Dismantling popular products is not about copying formulas, bottles or advertisements. The truly valuable dismantling is to identify the product’s target group, transaction scenarios, core experience, evidence structure and supply chain selection, and then recombine it with your own brand positioning. A public ingredient list cannot restore the complete manufacturing formula, and sales volume cannot automatically prove that the product is suitable for your channel.
1. Dismantle the business model first, then the product
Record who the competing product is sold to, which platform the transaction is made on, regular price and promotional price, main image expression, high-frequency words in comments, reasons for negative reviews, package structure and repurchase logic. Consumers searching for “hot-selling skin care products”, “affordable essences” and “sensitive skin creams” have different purchasing motivations and cannot use the same set of selling points.
Divide the selling points of competing products into three levels: demand, evidence and experience. The needs are hydration, oil control or makeup-lasting; the evidence is ingredients, tests or standards; the experience is freshness, smoothness, color development or fragrance retention. If the three layers are consistent, the product will be easy to understand.
2. When disassembling the formula, you cannot just look at the INCI order.
The full ingredient list can help identify the dosage form and key raw materials, but it cannot tell you the precise addition amount, raw material grade, pre-mixing method, process temperature, shear conditions, preservative challenges and flavor ratio. Benchmark development should treat the product as an overall system.
It is recommended to record appearance, color, odor, pH, viscosity, spread, absorption, film formation, lather, rinse, color development, coverage, longevity and fragrance, and compare them at different temperatures and usage methods.
3. Consumer perception is an important indicator for formula development
Research on sensory evaluation of cosmetics shows that professional sensory descriptions and instrument data can complement each other to help teams understand texture and consumer feelings. Measuring viscosity alone cannot fully explain "thickness" or "refreshingness", and it is difficult to ensure batch consistency by only subjective trials.
When developing a hit product, few but clear target attributes should be established. For example, face creams can focus on picking up, spreading, absorption, shine and film feel; foundations can focus on flow, spreading, coverage, dryness and mottledness; shampoos can focus on foaming, rinsing, wet combing and dry hair feel.
4. When disassembling packaging materials, both aesthetics and engineering feasibility must be verified.
Packaging materials should be inspected for holding, opening and closing, discharging, residue, sealing, pump head rebound, spray pattern, filling caliber, coding position, assembly efficiency and transportation protection. The renderings look high-end, but that doesn’t mean they can be stably assembled on the production line.
Studies have shown that adsorption of formula ingredients to plastic packaging or changes in material properties may occur. Especially for flavors, oils, sunscreens and volatile systems, product and container compatibility, temperature resistance, leakage prevention and transportation testing are also required.
5. How to turn popular selling points into compliance claims
First write the results that consumers can understand, and then confirm the formula features and evidence. For example, "skin becomes more hydrated after use" needs to match the actual formula and evaluation method; expressions such as "medical grade", "treating" and "repairing diseases" may change regulatory attributes or constitute inappropriate claims.
China's "Cosmetic Efficacy Claim Evaluation Standards" requires that the basis for efficacy claims match the evaluation method. Cross-border sales must also check the market rules of the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other markets separately. The packaging copy of one market cannot be directly translated and used globally.
6. Packaging vision should be inferred from the shelf and screen scenes.
The e-commerce main image needs to identify the brand, category and core selling points in a small size; supermarket shelves need long-distance identification and series differentiation; gift boxes need to consider the unboxing level, transportation protection and gift attributes. Vision is not just about color, but also about information priority, font size, contrast and white space.
The first batch of products can be prioritized to unify the bottle shape and structure, distinguish the series through labels, colors and outer boxes, and reduce the complexity of molds, inventory and assembly.
7. Compliant competitive product benchmarking boundaries
You can research public formulas, experiences, prices and channels, but you cannot copy others' trademarks, patented designs, copyrighted graphics, packaging text or trade secrets. The reference sample should state "what you like" and "what you hope to change", rather than requiring a one-to-one copy.
The final solution must undergo its own formula verification, packaging material verification, label verification and target market data preparation. The methods of making hits can be learned, but brand equity must be re-established.
FAQ
Can the factory completely replicate competing products?
Public samples can be used for benchmarking, but the formulation process and raw material specifications are not public, and intellectual property rights and misleading copying should be avoided.
The ingredient list is the same, but will the feeling of use be the same?
Not necessarily. Ingredients, concentrations, particle sizes, processes and flavors may alter texture and performance.
Do popular products have to use expensive packaging materials?
Not necessarily. Stable discharging, reliable sealing, clear information and channel adaptation are usually more important than simple decoration.
Can competing products claim to be used directly?
It cannot be copied directly and should be re-examined based on your own product evidence and target market regulations.
Authoritative information and academic references
- [1] Correlation between sensory and instrumental characterization of cosmetic formulations
- [2] Review of sensory evaluation methods for cosmetics
- [3] Stability study of sunscreens contained in plastic packaging
- [4] Fundamentals of stability testing
- [5] State Food and Drug Administration’s “Standards for Evaluation of Cosmetic Efficacy Claims”
- [6] State Food and Drug Administration’s “Cosmetic Labeling Management Measures”
Note: This article is for cosmetics OEM Project planning and general information does not constitute medical advice or country-specific legal advice. Regulations, raw material restrictions and platform rules will be updated and should be reviewed by the target market responsible entity or professional compliance personnel before official listing. The conclusions of the paper only apply to its research formula, subject population and test conditions, and cannot directly replace the safety and efficacy evaluation of specific products.