Young people who are eager to be poor are promoting the "stingy economy"

Last week, a live broadcast by a certain anchor went viral on the Internet because of a 79-yuan eyebrow pencil. When he accused workers of "not working hard to make money", he was unaware that this generation of young people has already regarded "being poor" as their ideal. Under such circumstances, many unpopular businesses unexpectedly "resurrected".

The heat surrounding the Li Jiaqi incident has not yet dissipated, and many brands have also "taken advantage of the situation" to launch low-priced sets. For example, Fenghua, which is known for its cheapness, launched a 79-yuan shampoo and conditioner set, which directly attracted traffic and sold more than 25 million in 94 hours of live broadcast.

Although some people think that this move is suspected of riding on the popularity, there is no doubt that low prices are indeed a current necessity and are particularly easy to please young people.

There are many ways in which this generation of young people is "stingy".

Some netizens have found that "young people nowadays don't change their phones but their phone cases" and they also love to shop for advice (just browsing but not buying). In fast food restaurants, workers with computers on their backs often shout at the counter for a "poor man's meal" (the meal with the most favorable discount offered by the merchant).

They also openly admit that they are stingy.

On major social media platforms, there is a hot topic: "How to eat a full day with one dollar?" Netizens are competing to show off their "money-saving methods". Some people divide a handful of mung beans into three portions, and eat mung bean rice in the morning, mung bean soup at noon, mung bean ice cream in the evening, and a big steamed bun with water for a day...

Last year, young people's stinginess boosted many businesses, such as the 100 billion yuan market for expiring food and sports brand Decathlon. This year, the trend has only intensified, with many people directly saying that they are saving money "in revenge" and want to be "extremely vicious" money savers.

This has also helped major social platforms find the secret code for traffic. The number of money-saving bloggers has not only increased dramatically, but also been divided into different categories. For example, one category focuses on psychology, interpreting how great it is to live a minimalist life from various perspectives such as psychology, economics, and philosophy. Another category is the practical category, collecting daily discount promotion information and "freebie" activities from local businesses. There are no less than a hundred posts a day, covering all aspects of food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

The traffic of these posts is also very good, and it is common for a single post to receive more than 10,000 likes. Netizens are even more enthusiastic in participating in the interaction, and the number of comments can easily reach hundreds.

Some netizens joked, "Now we should sell luxury goods to the elderly and sell street goods to young people." In 2023, this "reverse consumption" of young people has brought a new round of business in food, clothing, housing and transportation, and even brought many unpopular businesses back to life.

1. What you eat: community canteens, snack discount stores, and leftover blind box mini programs

No matter how stingy you are, you cannot skip meals, but you should use the least money to eat the healthiest meals. This is Mo Mo's dietary philosophy.

As a migrant worker in Shanghai, Mo Mo works in the design field. He calls himself a fashion expert, but recently he has fallen in love with the community canteen and often queues up with grandpas and aunts to "grab meals."

"Vegetarian dishes are less than 10 yuan, meat dishes are 20 yuan per portion, a large portion of scrambled eggs with tomatoes is only 8 yuan, and you can even have a small hot pot for 30 yuan." This price is cheaper than cooking at home, and Mo Mo is very satisfied.

Low prices alone are not enough to impress Mo Mo, he also pursues "health". This makes the community canteen more in line with his appetite, "Many takeaways and restaurants have pre-prepared dishes, which are mediocre in nutrition and taste, but community canteens mainly serve the elderly, at least the ingredients are guaranteed to be fresh and taste good."

Community canteens are not a new business that has emerged this year. In October last year, a number of community canteens sprang up under the support of policies. However, at the beginning of this year, some of them closed down due to cost issues.

Now the situation has changed again. Driven by young people, community canteens have become Internet celebrity restaurants. Many bloggers are rushing to check in, and the restaurants are showing signs of becoming extremely popular.

Zhou Zhou, a community canteen operator, said that her community canteen has been open for more than five months and has made good profits, with monthly turnover of 250,000 to 400,000 yuan and a gross profit margin of about 35% . During the trial operation for a week, the daily turnover exceeded 10,000 yuan, and at least 1,000 orders were placed per day. She showed a photo to Dingjiao, and when there were many people, the queue could be more than 200 meters long.

The reason why there are so many people is mainly because the price is low and a lot of coupons are issued.

Her dishes are priced at 13-17 yuan, which is lower than most local fast food restaurants. She explained that the community canteen enjoys government subsidies for rent, decoration, and meal expenses. The local government also provides good support, such as issuing canteen coupons to community residents.

