retail business from version 1.0 to version 2.0. In the future, this will also become the first front for RELX悦刻 to continue exploring smart retail empowerment for store owners and implementing the "Guardian Plan." RELX悦刻 also announced the launch of the new retail "361 Plan," which will invest a total of 600 million yuan over the next 3 years to support the opening of 10,000 RELX STORE locations. Through precise marketing, intelligent upgrades, the establishment of an agent university, and city image stores, it aims to optimize store operation efficiency and consolidate RELX悦刻's position as a leading brand in the industry. Wang Ying, founder and CEO of RELX悦刻, said: "In the future, while accelerating the expansion of offline channels and building consumer stickiness, we will invest more effort in developing new technologies to empower store owners, continuously improve store operations and profitability, jointly protect minors, and use new technologies to revolutionize the entire e-cigarette industry." -01- RELX悦刻's First Global Flagship Store Redefining the E-cigarette Specialty Store Besides selling and displaying products, what other surprises can an e-cigarette specialty store bring? The 150-square-meter RELX悦刻 flagship store successfully answers this question. It is located in a prime location in Shanghai—Wujiang Road Pedestrian Street. The black-and-white frame, transparent style store design, complemented by green plant concepts, delivers a sensory experience of technology + health to consumers. Caption: Customers using the Sunflower System for age verification Here, various smart retail applications developed by RELX悦刻 are fully implemented. The entire store is constantly guarded by RELX悦刻's independently developed "Sunflower System," comprehensively preventing minors from entering the store to purchase e-cigarettes. Smart cameras will judge the age of entrants; once a suspected minor enters, store staff will receive a warning on their mobile phones and will step forward to discourage them from leaving; at the purchase stage, only consumers who pass the "name + ID card + face" triple age verification can complete the purchase. RELX悦刻 Sunflower System | Guardian Plan The store also includes rich experiential features: a futuristic smart robotic arm that can automatically mix exclusive flavor pods according to demand, from receiving instructions to filling and sealing, within minutes, a DIY mystery pod can be delivered to the consumer; a laser engraving machine next to it provides second-level device engraving services, creating uniquely marked devices for consumers. In addition, the spacious space also provides possibilities for in-depth interaction. In the future, activities such as e-cigarette mini-classes and RELX悦刻 mystery pod tasting salons will be launched one after another. Caption: The robotic arm that can make mystery pods Different from other e-cigarette specialty stores with single functions, RELX悦刻's Shanghai flagship store is more like a smart communication space created for "good smokers." "Being consumer-centric is the foundation of any long-lasting business," said Wang Tao, head of new retail at RELX悦刻. "Today's consumers prefer immersive experiences, and we will turn the flagship store into a field that conveys brand image and has deep contact with core consumer groups." Currently, RELX悦刻 flagship stores are successively landing in core business districts such as Beijing 798 and Shenzhen Coast City, continuously exploring new retail innovations in scenarios, experiences, and social responsibility, and playing a benchmark role in service. -02- From Digitalization to Intelligence Building a More Thinking Retail System The "newness" of new retail is not limited to space; in RELX悦刻's view, the future breakthrough also lies in the in-depth transformation of offline operations through digital technology. At the beginning of the RELX STORE expansion business, the company built a data middle platform, attempting to empower store owners through data-driven operations, laying the foundation for precise operations. Currently, data is guiding RELX悦刻 to continuously strengthen consumer insight capabilities. Taking the upcoming RELX CARE membership service as an example, data shows that 74% of users repurchase sets to change device colors. RELX悦刻 has thus developed a membership service for upgrading and replacing devices to ensure consumers can get a more thoughtful consumption experience. It is reported that this service will first be implemented at RELX悦刻's Shanghai flagship store. Caption: Relying on digital technology to connect the full-chain data of people, goods, and scenes These attempts are only the first step. Jiang Long, co-founder and head of channel sales at RELX悦刻, revealed that RELX悦刻 is continuously building the functional integration of the sales front-end and the centralization of middle-platform data. Relying on digital technology to connect the full-chain data of