As the Qixi Festival approaches, what new consumption characteristics are emerging in Hangzhou's holiday gift market? Recently, reporters visited multiple flower and bird markets, chain supermarkets, and digital offline stores in the city and found that the popularity of traditional flower consumption has not decreased, and the overall market size is basically the same as last year; At the same time, technology trendy products such as micro single camera and AI smart glasses are rapidly becoming popular, and the sales of some categories have increased by more than 10 times compared with two years ago, becoming a new choice for young people to give gifts on Qixi Festival.

The overall flower market is stable, with single product weekly sales exceeding 2000 orders

In the fresh cut flower area of Fengqi Flower and Bird City in Zhejiang, as the festival approaches, the passenger flow has significantly increased compared to usual. Various merchants are busy stocking, trimming, and packaging, ushering in a phase of sales peak.

Ms. Liu, a staff member of Thousand Day Red Flowers, said that the overall situation of Qixi flower market this year was basically the same as last year, and red roses and white roses were still popular varieties in the market. "Every Qixi Festival and other special festivals, the demand for flowers will rise significantly, and the price will rise accordingly. We usually start stocking up three to five days in advance."

In the Central Asia Flower King store, several staff members are organizing flower materials in an orderly manner, with a continuous stream of self pickup and express orders. The flower materials currently on sale in the store are mainly embroidered balls, roses, and butterfly orchids of different varieties and colors. Almost every customer who enters the store will take a bouquet with them when they leave. There are a lot of orders piled up, we need to send them out as soon as possible, "said the shop owner Geng Yingchun while busy.

To ensure the quality of flower materials, merchants generally adopt a constant temperature and humidity maintenance plan: the air conditioning in the store continues to operate, and the doors and windows remain closed; After pruning, the roots of the flowers are soaked in water for storage. By reducing the metabolic rate, the flowers are kept full and straight, ensuring that they are in good condition when delivered to consumers.

In addition to the offline professional market, the chain store supermarket and online e-commerce platform have also fully opened the sales of Qixi flowers. On the flower shelves of Hema Fresh Hangzhou Science and Technology Plaza store, the stock of roses of different colors and varieties has significantly increased. In addition to individual flowers, finished flower bouquets have also been launched. The online platform has set up a special area of "Qixi Flower Gift", whose products are mainly roses, lilies and hydrangeas, and the price of bouquets is mostly between 100 yuan and 200 yuan.

Taobao, JD and other comprehensive e-commerce platforms have all launched the "Qixi Flowers" zone, and some businesses support advance booking and delivery services on the same day. A fresh flower shop near Fengqi Road has launched a bouquet of 99 red roses. According to data from a single online platform, the number of buyers has exceeded 2000 in the past 7 days.

For many consumers, sending flowers on Qixi is still the "fixed match" of the festival. Mr. Zhu, who works in Linping, said that he almost chooses a bouquet of flowers for his wife every year: "There should still be a sense of ceremony every year. Although the prices are higher than usual during holidays, he still chooses to buy them

Consumer preferences continue to iterateDomestic new products and Yueji's demand for double warming

Offline store data shows that young consumers are still the main force in flower consumption. Ms. Liu introduced that varieties such as lilies and daisies are very popular among young people. These types of flowers are rich in variety and have good meanings, and have always been in high demand on the market.

The trend of diversified varieties in the fresh flower market has become prominent this year. Geng Yingchun specially introduced a domestically produced deep blue velvet rose from Yunnan: "This is a new variety introduced this year. In previous years, it was only imported from Ecuador, and the price was even higher. Now the price of domestically produced roses is half of that of imported roses, and there are often sold out situations

At the same time, the embroidered ball flower basket has become a popular choice for creating a romantic atmosphere with its full and round flower shapes and rich colors; Light colored flowers such as "mint green" have also become a preferred choice for many young people due to their fresh style.

