How a Niche Ovulation Test Became a Blockbuster on Chinese Pharma E-commerce Platforms: The Wondfo Success Story

Ovulation test strips (luteinizing hormone detection test strips) are a mature product category. Having been on the market for over a decade, intense competition has driven prices down to approximately RMB 1 per strip. The market is primarily dominated by brands such as David, Xiu’er, and Jinxiu’er, alongside numerous smaller brands. Due to the low technical barrier to entry, OEM production is widely accessible.

In a fully competitive market, it is difficult to increase product profits; without innovation, it is challenging to carve out new blue ocean markets from red ocean markets. However, some manufacturers have indeed pursued innovation. Two notable examples are Clearblue, an imported ovulation test pen, and the luteinizing hormone (LH) semi-quantitative ovulation test kit (hereinafter referred to as the “semi-quantitative ovulation test strip”).

Clearblue merely innovated the product form, shifting from test strips to a pen-style device. This change increased both costs and prices, allowing it to capture a share of the market. However, since the innovation was limited to physical form while the price was more than eight times higher, sales performance remained mediocre. Semi-quantitative ovulation test strips offer higher sensitivity, enabling precise identification of the exact day of ovulation, whereas conventional ovulation test strips can only detect the ovulation window. Yet, these semi-quantitative strips are also ten times more expensive than standard ones. Such products have been on the market since 2013; an early brand called “Yice’an” adopted traditional distribution channels but failed to achieve notable sales success.

The primary reason for poor sales was an issue of user education. For a product priced ten times higher, it is essential to clearly articulate how it outperforms conventional alternatives and whether this added value justifies the tenfold price premium. Although the product was listed online in 2014, particularly through online pharmacies, merchants on these platforms were primarily focused on securing traffic cards and improving search rankings. Consequently, they engaged in aggressive, loss-leading price wars for well-known ovulation test strip brands such as David and Showee to capture platform traffic, resulting in only mediocre sales for semi-quantitative test strips. Surprisingly, the product achieved strong sales through individual C-store merchants on e-commerce platforms, who effectively uncovered and communicated its true value.

If a product is expensive, its value must be clearly articulated. C-store merchants capitalized on this product’s unique selling point: it can predict the exact day of ovulation, when egg quality is at its peak and conception success rates are highest. By crafting compelling copy and providing patient, one-on-one customer guidance, they quickly attracted high-end users and achieved strong sales. However, traffic on C-stores is limited. Nevertheless, with monthly sales exceeding 1,000 units per store, net profits reached around RMB 100,000, allowing for a comfortable livelihood. In contrast, Tmall merchants struggled relentlessly to create blockbuster hits, dismissing this product due to its relatively modest sales volume.

The time for change had arrived. In 2014, manufacturers could leverage the licenses of large pharmacy chains to open flagship stores on Tmall. By 2016, restrictions were fully lifted, eliminating the need to borrow licenses; manufacturers and medical device companies could then independently operate flagship stores and specialized stores. Consequently, the market share of medical device products shifted en masse from large pharmacy chains to manufacturers’ flagship and specialized stores.

Semi-quantitative test strips began to experience explosive growth in 2016. Not every manufacturer was able to capitalize on this shift. For instance, although David is the market leader in ovulation test strips, it failed in the race for new product dominance and became a marginal player. Despite having early focus on the maternal and infant demographic, developing a mobile app, and attempting to pivot towards an internet-based model, the company’s efforts were not particularly successful.

In this competitive battle, Wondfo emerged victorious. In 2016, it outsourced the operation of its Jinxiuer Flagship Store to a third-party operations agency. The company had initially intended to entrust the store to a large pharmacy retailer, but that retailer failed to recognize the market opportunity and thus missed out.

Third-party operating companies conduct thorough product research, typically following a multi-step approach:

Step 1: First, turn the existing ovulation test strips into a best-selling product. The brand’s flagship store already carries higher search weight, and after running several promotional campaigns, the standard ovulation test strips quickly became a best-seller. Although they did not rank first across all e-commerce platforms in China, they still achieved hundreds of orders per day.

Step 2: Draft copy for semi-quantitative products by drawing on the marketing content of C-store sellers, with continuous optimization over time. Additionally, customer service should adopt the service model of C-store sellers, using service interactions to educate users and improve product conversion rates.

Step 3: Establish the baseline sales volume for semi-quantitative products. Initiate promotional campaigns, leverage external Taobao affiliate marketers, and employ certain non-public tactics to rapidly drive traffic, quickly boosting the product’s baseline sales to approximately 5,000 units per month.

Step 4: To boost product rankings and attract more organic traffic, maintain a daily sales volume of 200–300 units. Achieve this target through three channels: conversions from organic search traffic, conversions from traffic referred by best-selling standard ovulation predictor kits, and a gradually declining share of sales generated through non-public methods.

As the product itself is of high quality and meets the needs of high-end users, its conversion rate can be very high provided that customers are properly educated. Furthermore, with monthly sales exceeding 5,000 units, the conversion rate becomes even higher. After several months of strategic promotion, the product’s actual sales volume stabilized and gradually increased, ultimately evolving into a consistently best-selling item.

To capture more search rankings and secure greater traffic, Wondfo launched another flagship store for the Xiuer brand. Since the products are all from its own portfolio, it simply switched the brand name and set a lower price of 128 yuan per box. Following the same strategy as its first store, sales volume quickly surged, allowing it to secure the second position in search rankings.

Subsequently, a dedicated Wondfo store was launched, followed by the creation of a third blockbuster semi-quantitative ovulation test strip. This product essentially cultivated the entire market, accomplishing what Yice’an could not. As a result, Yice’an became an early casualty, while the brand captured over 80% of the total market share for semi-quantitative ovulation products.

In the semi-quantitative product market, David has become a follower. Previously, its operational strategy for semi-quantitative products lacked initiative; it initially priced its offerings at half the price of Jinxiuer’s semi-quantitative products, operating under the assumption that lower prices would drive higher sales volume. However, in a newly cultivated market, low pricing holds little sway over high-value customer segments, who may even perceive the low price as an indicator of inferior product quality. Nevertheless, David now at least recognizes the poor performance of its flagship store and has sought collaboration with the largest online pharmacy to help boost its sales volume.

The semi-quantitative ovulation test strips sold by Wondfo through these three stores are estimated to achieve annual sales of at least 250,000 boxes. With an average price of RMB 138 per box, the annual sales revenue would exceed RMB 35 million. It is personally projected that the market size for semi-quantitative products in the online channel will soon surpass RMB 100 million within the next year.

A product that had been on the market for several years, unable to break through via traditional channels, soared to new heights by leveraging the internet and adopting the right operational model. This transformation turned pioneers into martyrs and former industry leaders into followers, changes that evoke deep reflection. Such a case also offers valuable lessons for other product categories.

By Huang Zuanbai, Operations Director at Kangaiduo Online Pharmacy; WeChat ID: zuanbo_wuling

The author's views do not represent the platform's views.