Eye-catching new items, stores drive up sales, but product prices also on the rise
Liu Yang of Beijing said she was shocked when she saw the prices of the products at a stationery store that her daughter wanted to visit.
"I thought a pencil would just cost a few yuan, but the ones there were sold for 30 yuan ($4.19). I understand the idea of robotic vacuums to clean desks, but electric erasers? Is it necessary to have an electric appliance to do something as small as erasing a word?"
But Liu said there were many even pricier items.
Her daughter picked out a pen that can display presentations, a ballpoint pen with a small fan on top and a journal that people can write in to relieve stress. The journal also has a plastic pig figure on its cover that can be pinched for more stress relief. That &#; and other somewhat extravagant items that Liu had never heard of &#; cost her nearly 300 yuan.
Liu is not the only parent whose budget is feeling the effects of increasingly expensive stationery and related items. Social media platforms said "toys or stationery" and "high-priced stationery" have become popular searches.
Recently, Weibo and short-video platform Douyin reported discussions trending on such topics as "gel pen sells for 55 yuan" and "why stationery is getting more and more expensive".
Many stationery stores set aside special back-to-school sections that sell items with promotional labels such as "necessary for students" and "recommended by teachers".
While including some basic academic tools, best-sellers include items with such embellishments as those that display cartoons or that are embedded with dolls. Some items are co-branded with well-known intellectual properties, such as the Japanese manga series One Piece, with prices ranging from dozens to hundreds of yuan per item.
"My daughter and her friends also long for imported items or those labeled as having a limited supply," Liu said.
Stationery products sold in blind boxes are displayed at a supermarket in Tianjin in August. CHINA DAILYAlso, the rising popularity of blind boxes, which are sold without the customer knowing the contents until they buy it, has led to some stationery merchants selling their own blind boxes.
"The extra step of having to guess what you'll get can increase the total cost by 50 yuan or more for almost the exact same items," she complained.
Market experts say stationery merchants are seeking ways to pry money out of parents' pockets as the market has boomed in recent years.
The Chinese market for stationery and related items stood at 163.89 billion yuan in , according to Beijing-based Intelligence Research Group. About 300 million students and 100 million office workers are the most important consumers in the market, it said.
The growing market has attracted numerous businesses. There are over 7.04 million stationery-related companies in China, according to Tianyancha, a corporate information-sharing site. Of those, more than 5.66 million have been established within the past five years &#; over 80 percent of the total.
Last year alone, more than 2.14 million new enterprises were registered, and the annual registration growth rate reached 39.35 percent, the highest in history, according to Tianyancha.
Wang Yiran, a stationery store owner in Huilongguan community in Beijing's Changping district, said more and more customers are focused on products instead of prices.
"They'd rather pay double or even triple the price for pens with their beloved virtual characters, or imported items, with those from Japan being particularly popular. Middle school students are more likely than elementary students to have such preferences.
"Many customers think Japanese stationery and related items are well-designed in appearance and function. For instance, there are Japanese pens specially designed for left-handers, and Japanese ballpoint pens that last longer," Wang said.
Posts on lifestyle site Xiaohongshu related to imported Japanese stationery have surpassed 40,000. Posts that mention Japanese company Pilot, best known for its writing instruments but which also makes stationery and jewelry, had reached more than 120,000 as of mid-September.
On user-review site Douban, fans created an online club called the "House of Japanese Stationery". On Douyin, a collection of episodes featuring Japanese stationery and related items had nearly 1 million views as of mid-September.
Domestic brands are also stepping up efforts to develop high-end products with additional functions and features such as stress-relief journals, as well as improving product appearance and increasing brand value through cooperation with well-known IPs.
Jiumu, a high-end product line of domestic brand Shanghai M&G Stationery Inc, recorded revenue of 950 million yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 70 percent despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jiumu has developed chain stores with decor and product selections that are more elaborate in function and appearance, more creative and with more cooperation with well-known IPs. The goal is to better attract consumers who frequently buy stationery and related products and who are willing to pay more, the company said.
M&G said in its financial report that the rapid development of Jiumu is an important driving force in M&G's revenue growth, which hit 34 percent year-on-year in . It said the industry is facing challenges as well as opportunities presented by the growing demand for individualized products and services, as people born after become the most important customer base. It said the industry's revenue growth will be driven by high-end products with better design and quality.
