Ubras x CBNData Ones-size-fits-all Bras Report 2021

International underwear brands such as Victoria’s Secret have been struggling in China in recent years as they failed to keep up with shifting consumer preferences. Numerous Chinese brands have come in to fill the gap, including NEIWAI, Toffee, and Ubras. One of the most successful of these is Ubras, who created a new product category with its one-size-fits-all bras.

Ubras was founded in 2016 and it didn’t start to take off until 2018, the year that it officially launched one-size-fits-all bras. During Double 11 in 2020, Ubras broke 300 million RMB in sales and became the number 1 brand in the underwear category on Tmall.

Why have one-size-fits-all bras become so popular in China? Who is buying them? Today we’ll share some key findings from a recent report co-authored by Ubras and CBNData.

Why Have Ubras one-size-fits-all, no underwire bras become so popular?  

The report breaks down the Chinese bra market into three phases. Phase 1, No unique products or brands, consumers didn’t think much, just filling a need. Phase 2, the desire to be sexy. This was a peak period for global lingerie brands like Victoria’s Secret. Phase 3, focus on personal experience. Consumers demand comfortable products that make them feel good, and there is less focus on what others think. 

Many Chinese female consumers, especially those that are married or in relationships, are in phase 3. According to the report, 87% of Chinese women seek a comfortable lifestyle. 44% of them purchase things for their own personal experience and enjoyment – not to please others.

Because of this, consumers have started to love bras without underwire and there is a lot of potential for growth in this industry.

There are many bra brands providing no underwire bras, but the fact that Ubras bras are one-size-fits-all also had a very strong appeal for consumers. The report shared that a lot of women struggled with purchasing bras online because they couldn’t figure out what size to buy.

Who is purchasing Ubras one-size-fits-all, no underwire bras?

In terms of age and location, post-85s and post-90s from first and second tier cities are the main consumption groups. When it comes to consumption ability, those with middle and higher consumption levels are more likely to try out Ubras’ products. The majority of them have a high education level such as a master’s or PhD.  

Married females consume more one-size-fits-all bras than unmarried women. Pregnant females value comfort and thus they love wearing those bras as well.  

Besides those groups that we mentioned, teenage girls are also wearing one-size-fits-all, no underwire bras bought for them by their mothers. Because those bras don’t restrict the growth of their breasts. Therefore, mothers of teenage girls are a key target market as well.

Consumers’ difficulties and expectations when buying bras

The report shared many of the difficulties that women cite when purchasing bras. These include: uncomfortable, too many choices, straps falling off, get misshapen after washing, digs into ribs, difficult to purchase online but not convenient to try on offline, and more.

When buying one-size-fits-all no underwire bras, consumers expect to wear bras in different occasions, such as staying at home, doing sports, travelling, working and during pregnancy. They have also become more than a bra, but a fashion item. Many consumers love wearing Ubras one-size-fits-all bras like a crop top with high-waisted pants and shorts. To promote this trend, Ubras held a campaign on Weibo and Xiaohongshu encouraging women to share how to style a bra as part of their outfit. At the time the report was published, the Weibo hashtag #文胸外穿# had over 1.2 million views and the hashtag #文胸外穿搭配指南# had over 25 million views! On Little Red Book, the topic #文胸外穿搭配# had over 40K posts, and the topic #无尺码内衣外穿# had over 20K posts.

The future of the market

Though the market is still in its early development stage and the majority of its customers are new clients, customers already have formed the habit to repurchase one-size-fits-all bras.

According to the report, Ubras sees a lot of potential for growth among millennial and GenZ consumers in lower tier cities, as well as workers who are just entering the white-collar workforce in tier one and tier two cities.

Each consumer group has different product demands. For example GenZ cares more about whether or not the product is fashionable. Lower-tier city consumers seek a cost-effective product and care more about design. Young white-collar workers in big cities want something sexy and trendy.

There is also growing demand for larger cup sizes. The current one-size-fits-all bra is actually best suited for cup sizes A-C, but many larger cup size consumers were also seeking comfortable bras, so Ubras has created a “one-size-fits-all plus” version.

Learn More about Ubras

Besides these findings, we’ve also mentioned Ubras’ marketing strategy which makes it become the top runner in the industry in our previous article, and its recent scandal regarding feminism. For brands that want to bring new products or service for consumers, Ubras is a good example to learn from.

Get the Full Report here: 2021女性无尺码内衣白皮书

Find a summary of the report here: 不是所有无尺码内衣都叫无尺码