Ningjoy Files IPO Prospectus: Building a Closed-loop Light Aesthetic Medicine Platform Backed by Celebrity Influence

In recent years, non-surgical and minimally invasive aesthetic procedures have gained popularity, with convenient and efficient “light medical aesthetics” treatments becoming increasingly sought-after. Compared to traditional aesthetic clinics, light medical aesthetics clinics require less floor space, eliminate cumbersome departmental configurations, and incur lower operational costs. On the consumer side, these treatments offer high safety, rely less on physician expertise, enjoy high user acceptance and frequent repeat purchases, facilitate the expansion of the customer base, and are conducive to scalable growth.

In terms of market size, the "So-Young 2018 Medical Aesthetics Industry White Paper" also mentioned that China's medical aesthetics market reached RMB 224.5 billion, with a year-on-year growth rate of 27.57%, and there is still nearly six times the room for growth.

Ningyue CBD Flagship Store Sees Explosive Turnout on Opening Day

Therefore, as medical aesthetics consumption becomes increasingly transparent and widespread, non-surgical medical aesthetics has emerged as a new force and growth driver. Within this trend, Ningyue, a non-surgical medical aesthetics brand born with distinct advantages, has become a pioneering dark horse. On January 18, 2019, Ningyue celebrated the opening of its new flagship store—Ningyue CBD Flagship Store—located at SOHO II on Guanghua Road in Beijing, with a floor area of 1,700 square meters. More than 400 guests from the fashion, business, and media sectors attended the opening ceremony, underscoring the significant attention the brand has garnered.

Recently, VCBeat conducted an exclusive interview with Jin Peng, Founder and CEO of Beijing Ningyue Health Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ningyue”), to gain insights into Ningyue’s strategic layout.

Low net profit is a common pain point in the medical aesthetics industry and an unavoidable topic. “The core challenge to profitability in the medical aesthetics sector remains customer acquisition, with some institutions’ customer acquisition costs reaching as high as 30%–50% of their revenue. This places immense operational pressure on these institutions and makes it impossible to develop a robust single-store model for replication.” In his conversation with Jin Peng, he stated that the low profitability is primarily due toCustomer Acquisition, Rent, and LaborThis is attributable to the disproportionately high ratio of these three major operating costs to revenue.

So, how can these three major costs be optimized? Jin Peng stated, “Labor costs in the medical aesthetics industry have reached a relatively high level, making it impossible to recruit talent at below-market rates; therefore, nearly all medical aesthetics institutions face similar pressure levels. In terms of rent, Ningyue’s property acquisition costs are only 50%–60% of the market rate, thanks to the Ningyue team’s real estate background and its extensive access to high-quality commercial property resources across China. Regarding customer acquisition, Ningyue has consistently employed online event marketing and word-of-mouth strategies, leveraging celebrities and influencers to build brand awareness. As a result, the current customer acquisition cost per store accounts for less than 5% of total revenue.”

Given the characteristics of non-surgical medical aesthetics, which do not require complex surgical procedures like those performed by plastic surgery institutions, services are primarily delivered through skin management, injectables, thread lifts, and overall aesthetic enhancement. This makes standardization and scalability easier to achieve. It is reported that Ningyue has established a unified, operational system encompassing services, products, interior design, and staff training. Its single-store financial model demonstrates significant advantages, particularly in terms of property costs and customer acquisition expenses, thereby creating a replicable business model.

After years of market cultivation and consumer education, consumers have developed established spending habits and a rational understanding of medical aesthetic procedures. However, the medical aesthetics industry has yet to produce fully trustworthy leading brands. In terms of chain scale, it has not seen the emergence of institutions with hundreds of连锁 locations, unlike sectors such as health checkups, ophthalmology, and dentistry.

Jin Peng analyzed that Ningyue’s advantage lies in its roster of hundreds of top-tier Chinese celebrities and leading influencers. In the future, through large-scale event marketing and word-of-mouth propagation, it will have the opportunity to build a leading brand that captures consumers’ minds. Only those who can create a national brand with high trust and strong consumer mindshare will truly break through in the medical aesthetics industry.

VCBeat also learned that in August 2017, Ningyue opened its first clinic in the Lido high-end medical district of Chaoyang, Beijing. Covering an area of 700 square meters, the clinic achieved cash flow breakeven in its inaugural month. As a model for expansion, this clinic represents Ningyue’s primary business model for future clinics, with another location scheduled to open in Shanghai in 2019.