On the other hand, the concept of "self pleasing consumption" continues to penetrate the flower market, and flower consumption is no longer limited to couples giving each other gifts. Ordinary consumers also satisfy their own needs by purchasing flowers. At the Hema Fresh Technology Plaza store, female consumers purchased three small bouquets including roses and daisies at once for daily home display.

Xiao Wang, a white-collar worker in Yuhang District, is a flower enthusiast and likes to buy lilies and roses to keep at home. "Qixi also plans to buy a bouquet for itself. Life needs a sense of ceremony and surprise itself," she said.

Geng Yingchun, who has been deeply involved in the flower industry for more than 20 years, has observed that the holiday effect still plays a significant role in driving flower sales. However, consumers' purchasing logic is undergoing a profound change: they are no longer limited to shallow decisions about "what color to give during holidays", but pay more attention to the uniqueness of varieties and personalized customization of floral arrangements. More and more people are willing to pay for high-value and well-designed flower gifts, "she said.

Tech trendy products become a new highlight of gift givingPractical value reconstruction and romantic expression

While maintaining a stable market base for traditional flowers, science and technology trendy products are becoming a significant increase in this year's Qixi gift market. Recently, a continuous stream of couples came to experience the mirrorless camera at the Yintai in77 Sony store in Hubin, Hangzhou. After 1995, Mr. Lin, a consumer, said that he wanted to give his girlfriend a camera as a gift for Qixi, with a budget of about 10000 yuan: "Flowers will fade, but photos and videos can be left for a lifetime, which is more memorable."

Mr. Wang, who was selecting a camera in the store, also expressed a similar idea: "Instead of giving away a bouquet of roses that wither in a few days, it's better to buy a mirrorless camera and take pictures of the scenery we've walked through together

At the offline store of Rokid in Henderson Plaza, a pair of AI glasses priced at 3299 yuan also attracted many consumers to experience and purchase. Ms. Zhou, who is choosing gifts for her boyfriend on Qixi Festival, said that her boyfriend likes to ride outdoors. The glasses have navigation, real-time translation, photography and other functions, and are highly practical. At present, if you buy them, you can enjoy the national subsidy policy, which is cost-effective.

Several popular pan tilt cameras from DJI Hangzhou Henglong Plaza concept store have recently become the main sales force of the store. The staff of the store introduced, "Many customers who come to buy cameras now are young people who want to give them to their boyfriends or girlfriends. The PTZ camera is simple to shoot, fully functional, lightweight to carry, and suitable for daily recording of life, so young people have more choices

Public data from JD confirms this consumption trend. Before the Qixi Festival this year, the turnover of micro single cameras and smart glasses increased significantly year on year, becoming a phenomenon class category in the gift market. Among them, the monthly sales of multiple AI glasses from brands such as Leqi, Qianwen, and Xiaomi have exceeded 10000 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 10 times compared to two years ago.

Why can science and technology products be favored in the Qixi gift market? Many consumers' answers point to "memory value" and "companionship". Ms. Shao, who just placed an order for a Pocket 4, said that her boyfriend loves cooking and takes photos with her phone every time she makes new dishes, but the picture quality has always been unsatisfactory. This year, she wants to give him a camera that can be placed in the kitchen to record every "chef moment". In the future, every time she looks at the picture, she can recall the happy scene at that time.

Mr. Zheng, who is trying on AI glasses, also believes that the best gift for Qixi is to help two people create common memories. Many AI glasses have the function of real-time sharing of first person perspective images, which can convey daily life when each other is absent, making the sense of companionship between two people stronger. ”He said.

According to the staff of Rokid Henglong Plaza store, the current consumers who purchase smart glasses are mainly aged 26 to 35, many of whom are given as gifts between couples. Many young people believe that such gifts not only have high practical value, but also serve as witnesses and participants in a relationship, "said the staff member.

From the stable scale and structural upgrading of the flower market to the rapid rise of high-tech products, the changes in the Qixi gift market reflect the continuous transformation of the consumption concept of young groups: the carrier of romance is gradually shifting from short-term symbolic expression to long-term companionship and daily practical value.

(Author Hangzhou Network)