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This summer, a "second dimension" craze has swept across major business districts in Beijing, and the "eating grain" movement popular among young people has brought popularity to a number of old shopping malls.

Guzi is the homophone of the English word "Goods", which represents peripheral products derived from copyrighted works such as comics, animations, games, and idols. A number of old shopping malls have targeted the business opportunities of the second dimension during their upgrades and renovations, and introduced "Guzi stores" and "Guzi markets", which have attracted a large number of young customers.

But at the same time, the products in Guzi stores also face the risk of homogenization. How to form differentiated advantages and retain young people is the challenge these shopping malls are facing.

Renovation of old shopping malls introduces secondary business formats

"Where can I find Wenye's millet?" "Where can I find a store that sells pain bags (bags decorated with peripheral products)?" ... On social platforms, young people are very enthusiastic about the two-dimensional world. As offline shopping malls tap into the potential of the two-dimensional market, this trend has also spread offline, giving traditional shopping malls a new lease of life.

Last Saturday afternoon, Chaopu Street in Warwick Building was crowded with people, and many young people dressed up as their favorite anime characters to enjoy the two-dimensional carnival here. The fourth floor of the mall was hosting the Yuanman Two-dimensional Space Market, with dozens of stalls displaying various anime IP cards, stickers, badges and other peripheral products, allowing two-dimensional fans to choose freely. A special area for quick drawing was also set up on the spot for people to create comics and photos on the spot.

The reporter noticed that most of these stall owners were selling their own collections, and many of them were college or middle school students. "I didn't like some of the cards I had drawn before, so I wanted to sell them at the market, and I would also exchange with other stall owners." Junior high school student Qingqing (pseudonym) told reporters that this summer, she would take a day off almost every weekend to participate in such markets. In most cases, she could sell more than 100 yuan a day, and the highest could sell more than 800 yuan. "My family supports me because my father is also a Coser (role player)." Qingqing said that she would also make her own "bajituo" to decorate the badges, which could be sold for dozens of yuan each.

In addition to the market, a number of "grain shops" have also been introduced to Huawei Chaopu Street, adding a lot of popularity to the mall. In the third-floor Kayou flagship store, customers can not only draw cards, but also take photos with the costumed role players. The reporter noticed that at mealtime, the dining area in the mall also welcomed many ACG enthusiasts, and anime role players could be seen eating in the restaurant everywhere, which became a unique landscape.

In other business districts, the "grain economy" is also hot. In Haidian District, Xifanli, a new shopping mall transformed from a wholesale market, is now called the "grain-eating building" by ACG enthusiasts. The rich anime IP peripheral products and market activities make it a gathering place for young people. On Wangfujing Street, Wangfujing Joy Shopping Center and Yintai in88 have also introduced a large number of ACG formats during the upgrade and renovation. In the Chongwenmen business district, Souxiu City has also concentrated on introducing a large number of ACG stores, becoming a "grain-eating" destination. "In Beijing, the paradise for grain eaters is spread across major business districts!" Many netizens have also summarized the "grain-eating" roadmap, which has sparked heated discussions online.

Digging deep into young people’s emotional and social needs

Why are shopping malls focusing on the "grain economy"? Liang Yifan, general manager of Xifanli, analyzed that the two-dimensional consumption has obvious social attributes, and the consumer group also has strong spiritual needs and pays more attention to emotional value.

"Traditional commodity consumption is limited to the material life level, but these commodities can be bought online, and the current 'post-00s' have been materially rich since childhood and will pay more attention to spiritual needs." He believes that the two-dimensional consumption also shows the continuity of investment. Since many animations are serialized, the audience will make continuous investments in time, money, emotion and other aspects of its peripheral products, which is in line with the operating logic of offline business.

Liang Yifan observed that starting from 2022, the consumption of the second dimension has experienced explosive growth. It first became popular in southern cities, and then many shopping malls in Beijing also seized the opportunity and introduced a large number of millet stores. As more and more stores entered, the Beijing market gradually formed a trend of "eating millet".

In recent years, a number of traditional shopping malls have embarked on the road of transformation and upgrading, which has also provided ample space for the rise of the millet economy. When the reporter visited Warwick Building in the first half of last year, some shops on the third floor were still vacant, but now they are fully rented. Shi Changzheng, the person in charge of Warwick Building, told reporters that many millet stores on the market started online at first. In order to bring emotional value to customers, these stores have also moved offline, which is in line with the idea of ​​transformation of shopping malls. "Since last year, we have introduced a number of 'millet stores', and will soon introduce a Beijing first store." He said.

At a time when online retail continues to impact physical retail, Guzi Store provides an opportunity for the mall to win back customers. Shi Changzheng revealed that from January to July this year, the overall sales of the three floors where the two-dimensional business is concentrated doubled, and the overall customer flow of the mall also increased.

"Guzidian" is not a panacea

In many people's inherent concepts, the two-dimensional world seems to be a niche circle, but now it has shown a clear trend of popularization. The "2024-2029 China Two-Dimensional Economy Industry Market Competition Pattern and Development Prospect Forecast Report" released by the China Research Institute of Industry shows that my country's pan-two-dimensional user base is extremely broad, reaching about 460 million people in 2021, and the market size of China's two-dimensional content industry was about 63.2 billion yuan that year. As the two-dimensional culture further penetrates more age groups, the size of the two-dimensional market in 2024 is estimated to have reached 120 billion yuan, becoming the world's largest two-dimensional market.

With the emergence of a large number of "millet stores", the industry competition has become increasingly fierce, facing the risk of homogenization. "After a round of shopping, the millet in each store doesn't seem to be very different." Xiao Yang sighed after checking in at the "millet store" in Wangfujing. The reporter noticed that some stationery stores and grocery stores have also begun to enter this track, opening up "millet" areas at the entrance of the store to attract customers. An industry insider revealed that many people outside the two-dimensional circle currently want to get a piece of the pie, which will intensify industry competition and trigger a new round of reshuffles.

Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iiMedia Research, believes that if businesses blindly follow the trend and set up "Millet Stores", they may face profitability difficulties. How to control operating costs, maintain product competitive advantages, and deal with copyright impacts are all issues that operators need to consider. At present, "Millet Stores" are not a panacea for traffic diversion.

Yang Qingsong, secretary general of the China Department Store Association, said that the "millet economy" is essentially a manifestation of young business, and young people tend to get tired of the old and love the new, so we need to constantly bring them freshness. "Millet stores" may bring popularity to old shopping malls in a short period of time, but if they want to maintain it for a long time, they still need a lot of investment.

Source: Beijing Daily

Reporter: Ma Jing