2026-10-03 10:29
Economic Observer reporter Wang Yajie
A wall filled with small plastic particles costs over 40000 yuan.
In a bean splicing studio in Beijing, transparent material boxes are arranged along the wall. Red has shades, pink has warmth and coldness, and each grid is labeled with a coloring number. Turning around the nearby shelf, blue, green, and yellow unfolded separately. From a distance, it looks like a color card, but upon closer inspection, the box is filled with tiny beans.
This money does not include the overall decoration of the store. Han Yanxin, the operator of the aforementioned Pinduoduo Studio, said that some peers can open a small shop with only 40000 yuan. She put a considerable amount of effort into this wall.
Customers may only take a few beans of a certain color from it.
A portrait of a person requires different colors to represent the brightness and darkness of their face. For individual players, buying a whole pack of materials for a small shadow may not necessarily be useful for the rest. In the store, if there are any missing colors, you can continue to pick them up.
Consumers like Xiaoyu are calculating another account.
She is not in a hurry to finish her work. Selecting beans, comparing them with patterns, placing them one by one, an afternoon passed. On weekdays, news keeps coming and things always push her forward. At the coffee table, she can stop and daydream for a while without having to explain the progress to anyone.
If I could describe the consumer experience that Pinduoduo brought me in one sentence, it would be quiet and fulfilling, "said Xiaoyu.
She is willing to pay for this period of time.
For shop owners, how to accommodate this kind of 'not in a hurry' while being able to afford the next rent is another question.
One
The operation of piecing beans is not complicated. Use tweezers to arrange plastic beans of different colors in a pattern on a template, and then iron them to bond the beans together, forming a removable work. Simple pendants can serve as a starting point, while complex patterns may take several days.
In the display of works by PinduoStudio, anime characters are divided into grids of colors. Some people only spell out the characters' eyes, and the slender works are arranged in sequence, which familiar people can recognize at a glance. There are also complete avatars and cartoon pendants, and the expressions composed of pixels are still vivid.
Han Yanxin received a customer who spent several days making a singing portrait of Jacky Xue that was close to the size of a human head. During the concert, some people also came to share the singer's related merchandise. Photos of two people and pets at home can be turned into patterns.
What customers choose is usually determined before picking up the tweezers, followed by a long repetition of actions to gradually make what they like.
What Xiaoyu cares about happens to be this process.
A bean is misplaced and needs to be adjusted. The color is delicate and requires patience to distinguish. She doesn't need to compete with anyone, nor does she demand perfection in the finished product. Spending a few hours and finally getting a small item that can be taken away is already complete enough in itself.
Han Yanxin said, "When fighting beans, I don't have to compete with anyone for progress. I can go faster if I want, and take a break if I want to stop and daydream." In her opinion, holidays don't necessarily have to be arranged for long trips. Spending a quiet afternoon is equally worth it. The finished product is certainly pleasing, but if one only wants to get a decoration as soon as possible, it is difficult to understand why someone is willing to sit for so long.
The uniqueness of this type of consumption is also here. The customer personally took on the most time-consuming part of the production and regarded it as an important reason to purchase the service.
Two
Before opening the store, Han Yanxin was already a handicraft enthusiast.
When I was in school, I made bracelets. Later, I came into contact with immortal flowers and droppings. When single, there are materials everywhere in the house. After marriage, the living space needs to accommodate more purposes, materials are difficult to continue spreading, and some processes are also inconvenient to operate at home.
In April 2026, she founded a douzu studio in Beijing. In addition to piecing together beans, the store also offers projects such as bean pods dolls, non-woven handmade crafts, and beading. She judged that consumers' interest in handicrafts has always existed, but they have new requirements for the environment and services required to complete them.
Cross stitch and diamond painting have both taken a lot of time for people. Nowadays, customers expect materials to be readily available, tools to be easy to use, assistance to be provided in case of difficulties, and the final product to be closer to expectations.
A bean is very cheap, with all these conditions prepared, but it requires investment.