She also spent a lot of time on choosing the location. There are five residential areas around it, which ensures the flow of customers. She also changed the consumer profile - targeting young people. Zhou Zhou said, " Although it is called a community canteen, it cannot be expected that the elderly will consume. More than 70% of the customers in the store are young people. "

In addition to three meals, snacks are also essential. The cheap hard-core snack discount store can help many young people satisfy their cravings, which made it popular for a while last year, and this year the business is still booming.

According to relevant media reports, the average total investment of some leading snack discount stores is about 500,000-700,000 yuan per store, and the gross profit margin remains at around 20%. The capital market also favors them. This year, Zhao Yiming Snacks completed a 150 million yuan A round of financing, and Youming Snacks completed a B+ round of financing.

"There are a wide variety of products, and the prices are very good, many of them are sold at 10% off." Lala, born in the 2000s, compared this kind of snack discount store to "offline Pinduoduo". "Many big-name snacks are only two or three yuan, just like they are given away for free." She would go shopping with her girlfriends every week. "Rich people emptied out Sam's Club, and we emptied out the snack discount store. There are so many customers in the store that we have to wait in line for more than 20 minutes every time to pay."

There is still a lot of room for imagination in the market for hardcore snack discount stores. Data shows that by the end of 2022, the number of snack collection stores (snack discount stores) will exceed 13,000. Huachuang Securities estimates that by 2025, this number may reach 30,000.

An investor said that a snack discount store he invested in had made three times the profit on paper.

He divides the snack discount stores on the market into two categories. There are leading players, such as Snacks Youming, Snacks Henmang, Zhao Yiming Snacks, Laiyoupin, etc. They are in the 2.0 stage, have already had a certain market, and are constantly expanding their scale and grabbing land through franchising. At the same time, a large number of small and medium-sized players are also eager to try. They are in the 1.0 stage, that is, to create a standardized store model that can be quickly replicated.

"The iterative upgrades of many players will make this market more mature," he said.

Also targeting young people’s love of low-priced food, there are some mini-programs that sell “leftover blind boxes”. In Denmark, it is called “Too Good to Go”.

"Hello, I'm here to get my magic bag." Tiantian, who loves bread, heard that many dessert shops are selling blind boxes of bread, where one can buy a lot of delicious bread at a low price. So out of curiosity, she placed an order on the Xishi Magic Bag mini program early in the morning.

After get off work, she went to the store to get her "blind box" back and found that the bag contained four kinds of food, including fried dough twist and cheese bread. She was very happy. "It was the first time I felt the thrill of opening a blind box by buying bread, and I only spent 12 yuan to buy a bread worth 30 yuan." She filmed the process and posted it online, gaining many fans.

This mini program focuses on the concept of saving food, and merchants will sell the unsold desserts of the day to consumers in the form of blind boxes at a low price. If consumers want to receive this blind box, they must place an order on the mini program in advance on the same day, and then go to the store to pick it up at the time set by the merchant in the evening.

Because of the low price and blind box gameplay, young people are very enthusiastic about buying. Many netizens said that they rushed to a store for two consecutive days, but they were sold out in seconds. " It's impossible to get it. The Internet speed and hand speed are not bad, and even a bit of luck is needed. "

Nowadays, there are many small programs that sell blind boxes of leftovers similar to the magic bag of Xishi, including interesting small bags, PACK-AGE, rice box, DZZ, etc. They were all launched in the past two years, targeting the psychology of young people who "want to eat and play even if they are stingy".

In comparison, Xishi Magic Bag is one of the best, covering the most cities. According to media reports, Xishi Magic Bag, which started in Changsha, has covered 32 cities including Hunan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, with more than 300 cooperative merchants and reaching more than 30 million people. Today, it is still expanding, posting recruitment posts across the country, involving various positions such as operations, business, and customer service.

2. Daily activities: visiting clothing stores for middle-aged and elderly people, dressing in a poor style, and traveling with the young people in their twilight years.

In addition to food, young people are also thinking about saving money on clothing.

Sisi is 26 years old. She said that although she works longer and longer each year, she is getting more and more stingy when buying clothes. "I have no choice. My salary has not increased, but I still have to buy clothes. So I go to some cheap stores." So she began to observe her mother.

Under her mother's guidance, she frequently browsed middle-aged and elderly women's clothing stores online. She did get a taste of success, spending 100 yuan to buy a pair of winter pants at a middle-aged and elderly discount store. Sisi was so happy, " If I change to other popular online stores, I can spend at least 300 to 500 yuan. "

"Autumn is here, and I decided to buy the pants I will wear this fall and winter at clothing stores for middle-aged and elderly people," said Sisi.

