With revenue increasing fivefold in one year, how did Yongpu Coffee develop its private domain to achieve growth?

Coffee has only been popular in China for a short time, but the rapid development of the coffee market has given birth to many mature and cutting-edge coffee brands. In the face of increasingly fierce competition, how can we stand out? The author of this article uses Yongpu Coffee as a case study to analyze how its private domain operates, hoping to be helpful to you.

In recent years, the Chinese coffee market has maintained rapid growth, but whether it is Starbucks and Luckin Coffee, which focus on offline, or Sandunban and Yongpu, which mainly focus on online, they all regard private domains as an important development channel.

Facts have proved that private domains not only capture the minds of users, but also bring real performance growth to brands. For example, from 2019 to 2020, Yongpu Coffee's revenue increased from 20 million to 100 million in just one year.

In addition to the constant exposure of brand collaborations, the refined private domain operations behind it are indispensable. The following is a breakdown of Yongpu Coffee's private domain.

01 Case Background

1. Brand Introduction

Yongpu Coffee was founded in 2014 and named after its founder Hou Yongpu, nicknamed Uncle Tiepi. He graduated from the China Academy of Art and is a professional graphic designer. He has focused on portable, high-quality coffee since its inception. He was the first in China to launch portable cold-brew coffee liquid and room-temperature flash-brew coffee concentrate.

During the 618 period in 2021, sales reached nearly 30 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of nearly 300%. Sales of coffee liquid exceeded 15 million yuan, ranking first in the coffee liquid category on Tmall!

2. Market size

The market size of China's coffee industry is expected to maintain an upward trend of 27.2%, far higher than the global average growth rate of 2%. In 2025, the market size of China's coffee industry will reach 1 trillion yuan, showing an overall trend of continuous expansion.

3. User portrait

90% of Yongpu users are women, 60% of them are aged 18-29, and they are mainly distributed in first-tier, second-tier and new first-tier cities.

02 Traffic Channel Analysis

1. Official Account

After following the public account "Yongpu", a link to the employee's corporate WeChat account will be attached to the automatic reply content. Click to add the corporate WeChat account, and then the user will be guided to enter the community.

2. Video Account

On the homepage of Yongpu Coffee’s video account, the official account and the "Yongpu Island" mini program are linked to further attract traffic and conversion through these two channels.

3. TikTok

Yongpu has three main accounts on Douyin, and the video content is mainly about coffee drinking tips. In addition to the official flagship store, the other two accounts will arrange live broadcasts and establish fan groups to better reach users.

4. Weibo

Yongpu has more than 260,000 followers on Weibo and publishes content almost every day, 1-3 pieces each time. Most of the content is rewarded interactions, followed by holiday hot spots, Islander Monthly, etc.

5. Xiaohongshu

Yongpu has more than 30,000 notes on Xiaohongshu and has more than 46,000 fans. The content mainly consists of rewarded interactions, holiday marketing, joint activities, and product recommendations. In addition, Yongpu has opened a store to lock in user transactions.

03 IP Image Disassembly

In 2019, Yongpu Coffee upgraded its brand and created the brand IP "Shi Duanzheng". "Shi Duanzheng" is shaped like a stone lion used to protect houses in China, and its image is cute and adorable.

Therefore, in the private domain of Yongpu Coffee, the IP is established with the image of "Shi Duanzheng". The following is a breakdown based on the corporate WeChat I added:

1. Personality IP creation

Nickname : Shi Duanzheng

Avatar : Stone lion holding coffee beans

Positioning : The guardian beast of Yongpu Island and the wild spokesperson of the Yongpu brand

2. Moments content

Content frequency : Publish 1 to 3 Moments of Friends content every day

Release time : Unfixed

Moments content : Mainly consists of life columns such as "Daily Life of Islanders" and "Inspiration Collection". For example, "Daily Life of Islanders" mainly reflects the daily life of Yongpu users; "Inspiration Collection" is the analysis of Yongpu users' product usage scenarios, usage skills, and feelings.

04 Community Operation Analysis

Yongpu Coffee built a private community very early on. The community is very active, and most of the people who can enter the group are targeted users. Yongpu will recommend new products and co-branded products, and share coffee-related knowledge and production methods. At the same time, it actively mobilizes fan interaction and guides fans to post orders and discuss topics.

Here’s an example of a community I added.

1. Community Positioning

Group nickname: Shi Duanzheng's Coffee Life Research Institute

Group positioning: coffee exchange, new product notification group

Community value: consultation and answering of pre-sales and after-sales questions; a gathering place for loyal fans, where members interact positively to strengthen brand awareness; content value: synchronization of first-hand information on festivals, events, etc.

2. Welcome message/group announcement

After users join the group, a welcome message is sent immediately, and information such as welfare activities is informed so that users can understand the value of the community at the first time; group announcements usually publish the latest activities and rules.

3. Community Content

Yongpu’s community is relatively active, and during its operations it focuses on strengthening its social attributes and weakening marketing.

In addition to some daily community actions, such as sign-in reminders, welfare activities, etc., more is to guide users to interact with topics spontaneously, such as posting orders, comments, etc.

In addition, another IP of Yongpu, Uncle Tiepi, also frequently appears in the community to interact with users. It is understood that the vast majority of users in the Yongpu Coffee community have achieved more than three annual repurchases.

05 Membership System Analysis

Yongpu has established corresponding membership systems on both mini programs and e-commerce platforms, both of which are based on a growth-oriented membership + points system .

1. Mini Program Membership

1) Growth Members

When you enter Yongpu’s mini program "Yongpu Island", you will automatically receive an islander ID card. The concept of islander is equivalent to "member".

The islanders are divided into five levels: beginner islanders, settled islanders, three-good islanders, super islanders, and permanent islanders. The higher the level, the higher the rights and interests they enjoy.

2) Points system

Member points can be obtained by signing in, recycling coffee packaging, consumption, etc., and points can be exchanged for various peripheral products.

2. E-commerce membership system (Taobao as an example)

1) Growth Members

There are 5 levels in total, namely novice barista (free registration), intermediate barista (spending RMB 299 or more or transaction number ≥ 2 times), senior barista (spending RMB 799 or transaction number ≥ 5 times), professional barista (spending RMB 1399 or more or transaction number ≥ 9 times), and senior barista (spending RMB 2999 or more or transaction number ≥ 20 times).

Benefits include: new member gifts, membership day surprises, exclusive coupons, points exchange for discounts, points exchange for gifts, points premium purchases, and points rules.

2) Points system

Points can be obtained by signing in, completing information, spending on membership days, daily spending, etc., and points can only be redeemed for coffee badges.

06 Summary

Finally, let’s summarize the highlights of Yongpu Coffee:

IP shaping : The cute stone lions have become a very core IP image of Yongpu Coffee, bringing good brand communication effects, adding warmth to the brand, and using "stone uprightness" to narrow the distance between the brand and consumers.

User co-creation: In the private domain, Yongpu Coffee attaches great importance to user co-creation + sharing, which can effectively enhance the activity level of the event and the brand's reputation.

Author: Yan Tao Sanshou

Source: WeChat public account "Yan Tao Sanshou (ID: yantao-219)"