Han Yanxin said that there are different types of tweezers alone. There are more color codes for beans, and it is easy to encounter situations where one color is not enough and other colors are left when purchasing a set. Making small pendants is manageable, but the more complex the pattern, the more obvious the burden of personal material preparation.
And the final ironing.
Customers may have spent several hours or even days on a piece of artwork. At this point, the patience ahead needs to be caught by the operator. Temperature, time, and processing methods can all affect the final product effect. Han Yanxin introduced that the store has mastered more than 20 special steaming methods, and some of them even use the steaming cloth for steamed buns.
Consumers are willing to slowly arrange the beans, but may not be willing to re-examine the materials and processes. The workshop undertakes preparations beyond these productions.
It also provides a place to stay. Friends can come together and chat while doing things. Customers who come alone have a single desk similar to a desk, wearing headphones and not having to participate in other people's conversations.
Among the customers received by Han Yanxin, there are also some grandmothers responsible for accompanying them.
Grandchildren come to do handicrafts and wait beside them. Waiting, waiting, also starting to try. First make small items, then make large ones. The selected patterns include the characters for blessings, lion dance, and national style flower window fans. The coaster and jewelry storage tray have both been included in their production list.
From spending time with others to having something you want to accomplish, waiting has different contents.
Three
Customers can slow down, but the store's accounts cannot be stopped.
Qi Qi, the person in charge of another bean shop, introduced that the average unit price of customers in the shop is mostly concentrated between 45 yuan and 70 yuan. There are both time-based charging projects and unlimited time packages. Complex patterns and accessories require additional payment. About 70% of young people and white-collar workers in their twenties sit for half a day.
On weekdays, the store receives about ten people per day. On weekends, National Day and other occasions, it can accommodate up to 30-40 people, and seats need to be waited for. But having a large number of people does not necessarily mean fast turnover, long-term stay is precisely the characteristic of this business model.
Han Yanxin's bean mixing studio also has similar differences in temperature. Han Yanxin said that during the just passed Mid Autumn Festival holiday, the passenger flow increased by more than three times compared to usual, and there were basically no empty seats. Working days are much lighter, usually only able to break even, mainly relying on holiday consumption to increase overall revenue.
She does not agree with the statement that 'small bean stuffing brings huge profits'. The initial investment for opening a store is over 100000 yuan, and the actual usable area is about 60 square meters. Rent and personnel salaries need to be paid on time. The store brought her some income, but it was far from an exaggerated return.
What's even more tricky is price competition.
Qi Qi noticed that there are more and more similar stores in the surrounding area, and some new stores are using 9.9 yuan group buying to attract traffic. Many customers have already tried it out with just one visit, and the store still needs to continue searching for the next batch of customers online.
The same table should not only allow people to sit still, but also continuously generate income. Low prices attract customers, but the characteristic of occupying seats for a long time will not change as a result.
Han Yanxin hopes to retain repeat customers through materials and services, but there are also difficulties on this path. The difference in the quality of consumables is difficult for ordinary consumers to directly see. It is not easy to explain how much preparation the store has made for tools, color codes, and craftsmanship on a group buying page.
The Internet has brought both price comparison and customers. Han Yanxin's bean mixing studio is not located in the mall. Han Yanxin admitted that without an online platform, it is difficult for the store to be discovered.
Qi Qi's judgment is that the popularity of doudou will not always remain at the current level, and it is more likely to become a routine handmade project in the future. Relying solely on low prices and a single project, operational pressure will always exist.
Han Yanxin's bean mixing studio had already prepared various handmade services. However, at present, many customers have clear goals and need to start piecing together beans as soon as they enter, and there is not enough time to introduce other projects.
The heat has brought people to the table, can we make them come back? We need to wait until this experience is over.
Xiaoyu is not distracted by this industry judgment. For her, the reasons worth buying are very specific. At work, she often needs to quickly complete one task before moving on to the next. Here, a few beans with similar colors can make her take a closer look for a while.
An afternoon has passed, and the works can be taken away. The time that was not urged already belonged to her.
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