Sisi is not the only one who has had a similar experience. Xiaolan, who graduated two years ago, has gained weight recently. However, many brands are making clothes in small sizes, and she can hardly wear even XL. So she walked into a clothing store for the middle-aged and elderly.

"Not only is it cheap and comfortable, it doesn't make me look old at all, and it even has a bit of Chinese retro style." Xiao Lan was very surprised. "The auntie who sold me the clothes was very enthusiastic and kept praising my good figure." Xiao Lan was very happy with this shopping experience.

She bought five pieces at once, more than her mother did, including sweaters, knitted sweaters, and Chanel-style jackets, all priced between 50 and 60 yuan . What made her even happier was that she didn't have to worry about having the same clothes as others, as she didn't find a single piece of the same style online.

Cheap, comfortable, good-looking, and no duplication of clothes, these are the four principles of buying clothes summarized by several young people on "Focus", which has also made clothing stores for middle-aged and elderly people a new favorite among young people.

Xiao Xiao, a shop owner born after 1985, told Dingjiao that he used to be a software system engineer. After being laid off last year, he returned to his hometown from a big city and started selling women's clothing for middle-aged and elderly people. "Offline clothing stores for middle-aged and elderly people sell better than those for young people. In addition, the rent in third-tier cities is not high. Now the gross profit of the store is about 500 yuan a day. "

Xiao Xiao said that this year, many young people did come to the store to shop, and many people placed orders. Compared with the elderly, young people are not too willing to bargain and pay quickly. However, he also emphasized that the majority of customers in the store are middle-aged and elderly.

In addition to clothing stores for middle-aged and elderly people, warehouse-style brand clothing discount stores such as the relatively affordable UNIQLO and BIGOFFS have also become much more popular recently. The stinginess of young people has also brought about a new trend - the "no money trend".

The clothing is mainly old and worn, with large holes and oil stains. Some netizens joked, "Putting it on will make you look poor and destitute, and even beggars will shake their heads when they see it."

But because the style as a whole conveys an unfettered, imperfect youthful attitude, it has replaced the old money style (elegant, low-key, textured, and unobtrusive nobility) and quickly became popular among young people.

One netizen said that after putting on this kind of clothes, he felt like "the poor, wild, but very attractive girl in American TV series."

However, although this style is in line with the "poor and real" mentality of today's young people, the price is not cheap. The representative brand Demobaza charges 1,224 yuan for one sleeve.

Offline tourism has recovered rapidly this year, and "you have to travel, but you have to spend the least money" has become a famous saying for many young people. They began to "take action" on elderly travel groups.

The first advantage of this type of tour is that it is cheap. Netizens said that if you drive yourself to the same scenic spot, the ticket and transportation fee will cost less than 2,000 yuan, but if you follow the elderly tour group, it will cost less than 800 yuan.

Secondly, the uncles and aunts along the way were particularly enthusiastic. Since he was the same age as their children and even grandchildren, he was fed by the "parents" all the way, and the aunts kept introducing him to potential partners.

Nowadays, various posts seeking to join senior citizen groups are popping up on major social networking platforms, and many businesses have stated that they have specially opened a "Sunset Senior Citizen Group" this year.

However, Dingjiao consulted several travel agencies, and they all said that there were no such special tour groups for the elderly. One store owner explained, "Generally, only shopping tours have age settings."

Several netizens who have participated in elderly tour groups also said that there are two ways to join, either through parents offline, which is basically a shopping tour. "Either there is a minimum consumption in the local area, or they take tourists to the store to shop. In short, this kind of 'travel agency' will not do business at a loss." An industry insider told "Dingjiao". Another type is ordinary group buying, but it just happens that there are more middle-aged and elderly people.

3. Young people are more stingy, but the "stingy economy" has not yet exploded

How stingy are today's young people?

Tiantian, who lives in a first-tier city, used to be a star-chaser. Not only was she a moonlighter, she also opened several credit cards. But now, she has completely changed and has a comprehensive theory of saving money.

When it comes to food, she insists on cooking for herself, does not drink milk tea or coffee, goes to the supermarket at night to buy discounted vegetables and brings her own shopping bags; she restrains her impulse to buy, sets a shopping cool-off period, and considers buying non-essential items with a price of more than 1,000 yuan for half a year; she always brings a power bank when going out, and chooses to walk or ride a shared bicycle within three kilometers.

