Text | Finance and Economics, Author | Bai Jiajia
This National Day, Zhao Qi (pseudonym) did not drill into the popular tourist city as usual, but went to an eighteenth-tier town called Dongping Town.
It's unexpectedly beautiful, with mountains, sea, fishing villages, temples, and ...... The whole nine yards. Opposite the fishing village, there is a sandy beach facing west, and you can see the sunset when the sun sets. Next to the fishing port, there is also a pink highway, and driving on it is like driving in a fairy tale.
Dongping Town has become a check-in destination on the short video platform, Source: Douyin, screenshot of the video number
"It's only 50 yuan a day to eat, the attractions are all free, the infrastructure is also very good, and the most important thing is that there is no need to crowd people!" Zhao Qi praised his friends about the treasure spots he had personally experienced, and called Dongping Town the perfect "replacement" of Gulangyu Island.
Ping, this word has become the focus of the consumer market, generally refers to the maintenance of the same quality of the original product, on the basis of removing some redundant functions and brand LOGO premium, into a more cost-effective product.
Companies' attitudes towards replacement are also very complex.
Pan Ning, CEO of Uniqlo Greater China, believes that Uniqlo has the potential to become the first choice of Chinese consumers under the value of substitution. However, the results of recent quarters show that Uniqlo is losing consumers due to being replaced.
So, is replacement an opportunity or a challenge? How do young people understand replacement? How should companies deal with themselves?
In order to answer these questions, I met some friends during the National Day of Finance and Economics, chatted about the replacement in their lives, and finally found that the concept of replacement has gone beyond the simple category of consumption and generalized into a life philosophy that everyone can practice - there is no material desire that cannot be replaced and satisfied, and there is no problem that cannot find a solution.
And this philosophy of life, which seems to be unfavorable to consumption, may bring more opportunities than challenges to enterprises.
1. Is it to buy a bargain? It's essentially a way of thinking
When it comes to replacement, many people's knee-jerk reaction is to buy bargains. But for Li Ke (pseudonym), who is personally practicing the life of peace, "the essence of peacekeeping is not cheaper, but to think about needs outside the original framework." ”
Li Ke takes the makeup box as an example, for many girls, the makeup box needs to have gorgeous decorations, well-designed marketing copy, because opening it to dress up is a ritualistic act.
Li Ke believes that as long as you are still looking for the answer under the category of makeup box, there will be a premium element in the price, which is nothing more than a lot.
But when you go back to the basics of the function, you will find that many items have the same function as the vanity case, and they tend to be much cheaper because they do not have a premium.
Today, Li Ke's cosmetics are housed in a home medicine box. It also has compartments and drawers, and is the right size, and the professionalism is not lost at all to the vanity box.
There are many similar cases, where 10 yuan 4 travel bottles are replaced by 10 yuan 100 medical centrifuge tubes, and dozens of pet storage barrels are replaced by enzyme barrels......
The channels for buying these flats are different, Taobao and Pinduoduo have them, but Li Ke will not deliberately pursue low prices when choosing, because she believes that her screening has removed all kinds of premiums, and the rest is "you get what you pay for", and in terms of quality, she thinks it can't be sloppy.
Li Ke's logic of finding a replacement has been imitated by many people, and some people have even created an AI to make it easier to find a replacement - enter the name of the product you want to search for, and the AI will give a cheaper alternative. For example, when you want to buy an iPad stand, it will suggest you try a recipe stand, which is more than 10 times the price between the two.
Automatically help you find a replacement website, Source: Website screenshot
However, chasing replacement does not mean that young people are spending less, and if you look at it in the short term, looking for "replacement" may actually make young people spend more money.
Hippo (pseudonym) didn't go out this National Day, and was studying how to make homemade coffee throughout the process.
He is a coffee lover, and as his requirements for coffee quality become higher and higher, his wallet is visibly deflated to the naked eye, so he decided to teach himself to roast beans and brew coffee to reduce the cost.
According to his algorithm, the cost of each cup can be reduced to 1 to 2 yuan.
But Caijing Wuji noticed that his hand-poured pot and grinder are all from the German brand simelo, and this set of hand-poured coffee equipment, even if it is a National Day carnival, the price starts at 665 yuan.
Hippopotamus's hand-punching equipment and Taobao screenshots, Source: Caijing Mowgli shooting
To some extent, the example of the hippopotamus also reveals another aspect of the replacement economy - the process of young people seeking to save money, which is also the process of consumption.
And in the process, in fact, many people have spent more money than they originally spent.
Of course, if he persists long enough, the "hippos" may eventually be able to leave him with a sum of money, but on the second-hand platform, there are not a few "hippos" who "hang out 9 into novice pots".
