Trendy brands, cosmetics, and small appliances are bought, and counties, cities, and towns have become new driving forces for consumption——
What are small town consumers keen to buy?
Recently, small-town consumers have stood in the spotlight again.
According to the "Alibaba 2020 "October" Holiday Consumer Travel Trend Report" recently released, during the "October" period, 53% of commercial electrical appliances were sold to the county market, and 48% of buyers came from small town users, and third-tier cities and below The outbound tourists accounted for 60%.
In the upcoming "Double 11", merchants have also stepped up to sink the market.
The activated county economy has become a new driving force for the sustained growth of China's consumption.
The consumer preferences of users in small towns have attracted the attention of all parties.
What do they like to buy?
——Buy home appliances, trendy brands, and cosmetics. The purchasing power of young people in small towns is "stretched"
"This year's '11' Golden Week, my boyfriend and I went to Yunnan for a stroll." Sun said, who had just picked up two couriers from downstairs, "No, the specialty products I bought in Yunnan have arrived. I bought them this time Many things, including air tickets and hotels, cost nearly 8,000 yuan before and after."
Sun Bin lives in Peixian County, Jiangsu Province. She has been working for 3 years and has some savings. She loves to "buy, buy and buy."
"I spend about 2,000 yuan a month for shopping, and the most I buy is cosmetics." Sun Bin said, "The house prices in the county are low, and I don't have any mortgage pressure. Although the salary is not comparable to the first-tier cities, the cost of living is not in the first-tier cities. It’s so high, so my life is pretty good, I just buy what I need."
Young people in small towns like Sun Bin who like to shop and travel are common.
In recent years, the county economy has been generally optimistic, and many companies have profited from it.
So, what do young people in small towns like to buy?
Buying new home appliances-Suning.com retail cloud big data shows that the quality of consumption in counties and towns has accelerated.
On October 1, Retail Cloud achieved a good start for National Day, with sales increased by more than 1.5 times, and sales of non-electric products increased by 3.3 times.
The sales of high-end laser TVs with a unit price of over 15,000 yuan increased by 90% year-on-year, and the sales of large-screen smart TVs over 60 inches exceeded 35,000.
Previous Pinduoduo data showed that during the "June 18" period this year, third- and fourth-tier cities and below showed strong consumer demand. A large number of consumers from counties and towns purchased sweeping robots, bread machines, projectors, etc. for the first time in Pinduoduo. commodity.
Buying trendy brands—Based on Tmall’s consumer insights, the proportion of Chinese luxury consumers aged 18-35 is very high. Among them, the annual growth rate of “post-95” and “post-00” consumers is “post-80s”, "Post-90s" twice.
From a geographical perspective, although this type of consumption is still dominated by people in first- and second-tier cities, consumers in third- to fifth-tier cities have shown a trend of high growth, with an annual growth rate of 1.5 times that of the former.
In particular, some international brands that focus on "light luxury" positioning, such as the American Coach, have opened stores in small cities and counties in the past two years and are sought after by young people.
Buy cosmetics-the first-line big-name luggage and clothing are still far from the county seat, but the cosmetics under its banner have been put on the dressing table of the town girls.
Relevant data from Estee Lauder show that buyers of its brands are distributed in 350 cities across the country, and 70% of orders come from cities that have not opened counters.
Dior’s lipsticks, SK-II essences, and Shiseido’s sunscreens represent the consumption trend of the county.
“The consumption trend of young people in small towns is in line with the characteristics of individualized and diversified consumption of Chinese residents. In particular, many young people in small towns have lived and lived in big cities. The concept of consumption is consistent with that of big cities, so their consumption appears to be similar to that of big cities. The characteristics of residents' consumption convergence." said Liu Xiangdong, deputy director of the Economic Research Department of the China International Economic Exchange Center.
Consumption upgrade is the general trend
——Love online shopping, travel, check-in online celebrity shops, young people in small towns are more pursuing "quality of life"
Consumers in small towns are willing to buy and can afford it, which reflects the general trend of consumption upgrading.
In terms of shopping methods, the small town has a high enthusiasm for online shopping.
Driving a car and wearing handsome sunglasses, he thought that the guy in front of him was a successful person from the big city.
When I asked, I was going to the courier collection point in the town to get the express.
"I don't usually buy a lot of things. My daughter-in-law really doesn't stop shopping. I like to go shopping on Taobao." Xiao Xu from Dashahe Town, Feng County, Jiangsu told reporters that young people in the village now mostly buy things online.
"There are more and more courier collection points in the town, and it is very convenient to take express delivery. Don't think we are a small place, now you can buy everything online." Xiao Xu waved his hand, "No, I have to go I got the courier for my wife."
