A guide to the Spring Festival hits
Wen Wang Xian. Editor Si asked.
There are camping chairs at the door, floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the entire streetscape, and the name of the shop is full of young people ...... taking photos and chatting in groups of young peopleThis Spring Festival, in the streets and alleys of lower-tier cities, small counties and villages, countless migrant workers who have returned to their hometowns have flocked to the "Internet celebrity stores" in their hometowns.
Since the beginning of February, business has tripled, with many returnees and computers coming to the store. Rachel, who opened a bakery in Anhui County, said that in the past week, the daily turnover has been **, I don't like to be called an Internet celebrity store, but I have to admit that there are indeed many people who have returned to their hometowns and are running for the name of the Internet celebrity store. ”
The internet has smoothed out some of the differences to a certain extent. A wave of consumption from high-tier cities to lower-tier cities and counties is quietly happening, and online celebrity stores that tend to be saturated in first- and second-tier cities are being "reproduced" to lower-tier cities.
Consumption habits, preferences, and environments are different in each lower-tier city and county, and so are the influencer stores that open here. But in the same way, these online celebrity stores have inherited the social needs of returnees, becoming the "intelligence center" during the Spring Festival, and also ushered in the explosion of business.
The county Internet celebrity store "contracted" young people who returned to their hometowns.
Xu Chen's hometown is in Shangrao Dexing City, Jiangxi Province, which is a county-level city surrounded by mountains with a resident population of no more than 300,000. Compared with Wuyuan County, which appeared on CCTV because of "autumn sunshine" next door, Dexing City is less than one-tenth of its popularity.
Xu Chen, who works in the field, has not been home for more than two years, and this time she returned to her hometown during the Spring Festival, in addition to visiting relatives, she also made an appointment with her high school classmates to get together after the New Year, but where to get together is a problem. Until a classmate who stayed in the local area to work suggested, it is better for everyone to go to the stove to make tea, roast milk, and pat **, if I think it's okay, I'll make an appointment first, I'm afraid there will be too many people for the New Year."
The small town of Dexing brews tea around the stove and "God of Wealth Coffee".
Dexing also has tea around the hearth? Xu Chen was a little surprised, and then found out from Moments, Xiaohongshu and Douyin that in the past two years, Dexing has opened four or five independent coffee shops, night taverns and fusion restaurants.
Friends gatherings are a difficult problem for young people returning to their hometowns in big cities, and they are confused about what stores have opened in their hometowns that they have not been back for nearly a year and what has been popular recently.
The choice of many returnees is to open Meituan, Xiaohongshu and Douyin to see what Internet celebrity stores are: the decoration, environment and menu of these stores have almost achieved a one-to-one "replica" with the big cities, which directly allows the returnees to find a sense of familiarity with the "home field".
On the other hand, online celebrity stores in lower-tier cities, counties and even villages are also targeting migrant workers who have returned to their hometowns: the offline consumption boom brought about by the Spring Festival has made many bosses choose not to close during the Spring Festival to meet this wave of consumption enthusiasm for returning home.
Business during the Chinese New Year was the best, tripling or quadrupling. Xiao Guo has run a homestay for five years, and now he has opened a day coffee and night wine in Jiaozuo, Henan. His store did not follow the decoration design of the Internet celebrity store, nor did he use the operation method of the Internet celebrity store, but he inadvertently met the "standard" of the Internet celebrity store: suitable for taking photos and checking in.
Xiao Guo's "Unbounded White Coffee Night Wine".
Large floor-to-ceiling windows, camping chairs, wooden decoration and green plants placed everywhere, the difference is that there are also large bookcases, "I wanted to open a bookstore, but the bookstore is not profitable", many returnees come to his store because they see "Jiaozuo has a literary and artistic store" on Xiaohongshu.
Post-00 "Ricky, opened an "Oasis Bistro" in Quzhou, the only fourth-tier city in Zhejiang, and the restaurant is still in the trial operation stage, but business is good on Chinese New Year's Eve and the first day of the new year, "four or five people at a table, three or four are young people returning to their hometowns."
In 2022, bistro became popular in Shanghai and Beijing, and the word meaning tavern in French is often associated with labels such as "atmosphere", "sophistication" and "fashion", and is also regarded as a kind of Internet celebrity store.
Ricky's restaurant décor is the same as these labels: atmospheric lighting, delicate wooden dining tables and chairs, and ins-style plant ......The difference is that not far from this store is a chess and card room and a breakfast shop selling fritters and buns, and the overall pricing is more affordable than that of big cities, "fifty or sixty per capita can eat well".
Rachel resigned from Shanghai in early 2023 and returned to her hometown in a county-level city in Anhui Province to open a bakery, which also sells coffee, tea and light food, etc., and the interior of the store is decorated in an ins style, "referencing a store I often go to in Shanghai."
Since the beginning of February, Rachel's store has ushered in a state of "hot orders", "and young people who have driven more than 40 minutes from nearby villages".
Xu Rui, who opened the coffee shop in the lower county of Jingzhou, Hubei Province in 2022, also chose not to close for the Chinese New Year, he himself is doing a community store business, and people from the surrounding communities will often come, but since February 3, there have been many unfamiliar faces in his store, all of whom are young people who have returned to their hometowns, "Some come to work with computers, it is estimated that they want to find a quiet environment to work overtime, and some young people who have come back from Beijing have come to my store to 'check in' three times this week."
Xu Rui's turnover has basically tripled in recent days, and it is estimated that one-third of the store's turnover is from the store, and two-thirds comes from the takeaway platform.
Survive a whole street of competitors.
Survived a whole street of competitors. Xu Rui teased.
