Summary of Key Points
This article highlights a crucial trend: the visual economy is reshaping the underlying logic of offline retail in China. In the past, we often criticized internet-famous stores for focusing more on packaging than on the actual products. However, now visuals have become a competitive factor that takes precedence over price and quality—consumers make decisions before even experiencing the products. This visual upgrade is not a victory of aesthetic education; rather, it reflects a battle for attention, generational preferences, and control over distribution channels. From the food and beverage industry to fashion, from snack shops to supermarkets, every sector is reorganizing the market through visuals, influencing businesses' understanding of their customers, their skills, and their ways of operating.
Detailed Analysis
The “Three Waves” of the Visual Economy: Its Penetration from Food and Beverage to Retail
The visual economy has not emerged suddenly but has gradually penetrated various industries in stages:
- First Wave (Food and Beverage): From “internet-famous stores with attractive interiors” (1.0) to “internet-famous dishes” (2.0, such as visually appealing milk teas and creative cakes), to “open kitchens” (3.0)—the openness is not just for safety but to turn the cooking process into a form of performance that captures customers' attention.
- Second Wave (Fashion): Stores have started creating “scenographic” experiences (e.g., combining coffee with fashion displays), and live streamers show off clothes to attract attention—without visuals, there’s no follow-up interest.
- Third Wave (Retail): Snack shops and trendy merchandise stores have become popular. For example, places like the “Snack Kingdom” in Changsha and Mianchuang Youpin (My Creative Goods) attract people not just to buy items but to browse and take photos to share on social media; the stores themselves have become a form of consumption.
The essence of these changes is to “put traditional businesses in attractive packaging and make that packaging an integral part of the consumer experience.”
Visuals Are Not About Aesthetics, but About Precise Targeting
Many people think the visual economy is about an aesthetic upgrade, but it’s actually about using visual cues to reach specific demographics:
- Ushimori socks cost 100 yuan a pair, not because of their quality, but because of their dopamine-inducing colors and floral designs aimed at urban women—buying them is a way to show off one’s “lifestyle” (the socks are a medium, with social status being the real goal).
- Luckin’s collaborations with brands like Moutai and its line of “line-drawn dogs” change the perception of the coffee; the same flavor can be packaged in a new way, making it seem fresh to consumers.
- Mianchuang Youpin’s stores may not be upscale, but they are lively and appeal to Generation Z and adults who want to appear youthful. Its 89-yuan blind boxes target wealthy middle-aged women.
The key is not whether the visuals are attractive, but whether they make the target audience want to enter the store immediately.
Visuals as a Tool for Reallocating the Market
Visuals are not just for adding elegance but for redistributing business opportunities:
- Jinli Men snack shops use open layouts and low shelves so customers can see the entire store from the entrance; the snacks are similar to those in supermarkets, but young people prefer to buy there because the store looks appealing, is easy to navigate, and provides good photo opportunities.
- Supermarkets’ marinated dishes and baked goods have lost popularity because they are not visually appealing and have poor layouts; these markets have been taken over by snack shops.
- As a result, supermarkets have declined, while convenience stores and corner shops have been affected, with consumers being drawn to different visual experiences.
The underlying logic is that with improved transportation, a large number of stores, and increased information transparency, people have more choices, and good visuals can help businesses gain a larger share of the market.
Visuals = Trust + Premium Value
Visuals can quickly build trust and allow products to be sold at higher prices:
- Shanghai’s PANE shoe stores are popular with foreigners, making people think the shoes are international and of high quality—although the foreigners are just a visual cue, consumers believe it.
- In restaurants, open kitchens make customers feel the food is clean and safe, leading them to make purchases.
- Street-food items like “wolf-tooth potatoes” can be served in five-star hotels, making them seem upscale and doubling in price.
The essence is that good visual packaging makes consumers believe the product is of high quality, allowing prices to increase even if the product itself remains the same.
Generational Differences in Visual Preferences
Different age groups have distinct preferences, which is the core of the visual economy:
- Generation 80 (born in the 1980s) once considered KFC a luxury brand; now, as working professionals, they seek emotional comfort—collaborations with butter bears target this group. McDonald’s pet beds and farewell boxes also appeal to them, as they recall childhood toys.
- Generation Z has always seen Mianchuang Youpin as a trendy brand, while Generation 80 sees it as an upgraded version of a “10-yuan store.”
The visual economy is about understanding the needs of different generations and using visual language to connect with them.
Conclusion
The visual economy is still evolving, and more industries will be reshaped by it. Its essence is not about making things look better but about using new visual patterns to redistribute attention, which is everything in this era. Businesses should not strive for a “universal aesthetic” but find their target audience and communicate in a language they understand.