Founded in January 2018, RELX is a very young e-cigarette brand, and just a few months after that, RELX became the best-selling e-cigarette in China. In June of the same year, RELX received RMB 38 million in financing led by Source Code Capital and followed by IDG Capital, becoming the darling of capital. Affected by the smoking ban and the epidemic one after another, RELX's market share increased from 53.43% to 63.08% in the first quarter of 2020, and it was invited to participate in the e-cigarette legislation of New Zealand and the Philippines in April, ranking firmly in the leading position in the e-cigarette industry. RELX has become a leader in domestic e-cigarettes, which reminds people of the strong development momentum of JUUL in those years.
E-cigarettes are mainly composed of three parts: cigarette sticks with batteries and chips, atomizers, and cartridges/oil, and the technical threshold is low. The three major components that make up e-cigarettes are also mainly provided by upstream manufacturers, and the brand itself has little bonus. Since the components and atomization principles of e-cigarettes are basically finalized, major manufacturers can only work taste and user experience.
So far, the development of e-cigarettes has undergone three generations of transformation. The first generation of products rose in China with the promotion of "quitting smoking", but due to the poor taste experience due to the inability to provide sufficient nicotine, it quickly declined with CCTV's criticism of its smoking cessation effect. The second generation of products mainly increases the amount of smoke by increasing the power, and makes up for the shortcomings of the first generation products with the inhalation volume. Although the big smoke provides more nicotine, many products require users to DIY, and the learning cost is high, so to a certain extent, it has become a cultural product of a circle and has not been popularized.
With the success of PAX Labs' innovative development of nicotine salts, which has been a great success in terms of taste, the third generation of e-cigarettes (small cigarettes) has become as popular as electronic products. JUUL's popularity in foreign markets, RELX's accurate sniffing out of business opportunities, and its earlier efforts in the e-cigarette market, it can be said that JOYX's success has a lot to do with the timing of entering the market. Compared with the new e-cigarettes LINX, YOOZ and FLOW in 2019, RELX took the lead in obtaining investment and endorsement from well-known investment institutions, and made a name for itself in the market.
In addition to the timing of the market entry, RELX's success is also related to its product positioning. RELX e-cigarettes focus on zero cleaning and maintenance and large-capacity cartridges. When in use, zero cleaning and maintenance makes the cartridge a consumable, and it is thrown away when it is used up; The large-capacity cartridge allows users to eliminate the need to carry a cartridge case, which can meet the smoking needs of most users when they go out on a single day.
So far, RELX has launched a total of four generations of pre-oiled e-cigarettes, namely RELX Generation, RELX Alpha, RELX Lingdian and RELX Infinity. Since they all use magnetic adsorption to connect the cartridge to the stem, it is also very convenient to replace the cartridge.
The RELX generation was first launched in 2018 and is priced at 299 yuan. Due to its early entry into the Chinese market, its taste performance surpassed that of many low-cost small cigarettes at that time. In addition, the atomizer is also the most critical component of the cigarette, its material, air intake method, specification and structure can affect the atomization taste of the e-liquid.
FEELM atomization technology uses high-temperature forged ceramics as the carrier, which has a large number of honeycomb capillaries inside, which is more conducive to the uniform penetration and heating atomization of e-liquid, retaining and enhancing the original characteristics of ordinary ceramic cores such as "pure taste" and "rich layering", compared with traditional cotton cores, FEELM ceramic atomization technology not only increases the amount of smoke by 52%, but also greatly improves the delivery efficiency of nicotine.
FEELM honeycomb atomizer contains tens of thousands of honeycomb micropores with a diameter of about 0.01mm, which can fully atomize e-liquid, which not only brings a more delicate taste but also helps prevent oil leakage. It is worth noting that oil leakage is a common problem in the e-cigarette industry, and all manufacturers cannot completely eliminate oil leakage, and the same is true for RELX. However, RELX atomizers have been upgraded and improved for several generations, which greatly reduces the oil leakage rate of pods, and RELX also provides free replacement services for leaking pods.
