VITURE: This Black Friday, the Biggest Increment Comes from 'First-Time XR Glasses Buyers' | Black Friday Mini-Interview

【Ebrun Original】Intensifying industry competition and AI reshaping traffic gateways are raising the bar for brands participating in Black Friday promotions. As platform campaign requirements become increasingly granular and consumers become more rational in their choices and evaluations, brands that opt for long-term accumulation rather than short-term price undercutting are more likely to capture Black Friday dividends. At the same time, during promotional peaks, well-executed product experience, synchronized multi-channel efforts, and content marketing also help drive brand performance growth.

Smart glasses brand VITURE focused its Black Friday strategy on three areas: category new-user growth, breakthrough in XR glasses awareness, and user retention. To this end, resource allocation has been more tilted toward enhancing systemic capabilities compared to previous years: on the product side, offering a product matrix that covers a broader audience; adopting a full-channel coordination strategy to ensure online and offline campaign rhythms stay aligned; and for consumers, optimizing product usage experience and using scenario-based storytelling to help users understand product selling points.

The emphasis on new-user reach and retention, co-branded marketing, and scenario marketing stems from VITURE's assessment of major promotions. Wu Shujie, Head of Cross-border Operations at VITURE, noted that for VITURE, "a major promotion discount is an invitation letter; what truly keeps users is the product experience." Artificial discounts created by raising prices before discounting and clearance-style promotions only disrupt the pricing system and harm the brand. Product competitiveness lies in value, not price. Wu explained, "The promotion season will pass, but a user's first impression of a brand will linger for a long time. We hope every major promotion adds 'gravity' to the brand rather than overdrawing it."

As the year-end promotional season arrives, Ebrun has specially curated the "Gravity Build·2026 Cross-border E-commerce Black Friday Peak Season" feature, inviting overseas brands and service providers for a series of interviews to explore how enterprises should respond to market competition changes, plan for the Black Friday peak season, and convert promotional traffic into long-term brand value. Below is the edited transcript of the conversation between Ebrun and Wu Shujie, Head of Cross-border Operations & Head of Shenzhen Branch at VITURE.

Ebrun: For this year's Black Friday promotional season, has your preparation investment increased, remained flat, or decreased compared to last year?

Wu Shujie: It has increased, but the direction of increase differs from previous years. In past major promotions, the bulk of investment went to advertising and discounts. This year we have shifted more resources to three "heavier" things: first, product—using a complete matrix from entry-level to flagship to cover different audiences; second, content and experience—enabling those encountering XR glasses for the first time to understand and try them on; third, full-channel coordination—Amazon multi-site, brand official website, and nearly 500 offline stores worldwide advancing in the same rhythm.

The reason is simple: XR glasses remain a new category that requires "experience first, purchase second." Simply increasing discounts only yields one-time transactions, not long-term users. This year, users are clearly more rational during major promotions, valuing reviews, content, and real experience beyond price comparison, so investment must shift toward systemic capabilities.

Ebrun: What breakthroughs are you most looking forward to achieving this Black Friday?

Wu Shujie: Three things matter most to us:

First, new users. Black Friday through Christmas is the most concentrated time for gift purchases throughout the year. We hope more people will own their first pair of XR glasses this season. The VITURE Pro 2, released in August this year, weighs only 63 grams, supports 0–500 degree myopia adjustment, and brings flagship-level display experience to a more accessible price point. After launch, it topped Amazon Best Seller in 15 countries—it is our main driver for new-user acquisition this promotional season.

Second, a breakthrough in category awareness—transforming XR glasses from "gear for gamers" into consumer electronics that the general public would put on their gift lists.

Third, retaining users. Whether new users acquired during the promotion can continue using the product through accessories, software updates, and community matters more than transaction volume on the day of the promotion.

Ebrun: Have you perceived any notable market changes or shifts in the competitive landscape?

Wu Shujie: Three things stand out most clearly.

First, smart glasses as a whole are heating up. More brands are entering, consumer attention has risen markedly, but awareness is also more easily confused: what problems do AI glasses, AR glasses, and XR glasses each solve? This imposes higher demands on brands to "clearly explain why it is needed."

Second, competition has moved from spec comparisons into the second half. Parameters like field of view and brightness remain important, but consumers increasingly value "whether it can be used long after putting it on": whether it is comfortable to wear, whether myopia users can use it directly, and whether it can connect directly to their existing phones, consoles, and computers.

Third, AI is changing traffic gateways. More and more users are learning about products and making comparisons through AI assistants and platform AI shopping guides. Brand content must not only be understandable to people but also readable and accurately citable by AI—this is a new lesson in brand building.