M&G told People's Daily that the company plans for Jiumu to create a more appealing atmosphere at its stores to draw customers in and motivate them to stay longer. "Further efforts to improve consumers' shopping experience are key to generating new growth points for retail stationery," it said.
Jiumu had 463 stores across the country by the end of last year.
EAGLE supply professional and honest service.
Experts also say the market as a whole would be well served to pay close attention to what customers are saying.
"I wouldn't mind paying more for better product quality, but are some functions really necessary?" said Liu, the Beijing mother. "Wouldn't they distract students while they are studying?"
What's more unbearable is that some shops mix higher-priced products with those that are priced lower, and parents discover the price disparity only when they are about to pay.
"In addition, many items have strong fragrances and bright colors. They are very appealing to children, but I'm reluctant to buy them, considering that my 10-year-old daughter might chew on the pencils while studying. I'm concerned about whether such products are safe," the company added.
In the face of an increasingly competitive market, the frequency of surging prices and unapproved products has also attracted the attention of regulatory authorities.
Last year, the China Consumers Association warned parents about toy-like items with different shapes and decorations, and brightly colored and scented stationery.
In August, the Beijing Consumer Association issued a reminder for parents. It called for making sensible choices when buying stationery instead of just competing to buy the fanciest items. It also urged caution in purchasing stationery-related items with toys that have shapes and decorations that could present a hazard.
Also in August, Beijing's bureau for market regulation issued a letter of reminder and warning on prices at stationery businesses. It said prices should be labeled clearly and accurately to help avoid mixing of items of different prices, which can confuse consumers.
The State Administration for Market Regulation also stipulated in August that businesses shall not sell blind boxes to children under the age of eight.
The status quo of China's stationery industry is: manufacturing companies are very concentrated in regional distribution, but the market concentration is quite low, and the homogeneity of products is serious. The development trend of the stationery industry: product consumption tends to be individualized; sales tend to be flattened and commerce electronic; the competition mode of the stationery industry will evolve from competition from a single enterprise to competition in the entire supply chain, and manufacturers turn to service providers. 1. Market capacity and structure The market capacity of China's stationery industry (excluding office equipment and furniture) is about 150 billion yuan, or about 21.5 billion U.S. dollars, and the total stationery market is about 250 billion U.S. dollars. The Chinese stationery market accounts for 8.6 of the total stationery market.
In the Chinese stationery market, office consumables accounted for about 4,16 billion yuan, document processing supplies accounted for about 19.5 billion yuan, writing instruments accounted for 10, or about 15 billion yuan, and books and desktop supplies each accounted for 7 yuan. 10.5 billion yuan, of which teaching and student supplies accounted for 9, which is about 13.5 billion yuan. The consumer market for office stationery products in China is mainly concentrated in the coastal economically developed areas, of which about 70 are concentrated in 5 regions of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing. The specific distribution ratios are 17.5 in Zhejiang, 18 in Jiangsu, 7.80 in Shanghai, 12.50 in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, 7.00 in Shandong and Henan, 5.80 in Fujian and Anhui, 5.50 in Hunan, Jiangxi, and Hubei, 4.50 in the three eastern provinces, and 6.90 in other regions. There are 8 million enterprises, 200 million students, and government agencies at all levels. In recent years, China&#;s stationery market has grown at an average rate of 12 per year. It is expected that China&#;s stationery market will grow at a rate of 5-10 per year in the future. The prospects of China's stationery consumer market are very broad. 2. Industry Features There are more than 100,000 upstream and downstream enterprises in China's stationery industry chain, including about 43,000 manufacturers and about 30,000 retail terminals. There are very few companies with sales of more than 1 billion yuan, only 5 companies with sales of more than 500 million yuan, about 5 companies with more than 10 million yuan, and about 10 companies above designated size. Of the more than 43,000 stationery manufacturers nationwide, 70 are concentrated in the three regions of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. Chinese stationery manufacturing companies are very concentrated in terms of regional distribution, but the market concentration is quite low. The total annual sales of the top ten companies in the stationery industry are less than 10% of the total market.