On Chinese New Year's Eve and the first day of the new year, in addition to a few convenience stores and supermarkets on Xu Rui's street, only he insisted on opening the door, and he also extended the closing time from 6 pm to 9 pm.
The coffee shop serves not only coffee, but also fried chicken.
In 2023, the tide of restaurant openings will hit, chain brands will sink one after another, and everyone will be forced to "roll". Xu Rui's county seat, first opened ancient tea, then opened a hundred tea roads, and last year Luckin and Cudi also opened stores and "grabbed" business with him.
Coffee sinking, there are good and bad, and in this Spring Festival, Xu Rui has eaten the benefits of coffee sinking.
The battle between Luckin and Cudi has helped coffee practitioners complete coffee market education in lower-tier cities, small counties and rural areas. According to the "2023 China Urban Coffee Development Report" released by Yicai Business Data Center and Meituan, MAT (monthly rolling annual sales trend) In 2023, the fastest growth in the number of stores is in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities, with 78%, 74% and 65% respectively.
Relying on longer business hours, Xu Rui intercepted orders from Luckin and Cudi: his nearby Cudi store closed for the holiday around February 7, and the Luckin store also left work early on Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, leaving Xu Rui's coffee shop at an accelerated pace.
If Luckin and Cudi helped the coffee shop complete the market education, then it was the Internet social platform that helped the new catering complete the market education.
The Internet has brought lower-tier cities and first-tier cities into line in many ways, and has gradually brought together the aesthetic standards and consumption trends of first-tier and lower-tier cities. Young people in lower-tier cities and young people in small towns who have the willingness to spend and have free time have forced local "consumption upgrades", making the consumption trend in first-tier cities more rapid to low-tier cities.
Lily runs a fusion restaurant in Loudi, a fourth-tier city in Jiangxi, and she is staying up with other "Internet celebrity restaurants" and catering stores on the same street, "Usually there will be more young people to check in on weekends, but after all, the consumption level is not very high, everyone will still go to the surrounding noodle restaurants and small stir-fry restaurants every day.
Good looking tableware, more suitable for taking pictures.
During this time, 70% of the customers in the store were young returnees, and someone would say to her as soon as they arrived at the store, "You look like a restaurant in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen." One of the things that many people will do is to take pictures and check in, and some friends who come to the party will also ask the clerk or the guests at the next table to help take a group photo.
Returnees who returned from big cities and sought a "sense of familiarity" came to Internet celebrity stores in lower-tier cities and small counties through the Internet, and turned their heads and paired the check-in ** with the labels of "I didn't expect my hometown to have such a beautiful store", "high film production rate" and "XX Spring Festival party must come", and spread it on Xiaohongshu, Douyin and Moments to attract more people.
On Xiaohongshu, the Internet celebrity store associated with taking photos and punching in.
In addition, many shopkeepers in lower-tier cities and counties have begun to use the Internet to actively promote their "Spring Festival does not close", and play the slogan "a good place to return to their hometowns for Chinese New Year parties", attracting more young people returning to their hometowns on Xiaohongshu, Douyin and Moments.
More important than the food is the social atmosphere.
Many shopkeepers who operate online celebrity stores in lower-tier cities and small counties have said that in their cities and counties, online celebrity stores are more like a place that can reflect the quality of life and socialize.
If the entrance of the village is the intelligence center of the uncles and aunts, then the Internet celebrity store in the small city is the information center of young people. Eating, drinking coffee, and drinking tea is not the ultimate goal, what matters is the social atmosphere and environment.
Xu Chen bluntly said that the party with classmates should talk about the current situation and gossip, and the most suitable one may be the Internet celebrity store, "The hot pot barbecue should be eaten while it is hot, not suitable for chatting, and the distance between the stir-fry round table is too far for gossip." Tea can be eaten slowly and talked slowly."
In a small town with limited social interaction, the returnees who gathered in the online celebrity store have been gossiping and complaining for a whole year, and they need to communicate with their friends, and they urgently need to know from their friends what happened in the year when they were not there, and maybe they can hear familiar names from the chat at the next table with their ears pricked up.
Xiao Guo's shop once had a "Women's Entrepreneurship Afternoon Tea" activity.
Xiao Guo, who opened a day coffee and night wine, did not regard Luckin as a competitor, "Luckin is a fast-moving consumer product, while we sell space, mood and atmosphere." During the Spring Festival, young people returning to their hometowns gather in his shop and can talk from afternoon tea mode to bistro mode.
Jiaozuo, where Xiao Guo is located, has opened a lot of day coffee and night wine in the past two years, but almost all of them have been transferred and closed down, only he survived, "If you want to do a good business in a small city, the most important thing is not to 'pretend'." In his opinion, the most important reason why returnees choose their store is to find a niche space where they can relax and have spiritual value, and in addition to food, his store has also held exhibitions, lectures and parties, attracting many young people with the same hobbies.
Xu Rui's coffee shop has friends gatherings, temporary overtime, and blind dates that young people who have returned to their hometowns can't escape. He himself will also chat with guests, interpersonal relationships in small cities are always related to each other, and if you chat a few more words, you will find that the two have common acquaintances, "I just learned that one of my elementary school classmates was married for the second time in other places."
For Ricky, the Oasis is a place to socialize, "and we're going to create a cosy environment to chat with friends, eat with girlfriends, and have some family dinners."
For migrant workers returning to their hometowns during the Spring Festival, whether or not they can provide a place to socialize also affects their choices.
Internet celebrities are often associated with delicacy, ritual and photography, but opening an Internet celebrity store in lower-tier cities and counties is not a simple catering business, but more of a business that provides social space and social atmosphere. And young people who have returned to their hometowns may choose online celebrity stores during the Spring Festival just because they are a good place to socialize.