HOOWAY · Bringing the World's Best Outdoor Brands to China

Who We Are · 关于我们

A focused, founder-led distribution partner for outdoor brands.

HOOWAY was founded in 2008 in Beijing with a single brief: be the most reliable operating partner an international outdoor brand could have in China. Eighteen years on, that remit hasn't changed.

We handle the full stack — import, regulatory, brand localisation, content, e-commerce operations, live commerce, and offline distribution across outdoor and sports retailers. Our team is small enough to be decisive, and senior enough to have done this through several consumer cycles.

Today our portfolio spans headwear, hydration, sun care, recovery, sleeping systems, and beyond — each brand selected for the same reason: it earns its place in a serious outdoor enthusiast's kit.

Frank Gao, Founder, and Luo Hai (罗海), Co-founder — at a high-altitude lake in western China.

Frank & Luo Hai · Founders on the Trail

Founder & Principal · 创始人

Frank Gao

Frank founded HOOWAY in 2008 with a simple conviction: the world's best outdoor brands deserved a partner in China who actually understood the category — not just the logistics of selling, but the culture of the sport, the gear, and the people who use it.

Eighteen years on, that conviction still drives the company. Frank remains hands-on across brand selection, partner relationships, and channel strategy. When a brand talks to HOOWAY, they're talking to the person who owns the decision — not a committee.

Joined at the founding table: Luo Hai (罗海) — Co-founder, longtime outdoor companion and the person Frank still heads to the trail, the river, or the next ISPO with. See them together on the trail in the portrait to the left.

"We don't carry brands we wouldn't use ourselves. That's the filter, and it's never let us down."

— Frank Gao, Founder

How We're Organised · 团队架构

Six functional teams. One shared standard.

Every brand in our portfolio is served by the same integrated team structure — specialised by function, unified by accountability.

Brand Operations

品牌运营

Owns brand strategy, localisation, partner relations, and category planning for each portfolio brand.

Brand onboarding & localisation
Partner communication & reporting
Pricing & SKU strategy
Annual brand plan & trade spend

E-Commerce Operations

电商运营

Runs day-to-day store operations across Tmall, JD, Douyin, YouZan, and Xiaohongshu — platform-native, algorithm-fluent.

Store ops & listing management
Paid traffic & campaign management
Platform algorithm & rule tracking
Customer service & reviews

Live Commerce

直播团队

Operates both KOL-driven rooms and in-house studios — scripting, hosting, traffic bidding, and post-live analysis.

KOL sourcing & relationship management
In-house studio & host team
Live traffic bidding & optimisation
Festival campaign execution (618, 11.11)

Content & Creative

内容创意

Produces visual, video, and copy assets — from product photography to short-form video to brand storytelling across platforms.

Product photography & design
Short-video production (Douyin / XHS)
Brand storytelling & copywriting
KOL/KOC content seeding

Supply Chain & Logistics

供应链物流

Handles import, customs, warehousing, and fulfilment — the unglamorous layer that makes everything else possible.

Import & customs clearance
Warehouse management & inventory
Multi-channel fulfilment
Quality control & returns

Offline Sales

线下销售

Manages dealer relationships, retail listings, and specialty outdoor channel distribution across China.

Dealer network development
Retail chain listings
Specialty outdoor store relations
Offline events & trade shows

How We Work · 我们的工作方式

Principles that shape every decision.

Not values on a poster — the actual rules of engagement that govern how we operate brands and treat partners.

Founder-accessible, always

Brand partners speak directly with Frank. No account-manager firewall, no escalation ladder. Decisions get made by the person who owns the outcome.

Outdoor first, category second

We only work in outdoor and sport. Our KOL network, our content sensibility, our offline relationships — all built for people who actually go outside.

Small portfolio, deep attention

We carry fewer brands than we could. Every brand gets senior operators from day one — not a junior team learning on your dime.

Use it or don't sell it

We test every product ourselves before it goes to market. If the team wouldn't carry it on a trail, it doesn't ship — simple as that.

Data-honest, not data-theatrical

We share real numbers with partners — including the bad ones. Pretty dashboards that hide underperformance help no one.

Long game, fair terms

We don't lock brands into exclusivity traps. We earn the next contract by performance, not by contract clauses.

Our Journey · 发展历程

Eighteen years, one direction.

2008

HOOWAY founded in Beijing. Begins as a specialist distributor for international outdoor brands entering the China market.

2010s

Portfolio grows across headwear, hydration, trekking, sleeping systems, and recovery categories. Tmall and JD flagship stores established.

2018–2020

Live commerce capability built — KOL partnerships and in-house studio launched. Xiaohongshu and Douyin become core channels.

2020s

beastwill multi-brand store launched — combining distributed brands with in-house designed products under one storefront. Portfolio refined to seven premium partners.

Today

Actively screening new international outdoor brand partners for the next growth cycle. Founder-led, outdoor-vertical, channel-complete.

Services · 服务方案

Four ways we help brands enter and win in China.

From first feasibility study to full exclusive agency — choose the engagement model that fits your stage, then scale up as the market responds.

Why HOOWAY · 为何选我们

What we actually do, day to day, for our partner brands.

Selective by design

We carry a small portfolio on purpose. Every brand we onboard gets senior attention from day one, not a queue ticket.

Full-stack operations

Import, regulatory, content, e-commerce operations, live commerce, and offline distribution — under one accountable team.

Channel-native team

Operators who've grown Tmall, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu accounts through multiple algorithm cycles and consumer shifts.

Outdoor-vertical focus

We don't do general consumer goods. Our bench, our KOL network, and our offline relationships are all outdoor-specific.