people, goods, and scenes, RELX悦刻's retail system will be more "thinking" and more understanding of consumer needs. Starting with the intelligent operation of the flagship store, RELX悦刻 plans to launch the store management system Yue Zhanggui in 2020 to achieve digital upgrades for all stores, and by 2022, achieve the advancement to store intelligence, gradually moving towards unmanned stores and intelligent supply chains. "We very much look forward to such a future: based on vertical data analysis of the complete data flow of people, goods, and scenes, understanding consumer behavior profiles, managing terminal channels, and product production and logistics; at the same time, the horizontal data connectivity can achieve a qualitative leap in the overall business efficiency of RELX," Jiang Long said. -03- 3 Years, 600 Million, 10,000 Specialty Stores Driving Upgrades Across All Retail Terminals In the past year, RELX悦刻's specialty store model successfully went from 0 to 1: since the beginning of 2019, RELX STORE has covered more than 300 cities, with a cumulative number exceeding 1,500. In terms of retail formats, it has also explored multiple business models including specialty stores, stores-in-stores, smart vending machines, and flagship stores. Entering 2020, offline competition among e-cigarette brands has become increasingly fierce. Factors such as expansion speed, operational efficiency, excellent product quality, and fulfillment of corporate social responsibility are key to determining the continuous rise in market share for e-cigarette brands. Caption: On the opening day of RELX悦刻's Shanghai flagship store "The development of the new retail business in the past year has been a shot in the arm for us," Jiang Long said. Next, RELX悦刻 will launch the new retail "361 Plan," investing a total of 600 million yuan over 3 years to support the opening of 10,000 RELX STORE locations, and drive the upgrade of retail terminals at all levels in both depth and breadth. Specifically in breadth, RELX悦刻 will increase investment in key cities and key channels, creating city image stores in core cities and core regions. At the same time, since a large number of e-cigarette users come from third-tier and below cities, RELX悦刻 will continue to expand channels around consumer needs, starting the pace of penetration into lower-tier markets. In depth, in addition to helping stores achieve digital operations, RELX悦刻 will continue to invest funds to improve subsidy policies for franchisees and partners, and optimize partner experience through multiple handles such as precise marketing, optimizing operational efficiency, and establishing an agent university, building a solid distribution system. Currently, RELX悦刻 has launched five product lines: RELX Classic, RELX Alpha, RELX Lingdian, RELX Infinite, and Mini RELX, far leading other brands in the industry in terms of market share and user awareness. Behind this is inseparable from efforts in product R&D and strict quality control. In the past two years, RELX悦刻 has ensured the continuous provision of safe and reassuring products to consumers by launching the world's largest e-cigarette exclusive factory, building its own e-liquid laboratory, and formulating strict e-liquid enterprise standards. "The most correct thing RELX悦刻 has done is to choose to drive the brand with mission and values," Wang Ying said. "In the future, we will adhere to the principle of product first, innovate more firmly in product and digital operations, and respond to changing markets and challenges." -04- Offline Battle RELX Leads Industry Upgrade It is understood that many members of the RELX team come from well-known FMCG companies and have considerable insights into channels. For them, the transition from online to offline had already begun early, and they adopted a dual-channel empowerment system strategy, empowering channels from the top down from the RELX brand side and the consumer side. For e-cigarette companies, the core competitiveness is the ability to continuously respond to changes. RELX has achieved this, and done it well. In the fierce offline battle in the e-cigarette industry, RELX has not lost its original intention. Due to the low technical barriers of e-cigarettes, it is easy to fall into price wars. Whether a company wants to make quick money in the short term or operate for the long term is clearly revealed in this competition. RELX's proposition is to focus on long-term value. Because a healthy market must not be one where bad money drives out good. So, as long as the product is differentiated, unique, and can create user value, then for consumers, you are a unique brand that is hard to replace. China's e-cigarette market has a promising future, and companies that can maintain their original intention and continuously provide value to consumers will surely go further! Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted. 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