"Ugly things" are popular, Yiwu merchants sell 100,000 in one day, ranking first in the category

This article will take you to find out why "ugly things" have become the new favorite of young people, and even become popular on e-commerce platforms, with an amazing performance of 100,000 sold in one day. From the popularity of ugly cat-shaped pillows, we can gain insight into the consumption psychology and social needs of young people, and reveal how merchants grasp the pulse of the market and create sales miracles.

"Is it guaranteed to be ugly? If it's not ugly, I don't want it!" Zhang Kaiyin, a home textile customization merchant, blinked his eyes, thinking he had seen it wrong. "This is the first time I've heard a customer make such a request, specifically asking for the pillow to be ugly enough."

The product that confused the merchants was a new "social currency" that has been very popular among young people recently: the ugly cat-shaped pillow. Netizens posted photos of ugly cat pillows in various poses, some of which were even described as "infinitely ugly and inhumane". The uglier they were, the more addictive they were.

"Tianxia Online Business" found that many merchants on the e-commerce platform have made their first pot of gold by selling ugly cat pillows. Among them, Zhang Kaiyin's Yanjia Home Products flagship store has sold more than 40,000 orders of the alien cat pillow link. With this link with sales exceeding one million, the store once rushed to the top of the sub-category, and even the "pet pillow without white edges" was on Taobao's hot search.

"Ugly things" are naturally topical, which can drive netizens to share and spread, and arouse public interest. This enthusiasm can be seen from the ugly things competition held by Taobao every year. Among the well-known "ugly things" on the list, the green frog spoon, the salt-baked chicken coffee cup, the emperor's umbrella, etc., everyone's discussion is very hot. On the other hand, most of the people who customize these special-shaped pillows are pet owners, and the popularity of the products is also one of the manifestations of the prosperity of the pet economy.

Recently, this new trend product is developing in the direction of "human-shaped pillows". Regardless of whether the finished product looks like a real person, as long as the buyer gets surprise and full emotional value at the moment of receiving the product, such "ugly things" have meaning.

01 The merchant achieved sales of 100,000 yuan a day and ranked first in the sub-category

The ugly cat pillows posted by netizens are so ugly and abstract that some have long tails and are commented as "looking like large intestines"; some have limbs of different lengths and are commented as "looking like squids" and "even cats dislike them", etc. These "ugly things" have become new content creation materials for netizens, and have been repeatedly fermented and popularized on social platforms.

Many merchants confessed that when they first received such orders, they would "persuade with kind words", but the buyers still insisted, and even said "harsh words", "If it's not ugly enough, I will give you a bad review." Helplessly, the merchants could only accept the orders, and the products they made "even they couldn't stand to look at." Unexpectedly, these "ugly things" received various good reviews in the hands of buyers.

Zhang Kaiyin, born in the 1990s, has witnessed the ups and downs of the consumption craze for ugly cat pillows.

He is from Henan Province. He came to Yiwu, Zhejiang Province more than 20 years ago and worked in a home textile factory. More than 10 years ago, he started his own business and opened a factory, supplying local merchants and taking some foreign trade orders. Currently, his annual sales exceed 10 million.

At the end of 2019, Zhang Kaiyin shifted the focus of his home textile business to the domestic market and built online channels to increase sales. That’s when the Tmall store was opened. The online store focuses on customization, and 100% of the orders are from customers, mainly home textile products such as pillows and cushions.

At first, Zhang Kaiyin saw users sharing ugly cat pillows on Xiaohongshu, Douyin and other channels. The topic was very popular and there was a strong desire to discuss it. In the comments, everyone was asking for a link. He judged that he could also make this product, so he put the link of the ugly cat pillow on the shelves at the end of April. It suddenly became popular during the May Day holiday.

Normally, the number of orders for custom pillows is 200-300. After the trend of cat-shaped pillows emerged, the number of orders doubled every day, and increased 10 times during the peak period to 2,000-3,000 orders. Based on this number of orders, the store's daily sales can reach 100,000 yuan.

Due to his years of experience in the industry, his store is relatively advanced in the sub-category of pillows and cushions, and has always been hovering at the tenth place. Recently, because of the alien cat pillows, the store directly rushed to the first place in the category. "I have been running the store for almost 5 years, and this is the first time I have won the first place."

02 Customer service is "staff-short", workers smile while pedaling sewing machines

In fact, there have always been special-shaped pillows, but they are mainly dolls and puppets, and the specifications are also common square, round, etc. Usually, the patterns that customers choose to customize are also more beautiful and do not exceed the scope of normal understanding. "We try to make it as beautiful as possible, and the special-shaped cat pillow really subverts my imagination."

