Fashionable, fun, personalized... shopping integrates the new lifestyle of young people

　　 Meng Peipeiwen, reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network/photo

During the National Day holiday, 24 year old illustrator Alan (not his real name) did not rest, but took his "wonderful three-point room" to a market activity in Chengdu to stand, and once again opened the skill of "drawing small brains on the spot"; He came to Beijing from Shenzhen with jewelry designed by himself. Shi Yao, the head of the "Shiyao Original" brand, opened a 7-day market trip in Beijing's 798 art block

According to the reporter's visit, the market activities such as Alan and Shi Yao have become the "trend gathering place" favored by young people who advertise personality and fashion. In the city, young people can not only buy trendy items and novelty items, but also taste niche coffee, hand baked food, and even enjoy a music performance after nightfall.

According to incomplete statistics, from the Mid Autumn Festival holiday to the National Day, dozens of bazaars with different themes were held in different streets and shopping malls in Beijing alone, and young people who love sharing printed pictures and punched their cards on social platforms. Unlike the old generation's Ganda Fair, the traditional market is in line with fashion, and becomes a favorite of young people.

On September 26, at the market site hosted by Woodstock, Alan, an illustrator, drew cartoon avatars for guests in front of his "wonderful three-quarters" booth.

　　 Individuality, fun and fun, everything can be marketed

"The bazaar is not only fun, but also can buy something completely different from that in the mall, especially something of a small crowd and personality. Only when you see it and try it on, can you know whether it is suitable for you.". When traveling in Beijing during the holiday, Wang Huan happened to meet the "Mid Autumn Festival Limited" market hosted by Woodstock. Wang Huan and his friends came to "punch in". Here, she not only bought several specially designed necklaces and tasted Xiaozhongnet's red coffee, but also harvested a personal portrait in front of Alan's booth and changed her WeChat avatar on the spot.

This is Alan's first time to come to Beijing from Chengdu to participate in the market. After graduating from college, her plan to study abroad was postponed due to the epidemic. In order to do "what I like" in the "gap period", she began to travel to the markets in major cities as an illustrator, and designed the name of "Wonderful Three Compartments" for her stall.

Sitting in front of the elaborately arranged booth, Alan likes to draw cartoon portraits for guests face to face, which is also her "unique skill". "In the market, in order to ensure the quality of creation, 20-25 orders are received every day, and many like-minded friends can also be met, which has become a new way of social life for me".

Like Alan, Yao, a post-1995 male teacher in Shaanxi, often brings his own necklace, ring, ornaments and other products designed by himself to and from major cities to participate in market activities. "Since the establishment of the studio in 2017 to carry out original design, we have usually run 20 or 30 fairs every year. The sales in the market can account for one third of the annual sales", Shi Yao told the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Online that for original design brands, young people tend to be more "tempting" to try them on offline than to see pictures online. "Many young people want their clothes or accessories to be storytelling and unique, and show their individuality with different clothes. Original designers, artists, etc. observe the world from their personal perspectives, and extract beautiful meanings to present in their works, which will make young people especially love".

The post-95s and post-00s are becoming the mainstay of the consumer market, and their consumption habits have also undergone earth shaking changes. The reporter observed in many market activities in Beijing that trendy, interesting and even storytelling products are often popular with young people.

At the above "Mid Autumn Festival Limited" market, Xiao Cheng, who came to the market with his girlfriend, told the reporter of Zhongqing Daily · Zhongqing. com that because he had a lot of research on insects, he loved the violin insect specimen painting he just started. "The stall owner also told me where these insects were caught, which was very interesting.". His girlfriend, who likes coffee, bought a pair of earrings at the nearby handmade accessories of original coffee beans without hesitation. On the National Day holiday, Chen Shuang, a Beijing girl, and her friends bought hand-made incense candlesticks at the market held at the 798 Art Center Square in Beijing. They told the reporter of Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing. com that they "like the shape of candles very much, and prefer the idea of" refusing to worry about your body "that the candles advertised by the stall owner.

Why do young people like to go to the market? Alan believes that contemporary young people like to take photos and punch cards. They also want to go to different places in a different way, which is not only interesting and trendy, but also can find unique items to show their differences. "Even if you can't find something you like, it's a happy day to take a picture and eat something back.".

　　 Small brands flock to the market to "test the water"

Driving a modified motorhome, Wang Yifan, the founder of Split Coffee, attended many fairs this year. Since the registration of the split coffee brand in July 2020, the physical coffee stores that have stagnated due to the epidemic have become coffee trucks that "go where you want to go, stop where you want to go".

For Wang Yifan, participating in more market activities means more opportunities for brand promotion in front of young people. "At present, if you want to make the brand recognized, whether you make money or not is not the main factor to consider". For example, he said that the sales of the market he participated in during the "May Day" period were basically equal to the cost of manpower, booth fees, materials and other expenses. However, to his surprise, from his sales records, "loyal customers" have begun to appear. "Some young people will come to have a cup of coffee when they see the updates of my circle of friends and the promotion of other social platforms".