Founder-led accountability

Owner-operated since 2008. Decisions on brand fit, channel mix, and trade spend are made by people you can call directly.

Own-brand DNA

Because we run our own outdoor label, we approach partner brands from inside the product — not just the spreadsheet.

Engagement Models · 合作模式

Pick your entry point, scale as you go.

From a one-off feasibility report to a full exclusive agency — every engagement is run by the same senior operators.

Entry Strategy

China Market Entry
Feasibility Report

A data-driven assessment before you commit — giving you clarity on whether, when, and how to enter China's outdoor market.

Market size & category sizing for your niche
Growth conditions & regulatory landscape
Competitor research — pricing, positioning, channel mix
Sales volume forecast by channel (Year 1–3)
Go-to-market marketing plan & budget framework

E-Commerce

Tmall Flagship Store
Operations

Full-service storefront management by a dedicated team that lives and breathes Tmall's algorithm and consumer behaviour.

Store setup, design & product listing optimisation
Inventory management & supply coordination
Customer service & after-sales handling
Warehousing & logistics fulfilment
Daily operations, promotions & platform events

Live Commerce

Brand Independent
Livestream Room

Your own always-on livestream presence — a dedicated studio team that builds audience and converts viewers into customers.

Studio setup, equipment & visual design
Two livestream hosts + one broadcast assistant
Monthly short-video production & paid placement
Live-session scripting, product curation & pacing
Performance analytics & content iteration

Full Partnership

Comprehensive Exclusive
Brand Agency

The full HOOWAY engine behind your brand — everything we do for our existing portfolio partners, applied to you end-to-end.

Brand promotion & localisation strategy
Exhibitions, events, races & activations (ISPO etc.)
Livestreaming — both KOL-driven & self-operated rooms
All shelf e-commerce: Tmall, JD, PDD, Xiaohongshu flagship stores
Online & offline channel distribution nationwide

Our Multi-Brand Store · 多品牌集合店

beastwill · 兽志

Beastwill is more than a single label — it is our multi-brand storefront where every brand we distribute lives side by side with products we design ourselves. When our partner line-up leaves a gap, we fill it with our own gear, built to the same standard we demand from the brands we represent.

Curated Assortment

The full HOOWAY portfolio under one roof — BISON, Hydrapak, USWE, COCOON and more.

In-House Design

Self-designed products that fill the gaps our partner brands don't cover.

One Store, One Standard

Every item — agency or original — held to the same quality bar.

Audience

China's outdoor enthusiasts who want curated gear in one place.

兽志 · Multi-Brand Store

One Store, Every Brand, Plus Our Own

"Beast will" — the will of the beast. A storefront that brings together the world's best outdoor brands and our own designs under a single identity. Distributed brands for proven performance, in-house products for the gaps in between. Designed in Beijing & Wuhan, tested wherever our team goes outside.

HOOWAY Visual Identity · 品牌视觉

More than a distributor.
A boutique outdoor identity.

Beijing Hooway Business Management Co., Ltd was founded to put the world's best outdoor brands in front of Chinese consumers — under one coherent visual language. Three triangles. Eight colors. One consistent face across the storefront, the campaign poster, and the little logo at the top of every page on this site.

BOUTIQUE OUTDOOR — full-bleed campaign poster with real outdoor photography and HOOWAY typography

BOUTIQUE OUTDOOR · ONE-STOP SHOPPING

Campaign · 万种户外精品，一站选购

The master logo Three triangles + wordmark

Color system 8 background colors · 1 identity

Triangle pattern system — geometric and chromatic variations on light, dark, and colored backgrounds

The pattern system Geometry · Chromatics · Light

Applied in the wild Stores · Posters · Launch campaigns

The constant Yellow. Magenta. Cyan.
And the will of the beast.

The triangles you see in our campaign posters, our event booths, and our storefront mannequins are the same three triangles you've now seen at the top of every page on this site. They travel with us from Beijing to Wuhan to ISPO Munich, because the visual language of HOOWAY is the same wherever you meet us.

Live Commerce · 直播能力

Two engines of live commerce. One team behind both.

KOL-driven rooms for burst reach, in-house studios for steady conversion — both run by the same outdoor-vertical operators who run our stores.

KOL-Driven

达人直播

External influencer rooms across Douyin, Kuaishou, Taobao Live — borrowed audiences, burst traffic, category breakouts.

6Platforms

1k+KOL Network

1.8–2.5×Typical ROI

In-House

自播稳盘

Our own studios and host team — daily cadence, full-funnel control, brand-safe environment, margin retention.

DailyCadence

FullFunnel Control

2.8–4.2×Typical ROI

Explore Our Live Commerce Capabilities →

E-Commerce · 电商操盘

Full five-store portfolio in 2025. Focused two-store deep-dive in 2026. One team.

We operate Tmall flagship stores for the brands we distribute — paid traffic, listings, creative, and analytics, all in-house. Two years of 618 campaign data: a full five-store portfolio run in 2025, then a focused two-store BUFF brand deep-dive in 2026 — with additional stores in operation beyond this snapshot.

¥2.61M

2026 618 GMV · 2 stores

+34.5% YoY on same 2-store scope

¥2.47M

2025 618 GMV · 5 stores

+9.0% YoY vs 2024 (¥2.27M)

10.15×

2025 Blended Paid ROI

¥160K invest → ¥1.62M paid GMV

beastwill 旗舰店 Multi-Brand Store · 2024–26

BUFF 旗舰店 Headwear · Apparel · 2024–26

HydraPak 旗舰店 Hydration · 2024–25

Klean Kanteen 旗舰店 Drinkware · 2024–25

Rocktape 旗舰店 Recovery · Tape · 2024–25

See the Full 618 Campaign Recap →