China News Service, Shaoxing, February 25 (Xiang Jing) "Uncle, I want an umbrella that can make money." During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, some netizens "made a wish" in Lei Penglin's live broadcast room.
It seems like a fantasy, but it gives Lei Penglin, a young man born in the 1980s, a new goal.
Lei Penglin is the owner of an umbrella factory in Shangyu, Shaoxing, Zhejiang.
"Umbrellas that can rain", "umbrellas that reflect light", "umbrellas that can blow wind"... Because they meet the "imaginative" needs of netizens for using umbrellas, they also "shake", "shake" and "turn" in short videos. With his neat and witty moves, this "Uncle Umbrella" became completely popular on the short video platform in 2023, and was called the "most persuasive boss" on the Internet by netizens.
At the beginning of the resumption of work in the New Year, Lei Penglin accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service and China News Network at her umbrella factory.
Photo by Xiang Jing
When work resumed in the New Year, Lei Penglin returned to the umbrella factory from her hometown in Henan, and the first thing she started thinking about was how to create an "umbrella that makes money".
"I want to help netizens realize this wish and create a 'wealth umbrella' and a 'shared wealth umbrella' so that everyone can gain income and gain through the umbrella." Lei Penglin said firmly in a recent interview.
Relying on "an umbrella" to save a factory
Sincerity is the "nirvana" of short videos
"Another netizen made a wish." When he saw Lei Penglin, he was busy receiving new orders.
He has black hair, a smile, and a straightforward personality that makes people feel very friendly.
Lei Penglin introduced the double-layer red umbrella to reporters.
Photo by Wu Liujing
Songxia Street, Shangyu District, where Lei Penglin Umbrella Factory is located, is located in the "China Umbrella City", with an annual output of 600 million umbrellas, making it the world's largest finished umbrella manufacturing base.
Going back 20 years ago, Lei Penglin came here to look for business opportunities, worked hard in the umbrella industry, and opened her own umbrella factory in 2014.
However, as competition in the traditional textile manufacturing industry intensifies, Lei Penglin's umbrella factory, like most umbrella factories, has also encountered difficulties in transformation and upgrading.
In 2019, when his business was in crisis, he took aim at the Internet opportunity and started short videos to "bring goods."
"At that time, I went to Yiwu specifically to learn e-commerce live streaming and delivered goods. I experienced a lot of ups and downs in the process. After we polished the video script, we kept working on it. When we posted the 600th video, it became popular." Lei Penglin recalled.
He still clearly remembers the first wave of "big traffic" he received, "Because I made the umbrella that netizens wanted, a short video was read 60 million times, more than 1.8 million people liked it, and 150,000 umbrellas were sold within ten days of going online. , this is something I never dared to think about before.”
Lei Penglin shows off an umbrella that makes it rain.
Photo by Xiang Jing
Along this road, Lei Penglin turned the "comment area" of the short video into the "design department" and led the team to launch unexpected new products such as "laser reflective umbrella", "fan umbrella" and "couple umbrella", and in the video By vigorously shaking the umbrella handle and pouring water on the umbrella, the performance of the umbrella is reflected in simple and intuitive ways, which is deeply loved by netizens.
In 2023, Lei Penglin Umbrella Factory’s umbrella sales exceeded 1.4 million.
Lei Penglin demonstrated the classic action of testing the quality of an umbrella when shooting a short video.
Photo by Xiang Jing
In the era of "everyone can make short videos", many manufacturers are sending their "best products" to the Internet, hoping to gain new traffic.
As far as Lei Penglin is concerned, behind the "silky smooth" transformation from netizens' "unbridled" wishes to the presentation of physical umbrellas is Songxia's complete industrial chain foundation.
Lei Penglin said confidently, "With the complete umbrella industry chain, any umbrella sample can be completed in 2 days, and mass production can be achieved in up to 6 days."
"As the old saying goes, 'Listen to others' advice and have enough to eat'. If others have needs, I will work hard to provide them." Lei Penglin believes that whether it is a traditional sales model or an e-commerce live broadcast, sincerity is always the "nirvana". This is the original intention that he sticks to, and it will also be the direction of the future.
Create a “shared wealth umbrella” in the New Year
Fulfill more new wishes of netizens
Pulling edges, cutting fabric, flat shearing, packing, shipping... Walking into Lei Penglin's umbrella factory of more than 2,000 square meters, dozens of umbrella workers are busy at their respective positions, and most of them are rushing to make the Internet celebrity "laser Reflective umbrella".
"The live broadcast started on the seventh day of the first lunar month, and the order volume has doubled in the past few days. The factory has resumed work on the ninth day of the first lunar month, and there are currently 7,000 'laser reflective umbrellas' orders that need to be shipped, with customers at home and abroad." Lei Penglin said , after workers return to work one after another, they will work hard to catch up with new orders.
A view of Lei Penglin’s umbrella factory after work resumed in the New Year.
Photo by Xiang Jing
When talking about New Year's plans, Lei Penglin said bluntly that the wishes made by netizens last year should be implemented as soon as possible, and then she will work hard to realize more new wishes of netizens.
“Their most requested umbrellas are water-changing umbrellas, laser reflective umbrellas, umbrellas that make it rain, and custom-made models for the Year of the Dragon. Recently, some fans made wishes in the live broadcast room. In addition to umbrellas that make it rain, they also want one. An umbrella that can make money, this message has been liked by many netizens." Lei Penglin saw it, and he laughed and said, "It's not about putting a money printing machine on the umbrella, but just like me, through the umbrella, you can have money. More income and gains.”
For example, he said that most of the people who like to watch his short videos are college students. He hopes to encourage young people to learn to edit short videos to grow, which will also be a "stepping stone" to enter the society in the future; after becoming popular, he was also invited to other Exchange experiences with umbrella factories or other industries, and share your experience in short videos with more people in need.
Various umbrellas on display at Lei Penglin Umbrella Factory.
Photo by Xiang Jing
It can be seen from this that the “umbrella that can make money” is also a “shared wealth umbrella” that everyone can share and pursue beauty.
At present, Zhejiang is developing high-quality development and building a demonstration zone for common prosperity. Industrial prosperity is the cornerstone of common prosperity.
On the road to common prosperity, short videos are like "magic", reactivating traditional industries that are seeking transformation, and making ordinary people pursuing their dreams become extraordinary.
Taking advantage of the Internet, a large number of umbrella companies, including Lei Penglin, are testing e-commerce and seeking new paths.
According to statistics, at present, the Songxia area has achieved full coverage of e-commerce service stations, more than 70% of private umbrella companies adopt the e-commerce sales model, and 8 villages have been established as Zhejiang provincial e-commerce villages, with annual e-commerce sales exceeding 1.5 billion. Yuan.
Not only that, the "shared wealth umbrella" that Lei Penglin wants to create is also a cultural and creative umbrella that embodies the excellent traditional Chinese culture, "hoping to satisfy everyone's pursuit of 'spiritual prosperity'."
"Nowadays, the new national trend and new Chinese style are becoming more and more popular among everyone. This year, I want to make more cultural creative umbrellas and new Chinese style umbrellas to spread Chinese culture. For example, everyone knows about the West Lake in Hangzhou, but everyone may not understand the history behind the West Lake. My idea is to have the pattern of the West Lake printed on the umbrella and a QR code inside the umbrella, so you can see the background information by scanning it," Lei Penglin said with a smile.
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