The price is 399 yuan, RELX Alpha is the second generation of RELX, compared with the previous generation of products, Alpha has made improvements in many places, changing the USB charging interface to Type-C, and also adding a nicotine reminder function, such as pumping 15 puffs in 10 minutes, the fuselage will vibrate. In terms of suction experience, RELX Alpha uses the fourth-generation FEELM atomization core, which increases the contact area between the cigarette liquid and the atomizer compared with the RELX generation, and has a better anti-paste function. Not only that, Alpha's annular airway design is closer to real smoke than the generation RELX with a straight airway design, and has good performance in anti-condensation and oil leakage prevention of pods.
RELX Lingdian is the third generation of RELX, priced at 450 yuan. In the selection of atomization cores, Lingdian also uses FEELM's fourth-generation atomization cores, and the atomization quality is good. Compared with the previous two generations of RELX, Lingdian focuses on intelligent experience, and after connecting with the RELX ME app on the mobile phone, it can record taste preferences and use data such as the number of mouths and nicotine intake to visualize the user experience. In addition, Lingdian also has a smart child lock function, which can cut off the power through the APP to prevent minors from using it.
The design of the fourth-generation product RELX Infinity won the German Red Dot Award, and the price was 329 yuan. Infinite oil leakage prevention is the best done by generations. It combines the advantages of the first and second generations, adopts an annular flue design, blocks condensation, 3 layers of leak-proof silicone greatly reduces the problem of oil leakage, is equipped with Type-C charging interface and nicotine reminder function, and the wireless charging compartment is also convenient to carry out, which is also the most cost-effective e-cigarette at present. At present, there are only 9 flavors, with nicotine content of 3% and 5%, and consumers can choose according to their preferences, and the target is the RELX generation, and the flavors should be slowly replenished.
Also released at the same time as RELX Infinity is a new disposable atomizer RELX Yunbai. RELX's disposable e-cigarettes have been released in two generations, one is "Little RELX", and RELX Yunbai is its second-generation product. Disposable e-cigarettes bring together e-liquid, cartridges, and batteries, which cannot be replaced, and are thrown away when used. Finger-sized, the RELX is available in 12 flavors and can hold about 200 mouthfuls. RELX Yunbai uses the same selection of materials as the refillable e-cigarette, which can normally be used for more than 300 puffs, and the battery life is smaller, and RELX has improved, but there are only 7 flavors to choose from. Both have two options of 3% and 5% nicotine content, and the price is the same, both at 39 yuan.
The blending of e-cigarette oil is an important factor affecting the taste of e-cigarettes, and major e-cigarette brands such as RELX have professional e-cigarette oil blenders, and the flavor adjustment of cigarette cartridges is also very accurate. From the perspective of the number of flavors, the RELX generation has 19 flavors of cigarette cartridges, 17 alpha flavors, and fewer Lingdian flavors, only 10 kinds, which retain highly recommended flavors such as mung bean and mint flavors, and RELX also has after-sales service that must be compensated for oil leakage.
RELX e-cigarette cartridges are formulated with organic nicotine salts, and the nicotine concentration is divided into 3% and 5%. The 5% concentration pod has a strong throat sensation, which is suitable for users who have just transitioned from traditional cigarettes. The 3% concentration pod has a weak throat sensation, which is suitable for users who are not addicted to smoking.
In 2019, after the notice of the ban on online sales of e-cigarettes, the online purchase channels have been closed, and if you need product supplies and services, you can enter the official website (https://www.relxtech.com/2019-wise-global-innovation-summit/), and "click to contact customer service online" at the bottom right for consultation, or contact through the brand's WeChat official account. At present, RELX has opened two flagship stores in Shanghai and Beijing, and more than 2,000 offline stores in first- and second-tier cities. RELX has cooperated with Gome to purchase it in nearly 500 Gome electrical appliances across the country, as well as Gome's Yongle Electric, Dazhong Electric, and Black Swan Electrical Appliance stores. Of course, in order to protect minors, the store will carry out an age examination procedure. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the trial service of some stores may be suspended, and consumers can call in advance for consultation.
