A Small Brand For Women Who Love Violence

In the public’s mind, boxing is a sport full of male hormones that is bloody, violent, cruel, and blood-swelling. What we Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers may not know is that there is a very large group of female boxing fans overseas.

In recent years, women's interest in and participation in boxing has increased in Europe and the United States. Boxing is no longer viewed as a sport for men only, and more and more women are taking part in it, whether as a form of fitness, learning self-defense skills, or as a competitive sport.

Among European and American female fitness enthusiasts, boxing has become a very popular fitness activity. A large number of women of all ages use boxing training to improve their strength, endurance and coordination, increase their self-confidence, and improve their mental health. Many gyms and boxing clubs offer boxing classes and training programs specifically designed for women, attracting a large number of female participants.

On TikTok, the label women’s boxing alone has accumulated 130 million views, which shows the considerable size of this group.

However, this has always been a market that has been ignored by traditional boxing equipment brands and sellers.The customer base of traditional boxing equipment brands accumulated over many years is mainly male. After all, when it comes to boxing, the public thinks more of violence and blood, which seems to have nothing to do with women.

A gap in the market means an excellent market opportunity for smart businessmen.

Let’s take a look at a boxing equipment DTC brand targeting female boxing fans: Kostudio.

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Chinese sellers often say: seven points for product selection and three points for operation. How to find unmet needs in the market and design differentiated products to meet the needs of this market segment. Perhaps, you can find the answer from the experience of the founder of this niche brand.

In 2019, 18-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl Yin Qi Xie went to New York City to pursue her dreams.

However, in a strange city, Yin Qi experienced being stalked and blackmailed. The young girl is filled with feelings of depression, anxiety, or helplessness.

When she hit the lowest point in her life, she discovered by chance that boxing was a very good stress-relieving sport. Yin Qi gradually fell in love with this sport, and boxing helped her regain her confidence and peace of mind.

“I find boxing empowering because I’m surrounded by positive women who are pursuing the things they love in life and they inspire me,” Yin Qi said.

As she fell in love with boxing and regained her confidence, Yin Qi discovered a common problem faced by female boxing fans: “We can’t find boxing gloves and other equipment that suit us because boxing is a male-dominated industry.”

A product selection strategy that we e-commerce sellers are familiar with is to start from the things and fields that we are passionate about, because when we are consumers ourselves, we have a consumer perspective and in-depth insights.

We know what the pain points are. What kind of solution will make consumers willing to pay?

In this way, Yin Qi discovered a neglected blue ocean market.

Due to the differences in body structure, wrist strength and bone strength between women and men, existing boxing gloves designed based on male ergonomics are not suitable for female boxing enthusiasts.

According to Yin Qi, the lining designs of boxing gloves on the market are a bit too large for female users. Since women's palms are usually smaller than men's, the excessive space inside the gloves will prevent the fists from fitting into the gloves, thus preventing them from properly absorbing impact, which can easily lead to hand injuries.

"Many female boxing fans have to use child-sized gloves because they can't find gloves that fit them," Yin Qi said.

Moreover, the appearance design of existing boxing gloves does not conform to female aesthetics.

“Most of the boxing gloves on the market designed for women are from a male designer’s perspective and only come in pink and black.”

As a design professional, Yin Qi is very sensitive to the huge market opportunity.

She began surveying surrounding female boxing fans to understand their actual needs in boxing equipment and apparel, and began developing products to meet their needs.

In the process of establishing the KoStudio brand, Yin Qi began to record her entrepreneurial journey on TikTok, which soon brought her thousands of female fans who also love boxing. This niche brand has currently accumulated nearly 160,000 fans and 4 million likes on TikTok.

TikTok has allowed this niche brand to build a small community of female boxing enthusiasts. The content on KoStudio’s official account includes tutorials for female boxing novices, female boxers’ training experiences, inspirational stories and stories of overcoming difficulties. More KoStudio consumers are also participating, posting their own training videos to express their love and support for KoStudio.

Interestingly, KoStudio does not spend any money on hiring models, and all product images and video elements are provided by fans on TikTok.

Sales of this small brand far exceeded Yin Qi's expectations from the moment it was launched: "It took me three full days to pack the orders before I had time to handle other work."

Different from the data mining product selection strategy commonly used by Chinese sellers, this kind of product is developed based on one's own hobbies and the consumer's perspective, and can better resonate with audiences with the same hobbies.

By tracking the data of popular products on the market, we can find products that can sell well; and because of our hobbies, we can understand the needs of groups with the same hobbies and design and develop products that are loved, so that we can truly gain a fan base of true fans.