This paper aims at sorting out the underlying business logic of online education industry -- customer acquisition cost, user conversion and user retention, exploring the driving forces of online education industry change -- impact of COVID-19 and policy support, emerging internet capabilities and applications, demand for educational resources with high quality. Competition analysis is carried out on several well-known online education platforms such as TAL, GSX, VIPKID, Koolearn, Ape Coaching and Job Help. Strategy group map is drawn based on the two variables of customer acquisition cost and teaching mode. Then the paper demonstrates superior understanding of industry key success factors and executes the overall assessment of the current and future attractiveness of the industry.

Renjing Lu. Industry Analysis on Online Education. Academic Journal of Business & Management (2020) Vol. 2, Issue 1: 125-132. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJBM.2020.020113.

[1] An, P.,& Shen, T. (2020). Online education: short-term penetration increase, focus on medium and long term development of the industry. Retrieved from http://finance.ifeng.com/c/7twYpMxFcIM
[2] Huang, W., & Tian, P. (2020). Online education: three major supply and demand changes, strategic opportunities to come. Retrieved from http://data.eastmoney.com/report/zw_strategy.jshtml?encodeUrl=w1AVbI6pblZ+WLhu4/PoQQjFnZnHKmHVwLpkclR6gkI%3D
[3] Gamble, John E., et al. (2018). Essentials of Strategic Management: The Quest for Competitive Advantage. McGraw-Hill Higher Education
[4] GuoMeng. (2020). 0.85 billion students have been suspended worldwide due to the outbreak. Online education Future development forecast analysis. Retrieved from http://www.chinairn.com/hyzx/20200319/152145658.shtml
[5] Guo, X.Y.(2020). Under the epidemic situation, where is the road for educational publishing to enter online education. China press, publication, radio and TV, 003,03-04
[6] Li, C. L., & Zhang, M. (2019, December 25). Online education enterprises to homogenize the chronic disease of competition is difficult to change the high cost of a single customer can reach up to nearly 10,000 yuan. Securities Daily. Retrieved from http://epaper.zqrb.cn/html/2019-12/25/content_546778.htm?div=-1
[7] Long, X.F. (2020). Complete explosion and complete force" in and after the online education epidemic. China business, 03,46-47
[8] Luo, K.Y.(2020). Consumption inventory in 2019: new and old markets are clearly hot and cold, sinking market, live streaming goods and night economy are the hot words of the annual consumption market. China Quality 10,000 Miles, 01, 4-8
[9] Wang, Z.D. (2020). Can online education reach an inflection point? China business journal, E04,03-02
[10] Zhu, H.B. (2020). Education industry market education strategy report: k12 online education flow transformation, industry pattern, operation model analysis. Retrieved from http://www.hibor.com.cn/docdetail_2841370.html#