Ebrun: Some say the "entry ticket" for this year's Black Friday promotional season has become more expensive—for example, requiring more investment and heavier execution. Do you feel the same?

Wu Shujie: The "expensiveness" we observe lies mainly in three aspects: traffic is more expensive—advertising bids generally rise during major promotions, and buying traffic alone rarely yields good returns; the threshold is higher—platform requirements for price competitiveness, inventory, fulfillment timeliness, and store performance are increasingly granular, and campaign eligibility itself is a test of the operations system; content is heavier—consumers want to see real usage scenarios and reviews, and content investment and timelines are longer than before.

But from another perspective, a more expensive "entry ticket" is actually rewarding brands with long-term accumulation. We do not expend effort on undercutting to the lowest price but instead invest in ordinary times: product reputation and user reviews, self-developed software (SpaceWalker, Immersive 3D, etc.) and accessory ecosystem, and offline experience network. This "gravity" accumulated in ordinary times will help us achieve more stable conversion during major promotions.

Ebrun: To achieve performance growth this Black Friday promotional season, what important layouts or adjustments have you made?

Wu Shujie: On product, we have formed a clearer tiered matrix: Pro 2 targets mass users trying XR glasses for the first time; Beast, as the flagship, features native 3DoF screen pinning and serves users with higher demands for gaming, movie viewing, and multi-screen productivity; the Luma series explores gesture interaction. Accessories such as the Pro neckband, the dock, and the co-branded game controller with 8BitDo allow users to purchase combinations tailored to gaming, movie viewing, and office scenarios.

On channels, Amazon multi-site rhythms are synchronized, complemented by the brand official website and social commerce; offline covers about 30 countries and regions, nearly 500 retail stores, and has entered 6 international airports. Airports and shopping malls are the best places for people to put on XR glasses for the first time.

On supply chain, we plan multi-market inventory earlier to cope with logistics and policy uncertainties.

On marketing, IP collaboration is the focus this year. At the end of October, we launched co-branded XR glasses simultaneously with the domestic AAA game Phantom Blade Zero. We hope to bring XR glasses to more people through content that players truly love.

Ebrun: From the perspective of overall business layout, where does your biggest increment come from this Black Friday promotional season? What key actions have you taken for this?

Wu Shujie: The biggest increment comes from "first-time XR glasses buyers." In the past, users in this category were mainly gamers and tech enthusiasts; now business travelers, mobile workers, and gift-giving demand are becoming new growth sources. To this end, we have taken three key actions:

First, lowering the trial threshold. The Pro 2 weighs 63 grams and supports 0–500 degree myopia adjustment, so myopic users do not need to order separate lenses; USB-C direct connection to phones, Switch, PS5, and computers requires no change in any usage habits.

Second, letting people experience first. XR glasses are products where "three seconds of wearing beats reading a hundred introductions," so we continue to densify the offline experience network—from retail channels such as Best Buy and Costco to airport stores and experience spaces in core urban commercial districts.

Third, clearly articulating scenarios. We have shifted content focus from parameters to scenarios: a private cinema on the plane, a portable multi-screen workstation, a 174-inch gaming giant screen—letting users instantly understand its relationship to their lives.

Ebrun: During major promotion moments like Black Friday, how do you turn discount promotions into actions for brand marketing and brand building?

Wu Shujie: For VITURE, the discount of a major promotion is an invitation letter; what truly keeps users is the product experience. Our founder and CEO Jiang Gonglue once said: "What VITURE wants to sell users is not a pair of glasses, but an experience that is genuinely needed yet not yet satisfied." In terms of action, we have three principles:

First, safeguarding the pricing system. We care more about price stability and consistency across channels. We do not create discounts by raising prices first and then lowering them, nor do we engage in clearance-style promotions that harm the brand.

Second, using value rather than price cuts as selling points. Accessory bundles allow users to buy complete sets for gaming or office scenarios in one go; co-branded editions turn products into collectibles. For example, the Phantom Blade Zero co-branded edition features exclusive customization from the opening mechanism of the glasses case, metal weapon models, to the boot interface and sound effects—players are buying a work with emotional value.

Third, retaining promotion-acquired users. Overseas, we have long engaged directly with users in communities such as Reddit and Discord, and our founder often personally participates in discussions; after new users come in, continuous software updates and community content make the product better the more it is used.

The promotion season will pass, but a user's first impression of a brand will linger for a long time. We hope every major promotion adds 'gravity' to the brand rather than overdrawing it.

This article was first published on the Ebrun official website.