On September 26, in Beijing Langyuan Vintage Park, young people who came to the market bought coffee in front of a forked coffee truck.

As a trendy gathering place favored by young people, the market has become a testing ground for niche brands. Many brands contact the market of young people here, explore their preferred direction, and then constantly adjust and innovate. At the beginning of designing jewelry, Shi Yao also tried to use bronze and other unique shapes of silver jewelry, but the acceptance among young people is not high. "In 2018, a space themed hand carved silver jewelry was designed, but it is very popular, which has become one of the main directions of the current brand. At present, there are more than 60 products".

With the opening of popularity, the brand "Shiyao Original" also has a physical store in Shenzhen OCT Creative Culture Park. However, he is still willing to come to the large markets in various cities in person, and every product should also be polished in person. "I should not fail my design, and let young people feel their own feelings". However, Shi Yao said frankly that as an original designer, "although it is a good thing that the product can be recognized in the market, I still need to constantly incorporate new designs and ideas, and constantly innovate and upgrade".

Wang Yifan also observed that today's fairs not only allow young people to contact more brands in one place, but also have more focused theme fairs such as coffee, hamburgers and toys, "For example, the coffee youth festival I attended earlier not only allows everyone to taste enough at one time, but also allows brands to learn from each other, so that young people can experience making coffee by hand, and everyone can wait around for a cup of coffee to have an atmosphere".

Different from super chain coffee brands such as Starbucks and Ruixing, Wang Yifan believes that the addition of niche brands gives young people more choices. "The 'ingenuity' of niche brands is a major feature, which seeks to have their own creativity. In the industry, there are many managers of niche coffee brands who are avant-garde and dare to innovate in taste, making coffee a 'card punch' and a 'social drink'".

On September 26, in the Vintage Park of Beijing Langyuan, creative slogans were pasted on the goose coffee cart.

In Alan's opinion, hand-painted avatars on the market are more for the purpose of attracting customers, and the key lies in the subsequent transformation of customer sources. "In recent years, they have also begun to draw illustrations for some companies and individuals. From continuous participation in the market for preliminary exploration, to now, they are mainly screening customers, and will make their time consumption and value more matched by increasing prices and receiving large drafts.".

Interestingly, during the visit, the reporter found that every original brand booth was hung with the QR code of various online sales platforms. They hoped that young people could pay attention to the online platform while buying products on the site. Even if they could not buy offline in the future, they could continue to buy online. "The market is a good way to meet offline, but online sales is also an important form of complementation".

　　 How can the market format go further

It can not only attract young people, but also convene a group of original brands to participate. In recent years, the market format has "blossomed" all over the country. Not only many shopping malls and art centers are keen to increase the passenger flow through the market, but also professional market platforms such as Woodstock are emerging. They are committed to creating an open platform to promote consumer brands, and also hope to find interesting people behind consumer culture.

Ms. Fang, the brand leader of Xiamen Hongding Art Community, who has participated in and observed the market format for a long time, told the reporter of Zhongqing Daily, Guests can also buy a variety of unique products on the same platform. "The brand value of the market is very high, and we are willing to contact talented independent designers all over the country. They can rely on the market to get customers and resources, no longer worry about their livelihood, so they can stick to their talents and devote themselves more to art and culture.".

On October 2, Beijing 798 held the Fashion Art Market.

However, unlike free markets hosted by malls, such professional markets often charge admission fees and booth fees from stall owners. The form of "two-way charging" puzzled some young people. However, Alan and Shi Yao both believe that "the market is no longer the primary version of" one table, one bench ". The professional market platform has professional curators, who will make unified planning for the overall event materials, brand publicity, and so on. Participation in the market will not worry about publicity and customer flow. The host has spent a lot of manpower and material resources and venue rent. The charge is understandable. The main problem is how to judge and formulate the charge standard. Wang Yifan also believes that charging is reasonable. "The host team also has operating costs. At present, the tickets of the charging market are all within 100 yuan, which is not very expensive. As long as the charging limit for consumers is well controlled in the future, everyone will feel that it is worth it".

"Ticket fees will screen out young people who are really interested in the market and willing to spend money. Even if the painting process requires waiting or a break, the guests will understand, which makes me very moved", Alan also admitted that the most expensive booth rent she paid was 1700 yuan per day, and that the fair charged 70 yuan per guest for admission, but the organizer did not do a good job in the corresponding venue services, epidemic prevention and control plans, etc., "because the number of tickets sold was not controlled, leading to too many activists. Due to the epidemic prevention and control requirements, the last day flow restriction led to the early end of the market; Even during the exhibition, there were power outages and other emergencies. We were disappointed that the organizers failed to deal with them in a timely manner and explain to the stall owners. ".

In addition to the self consideration of the sponsor, Ms. Fang also believes that consumers and minority brands have higher and higher requirements for the market in the flourishing market format; On the other hand, the number of high-quality and original brands is still small, which leads to the homogenization of many fairs. Although the market is developing steadily at present, how to develop in the long run still needs the joint efforts of all parties to constantly screen and cultivate good brands and provide more choices for young people ".