Millions of young people who are trying to be poor are being "harvested" by the 9.9 yuan meal package

Unconsciously, the trend of "poor man's meal" is getting stronger and stronger. Behind the popularity of "poor man's meal", we can see that the overall trend of consumers seeking cost-effectiveness is gradually increasing. Why is this? Let's take a look at the reasons analyzed in this article.

The trend of "poor guy's meal" is getting stronger and stronger.

If your impression of the "poor man's meal" is still stuck on McDonald's "1+1" or KFC's "Crazy Thursday", you may be out of date.

Today’s “poor man’s meal” is often “breakfast buffet for 3 yuan”, “free bibimbap for 4 yuan”, and “all-you-can-eat for 9.9 yuan”. Even Sam’s Club, which is considered to be a middle-class restaurant, has become a hot search with its “poor man’s three-piece meal”, i.e. 1.59kg eggs for 21.9 yuan, 7-pack plain bagels for 23.9 yuan, and 16-pack Swiss rolls for 59.8 yuan.

Overnight, all kinds of brands and businesses seemed to have joined the melee of the "poor guy's meal", and more and more people have fallen in love with this cost-effective way of eating.

According to the data tool "Xinhong" of Xiaohongshu under Xinbang, in the second half of last year (June 1, 2023-December 1, 2023), the average number of likes per day for the "poor ghost package" notes on Xiaohongshu was 2,366, and the average number of likes per day from the beginning of 2024 to mid-March reached 5,799. Especially in the past half month, the average number of likes per day for the notes has soared to 8,265, a four-fold increase compared to last year.

Some netizens not only experienced the benefits of the "poor ghost package", but also shared the experience of various "poor ghost packages" through the traffic influence of the Internet, promoted and brought goods, and successfully made money, thus achieving a win-win situation with the merchants.

Why is the “poor man’s meal” so popular? Which brands have made money from this wave of traffic? And what trends does this wave of popularity reflect?

1. Young people who earn 30,000 yuan a month but are reluctant to spend 25 yuan on food are eyeing the "poor man's meal"

Not long ago, a programmer said on the workplace software Maimai that "my monthly salary is more than 30,000 yuan, but I can't bear to eat a 25 yuan meal at noon", which sparked a lot of discussion and resonance.

Immediately, the topic #30,000 yuan a month but reluctant to spend 25 yuan on food# became a hot search on Weibo, with millions of netizens watching. In the comment section, some people advised that life is short and there is no need to be too stingy with oneself, while many people also felt the same way: a 25 yuan box lunch is indeed too luxurious.

It is difficult to reach a consensus on whether a meal of 25 yuan is expensive. However, the large number of empathetic experiences under this topic have become the audience base of the "poor man's meal".

We traced back to social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo, and WeChat, and found that the term "poor ghost meal" began to appear frequently in 2022. It is unknown who first proposed it. However, since it entered the public eye, the "poor ghost meal" has been firmly associated with Western fast food such as McDonald's and KFC.

McDonald’s $13.9 whatever you want combo is one of the most typical examples of the “poor man’s combo”. Consumers can buy a combination of two designated products, usually a hamburger main course and a drink or dessert, which is very popular.

Some netizens have compiled a list of ways to eat a "weekly pauper meal," which is basically supported by these Western fast food discounts:

1. McDonald's Monday 13.9 yuan free order
2. Buy One Get One Free Tuesday in Tustin
3. Burger King's $9.9 meal on Wednesday
4. KFC Crazy Thursday
5. Wallace buy one get one free on Friday

Soon, netizens who had tasted the sweetness of the "poor ghost meal" were no longer satisfied with these Western fast food combinations. They began to study more "poor ghost" models of catering brands or supermarkets, trying to find an economic model to eat more affordable meals with less money, and share it with more people through the Internet.

As of now, the topic #PoorGhostPackage# on Douyin has been played more than 800 million times.

We used the Douyin data tool Xindou under Xinbang to pull the videos related to "poor ghost meal" on Douyin in the past year (March 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024), sorted them according to the number of likes, and found that there are three main types of content:

One is to make an inventory and summary of those "poor ghost packages" online and offline . For example, "Little Smart Zhang Jianguo" compiled "the most complete poor ghost packages on the entire network" in the form of animation, and the video received 297,000 likes;

The second is to test the store challenges of the "poor guy's meal" , such as going to Walmart Sam's Club to get bargains, eating at Haidilao for 100 yuan, etc. The account "Crazy Eating Sisters Group" posted a video of the "poor guy" challenging Haidilao, which received 193,000 likes;

Another way is to copy the recipe of the "poor guy's meal" by yourself. Among the 10 videos with the highest number of likes, 4 are related to making bibimbap at home at a low cost. The account "Azai Fast Food Cuisine" teaches netizens how to make "poor guy's" bibimbap at a cost of 4 yuan, which has received 1.471 million likes.

