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In recent years, the global smart sports equipment market has experienced explosive growth.

According to verifiedmarketreports data, the global smart sports equipment market is valued at $5.7 billion in 2024, and is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 9.2% between 2026 and 2033. By 2033, the global smart sports equipment market size will grow to $12.3 billion.

Under this trend, the rise of short-distance travel and outdoor sports scenarios, especially the popularity of electric bicycles (E-Bike), has created huge market opportunities for smart sports brands.

 

Image source: verifiedmarketreports

However, as early as 11 years ago, when this niche market was not as hot as it is today, a brand from China captured the development opportunity, successfully entering the overseas market with smart cycling helmets as the entry point.

This brand is the smart sports equipment brand LIVALL from Shenzhen, Guangdong.

It is reported that in 2023, the brand's annual revenue reached 420 million yuan.

In the third quarter of 2024, the sales of its smart helmet products in the Amazon North America cycling equipment category increased by 230% year-on-year.

Nowadays, LIVALL's products have been sold to more than 70 countries and regions around the world, including North America, Europe, Australia and other important overseas markets, serving more than one million users. It is a super overseas bestseller in the field of smart sports equipment!

 

Image source: LIVALL

Starting from User Pain Points, Creating Differentiated Products

It is understood that the entrepreneurial inspiration for the LIVALL brand came from the founder's personal experience.

Founder Mr. Zheng is a veteran cyclist. During his studies in New Zealand, he noticed that many cyclists faced many inconveniences during cycling: having to stop to answer calls, bike lights not being smart enough, and being unable to call for help in time after a fall. These problems not only affected the cycling experience, but also posed safety risks.

Based on these observations, Mr. Zheng came up with an idea—to develop a smart helmet that allows cyclists to "free their hands", enabling them to communicate freely while riding without taking their hands off the handlebars.

Thus, in 2014, Mr. Zheng officially founded the LIVALL brand, thus starting the journey of smart helmet R&D.

 

Image source: LIVALL

In 2015, LIVALL launched its first smart cycling helmet BH100, integrating smart lighting, Bluetooth calls, fall detection alarm, and SOS emergency call functions, becoming the world's first brand to propose the concept of a smart safety helmet and apply patented fall detection alarm and SOS active emergency call functions to outdoor smart sports brands.

In addition to solving communication problems during cycling, it also greatly improved safety, quickly building a reputation among cycling enthusiasts.

In the same year, the LIVALL brand secured a huge investment of 80 million yuan and was invited by Amazon's US headquarters to become a direct procurement supplier for its platform.

In 2018, it also won the highest honor of the ISPO Award, receiving the Best Product of the Year award, becoming the first Chinese brand to receive this honor, and showing a very strong development momentum.

After that, the LIVALL brand did not stop at smart cycling helmets, but continued to expand its product line, successively launching smart ski helmets, smart motorcycle helmets, and bicycle boosters, among other products.

It is precisely this product strategy of starting from real scenarios and using technology to solve core problems that opened the first door to overseas markets for the LIVALL brand.

 

Image source: LIVALL

Deeply Cultivating Social Media Platforms to Achieve Precise User Communication

In the era of social media, no matter how good the product is, it still needs effective communication.

For example, the LIVALL brand actively uses mainstream social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube to showcase product features and attract target users.

TikTok: Influencer Collaboration + Scenario-Based Display

On TikTok, the LIVALL brand focuses on influencer marketing, collaborating with active influencers in vertical fields to attract users with real usage scenarios.

TikTok tech influencer @ivanosio, who has 73,000 followers, collaborated with the LIVALL brand to shoot a promotional video for the Pika Boost bicycle booster.

 

Image source: TikTok

In the video, the influencer personally went to the CES 2025 offline exhibition for on-site shooting, explaining to users how this bicycle booster can convert an existing bicycle into an electric bike, and demonstrated the installation process and electric effect.

So far, this video has received 488,200 views and 13,100 likes.

