Image source @Visual China
Article | E-Commerce Online, Author | Wang Xian, Editor | Si Wen
Set up a sky curtain on the grass, set up an egg roll table and Kermit chairs, take a few beautiful photos or a video, and you can get countless likes in the circle of friends – the explosive consumption trend is showing that camping has changed from outdoor to outdoor. The supplementary living style of sports has transformed into a popular living trend with social attributes.
All content platforms are filled with camping-related content. Searching for camping on Xiaohongshu has more than 3.91 million related notes, an increase of more than 5 times year-on-year in 2021; searching for camping on the short video platform will automatically pop up “camping equipment”. “Camping base” and other associated terms, videos related to the #camping# topic on Douyin have reached 11.8 billion views.
The heat on the content side was transmitted to the demand side, and finally they became countless product links, filling their shopping carts. On e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Tmall and JD.com, searching for “camping” will jump out of more sub-categories such as tents, sky screens, camping chairs, etc. The “Tmall 2022 May Day Consumer Trend Report” shows that on April 20 From May 4th to May 4th, the sales of sky screens increased by 2,100% year-on-year, and the sales of outdoor coffee pots, tables and chairs and barbecue plates increased by more than 3 times year-on-year. iiMedia Research also issued a forecast for the booming Chinese camping market: in 2025, the core market size of China’s camping will reach 248.32 billion yuan, and the driven market size will reach 1,440.28 billion yuan.
Consumption popularity is always conducted from top to bottom: just like the hot skiing sport, it spreads from first- and second-tier cities to third- and fourth-tier cities and small counties, and migrates from celebrity internet celebrities to ordinary consumers. With the expansion of the market, the rental and sharing economy has also begun to emerge, and camping is showing such a trend. In foreign countries, camping equipment rental has a relatively mature model. Businesses cooperate with professional camps and parks to rent camping equipment, but in China, renting camping equipment is still a blue ocean.
“I know a lot of camping equipment rental businesses that only started this year. Basically, whoever starts to do it first will be able to accumulate word-of-mouth and attract more customers through word-of-mouth.” Kenn from Nanjing said that many Merchants entered the game because they saw the camping fever on May 1, and wanted to seize the opportunity in the rental market.
Camping is shifting from niche consumption to mass consumption. The market demand has given birth to the business of renting camping equipment, and this business has also continuously helped camping to penetrate the crowd and sink the market.
30 yuan to realize the freedom of camping
“Although the camping photos in my circle of friends look very high-end, each person only spends 30 yuan on the equipment.” Lingzi from Nanchang recently experienced a camping experience, and the expenses are divided: the rented novice camping equipment package 120 yuan a day, 800 yuan deposit, will be returned after returning the equipment. “Equipment is rented, and the camp is free park grass.” The four friends divide it equally, and each person only needs to pay 30 yuan, plus transportation fees, food, etc., the cost of a camping is only 80 yuan per person.
In normal times, if you want to match a set of high-end and big-brand camping equipment, it may cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan, and a set of simple and cheap camping equipment also costs one or two thousand yuan. But now, with a per capita tens of yuan, you can have the right to use a set of exquisite camping equipment for one day, and renting has become the first choice for many camping novice and experiencers.
Searching for “camping equipment rental/rental” on various social platforms, e-commerce platforms and second-hand trading platforms, thousands of related messages will pop up. Several sets of camping equipment such as sky curtains, egg roll tables and Kermit chairs are essential, but There are not many professional equipment, and most of them are mainly rented locally. There are two main reasons. One is that consumers want a cost-effective experience with good looks and exposure, and they can shoot exquisite blockbusters. The other is that most professional campers have already entered the pit. They have relatively complete equipment and are more inclined to go by themselves. Buying equipment, renting camping gear is a novice business.
