Big Consumption 2024: The pet market is booming, mid-level anchors are in demand, and health products are growing against the trend | Year-end Review of Workplace Dividends ⑤
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When consumers pay more attention to the essence than ever before, the business world is destined to undergo a process of sifting the valuable from the worthless.
The new retail continues to cool down. Among them, education, food and beverages, and health products still maintain growth, while home appliances and furniture, tobacco and alcohol, and consumer electronics categories continue to decline. Brands go overseas and cross borders to seek growth, and the demand for digital marketing talents remains strong. Under the heavy pressure of frequent mergers and acquisitions in traditional retail enterprises, they have begun to study Fat Donglai. At the end of the year, the strategic priority of the instant retail business has been raised in large companies such as JD.com.
In the influencer economy, the biggest variable is that platforms are no longer enthusiastic about "creating gods". After Little Brother Yang was banned, Douyin E-commerce's GMV during the Double Eleven period was not greatly affected. E-commerce live-streaming may no longer require big IPs, and mid-level influencers with a relatively large volume and lower risk have become the "new darlings" of the platform. Many enterprises are also more encouraging their employees to build personal IPs.
The pet market continues to expand and has quickly become a hundred-billion-dollar market. Retail brands cross-border to layout the pet track and launch pet food. Online channels have become the main channels for the sales of pet food and pet supplies, resulting in a rising demand for digital marketing talents. Pet healthcare relies on imports. Although there is a domestication trend, it is difficult to achieve explosive growth in the short term.
New Retail: Brands cross borders and go overseas, with a strong demand for digital marketing talents ╱ 01
Influencer Economy: The rise of mid-level influencers, and enterprises are keen on building IPs ╱ 02
Pet Economy: Abundant opportunities in food and supplies, and a broad healthcare market ╱ 03
New Retail: Brands Cross Borders and Go Overseas, with a Strong Demand for Digital Marketing Talents
Has consumer demand really decreased?
According to the research report data of the "2024 China Consumption Trend Research", in the first half of 2024, the per capita disposable income of national residents was 20,733 yuan, with a nominal increase of 5.4% compared with the same period of the previous year; the per capita consumption expenditure of national residents was 13,601 yuan, with a nominal increase of 6.8% compared with the same period of the previous year.
On the one hand, Residents' income has increased, but consumption continues to cool down, and "saving is king" in the short term. On the other hand, consumer confidence continues to be differentiated, and the consumption needs of different groups of people are significantly different [1]. According to McKinsey's "2024 China Consumption Trend Research", the five consumer group portraits are "New Middle Class in First- and Second-tier Cities, Middle-aged and Elderly in Rural Areas, Affluent Silver-haired Group in First-tier Cities, Affluent Middle-aged and Elderly in Third-tier Cities, and Generation Z". Among them, Generation Z and the silver-haired group spend money without hesitation. However, the domestic middle class, who used to be the "mainstay", has become "desiring needs while suppressing desires".
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In this situation, the growing categories in the retail industry are education, food and beverages, health products and services, and travel, while the declining categories are home appliances and furniture, tobacco and alcohol, and consumer electronics.
The main consumers' consumption tends to be rational, and substituting with cheaper alternatives has become their first choice. According to the data from CBNData, for four types of products including snacks, household groceries, fresh produce, and beverages, more than a quarter of consumers said they would give priority to price rather than brand when making purchasing decisions.
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As a result, the market space of some brands has begun to be squeezed by white-label products. This year, brands have been continuously reducing prices to compete for the lower-end market. The average price of Xiabu Xiabu packages has decreased by 10%, Heytea launched the first anniversary buy-one-get-one-free event, and Meituan launched "Pinhao Fan" (with a price lower than the general takeout price)... According to the "2024 China Shopper Report, Series 1" released by Kantar Worldpanel, in the fast-moving consumer goods sector alone, the average selling price of products in the first quarter decreased by 1.5% year-on-year.
The first step brought about by price reduction is that the consumption focus is gradually sinking. And Those who are familiar with the local consumption culture and can accurately market in the local market can become the key talents for brands to develop the market.
However, for brands, Price reduction is not a "long-term solution". Many brands are working hard to Incubate sub-brands, go overseas, and cross borders to seek a second growth curve. For example, Pop Mart incubated the sub-brand "Labubu" and went overseas to many countries. According to the latest annual report data of Pop Mart, despite the sluggish situation in the Hong Kong stock market, Pop Mart's revenue from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas businesses was 1.066 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 134.9%.
In addition, Pop Mart fully develops the value of IP, invests in animation studios, layouts the film industry, launches mobile games and theme parks, and cooperates with trendy brands. According to the recruitment data released by Pop Mart officially, the enterprise still has a high demand for Marketing at home and abroad, Live-streaming specialists, Short-video directors, Event operation, IP operation, and C-end product managers. According to the estimation of "Workplace Bonus", the average salary is approximately in the range of 10 - 15K. The treatment of IP operation and C-end product managers is relatively higher, and the positions based in Beijing often start at 15K.
In 2024, the consumer industry has accelerated digitalization. The empowerment of AI enables enterprises to obtain data from the consumer end more quickly. At the same time, the proportion of overseas business has increased, and the business complexity is far beyond before. For talents, the application of data analysis, AI technology, and automated tools is no longer a bonus item, but a necessity for survival. Consumer enterprises have also raised the requirements and demands for Complex talents in global marketing, brand promotion, customer service, and supply chain, etc.