Compared with Tiantian, Sisi, a young man from a small town who has no hobbies, is even more stingy. She has a car, a house, and a stable job. Sisi earns less than 2,000 yuan a month and saved 20,000 yuan last year. Even her parents can't stand her stinginess.

She doesn’t buy things that can be avoided. She only buys leftovers of bread, which costs 2 yuan for a large bag. She sells unused items on second-hand platforms. Her room is almost as empty as a model room. She buys clothes and daily necessities on 1688 and Pinduoduo. She also compares prices when buying tissues. She calculates how many tissues are in a pack, how many layers each sheet has, and how much it costs in total. She only places an order after calculating which store is more cost-effective. She also prepared a small notebook with various money-saving strategies.

The "2023 Young People's Savings Report" previously released by Houlang Research Institute pointed out that more than 40% of young people have the habit of keeping accounts, and more and more young people are beginning to break away from the trap of consumerism and save money through various forms such as group buying and full discounts. Even one out of every five young people who save money does not eat.

Survey data from the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily shows that the consumption outlook of more than 80% of the young people interviewed has changed. They have a stronger sense of saving money, less impulsive consumption, and only buy useful things. They consume in a restrained and planned manner.

The change in young people's lifestyle has also spawned new business opportunities. In addition to the "food, clothing and entertainment" mentioned above, outlet shopping malls that focus on famous brands + discounts have become popular this year. Second-hand platforms such as Xianyu, Zhuanzhuan, and Aihuishou have also staged a "Three Kingdoms Killing" due to their busy business. MINISO, which focuses on cost-effectiveness, has become more and more powerful. This year, it opened a store in New York's Times Square. The first-day turnover exceeded 550,000 yuan, breaking the global store single-day sales record.

However, it is still unclear how long these business opportunities, fueled by the "stinginess" of young people, can last. This is a consensus view held by practitioners and investors.

For example, in the competitive snack discount stores, although the market demand is not low, the barriers to entry are not high because these stores compete mainly on low prices. A franchisee said that currently the merchants have been divided into three states: some of those who entered the market earlier are doing well, some have only earned the second year's rent, and some have closed down at a loss.

Running a clothing store for middle-aged and elderly people is not easy either. “The goods here are of good quality and low price, so the profit is not high,” said Xiao Xiao, the owner. Moreover, this type of store has high service requirements. “If the salesperson is not proactive and enthusiastic enough, customers generally won’t buy,” Xiao Xiao said.

The seemingly cost-effective blind box of leftovers has also had many problems. What makes people most dissatisfied is that the production date is not marked. One netizen said that he bought a blind box bread, but it had gone sour the next day. Some consumers also reported that the merchants were deceiving, "the blind box food was made smaller than the actual sales volume, or the bread was replaced without permission." An investor believes that this kind of app has many supply chain problems and cannot be expanded. In the end, it can only be an Internet celebrity product.

It is not easy for a busy community canteen to achieve a balance between income and expenditure. "Government subsidies, low procurement costs, and high sales are the three major conditions that cannot be missing. If one is missing, it is easy to lose money." said an operator who closed his shop this year. Zhou Zhou also admitted that although his canteen can make a profit, most community canteens in the market are still very dependent on subsidies.

As more and more young people try out senior tours, many people are trying to avoid pitfalls and discourage them, such as "special forces are too tired to travel" and "old people eat faster than young people, and the food is gone as soon as you pick up your chopsticks." In addition, many senior tours have age restrictions and do not allow young people to join.

Cai Cai said that although a senior citizen tour group allowed her to sign up, the "tour guide" told her in advance that they would recommend products to the elderly on the way and hoped that she would not talk too much.

All these have made investors wait and see. More than one investor told Dingjiao that although they will follow the reverse consumption trend of young people and look for some projects, such as looking for the second Mixue Bingcheng in affordable snacks and teas, they will not act blindly at present.

"There are not many opportunities in the consumer sector now. The things that are popular recently are not new. Whether it is a community canteen or a second-hand platform like Xianyu, although there is a market, there is no opportunity for an explosion. We need to select some projects with high net profits and large scale. Net profits are related to operational efficiency and supply chain capabilities. It is not the case that brands that are familiar to the public will have better profits. There are really not many projects that can be invested in at present." An investor emphasized that they will pay more attention to the consumer + technology track and make some forward-looking predictions. What changes will be the major trends in the future are what they should focus on.

* At the request of the interviewees, Sisi, Xiaoxiao and Zhouzhou are pseudonyms in this article.

Author: Xingxing, Editor: Fang Zhanbo

Source: Dingjiaoone (ID: dingjiaoone), deeply influencing innovation.