In the final analysis, most Chinese stationery companies have the following symptoms:
1. The number of industry enterprises is huge, the region is concentrated, and the market concentration is low
2. The mode of production is not highly mechanized and is a labor-intensive industry with low profit margins.
3. The majority of Chinese stationery enterprises are export processing enterprises, and they have long used OEM to process and realize export sales for overseas enterprises. The added value of products is low, technological innovation and brand awareness are weak.
3. Problems in the industry
1. Homogenization of products, excessive repetitive products, resulting in waste of resources and excessive competition at low levels, resulting in low industry efficiency.
2. Lack of core technology and invention.
3. The manufacturing industry has long centered on OEMs, and lacks technological innovation awareness and brand innovation capabilities.
4. There is no brand with international influence.
4. Industry development trends
1. Consumer trends: product individuation, fashion, multi-functionality, and low-carbonization. In a diversified social environment, consumer demand for stationery products will show individual characteristics. 59 distributors hope to highlight the personalization of their products. More than 60% of the respondents said they like to choose personalized and fashionable stationery. From October to October , the purchase of environmentally friendly office supplies increased by 63. Among companies with annual sales of more than $1 billion, more than 53 companies would consider office supplies when purchasing environmentally friendly products.
2. Sales model trends: flat channels, electronic commerce
(1) The trend of flat channel flattening is to reduce the level of channels and the number of distributors, and develop more direct sales channels, including direct sales channels to retailers (direct supply to modern retail chains) and direct sales channels to consumers (such as electronic Business, direct sales and direct sales, etc.), the purpose is to strengthen the control of the retail terminal, and to understand more about consumer needs. The salient features of flat sales channels are the direct marketing of channels and the short and wide channels.
(2) E-commerce trend The number of Internet users in China has exceeded 384 million. The current number of online shoppers is 60 million, accounting for only 25 of the Internet users, while the numbers in South Korea and the United States are 57.3 and 66, respectively, indicating that China has a huge and will be more powerful. Amazing online shopping group. From the attributes of channel owners, e-commerce can be divided into three types, namely: retailer e-commerce, manufacturer e-commerce, and online retail (that is, e-commerce operated by an independent third party). Retailer e-commerce: In the past few years, retail companies have tried online sales. Data show that among the top 100 retail companies in China in , 31 have already launched online business, and nearly one-third of them opened in or early . However, most of these retail companies are at a cautious start-up stage, and their online businesses have not formed a scale and account for a small proportion of overall sales revenue. Manufacturer's e-commerce: Manufacturers have also launched online sales platforms this year, especially in the past two years, showing explosive growth. Online retailer: Online retail is independently owned and operated by a third party online, including B2C and C2C businesses. From to , the compound annual growth rate of the overall sales scale of China's B2C business is estimated to reach 50, which has become an important sales channel.
(3) Industry trends: competition and cooperation, concentration, and supply chain competition. The phenomenon of competition and cooperation is a natural product of economic development to a certain level, and it is also the final result of competition to a certain degree. Competitive cooperation takes multi-win as the starting point, and builds a powerful new platform through the use of everyone's technology, capital, and channels. It represents the standardization of technological development and market order, and has become a stage of competition in the stationery industry. With the development of the industry, the trend of competition and cooperation intensifies, and the industry is bound to move towards concentration. In the process of industry concentration, there are three major camps that have the possibility of monopolizing the Chinese stationery market. They are international stationery giants, regional stationery chain institutions and leading manufacturers of single products. Each of these three camps has its own advantages, but they all face different challenges. The competition model of the stationery industry will evolve from a single enterprise competition to the entire supply chain competition. Manufacturers will transform to service providers. The development trend of the stationery industry will lead to changes in production methods, increased mechanization, increased enterprise specialization, and increased industry cooperation. Increasingly closer, the inevitable result of this is a change in the competitive landscape. The stationery industry will evolve from competition among numerous small and medium-sized manufacturers to competition among large-scale stationery suppliers and even the entire stationery supply chain. Stationery manufacturers that only focus on a small area will be at a disadvantage in the competition. It is replaced by a few supply chain service providers that can provide a full range of categories, and one-stop service providers will be favored by customers of various formats with their advantages of full categories, one-stop, flatness, zero lead time and low risk. Widely welcome.
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