It has attracted many potential users with needs to ask about prices and purchase channels in the comments section:

"What is the price and where can I buy it?"

"Where can I buy it in Peru?"

 

Image source: TikTok

It can be seen that this kind of real scenario + function explanation content is more likely to attract the attention and inquiries of high-intent users.

YouTube: Professional Reviews + In-Depth Explanation

On YouTube, the LIVALL brand chooses to cooperate with professional tech bloggers, providing in-depth analysis of products through unboxing and review videos.

Tech blogger gizmochina, who has 232,000 subscribers, is a partner blogger of the LIVALL brand and shot an unboxing + review video for the LIVALL PikaBoost2 bicycle booster.

So far, this video has reached 120,000 views.

In this video, blogger gizmochina first did a detailed unboxing of the product, introducing the use of each accessory. Then he proceeded with the installation, explaining each step to users. Finally, after successful installation, he took the bicycle equipped with the electric booster for a real road test, helping users fully understand the product's performance.

 

Image source: YouTube

In the comments section below the video, many users who need this product said they would seriously consider buying it:

"Thanks for this detailed and informative video, it made me start to seriously consider this option, especially since I use a bike for my daily commute and work. This will be an indispensable investment."

"This is the best e-bike kit I've ever seen."

 

Image source: YouTube

It can be seen that such professional unboxing and review content enables potential users to fully understand the product, which is very helpful for making further purchase decisions.

Online and Offline Collaboration to Build a More Complete Sales Network

In the process of active market expansion, in addition to vigorous marketing on social media platforms, the LIVALL brand also insists on an online + offline dual-track strategy in its channel strategy to maximize coverage of target users.

Online, the LIVALL brand has opened stores on mainstream e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and AliExpress, using their mature logistics and traffic systems to achieve rapid coverage.

At the same time, the brand has also actively built its own independent website, showcasing the brand image and product information through the independent site, increasing brand awareness and influence.

 

Image source: Amazon

On the independent website, the LIVALL brand has set up a special section for influencer review video sharing, where influencers from different regions review different products. Through such authentic sharing content, many questions that users want to know can be answered, which greatly helps to enhance potential users' trust and willingness to buy.

 

Image source: LIVALL

In addition, there is also a special awards section on the site, displaying the important awards and industry certifications that the LIVALL brand has won over the years.

At the same time, for users who purchase through the independent site channel, the brand also provides a series of value-added services, such as worry-free return and refund policies and warranty services, which greatly help to facilitate potential users to place orders.

 

Image source: LIVALL

In addition to online, the LIVALL brand also attaches great importance to the construction of offline channels.

It has entered the well-known UK retail chain Halfords, and has also established offline brand flagship stores in the Spanish market, providing users with the opportunity to experience the products. For products such as helmets and boosters that require actual experience, offline touchpoints can effectively make up for the lack of online sales experience, greatly helping to increase brand exposure and further expand sales channels.

Therefore, other companies can also adopt a multi-channel collaborative development approach like the LIVALL brand when promoting overseas, helping the brand achieve more comprehensive market coverage and user reach.

 

Image source: Google

Not Just Going Global: Building a Vital Global Brand

LIVALL's growth trajectory provides a solid path reference for Chinese brands to participate in global competition—it is not just about selling products overseas, but a systematic process of building brand awareness and user trust.

This brand has always been based in the vertical field of cycling and outdoors, continuously deepening products and optimizing experiences around the core demands of safety + intelligence.

Unlike the strategy of blindly expanding categories or markets, LIVALL pays more attention to understanding users and iterating products in real scenarios, and step by step accumulates recognition in overseas markets through social media and omni-channel sales.

For Chinese brands that are observing or just starting to go global, the overseas market is indeed full of challenges, but there are also a large number of unmet user needs and scenario pain points. As long as you seize a real problem and respond with product strength and communication, you will have the opportunity to find your own place in the overseas market.