However, how can customer acquisition be achieved in other regions? Jin Peng revealed, “In the internet era, the impact of geographic radius is actually limited. The influence of some top-tier KOLs is nationwide, not just confined to Beijing. In addition, as Ningyue expands into quasi-first-tier cities, it will launch a City Partner Program. Currently, several leading domestic real estate developers are willing to cover property and renovation costs, while Ningyue contributes its brand and management expertise. This collaboration model enables Ningyue to accelerate its market presence with low operational investment.”

During Ningyue’s development, Jin Peng revealed that the company underwent a shift in its core strategy. “Initially, Ningyue considered how many stores it could open in the short term, all through direct self-investment. However, we later realized that medical services is an industry that requires accumulation and long-term commitment. While we can address pain points, we also need to build our own capabilities to ensure sustainable growth. Leveraging our significant advantages in property management, customer acquisition, and branding, we began to explore whether we could adopt a more open mindset to empower the entire beauty industry.”

An analysis of Ningyue’s existing resources reveals that its celebrities and internet influencers command a nationwide fan base. However, it is not feasible for the clinic to achieve nationwide coverage in the short term. Therefore, leveraging a social e-commerce model to sell its proprietary patented products would prevent its substantial traffic advantages from being wasted.

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 3 million lifestyle beauty institutions in China. These establishments vary significantly in size and represent a massive existing market. However, as their brands have become increasingly outdated, younger consumers are reluctant to patronize traditional lifestyle beauty venues. Consequently, these traditional businesses can only sustain themselves by referring their existing customer base to plastic surgery clinics. “When Ningyue was contemplating its business model, we considered whether we could help these lifestyle beauty institutions upgrade by opening up our brand and design systems, optimizing their in-store service mix, and integrating online and offline channels. Even if we could help them increase their revenue by just 15%, it would be highly valuable,” said Jin Peng.

Based on the above considerations, Ningyue plans to implement a three-phase strategic rollout:

Phase I: Clinic Layout.Currently, the two Ningyue clinics in Beijing are self-built, as is the one in Shanghai. For further expansion, Ningyue will implement a City Partner Program and an Entrusted Management Program. Ningyue will establish a comprehensive central control system and be responsible for the operational management of every clinic under its brand.

Phase II: Product Line Layout.Leveraging its self-built medical aesthetic clinics as a trust endorsement, the company has launched a patented nanofiber facial mask product (the world’s only fully absorbent skincare mask based on hydrating materials). It monetizes Ningyue’s substantial traffic through a social e-commerce model and will gradually expand to offer a comprehensive product portfolio encompassing a full range of functional-grade skincare products and consumer-grade health products.

Phase III: Empowering lifestyle beauty institutions to create a closed-loop ecosystem with shared revenue.By launching a more youthful sub-brand that embraces the “Instagram aesthetic” popular among younger consumers, optimizing in-store business formats, integrating payment and SaaS systems to seamlessly connect online and offline channels, and adopting a franchise model to rapidly scale up, Ningyue will provide franchisees with equipment, products, consumables, and other daily necessities. Meanwhile, it will direct customers from the sub-brand who have medical aesthetics needs to its affiliated clinics for services, sharing revenues with lifestyle beauty establishments.

Finally, Jin Peng told reporters, “The clinic serves as a trust endorsement and forms the foundation for subsequent business models. Meanwhile, offline clinics provide a platform for display and experience, allowing consumers to perceive the brand’s tone through factors such as location, environment, and service. Although other brands can imitate the current ‘offline clinic + product monetization’ model, without core resources to address key pain points, it will ultimately remain a superficial imitation.”

In simple terms, Ningyue’s business logic relies on clinics to provide credibility endorsement, leverages the traffic from social e-commerce to monetize product transactions, and ultimately employs a platform-oriented mindset to empower outdated offline lifestyle beauty institutions, thereby forming a closed loop. While this logic is theoretically sound, the key lies in Ningyue’s capabilities in resource integration and operations.

According to VCBeat, Ningyue is steadily advancing as planned. The CBD flagship clinic of Ningyue achieved overall profitability within just 12 days of opening. To date, it has accumulated resources from dozens of city partners and product distributors, promising significant potential for future growth.