Economic Observer reporter Zheng Mingzhu

Where to go for National Day? A collection of 20+market guides in Beijing. During the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, lifestyle bloggers compiled market guide posts on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu, which attracted a lot of attention and likes from users.

Many of these markets are held in shopping malls, with themes ranging from bookkeeping and matcha to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan scenery, and diverse and rich content. Several shopping malls, including Beijing Chaoyang Heshenghui and Beijing Xisanqi Wanxianghui, told the Economic Observer that as "shopping" becomes increasingly difficult to become an independent reason for travel, malls are using new scenes such as themed markets, first stores, and first exhibitions to attract customers. During this year's Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, this "three piece set" has become a new highlight and increment in the shopping mall.

For example, during the National Day holiday, Beijing Chaoyang Heshenghui introduced two North China debut flash mobs, Ye You Shang Qiu and Ji Yi Ka Wa, covering a variety of trendy gaming scenes. The shopping mall told the Economic Observer that during the National Day holiday, the total revenue of the two major flash mobs was nearly 3 million yuan, both ranking first in the country's flash mob performance during the same period. The sales revenue of the mall during the National Day holiday was nearly 250 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30%, and the passenger flow was nearly 1.1 million, a year-on-year increase of 20%.

Time limited market integration new check-in location

During the National Day holiday, rows of stalls were set up in the LG2 central hall and corridor of ART PARK in Zhongguancun, Haidian District, Beijing, showcasing a wide range of well-designed products such as stickers, sticky notes, tapes, seals, etc. Some customers squat in front of the booth to select exclusive adhesive tape, and queues occasionally form in front of popular stalls. Illustrator Gougou Wang and others signed the painting on site, and some people came from other places specifically to use this place as a communication venue for accounting enthusiasts.

This market is a "Hello Hand Account Collection" event launched by ART PARK in Zhongguancun, Haidian District, which extends from the Mid Autumn Festival to the National Day holiday. More than 200 stalls were exhibited in both phases of the market.

During the Mid Autumn Festival holiday, Wanxianghui in Xisanqi, Beijing launched the "MoMoMoJi" Matcha Market, showcasing more than 70 matcha brands and over 1000 square meters of scenes. More than 70% of the brands made their debut in Beijing, attracting young consumers to come and check in and share. Xisanqi Wanxianghui told the Economic Observer that the "MoMoMoJi" matcha market has directly driven a significant increase in mall foot traffic. The main reason is that the activity content is sufficiently youthful, and matcha is a popular taste among young people, which is in line with the current consumer trend.

During the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, Beijing Chaojihuohui collaborated with the "West Bank Market" to create a cultural and creative handmade market, with dozens of stalls integrating tea ware ceramics, handicrafts, and design cultural and creative industries.

Beijing Tanggu has turned the market into a gathering of craftsmen. During the Mid Autumn Festival, Tan Gu teamed up with the original design brand Mu Mo to launch the "Hand Craftsmanship Market", where hundreds of craftsmen brought handmade objects and specialty cuisine, accompanied by themed discussions, handicraft courses, and music performances. At the same time, Mumo Life Tangu Store opened, becoming Mumo's second store in Beijing.

Yi Shaohua, Director of the Market Circulation and Consumption Research Office at the Institute of Finance and Economics Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated publicly in June this year that the biggest feature of market activities is "new", which refers to new scenarios, new formats, and new topics. This freshness easily attracts the attention of consumers, especially young consumers. Under the current logic of "eyeball economy" or "traffic economy", attention itself means traffic. The event attracts crowds, making offline shopping malls more lively and benefiting merchants directly.

For shopping malls, markets are also a low-cost way to update spatial content: the investment cycle is calculated on a weekly basis, and the theme can be changed with the season. A courtyard or a corridor can carry it. Compared to adjusting fixed tenants, the market does not require long-term contracts. The booth format allows brands to enter the mall at a very low cost, and the mall can observe brand performance in real consumption scenarios, providing decision-making basis for subsequent investment promotion.

First store, first exhibition to grab attention

The market brings in foot traffic, and how to turn one-time visits into repeat visits is the next issue that shopping malls need to consider. From the actions of multiple shopping malls before and after this year's National Day, the first store economy remains the main driving force.

Beijing Jingxi Joy City has introduced a number of regional first stores this year, covering multiple formats such as sports, catering, women's clothing, and beauty. These include HOKA, a professional running shoe brand originating from France, Binsushi, known for its cost-effectiveness and standardized operation, as well as Wuhan Matcha specialty store Zhenchawu, independent designer women's clothing brand Jizhu, and high-end chain skin management brand Makeup Master.

Beijing Chaoyang Heshenghui has introduced over a hundred new stores since the beginning of this year, with the first store accounting for more than 30%. From September 25th to October 7th, Beijing Chaoyang Heshenghui introduced multiple popular IPs for their first exhibition, including the national first exhibition RicoVea, the first exhibition in North China with a limited time flash sale in autumn, and the first exhibition in North China with a flash sale of Jiyikawa.

Since the beginning of this year, Beijing Chaoji Heshenghui has also introduced over 80 new brand stores, including Yili KKV、 The first restaurant in the region featuring Big Mouth Beast, Wang and Li, Qing Shan Sen, Pu Xia Long Jiu, Hou Zhen Japanese style BBQ, and Shao You You. Beijing Chaoji Heshenghui told Economic Observer that from September 25th to October 7th, the total sales revenue of Beijing Chaoji Heshenghui was 185 million yuan, an increase of 11% year-on-year, and the total passenger flow was 2.2 million, an increase of 26% year-on-year.

Beijing Xidan Joy City has also proposed to promote the integrated development of culture, business and tourism through the launch of the economy. This year, it has successively introduced the first official slow flash store of Pok é mon Beijing, the first store of OUO Beijing, the first store of Nordic Time Beijing, the new image store of PERFUME BOX, and the new image store of LADERACH.

Tan Gu extends human pet friendliness from daily strolling to vacation scenes. Its first Mars pet hotel, jointly built with Mars Pets, will be unveiled in the near future, with "people and pets living together" as the core, connecting multiple scenarios such as check-in, strolling, socializing, and leisure.

From this batch of new stores, it can be seen that the investment direction of the shopping mall is shifting from traditional retail to experiential and emotional formats, with sports and outdoor activities, catering first stores, trendy entertainment IPs, and pet friendliness becoming common driving points.

But the new problem is that shopping malls can replicate the theme of the market, compete for the first store and IP exhibition, and the key differentiation and competitiveness still lie in the operational capabilities of the malls themselves. In view of the building of differentiation capability, Beijing Chaoji Heshenghui told the Economic Observer that in the future, while focusing on catering, the mall will strengthen the introduction of the first store economic and experiential formats, and continue to increase its size in the direction of tide play, pet friendly, immersive experience, etc. The Little Yellow Duck theme park, indoor parachute jumping in the wind tunnel, anime theme blocks, large supermarkets and other formats are gradually planned.

(Author Zheng Mingzhu)