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The Paris Olympics is in full swing. While Chinese athletes are shining on the field, many "Olympic items" have also become popular. From the puppy hairpins of Olympic champion Huang Yuting, to the ugly fish slippers of diving genius Quan Hongchan, Zheng Qinwen's tennis skirt, to the Olympic five-ring glasses, one by one, the distinctive products have suddenly become popular.

On e-commerce platforms, the search volume and sales of "Olympic-style" related products have also been rising. Behind this consumption phenomenon, it reflects the current social upsurge in sports consumption and the personalized consumption trend of young consumers.

“Olympic Style” Boosts Sports Consumption

Since the Tokyo Olympics, domestic consumers have always been able to find some highlights in our country's Olympic athletes and promote them into hot products.

In recent days, the three small ball games (table tennis, badminton, tennis) at the Paris Olympics have been going on vigorously, and Chinese athletes have also achieved excellent results in these events. Many people are cheering and celebrating, and are also using real money to express their love for the athletes and their love for sports.

Tmall data shows that in the few days between Zheng Qinwen's victory and Fan Zhendong's victory, more than 2 million people searched for "small ball" related products on Tmall, among which the search volume for tennis-related equipment increased by 300% year-on-year, the search volume for table tennis-related equipment increased by 234% year-on-year, and the search volume for badminton-related equipment increased by 98% year-on-year. At the same time, the year-on-year transaction growth of the three types of small ball related products exceeded 100%.

"Zheng Qinwen tennis racket" and "Zheng Qinwen tennis shoes" are all popular search terms. Tmall data shows that the "Zheng Qinwen same style" professional tennis racket V14 in the Wilson official flagship store on Tmall received more than 40,000 inquiries within 48 hours, and more than 3,000 people added it to their shopping carts. The transaction volume soared by more than 2,000% year-on-year, instantly becoming the top product in the Tmall tennis category. Not only that, even the cheering uniform worn by Zheng Qinwen's coach at the championship scene became popular. Netizens jokingly called it "only the gold medal T-shirt". The Nike flagship store on Tmall received more than 20,000 inquiries within 48 hours, and more than 4,000 people added this "gold medal T-shirt" to their shopping carts.

Pinduoduo data shows that in the past week, the search volume for table tennis-related keywords has achieved triple-digit growth, and domestic brands such as Li Ning and Pisces have achieved outstanding sales results; the sales of many badminton brands have tripled in the past seven days compared with the same period last year. In addition to badminton and rackets, shoes, clothing, bags and accessories have also seen encouraging growth; the tennis event, which won the first Olympic women's singles championship, has set off a wave of "newbies". On the day Zheng Qinwen won the championship, the transaction volume of one store increased by 300% compared with the day before.

According to Zhang Jianda, head of Tianlong Tennis e-commerce, which supplied tennis balls for the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian Para Games, on the day Zheng Qinwen won the championship, the brand's official flagship store on Pinduoduo saw traffic increase by more than 200% month-on-month, and transaction volume soared by 300% month-on-month.

The enthusiasm for sports among the whole nation inspired by the Olympic Games will undoubtedly boost the growth of sports brands.

Small and medium-sized businesses take advantage of the "overwhelming wealth"

The various down-to-earth small commodities worn by Olympic champions quickly became popular on the entire Internet, and small and medium-sized businesses with zero marketing costs became the winners.

On July 27, the puppy hairpin worn by Olympic champion Huang Yuting was "favored" by netizens. Soon, the hairpin with the same design as Huang Yuting became a hot item for many businesses. Many small and medium-sized businesses seized the opportunity and responded quickly. One business said that in just two days, they sold nearly 600,000 hairpins with the same design as Huang Yuting on all platforms.

The situation of small shops "responding to the market craze in seconds" is also happening to merchants on the JD platform. Wang Jun, the manager of the Menglan jewelry store, which opened on JD in March last year, followed the craze of the event to promote this "champion's same style hairpin", which became a hot search term on JD. "The topic of champion's same style keeps emerging, and there are many potential customers. Our new products are matched with JD's marketing tools, and the conversion is very good. The sales of this hairpin, which originally had average sales, doubled in one day, and the inventory in the warehouse was quickly sold out. Now the factory is working overtime to produce it." Wang Jun said.