Speaking of bibimbap, it is also a popular option that cannot be avoided in the "poor man's set meal". You can spend a few yuan to make it at home, and there are cheap and affordable shops such as Micun bibimbap outside. Netizens have also found a hidden 3 yuan self-service method for eating Micun bibimbap, that is, order a bowl of rice for 3 yuan, and you can have unlimited refills, with free kelp soup and kimchi, and you will be full and happy.

Similar "poor man's meal" guides are quite popular on guide platforms such as Xiaohongshu. A popular "Micun Bibimbap Poor Man's Meal" note can receive more than 14,000 likes.

According to Xinhong data, there were more than 70,000 notes related to the "poor ghost meal" on Xiaohongshu in the past year. We selected the 10 most popular ones and found that most of them were related to offline store exploration strategies.

For example, the “Haidilao Poor Man’s 8-piece Set” shared by “Sad Piglet Pot” received more than 127,000 note interactions; “Shanghai Girl” shared a guide to living as a “poor man” in Shanghai, teaching migrant workers living in Shanghai how to enjoy a cost-effective life, with more than 70,000 note interactions.

The Internet has further promoted the spread of the "poor man's meal package". After keen brands caught on to this, they have launched their own "poor man's meal packages" to cater to this wave of consumption trends.

Tea and coffee brands such as Luckin Coffee and Kudi have been engaged in a commercial war of 9.9 and 8.8 yuan over the past year. Brands such as Nayuki and Heytea have also lowered the price of milk tea to around 10 yuan, with a European bread and a cup of milk tea costing only 9.9 yuan.

While Western fast food is thriving in the field of "poor man's meal", some Chinese catering businesses can't sit still: Lao Xiang Ji has launched a meal that includes two dishes and a rice for 14.9 yuan, and Nanchengxiang has even launched a 3 yuan breakfast buffet in Beijing, with unlimited 7 kinds of breakfast including porridge, milk, soy milk, etc.

2. Mining the “poor guy’s meal”, with sales exceeding 10 million yuan in one live broadcast

The popularity of the "Poor Man's Meal" is not only due to the spontaneous promotion of netizens, but also related to the promotion of platforms such as Meituan, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu.

You should know that the "poor guy's package" is in the local life track that all platforms have to compete for in the past two years. The platform has also made great efforts to promote preferential group purchase packages to attract users.

Chen Hongbo, founder of Hongcan.com, said that the catering industry is ushering in the "Pinduoduo era". He analyzed the three main reasons behind the prevalence of low-price group buying: first, the influence of the overall consumption environment; second, the intensified competition in the catering industry; and third, the promotion of online platforms, which amplifies the dissemination effect of low-price group buying products.

Many brands have also set their sights on the platform’s dividends and have taken the initiative to promote or broadcast online using the keyword “poor guy’s package”.

Xinhong data shows that the brand with the most notes related to "Poor Man's Meal" on Xiaohongshu in the past year was McDonald's, followed by KFC, Hodo, Burger King, Tustin, Pizza Hut and other brands.

Moreover, among each brand-associated note, there is a portion of commercial cooperation content that the brand actively launches.

Promotional content alone is not enough. Many brands have put their "poor guy's meal packages" on group buying platforms such as Douyin and Meituan, and directly converted them into sales through short videos or live broadcasts.

For example, KFC launched a two-piece set of "Cheese Chicken Panini + Americano" on Douyin, priced at 9.9 yuan. So far, 1 million sets have been sold, with sales exceeding 9.9 million yuan. Recently, Douyin has also offered special subsidies, and the price of the set meal is not even 9.9 yuan, but only 4.9 yuan.

The "poor man's meal" is also a "weapon" for merchants to attract traffic to their live broadcast rooms. Some brands will give out coupons for ice cream and other snacks worth 1 yuan or even 0.1 yuan on top of the discounted meal to attract users through live broadcasts.

Taking McDonald's, which is most closely tied to the "Poor Man's Meal", as an example, its live broadcast cooperation with "Special Ulala", a Douyin store explorer with millions of fans, generated sales of more than 15 million yuan in a single session.