At the end of the year, instant retail has come back to people's attention. Large companies such as Meituan, Ele.me, and JD.com are laying out Flash warehouses to compete for the trillion-dollar instant retail market. Meituan announced at the Instant Retail Conference that it will add 70,000 flash warehouses in the next three years (an average of 63.9 Meituan flash warehouses to be added per day); Ele.me claims that it will open 100,000 "Near-field Brand Official Flagship Stores" in the next three years; JD.com adjusts the second-delivery business to fully benchmark against Meituan and other instant retail businesses such as "Meituan Flash Purchase".
Douyin, Taobao, and Oriental Select are also continuously increasing their efforts in "Hour Delivery". Large companies increase their efforts in instant retail, and the talents who were previously lost in the local life business are once again valued.
[1] Refer to the content of McKinsey's "2024 China Consumption Trend Research" report.
Influencer Economy: The Rise of Mid-level Influencers, and Enterprises are Keen on Building IPs
2024 is a year when the "influencer" economy is re-examined by everyone.
From the fake incident of Mao Yibei at the beginning of the year, to Li Jiaqi's confrontation with netizens during the live-streaming sale of eyebrow pencils, to the "Meicheng Mooncake" turmoil of Little Brother Yang... 2024 is called a year of the "big outbreak" of internet celebrity collapses. According to incomplete statistics, There have been 26 internet celebrities who have collapsed in 2024 [2].
Live-streaming with goods, as an extension of the influencer economy, has gradually become a manifestation of the commercial value of internet celebrities. Super-top influencers (such as Xinba, Li Jiaqi, and Little Brother Yang) and platforms are often in a mutually dependent and mutually beneficial relationship, but this balance seems to have been broken this year.
Taking "Little Brother Yang" backed by Douyin as an example, despite Little Brother Yang being banned, Douyin E-commerce's growth momentum during the Double Eleven period is still obvious. According to the official data, Douyin Mall's GMV increased by 91% year-on-year, search GMV increased by 77% year-on-year, and product card GMV increased by 64% year-on-year. During last year's Double Eleven period, Little Brother Yang contributed about 600 million yuan in GMV on Douyin, and the entire 2023 sales of Three Goats reached 16 billion yuan.
Not only are platforms no longer relying on super influencers, but the disappearance of the low-price advantage of top influencers has also accelerated consumers' return to rationality in their reliance on influencers.
When a whale falls, everything thrives - after the top influencers "fall", The platform's recommendation balance tilts towards some mid-level influencers. Taking the only "Little Brother Yang" with over 100 million fans on the entire Douyin platform as an example, after he was banned, his fans were instantly eroded by the "latecomer" influencers. Including K Zong, Tingquan Jianbao, and Guo Youcai who became popular by singing [3].
According to the data from the third-party platform Daduoduo, like "Little Brother Yang", 70% of the live-streaming room traffic of K Zong, Tingquan Jianbao, and Guo Youcai during the same period comes from Douyin's "recommended feed" flow [4]. In contrast, the Feed flow of other influencers during the same period is around 48%. The live-streaming data, user portraits, and even the ways of becoming popular of the above three accounts are highly similar to those of "Little Brother Yang".
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According to the "2024 Douyin E-commerce Influencer Growth Report" released by Douyin, in the past year, Douyin E-commerce has added 5.28 million influencers with goods, with a year-on-year growth of 74%. The platform has fallen in love with the "alternative to the top influencer", and Mid-level influencers are gradually emerging and becoming an important force in the e-commerce ecosystem.
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It is worth noting that Douyin is not the only platform that attaches great importance to small and medium-sized influencers. E-commerce platforms such as Kuaishou and Taobao have also joined the ranks of supporting small and medium-sized influencers.
Not only internet celebrities, but also entrepreneurs in 2024 have begun to "become internet celebrities" and compete to enter the public eye.
In April, the launch and sales of Xiaomi Automobile led by Lei Jun achieved great success, making more and more enterprise founders realize the importance of personal IP. According to the data from Lijin, 80% of the CEOs of the TOP 20 vehicle companies have entered the Video Account.
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Entrepreneurs not only build their own IPs, but also encourage their employees to build personal IPs. Super Monkey encourages trainers to share their careers and life segments through social media to build personal IPs. But this also means that the brand has raised the recruitment requirements for trainers: not only to have professionalism, but also to have a personal IP thinking at the same time.
Therefore, talents with Professional ability and operational thinking, or those with A sense of the internet and a habit of sharing and other potential for digital marketing have a greater advantage.
[2] Data source: "2024 Internet Celebrity Collapse Inventory" by Tutushishi.
[3] These influencers' fan groups overlap with Little Brother Yang's, mainly consisting of users in the lower-end market, with 50% of users distributed in cities below the third tier.
[4] Feed flow refers to a traffic recommendation method in which the platform recommends live-streaming rooms to users through algorithms based on users' interests, behaviors, and preferences.
Pet Economy: Abundant Opportunities in Food and Supplies, and a Broad Healthcare Market
In 2024, despite the sluggish consumption, the pet economy has shown an "explosive" development.