High temperatures "heat up" young people's consumption

This article mainly discusses the phenomenon that the consumption demand of young people increases due to the influence of seasons, especially the influence of hot weather. It especially emphasizes the hot sales of some summer-related consumer goods such as ice cups, Crocs and sunscreen products, and points out that music festivals and cultural tourism are also hot spots in the summer consumer market. At the same time, some suggestions are put forward for reference by consumers, creators and merchants.

With the start of summer vacation, people's consumption enthusiasm is becoming hotter along with the temperature.

After summarizing the popular trends on content platforms this year and comparing them with the trends of the same period last year, we found that seasonality further affects changes in user demand. With the change of seasons, users' demand for summer-related consumer goods continues to increase, and popular products such as ice cups, Crocs, and sun-protective clothing are frequently launched. Along with summer cultural tourism, outdoor travel and other fields have ushered in the summer peak again.

At the same time, summer-exclusive consumption is also facing its own doubts. Is there a "seasonal tax" on these products? And how can creators and merchants seize this wave of summer consumption opportunities?

Based on this, Clour summarized the current summer-related consumption on various platforms and extracted the following observations, hoping to provide valuable reference for consumers, creators, and merchants.

1. Ice cups become the "top trend", and ice cream returns to a reasonable price

Amid the high temperatures, what has become popular this summer is not ice cream or beer, but ice cups.

It is understood that an ice cup usually refers to a sealed cup that stores ice cubes. Currently, it is mainly divided into pure water ice cups, ice cups made of coffee, beverages and other drinks, and ice balls.

As the temperature rises sharply, ice cups sold in convenience stores, supermarkets and other places have become popular due to their features such as instant cooling, convenience, low price and DIY drinks. Ice cups have become one of the "top drinks" this summer.

At present, searching the keyword "ice cup" on Xiaohongshu will find more than 40,000 notes. Under various topics such as #夏日饮, #DIY饮, etc., related strategies have received many likes and collections. In particular, the most eye-catching are the DIY money-saving strategies for ice cups shared by some bloggers, such as how to make homemade fruit tea with "an ice cup + beverage" and how to use ice cups to mix cocktails.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

It is understood that the current major brands of ice cups include Nongfu Spring, Hema, etc., among which Nongfu Spring ice cups have more related posts on Xiaohongshu.

While the popularity of ice cups has also caused a lot of controversy, the price of ice cups has also caused a lot of controversy. At present, the price of most pure water ice cups is between 3 and 5 yuan, which is really not "affordable".

Image source: Xiaohongshu

At this time, milk tea brands such as Mixue Bingcheng and Chabaidao saw the imbalance between consumer demand for ice cups and prices, and quickly launched 1 yuan ice cups, which attracted a lot of attention on social media.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

However, since the ice machines in milk tea shops melt quickly, many netizens have reported that the so-called ice cups are actually ice water, and will melt soon after they are held in their hands. When DIYing some drinks that require ice cubes to be kept for a long time, it often affects the flavor.

In addition to the price, ice cups are also facing food safety disputes. It is understood that the threshold for making ice cups is relatively low, and the edible ice on the current market does not have mandatory industry standards. If you want to go further in ice cup consumption, food safety is an unavoidable proposition.

In the hot summer, besides ice cups, the best way to cool down is ice cream.

Previously, a series of "ice cream assassins" such as Zhong Xuegao deeply pierced everyone's hearts. In the summer of 2024, with the launch of a batch of new flavors of ice cream, the number of expensive ice creams on the market has continued to decrease.

On Meituan, searching for the keyword "ice cream" and sorting by sales volume, the top few products are mostly priced at around 3 yuan per unit, such as Yili Bitter Coffee, Zhongjie Popsicles, Wall's Cornetto, Mengniu Ice+, etc. Ice cream with an average price of more than 5 yuan can also be searched, but both sales and variety are relatively small.

When the difference in product quality is small, ice cream with a “people-friendly” price is obviously more popular with consumers. Low prices are not the answer for all consumer goods, but products that can meet the needs of summer consumers and satisfy consumers’ emotional needs are often favored by more consumers today.

In short, the arrival of summer has brought related ice drinks into fashion to a certain extent, but price is still an important consideration for consumers.

2. Sun protection clothing and Crocs become hot items

Summer is the peak season for Chinese people to protect themselves from the sun.

On content platforms, sunscreen-related tips remain popular, and sunscreen-related products are constantly being updated. Sunscreen tips on Xiaohongshu, sunscreen reviews on Bilibili and Douyin are endless.

According to Endata, sun-protective clothing is still the most mainstream sun-protective clothing product for consumers. Sun-protective clothing is highly discussed in the summer and has significant seasonality.

Image source: Endata

Specifically, in light outdoor scenes such as hiking, fishing, cycling, etc., KOLs are more compatible with sun-protective clothing, and they often appear in the form of outfits, travel lists, etc.