“E-commerce Online” observed that most of the rental camping equipment are mostly white-brand and domestic brands. They are also divided into two types: renting a certain camping equipment alone and renting a full set of camping equipment. According to the city, brand and equipment price, the fee is charged. Different rentals and deposits.
The deposit for renting a full set of equipment is basically between 1500-3500 yuan, and the cost is 150-400 yuan a day. The merchant will stipulate that the equipment will be handed over the night before or the morning of the rental. When returning the equipment that night or the next morning, the deposit will be refunded after inspection. If the equipment is damaged, a certain deposit will need to be deducted.
On Xianyu, the lowest price for renting camping equipment is 79 yuan, and the highest is 1688 yuan. The equipment and services included in the two are different: the 79 yuan package comes from a merchant in Chengdu, including a canopy, a table and 6 Chairs, as well as light strings and batteries, the merchant does not provide additional services; the 1,688 yuan package is from Zhoushan, including a tent, a canopy and supporting tables and chairs, which can sit 12 people, and the merchant said that various packages can also be built The venue can basically meet the needs of holding various events.
On Xianyu, the 1688 yuan package and the 79 yuan package
Early adopters of personal experience occupy most of the business, but there are many big customers who also come to rent equipment. Many merchants said that they have also received demand orders for company team building, market or publicity activities.
In the case of more and more replacement camping products in China, why do so many people choose to rent equipment? We concluded three points from interviews and observations:
- 1. Leasing is cheaper than buying. Even if you buy various replacement and white-brand equipment on the e-commerce platform, the cost is close to 1,000 yuan, and 150 yuan can basically rent a complete set of basic camping equipment, only tens of yuan per person.
- 2. Experience high-end equipment. Many consumers are still more concerned about the brand, and some businesses will also specifically indicate the brand of equipment to attract customers. Many brand-name camping equipment are priced at thousands of yuan, but renting only requires a deposit, and you can have the right to use it for a day at a cost of a few hundred yuan.
- 3. Set up a camping trip plan, but the equipment has not arrived yet. Xia Xia, who was camping during May Day, said that she purchased relevant camping equipment at the end of April, but the delivery was delayed, so she rented a set of equipment for emergency use. Chen Shang from Nanjing bought the canopy, Kermit chairs and camping carts all arrived, but the egg roll table and cassette stove had not been delivered due to various reasons, so he rented these two equipment first.
Rental camping equipment, monthly income of 60,000
The emerging camping rental market seems to contradict the Internet, which is not limited to the business radius – most players only operate in the territory, and rarely reach consumers in other areas through the Internet.
Most of the individual players who enter the game are converted from camping enthusiasts. The merchants are only responsible for leasing, and the buyers need to bring their own equipment and build them by themselves.
The person in charge of Kaifeng Tody Camping is a camping enthusiast. She spent tens of thousands of yuan to save a lot of camping equipment. She saw a post on renting camping equipment on Xiaohongshu, so she started a side business with her boyfriend.
Kenn from Nanjing is a seasoned enthusiast with six years of camping experience, “I can make three sets of camping equipment from the things I have eliminated in the past two years. Camping was very popular last year, so I wondered if I could rent out these camping equipment to make some money.” In 2021, there are not many people who rent camping equipment, and Kenn’s business is often “in short supply”, so he pulled a few more Camping enthusiasts formed a small studio, bought some equipment one after another, and collected more than a dozen sets of camping equipment for rent.
There are also many professional players who enter the game. They will provide some value-added services, such as home delivery, helping to build venues, etc., which is an advantage over grassroots individuals.
Jianghu Outdoor in Cixi was originally a travel agency focusing on outdoor activities, but began to expand other businesses under the influence of the epidemic. “We officially want to start a camping business in 2021. We bought a lot of equipment and planned to find a fixed campsite, but we haven’t found a suitable one. This year, we found that many locals in Cixi want to experience camping, so they started to rent camping equipment. business.” said the relevant person in charge, Li Fan.
