Produced by New Pick Business Review
1. The decline of a shopping mall.
Recently, there was a piece of news that touched me deeply, talking about the decline of the World Trade Center in Beijing.
Nowadays, there are too many commercial entities and they are too developed, and many people who have just arrived in Beijing in recent years may not have experienced the heyday of the World Trade Center.
I went to Beijing after graduating from university in 10 years, and the first year-end dinner organized by the company was arranged at the World Trade Center. The first time the poor graduates went to a high-end store, they were shocked by the glittering electronic canopy.
In that year, the World Trade Center was opened for 3 years.
When the World Trade Center was the most popular, it was more than 1 year after its opening, and as a commercial landmark in Beijing, it appeared in the MV ** of "Beijing Welcomes You". How many people come to Beijing to play, they will go to the World Trade Center to see the canopy and see the world.
But 17 years later, the iconic canopy has been occupied by cheap advertising blessing messages, and it is impossible to see that it was spent on 2500 million traces of creation. The bottom of the canopy is full of children's amusement projects, and at night, it is basically the elderly who come to walk with their children.
In recent years, it is not a big deal that shops and office buildings are vacant. I was moved by the youth of those years.
When I first came to Beijing, the company was one kilometer away from the International Trade Center, surrounded by a number of high-end business districts. In those years, the place that made me feel the deepest about wealth and freedom was the high-end business district.
Several colleagues often joke with their bosses that when can team building die and eat money leopards.
When it comes to the year-end bonus, the most discussed thing on the Internet is to go to SKP to buy something to treat yourself.
Today, SKP has become the king of global stores on the road of luxury.
In the early days of its opening, the marketing department of the World Trade Center, which is also positioned as a high-end luxury, said: "We would rather be vacant than maintain our personality", and he may not have expected that such a day would be ushered in.
2. The bipolar run of SKP and Ole.
The one who grabbed the World Trade Center was the Beijing SKP from the east; On the other hand, there is Ole, which is getting more and more attention from the public.
It may sound a bit divisive, but it's really happening to our generation.
In the years after graduating, I often went to SKP with my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) and imagined a happy time in the future. When there is a special holiday, we will choose a restaurant to eat and celebrate.
I have just become financially independent, and I no longer need to reach out to my parents, and earning money is a source of security and happiness for me.
Not only me, but many people believe that "the joy of making money is to make you happy".
Therefore, in SKP, no matter whether you can afford it or can't afford it, the brand, design, and tonality are enough to make consumers stop and linger.
At that time, the argument of "raising people with extravagance" was not yet popular. But everyone spontaneously yearns for high-end business districts such as SKP, and money and desire attract everyone.
Data shows that in 2009, Chinese people spent a total of 156 billion yuan on luxury goods.
By 2018, the number had become 770 billion, accounting for one-third of total global luxury sales.
In front of the high-end counters of Chanel, Loewe, and Beers, everyone can easily get the key to the next class through consumption.
During the 2019 SKP store celebration, the mall held an event to "spend 5 million yuan or more to get a piece of Rolex". I joked with my colleague at the time that we would also go and join in the fun. I thought it was a game for a few people, but when SKP opened for business, customers rushed to grab brand-name bags priced at tens of thousands.
And at the other end of the spectrum of consumption is Ole.
SKP has taught us people an enlightenment lesson in luxury, but many people's first luxury consumption is in Ole.
Like me. The first time I bought luxury goods was when I bought Salvatore Ferragamo shoes for my wife. At that time, her rich second-generation female colleague wore a different color of Salvatore Ferragamo every day, which made her sour for a while. I took her to see it at SKP several times, but I was reluctant to do it.
Until we saw the discounted Salvatore Ferragamo in the outlet, 600 yuan could get the original price of more than 2,000 shoes.
She struggled for a while, and didn't rush to pay, not because of **, but because of the color. Eventually, we got a pair of black classics, and she said "versatile", and she was pretty good at getting by.
At that time, Chinese consumers' pursuit of brand favorability and quality had been established, and even if they could go shopping at SKP every day, there were still very few people who could get a Rolex watch as a gift at SKP.
The vast majority of the Chinese population is still the group of people passing by and standing in front of high-end shop windows.
Ole provides them, including me, with a more relaxed consumption scenario. Shopping is a fun, consumption is a kind of satisfaction, if there are big brands everywhere that can't afford to buy, then shopping can only increase anxiety.
Since I just graduated, my own income has increased several times over the years. But every time I visit SKP, I still can't buy brands that I couldn't afford to climb back then.
This is the necessary meaning of the existence of Ole.
Third, the intersection of the middle class and ordinary people is in Ole.
This year, Ole is even more popular.
Before that, go to SKP and take down a bag directly, which is called a trench. Since you buy luxury goods, you won't buy discounts. Therefore, Ole has always been unflattering on both sides, and people with spending power think that Ole is "falling"; And ordinary people think that the big brands with discounts can't afford them, and "there is no need to shop".
Many people who go to the outlet to consume are people like me, who live in the city, want face, and want to be cost-effective, people from ordinary families.
Affected by the epidemic, many middle-class and ordinary people converge in Ole.
Now surfing the Internet, it is common to see people on various social platforms. The most discussed keywords are discounts, cheap, and many people, and many people are lamenting "when is Ole so good to buy".
I checked, China's hottest outlets, the Asian outlets sales champion for two consecutive years - Qingpu outlets, on May Day 2023, Qingpu outlets sold 43.93 million yuan, setting a record in the 17 years since its opening. Shenzhen Costco, which has recently exploded, officially announced that its turnover on the first day exceeded 10 million.
With such a comparison, everyone may know in their hearts that middle-class Internet celebrity supermarkets are still different from outlets, going to middle-class supermarkets is the pleasure of a few people, and going to outlets to shop for goods is the happiness of most ordinary people.
My own experience is that in addition to the epidemic factor, the popularity of outlets is also related to the introduction of more brands that consumers like.
In the past, when it came to outlets, everyone probably only thought of luxury brands. But now there are designer brands, sports brands, beauty brands, mother, baby and child brands.
Now the newly opened outlets, in terms of operation, have also chosen a location closer to the city center and a richer operation format, often taking children to go, and they can play, buy, and eat when they are tired of shopping, and they will pass the day on weekends.
My wife became a big fan of Ole after buying her first pair of Salvatore Ferragamo.
She controls the family's finances and can be said to be the person with the most spending power in my family. Ole is currently her ideal place to shop: big brands, deep discounts, time-saving, easy, and hassle-free.
Now, she is still addicted to the online Ole Vipshop every day. For the brand she likes, she goes to Vipshop every once in a while to see if there is a special sale, and the most received at home is the express delivery of Vipshop, and the SF brother sometimes comes several times a day, not only to deliver, but also to receive and pick up.
I'm a straight man of steel who is used to JD.com, and I also went to Vipshop because of her Amway, and I bought shoes and mobile phones on it, and to be honest, the experience was very good. It's just that when I received the delicate and straight pink courier box, I was a little embarrassed.
Okay, that's all for today.