From the perspective of consumption structure, young people in small towns are pursuing "quality of life."
You need to buy a 4K high-definition large screen for color TVs, a silent and large-capacity washing machine, and a double-opening door for sterilizing and deodorizing refrigerators... Even in the township market, old TV sets and double-tub washing machines have been gradually eliminated.
As the "rising star" in home appliances, dishwashers, water purifiers and sweeping robots are known as the "three new pieces" in the county market.
Xiao Wang from Sichuan told reporters that a new smart home was recently installed in his home and he also bought a lot of small appliances.
"Voice-controlled lights, sweeping robots, air purifiers, basically everything that can be purchased is bought." Xiao Wang said, "I usually live alone. Since installing a smart home, I feel that the quality of life has improved by more than one grade."
In the past two years, Gome, Suning and others have been moving their stores from traditional first- and second-tier cities to third- and fourth-tier cities, driving the consumption upgrade of small town youths.
In addition to brand stores, platform-based merchants such as JD.com, Tmall, and Xiaomi are also actively deploying the sinking market. As the first- and second-tier and sinking markets approach the Gini coefficient representing disposable income, and the information gap brought about by mobile communication technology Filling up, the pursuit of quality of life for young people in small towns is getting smaller and smaller than that of white-collar workers in big cities.
In addition to "buy, buy, buy", the weight of cultural tourism consumption is getting heavier in the lives of young people in small towns.
Watching movies and playing board games are no longer the most fashionable leisure entertainment activities for young people in small towns. Checking in online celebrity shops, "hug Tuan" learning handicrafts, using vibrato and making fast hands together have become the new vane of leisure and entertainment for young people in small towns.
“The Internet platform provides young people in small towns with high-quality goods and services at low prices, greatly improving the quality of life. The upgrading of the quality of life of county residents shows that the process of urban-rural integration is accelerating.” Liu Xiangdong said, “With the new urbanization and With the solid advancement of the rural revitalization strategy, the county's economic development has entered a new stage. The consumption upgrade trend of young people in small towns not only reflects the needs of county residents for a better life, especially the needs of creative daily necessities and cultural, educational and entertainment services, but also promotes the quality of life in the county upgrade."
Don't underestimate the county market
——There are 500-600 million residents in third- and fourth-tier cities and towns, and the county market is expected to form new increments to support China's economic development
As China vigorously develops the county economy and increases the level of urbanization, the living standards of small-town residents have improved significantly, and the consumption prospects of the county, urban and rural markets have attracted attention.
Some experts predict that "small town youth" will become the main force in the consumer market in the next 10 years, and it is estimated that by 2030, the consumption of residents in third- and fourth-tier cities will reach 45 trillion yuan.
The third- and fourth-tier satellite cities in the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Chengdu-Chongqing region, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city clusters are expected to continue to lead the consumer market.
Liu Xiangdong pointed out that the rise of consumption in third- and fourth-tier cities will bring new increments to the Chinese consumer market and help form a strong domestic demand market, thereby supporting China's formation of a new domestic and international dual-cycle mutual promotion. Development pattern.
"my country's urbanization process is still continuing. At present, there are still 500-600 million residents in third- and fourth-tier cities and towns, and their consumption growth is faster than that of large cities. There is still great potential to be tapped and new The increment of this." Liu Xiangdong said.
Stimulating the vitality of the county market requires support from the market players.
The reform of the commercial registration system implemented by the local market supervision bureaus has "relaxed" enterprises, "unblocked" the masses, and "vacated" the market, greatly stimulating market vitality and social creativity.
In Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, in order to improve the convenience of business people and achieve the goal of "only enter one door and run at most once", the license (certificate) window has recently entered the county's new government affairs center, and the first day of office is 19 markets The subject has handled the registration business.
Nowadays, coffee shops, pizza shops, milk tea shops and various brand experience shops can be seen everywhere in the county.
The county market has a promising future, but it also faces many challenges.
Recently, the "2020 National County Digital Agricultural and Rural E-commerce Development Report" released by the Information Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the China International Electronic Commerce Center Research Institute pointed out that county e-commerce is booming, but it still faces uneven development, weak supply chain guarantee capabilities, and Challenges such as the shortage of talents in county e-commerce.
Liu Xiangdong believes that the more underdeveloped areas, the stronger the desire for development and improvement of life, and the easier it is to cultivate consumption hotspots and form consumption increments.
At present, e-commerce and some enterprises have been digging out county consumption and have seen certain results.
But to truly activate this big market, we need more in-depth market analysis and more targeted product launches, rather than simply selling the popular or even surplus products in first- and second-tier cities to counties, cities, and towns.
Kong Dechen
Kong Dechen