In addition to sun protection clothing, Crocs also made their home ground with the arrival of summer. When you open shopping apps, Crocs will always be recommended first.

Taking Crocs, the most popular hole shoe brand at present, as an example, in 2023, its hole shoes sold a total of 119.6 million pairs worldwide. Based on 8,760 hours a year, an average of 228 pairs can be sold per minute.

In 2023, Crocs can be said to be a well-deserved star item. In 2024, they are still as popular as ever. According to a large amount of data, the current popularity of Crocs has increased instead of decreased compared to last year, and the popularity continues to rise.

Image source: Huge Data

As more and more young people pay more and more attention to the comfortable experience, exquisite dressing will also be outdone, and comfortable hole shoes will naturally become the new favorite. In addition to hole shoes, this year's Birkenstocks and Dexter shoes are both popular products on content platforms.

Young people wearing "ugly" shoes are developing their own consumption style.

In addition to their own comfort and convenience, the hole accessories of Crocs have also become popular. On Xiaohongshu, there are many related outfit content. On Taobao, there are related merchants who only sell Crocs accessories, with prices ranging from one yuan to dozens of yuan, and various styles.

Image source: Taobao

However, despite the huge increase in sales, the material of Crocs is very easy to get caught in the escalator, causing safety problems. In addition, the price of the basic Crocs Crocs is 300-400 yuan, which is enough to make people astonished.

3. Music festivals are fading, and summer travel is heating up

Last year, Clour closely followed the explosion of music festivals, and in 2023, more brands and IPs saw the commercial value of music festivals.

The trend of "going to a city for a music festival" has also made local cultural tourism companies eye the music festival pie and increase their investment in music festivals. With the increasing number of music festivals, music festivals that were originally held on the outskirts of large cities are now extending to third-tier cities and even county towns, and the music festival economy is also spreading to the surrounding areas.

Compared with last year's outbreak, this year's music festivals are returning to normal and have cooled down.

In fact, music performances have gradually started in various places since March and April this year. According to incomplete statistics, several mature music festival IPs have emerged, such as Bubble Island and New Youth.

Influenced by the popularity of the music festival, Douyin anchor Xiao Yangge prepared the DXYG-VAC electronic music festival in May this year, invested 50 million yuan, and invited electronic music influencers Marshmello, Anyma, stars Li Chen, Chen Haomin and other celebrities, trying to rely on the popularity of the electronic music festival to promote and attract traffic for its own brands.

However, as the number of music festivals gradually increased, many problems were also exposed by the organizers.

On Xiaohongshu, there are endless posts about #avoidingmusicfestivals, with expensive tickets, remote locations, zoned ticket sales, and insufficient staff training being common.

In addition to the consumer experience, what is even more fatal is that as the value of popular artists continues to rise, the costs of organizers are also gradually soaring. After many organizers confirmed the dates of the music festivals, they canceled them due to "force majeure".

Taizhou Feilong Lake Midi Music Festival, Wenzhou Star Nest Secret Music Festival, Wuxi Jiulongwan Music Festival have all been postponed due to "force majeure"...

According to data from Southern Metropolis Daily, there were nearly 50 music festivals of all sizes across the country during the May Day holiday last year, but this year the number of music festivals was reduced to 30, a significant decrease.

We don’t know the specific reasons for the postponement or cancellation of these music festivals. The reduction in the number of music festivals reflects the ticket sales situation to a certain extent.

While the summer music festivals are cooling down slightly, cultural tourism in various places is rapidly heating up during the summer vacation.

On Xiaohongshu, there are many posts about travel tips and help requests for Beijing, ranging from special forces to Buddhist travel, from budget travel to luxury travel.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

The popularity of the short video template "Why do you insist on going to Beijing? Who is in Beijing?" proves the current popularity of cultural tourism. Not only Beijing, but also other cities such as Shanxi, Chongqing, and Chengdu have also appeared in this video template.

According to Ctrip data, the domestic and outbound tourism markets maintained steady growth this summer, with searches for domestic hotels and air tickets increasing simultaneously.

In fact, for culture and tourism, seasonal economy has always existed objectively.

For example, Harbin, the ice city that was very popular last winter, took advantage of the seasonal ice and snow to provide full services, and combined content platforms for dissemination, ultimately achieving a phenomenal breakthrough.

Since the beginning of this year, more and more places have become popular through short videos and short dramas. "Wang Po" made Kaifeng, Henan popular, Guo Youcai attracted a large number of traffic to Heze, Shandong, and the healing short drama "My Altay" made more people see Altay...

But for local places, traffic is only the first step. Ultimately, they still have to retain people, make money through word of mouth, and become popular through service.

As for this summer, whether there will be tourist destinations that become popular by relying on content platforms, and whether new unpopular products will become popular, it is worth continuing to pay attention.

Reference articles:

1.2024 Sun Protection Clothing Consumption Trend Insights | EN Data

Author: TopKlout

Source: WeChat public account "TopKlout (ID: TopKlout)"