The blowout demand brought in a lot of orders, but fell on individual and professional players with varying benefits. The person in charge of Tody Camping said that their income in May was less than 5,000 yuan, while Kenn said that their monthly sales at most reached nearly 60,000 yuan. You don’t have to pay your own salary, and you only occasionally hire two or three part-time jobs, so the hard costs will be reduced.”
Professional players with deeper backgrounds are not as profitable as expected.
Li Fan of Jianghu Outdoor said that although there are still many orders, he will also take some orders for weddings, birthdays and other events, but the profit is not much. The equipment is basically the Nooke brand, the cost is relatively high, daily maintenance and cleaning, etc. are required, and the basic rental can be paid for ten times. Not to mention the loss, etc. To be honest, what you earn is labor costs, and there is no such thing as Extraordinarily profitable.”
How does the experiential rental business last?
In the opinion of most personal and professional players, renting camping equipment is not a long-term business:
1. The vast majority of camping equipment rental business is limited to the territory , closer to local life services, and rarely reaches surrounding cities, while the market in some small cities is limited. Kenn has contacted Wuhu, Hefei, Anhui, etc. In addition, the user demand is small, and the market size is also small.
2. Camping itself is a low-frequency consumption . It has experienced rapid development in the past two years, but it is still in the stage of market education. Most people are only doing one-time experience consumption. They have little knowledge about camping. Equipment, the repurchase rate is not high. Lifan told us, “Most people actually experience it once or twice. If you camp five or six times a year, it will be more cost-effective to buy a set of entry-level equipment. Moreover, the construction of camping equipment is not an easy task, and many people will feel that Too tired, we had some local rich customers before, they could afford high-end equipment, but they didn’t want to build it themselves, and they would ask us to help build it.”
3. Camping is a business that is very dependent on holidays, seasons and weather . Spring and autumn are the peak seasons for camping every year, and the demand for camping in winter and summer will be much less. But even in spring and autumn, when there is rain or high temperature, there will be fewer people renting camping equipment. Kenn said, “Unless it’s an old player, who would go out and pitch a tent on a rainy day, but old players basically don’t rent equipment.”
4. The entry threshold is low and the competition is fierce. In the case of more and more domestic camping equipment and more and more affordable prices, individuals can start a business with a few thousand to buy white-brand camping equipment, and many consumers are more concerned about the cost performance, when everyone is using low-cost camping equipment. When the price strategy is compared, the whole market will be involute.
On 1688, the low price camping chair is 27 yuan, and the low price canopy is 96 yuan
At present, individual businesses hope to make a fortune in the camping craze to “earn back equipment money”, while many professional businesses say that renting camping equipment is too uncertain, and it is more like a “sideline”. After the epidemic, they will will return to the main business.
In order to make the business of renting camping equipment long-term, some professional merchants said that they can refer to foreign camping equipment rental models, cooperate with professional camps, or do their own professional camps, combined with camping equipment rental, the main one-stop experiential consumption. At the same time, tap more subdivided consumer needs, such as script killing + camping, wedding venue + camping, team building activities + camping, etc.
In camping, which is a trillion-dollar outlet, low-cost leasing has in a sense realized the population penetration of the camping industry, ignited the enthusiasm for sinking the market, and made the market bigger. However, after completing the penetration and sinking of the crowd, out of the cost-effective business, how to turn experiential consumption into a stable business and have a fixed consumer group is a problem that rental camping equipment businesses need to consider more, and enrich consumption scenarios. Creating a better service experience may be the best solution at the moment.
media coverage
Mustard pile Titanium Media Titanium Media Sohu
Related events
- With the scale of the camping market exceeding 1.4 trillion yuan, the flames of the parent-child track are gradually emerging2022-06-09
- Baidu Maps launches “camping map” 2022-05-03
This article is reprinted from: https://readhub.cn/topic/8gGmBoiXVrm
This site is for inclusion only, and the copyright belongs to the original author.