2. The transfer of trust behind the replacement is an opportunity for the channel
The core reason why Ping Replacement was born and recognized may be that more and more products are falling into innovation exhaustion and performance overload.
Looking at those products that have been replaced, whether it is a hair dryer, a vanity case or a travel dispensing bottle, there is little difference between the product function and the replacement model, and the differentiation often comes from style, brand marketing, after-sales service, etc.
But not all consumers need these services. Just like Li Ke doesn't need a makeup box to provide emotional value for himself, for this kind of consumer, brand, after-sales and other services are all "excess performance".
From this point of view, the pursuit of replacement is actually because the brand does not customize the product according to the needs of young people, and the process of finding replacement is actually "assembling" their ideal goods.
Channels play an important role in this process.
Although he does not deliberately pursue replacement, Hippo has begun to develop the habit of comparing prices with Pinduoduo before placing an order in recent years.
For him, Pinduoduo represents the floor price. On the basis of the reserve price, he will think about what services he is willing to buy and how much he is willing to pay, and finally choose the right products to buy.
Starting from the behavior of the hippopotamus, buying a replacement is actually a two-process - first looking for a replacement, and then looking for a replacement.
In a way, this is also in line with an underlying business rule – brand value itself includes the value of saving consumers time. It's just that young people today choose to pay for this time rather than money.
Further derivation, this is the core reason why channel platforms regard the replacement economy as their own opportunity.
Consumers can spend time researching and selecting the right product, but it is impossible to trace the origin of each product.
In the past, consumer trust came from the experience of these foundries producing goods for big brands, but with the disenchantment of big brands, trust will look for new attachment points, and platforms are one of the most likely options.
From this point of view, the popularity of flat replacement does not mean that young people no longer attach importance to brands, but from commodity brands to channel brands.
In fact, in the retail industry, this has happened many times and has given birth to retail giants like Decathlon and Sam's Mart. And the replacement is just an online copy of this process.
3. Is innovation the only antidote to get rid of the siege of replacement?
Is the replacement phenomenon sustainable?
At least Japan scholar Miura Zhan believes it is sustainable.
He has divided four consumption eras based on changes in consumer behavior in Japan. From the "First Consumption Era" to the "Third Consumption Era", consumption and entertainment have undergone a transition from the middle class to the masses. In order to improve sales efficiency, manufacturers began to promote "personalization", and consumerism of premium brands began to prevail.
However, in the "fourth consumption era", people are no longer obsessed with owning or comparing, but are willing to reduce the cost of living while maintaining a wonderful life experience, and like to rent and share products for fun. In the current wave of replacement, young Chinese seem to be following the same path.
However, it should be emphasized that the phenomenon of substitution is not gloomy news.
In the past two years, a significant feature is that with the disenchantment of international brands, young people's sense of identity with domestic factories, brands and channels is also increasing.
This substitution cannot be simply interpreted as a shift from A to cheaper B, but rather that the latter has a sharper insight into consumer needs and can meet more diverse needs. Over time, these capabilities are the foundation for companies to remain competitive in a volatile market environment.
Feng Weidong, CEO of Tiantu Investment, also believes that the consumption concept of "everything can be replaced" will not have a particularly negative impact on the market. On the contrary, he believes that replacement can encourage companies to pay more attention to innovation.
"If the production of replacement products is excessively promoted, will it make many people dare not do superior and expensive things? In fact, this is not the case, if there is an eye-catching innovation, consumers are still willing to pay, or at least some consumers are willing to pay. Because consumers' incomes are also 'stratified', there will always be people who are looking for new things. Feng Weidong analyzed.
Just two days before the National Day holiday, Caijing Wuji tasted their newly launched Yunnan coffee beans at a brand coffee tasting meeting, and told the other party how he felt after tasting it when communicating with the hippo.
It can be seen with the naked eye that the hippopotamus's eyes lit up instantly, and he was obviously very interested in this new product. Hippo said that he has been keeping an eye on the progress of domestic coffee beans and will buy some if there are any delicious beans that come out.
"Next time, I'll invite you to drink the coffee made from the new beans, and see who makes it better with me and the barista of a certain brand."
When we said goodbye, Hippo and we agreed on a time and place for our next meeting. Looking at the direction he left, it seemed to be a certain brand store.
Obviously, "replacement" has brought trouble to some brands, but it also symbolizes new consumption changes, which also breed new opportunities.
And innovation may be the only antidote to stand out from the substitution.
Resources:
- 1, New Weekly, "This year's most fragrant living method, how many middle-class people have been harvested? 》
- 2, character, "This year, I live by peace"
- 3. New Weekly, "Young People with Clean Faces, Collectively Fleeing the Price Assassin"