A total of 29 group-buying products were put on the market during the entire live broadcast, and there were four links for 9.9 yuan, including platinum series coffee, a combination of ham and steak + freshly brewed coffee, and a Big Mac meal for 19.9 yuan.

Screenshot from Xindou

McDonald's took the initiative to lower its prices, which netizens liked and were willing to pay for.

New Douyin data shows that in the past year, McDonald’s Douyin live broadcasts had 18 single sales exceeding 5 million yuan, and 281 live broadcasts had sales exceeding 1 million yuan.

Screenshot from Xindou

This is a win-win business for all parties. Low-price group buying has driven the rapid growth of the platform's local life business, and the influencers who bring goods have earned commission income.

Data shows that in 2023, the total transaction volume of Douyin's life services increased by 256%, and more than 4.5 million stores achieved business growth; Meituan also achieved a monthly GMV of more than 2 billion yuan driven by live streaming.

"Tech Planet" reported that a local lifestyle expert with 200,000 fans sold group purchase packages with a GMV of 2 million yuan in one month. Based on a 5% commission and a 50% write-off rate, he could earn 50,000 yuan a month from commissions.

3. When low prices become the trend, is the “poor guy’s package” the best solution to seize the market?

It is undeniable that the emergence of the "poor man's package" has won larger market and traffic for many brands and businesses.

For example, Saizeriya, an affordable Western restaurant known as the "Italian Shaxian", saw its sales in the Chinese market increase by 26.5% and its operating profit increase by 56.3% from September to November 2023.

Micun Bibimbap, known as the "McDonald's of Northeast China", has become the second Chinese restaurant chain brand after Lao Xiang Ji to have a scale of 1,000 stores due to its extremely high cost-effectiveness.

KFC has once again become the top Western fast food chain thanks to its "Crazy Thursday" campaign; McDonald's now has more than 200 million private members, thanks in large part to the support of its "1+1" poor man's meal package.

For many brands, offering low-priced packages is the current solution to increase business.

Wang Guoyu, the founder of Nanchengxiang, which launched the 3 yuan breakfast buffet, once said in an interview that after the 3 yuan buffet breakfast went online, the turnover increased from 5,000 yuan per day to 10,000 yuan, while the cost did not increase much. A handful of rice makes a pot of porridge, and the more you cook, the lower the cost.

Behind the popularity of the "Poor Man's Meal" is the overall trend of consumers seeking value for money and buying high-quality products at more favorable prices.

The "poor guy's meal" is not an isolated phenomenon. In the past one or two years, "leftover blind boxes" after 8 o'clock every night, discount supermarkets focusing on special offers, and various Pinduoduo or 1688's same-factory substitutes have all been hot topics on the Internet and have been sought after.

There are also Northeastern buffet lunch boxes that focus on cost-effectiveness, which are 10 yuan per portion and can be eaten all you can eat, which has attracted many internet celebrities to check in and review.

But there are also views that consumers essentially like not only the price-performance ratio, but also the quality-price ratio.

Take the "Sam's Poor Man's Meal" that has just been on the hot search as an example. To purchase Sam's products, you must spend 260 yuan to become a member, and compared with the market price, items such as eggs in the "Poor Man's Meal" are not considered cheap.

Xin Rong Ji Restaurant, where the per capita cost is over 1,000 yuan, also has a popular "poor man's set meal" guide on the Internet, which teaches netizens how to eat Xin Rong Ji's special dishes with a per capita cost of 300-400 yuan. Although 300-400 yuan per capita is not cheap compared to most restaurants, many netizens think it is worth it based on the quality of Xin Rong Ji.

Therefore, some people say that the real idea behind the "poor man's meal" is, "You can buy expensive things, but not too expensive."

After all, low-priced dining is nothing new. Low price and quality are the magic weapon to break through the current price involution.

However, an interesting phenomenon is that although everyone knows about the "Poor Man's Meal" and often makes fun of it, very few brands directly advertise that they have launched the "Poor Man's Meal", and there is no single product called the "Poor Man's Meal" in the live broadcast room.

Not long ago, a McDonald's staff member called the "1+1" meal a "poor guy's meal" in the circle of friends, which caused controversy. The attitude of netizens was: We can make fun of ourselves, but there is no need for the official to play with memes.

One comment said: "Those who take my money cannot call me a poor devil."

From this point of view, the "poor guy's meal" is indeed one of the solutions to the current "gold-digging" consumer market, but it is also a double-edged sword. It is not enough to just offer a low price. How to gain market share and reputation? For many brands, they still need to "plan before acting."

Author: Truffle

Source: WeChat public account: Newrank (ID: newrankcn)