Another Olympic hit followed closely. In the women's 10-meter diving platform final at the Paris Olympics, Quan Hongchan won the gold medal, and the ugly fish slippers she wore became a hit. Many businesses keenly sensed the business opportunities and put up "champion's style" on e-commerce platforms to sell ugly fish slippers. Some businesses also urgently contacted manufacturers to speed up production. The reporter noticed that the current sales of ugly fish slippers on Taobao have exceeded 200,000.

Nuanzhiyuan, a new merchant that entered JD.com in April last year, also made the right bet. Chen Yimiao, the manager of Nuanzhiyuan's JD.com flagship store, said that the store had put the same ugly fish slippers as the champion on the shelves very early. After the slippers became a hot search on July 31, the sales volume increased five times compared with the day before, and they were sold out on the same day. Subsequently, Chen Yimiao contacted the factory overnight to replenish the stock.

On August 8, a reporter from China Business News noticed that the Olympic five-ring glasses ranked second on Taobao's hot search list, and the first place on the list was Qixi-related products. The Paris Olympic five-ring glasses have become a new favorite of athletes, and the search volume on Taobao has increased by 172% this week. A merchant in Weifang, Shandong, directly carried out pre-sale business and promised to ship within 5 days. Even in pre-sale, this product is very popular. Merchant information shows that more than 100 people have purchased this product within 24 hours, and more than 600 people have added it to the shopping cart.

In addition to the Olympic five-ring glasses, Chen Yuxi's heart-shaped earrings, Lin Yuwei's first white headband, Olympic rock climber Deng Lijuan's hairpins, and even the Olympic champions' favorite "welcoming dishes" have also topped Taobao's hot search list.

The competition is still going on, a new wave of traffic is also gathering, and more "huge wealth" may come to more businesses.

E-commerce platforms achieve growth

By leveraging the business opportunities brought by the Olympic Games, e-commerce platforms have reaped great rewards.

As we all know, during the Paris Olympics, a new round of Olympic-themed promotions was launched in the e-commerce field. Taking advantage of the Olympic fever, major platforms competed to launch different promotions, with competitive prices and even more competitive content.

Taobao launched the "Olympic Season", offering a 40 yuan discount for every 300 yuan spent across stores; JD.com launched the "Sports Season", also offering a 40 yuan discount for every 300 yuan spent; Pinduoduo also offered a 30 yuan discount for every 200 yuan spent. Vipshop, which focuses on brand discounts, also launched the "Vipshop Sports Season" at the end of July, selecting major sports brands and athletes' clothing for consumers.

Various platforms are also working hard on content marketing.

Before the opening of the Paris Olympics, Tmall signed swimming Olympic champion Zhang Yufei and gymnastics world champion Zhang Boheng as Tmall's Olympic cheering officials, and released a new brand TVC, interpreting the deep connotation of "bravely go on the field and easily win" through the athletes' tenacious fighting spirit. During the Olympics, Tmall, together with Hangzhou Metro and some brands, launched the "Tmall Olympic Season" likes activity to interact with citizens and witness the fiery passion for sports.

Douyin e-commerce also integrates high-quality content, social genes, and in-site traffic resources, and carefully plans live show events. In the "Hot Pioneer Season" event of Douyin e-commerce, it customized an exclusive sports competition variety show, which used explosive content to drive related topics to break through the circle.

A series of activities on the e-commerce platform not only ignited the national Olympic passion, but also triggered online consumption. The latest data from Douyin e-commerce shows that during the "Heat Pioneer Season" theme event from July 20 to August 2, the turnover of sports products on Douyin e-commerce increased by 43% year-on-year, and clothing and beauty, digital home appliances, food and beverages were also hot-selling on Douyin e-commerce.

The Paris Olympics, a sporting event, has turned into a consumer feast in the e-commerce field.

(This article is reproduced from Xinhuanet)