Zhang Kaiyin introduced that the reason why the ugly cat pillow is ugly is because it has “no borders”. There is no white fabric to fill in the picture, and if the flat picture is directly made into a three-dimensional pillow, it will easily “become ugly out of shape”.

Because we have our own factory, the production side responds quickly, the production capacity is relatively high, the product production cycle is fast, and basically we can ship within 24 hours. "When I was doing foreign trade before, the order volume was always quite large, and it was no problem to make tens of thousands of products a day."

"The biggest problem is customer service." Since the special-shaped pillows are customized according to drawings, the initial communication is time-consuming. When the product first became popular, Zhang Kaiyin assigned 7 customer service staff, and each customer service staff had to reply to at least 200 inquiries per hour, which was simply too late. He went online to act as a customer service staff to take orders, and urgently recruited people, and configured the current 20-person customer service team, which can barely handle the peak number of inquiries.

After the order came in, nearly 200 employees in the factory worked together in three shifts to rush the work. For traditional custom orders, since the patterns and pillow specifications are unified, it doesn't take a lot of time and energy. However, each special-shaped cat pillow is unique. From the PS cutout and beautification of the picture to the transfer, cutting, sewing, and filling, each process tests everyone's technical level. "Some employees are laughing while pedaling the sewing machine, and they even customize one for their own cat when they have free time."

Zhang Kaiyin said that the guy who was in charge of shipping suffered the most during that period. Because every order was customized, with different pictures and products, he had to find the corresponding orders and products one by one, and then pack and ship them, just like the real version of "Connect the Dots". "He could only sleep four or five hours a day and worked non-stop for more than half a month."

From the background data, the customer group of the alien cat pillow was mainly cat owners in the early stage, and most of them were college students in the later stage, because the customized objects changed from cats to people. Most of the order pictures were a funny person photo taken casually, and the person sent it to say that he wanted to make a doll as a "gift" to the other party.

"I just received an order for a human-shaped pillow these two days. The buyer wants to make a pillow that is 1.8 meters tall and the size of a real person. It will be very spectacular."

03 Chasing the consumption trends of young people

"This is a popular product." Zhang Kaiyin believes that the life cycle of this product will not be very strong. After a month or two of popularity, the order volume will drop. "At present, the daily order volume of ugly cat pillows on the entire platform is about 1,000 to 2,000, far from the peak level of nearly 10,000."

His original clients were mainly on the B-end, such as real estate companies, car companies, program producers, and brand chain stores. Most buyers printed logos and QR codes on home textiles for brand promotion, with single orders ranging from hundreds to thousands. After opening an online store, he gradually accumulated a number of C-end buyers.

After experiencing this trend, he has a new understanding of young people and hot items. From being surprised at the beginning to being accustomed to it now, Zhang Kaiyin thinks that he was a little behind the times before, "Everyone has different preferences, aesthetic views and perspectives. And the popular things of each generation are also different."

"Tianxia Online Merchants" believes that the popularity of special-shaped pillows is due to many factors.

First of all, it is the innovation of the product. The production method without white edges has innovated the category of special-shaped pillows, bringing people a brand-new experience, which is different from ordinary pillows in both appearance and feel. This satisfies the curiosity of young people for new products, as well as the aesthetic sentiment of some people that "ugliness is beauty".

The second is the promotion of pet-raising consumer groups. According to the data of the "2023-2024 China Pet Industry White Paper (Consumer Report)", there will be about 120 million pet cats and dogs in China in 2023, making it the second largest pet market in the world. Pet-raising people have driven the booming pet economy. They treat their "furry children" like family members and customize exclusive products, such as pillows, to record wonderful moments. This action is just like a mother's willingness to customize her child's photos into an album, which is a form of expression of love.

Finally, social platforms have stimulated the fermentation of popularity. Young people are happy to share this kind of "ugly things" with great contrast and cuteness, which can gain more resonance and social interaction online. Especially when the "cat owner" holds the ugly cat pillow close to the "furry child", recording their different first reactions is simply a precious growth record. At the same time, merchants have done a lot of content seeding on various social platforms, which has accelerated the explosion of the category.

Although the order volume of alien cat pillows has declined at present, Zhang Kaiyin did not reduce the staff, but maintained the current team size. Because of the experience of this explosion, he is secretly planning a new hot-selling product, "observing the consumption trends of young people, finding the points of fit, and combining them with his own products in a timely manner."

"Tianxia Online Merchants" learned that merchants on 1688 have already received foreign trade orders for customized ugly cat pillows. Now, when merchants accept orders, they will confidently tell the other party, "Don't worry, it will be ugly!"