Dancing in the rain | The list of the new consumer forces of "FUTURE 2024" has been officially announced.

In the consumer market of the past year, both the cold and warm trends have been intense. Recovery remains the main theme, but the market temperature changes felt by different fields and enterprises vary greatly.

This year, brands with thousands of stores like Mixue Bingcheng and Luckin Coffee are still making great progress. Miniso and Pop Mart continue to exert efforts in IP overseas expansion, and the retail industry has set off a learning craze of "Fat Donglai". A batch of new trend brands such as Gaofan, Guozishule, Shanxiayousong, and Dongbianyeshou have attracted more attention and discussions in the past year. This track has never lacked fresh topics and growth stories.

However, the weakness and rapid changes in the demand side have still disrupted the established development strategies of some brands, and even some have ended up being eliminated. This also serves as a warning to some operators. In recent times, some brands have hit the brakes and shifted more energy to refined operations to stabilize the basic situation, which has become a more urgent matter.

36Kr Future Consumption has been tracking and reporting on the growth process of consumer brands for a long time. The aforementioned market trend changes can also find some possible answers in our past reports. Those methodologies that can still be verified in a long cycle and complex market environment should also be seen, discussed, and affirmed by more people.

In the past period, we have also noticed some new trends that are emerging:

"Low price" is not a guarantee of immunity. Although many brands are trying to save themselves by engaging in price wars, it still has limitations. Not only is it difficult to turn back later, but it may also accelerate the demise by breaking the profit structure. Compared to direct discounts, some brands are more willing to make structural adjustments to their products.

Profit is a hard threshold for investment. In the previous peak period of new consumption, valuations were often strongly tied to growth expectations, which also pushed up the overall market valuation level. At present, investment and financing are still occurring locally, but the valuation pricing has collectively returned to rationality, and the profit margin has become a hard requirement.

Overseas expansion is on the rise, but choosing the first stop is crucial. If 2023 is the first year of consumer goods going overseas, 2024 is the first year of substantial implementation. Some early overseas brands have already gained a firm foothold in the regional market. But choosing the first stop is extremely important. Whether it is Southeast Asia with a closer geographical location, the North American market with more high-consumption groups, or Europe and the Middle East, entrepreneurs need to deliberate carefully.

The M&A landscape will continue to expand. M&A often requires a long negotiation period, and there are still many uncertainties in the subsequent integration. Price is still the key to the success of M&A, but the price differences between the two sides of the transaction are not as significant as before. Although M&A events have been continuously occurring this year, the story of the strong swallowing the weak will continue to be staged.

Although the channel dividend has almost disappeared, we have also seen more new industry changes this year: Instant retail is becoming lively again, content e-commerce is rising comprehensively, and AI technology, new materials, etc. not only allow more people to enjoy the fun and convenience of technology but also are applied to the entire value chain of brand management, promoting the pace of enterprise digitization and innovation. At a time when the domestic consumer demand needs to be further expanded, a package of policies to stimulate domestic demand is also being continuously released.

It is not only life that is full of ups and downs, but also the current consumer market. But in this consumer track that relates to everyone, there are always opportunities to discover gold. Just like that famous saying, "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain."

In October this year, 36Kr Future Consumption officially launched the "FUTURE 2024" New Consumer Forces Research. It specially invited industry experts, investors, and media professionals in the consumer field to form a professional research group. Through multi-dimensional comprehensive research, the list of "Annual Influential Brand", "Annual Growth Brand", "Annual New Trend Brand", and "Preferred Brand Service Provider" is specially launched to pay tribute to the annual enterprises that have made outstanding contributions to the long-term development of consumption.

The following is the complete list of the "FUTURE 2024" New Consumer Forces: