"Cool Consumption" Ignites Summer "Hot Economy" Activities | Consumption | Economy

This summer, many parts of China have been experiencing sustained high temperatures, and the vitality of the "hot economy" has emerged, while "cool consumption" continues to rise.

The demand for a cool summer has increased

The demand for summer vacation has driven food products such as cold drinks and ice cream into the peak sales season. According to recent media reports, data from e-commerce platforms shows that since the beginning of summer, ice cream sales in various regions have increased by more than three times month on month, with ice cream products with fancy flavors and creative forms receiving the most attention.

The sales of cool food are thriving, and household cooling appliances such as air conditioners and home cooling appliances are also popular in the consumer market.

According to the "2023 Summer Air Conditioning Consumption Trends Observation" released by the China Economic Think Tank, in the first week of July, many parts of the country suddenly experienced hot weather, and Suning.com's omnichannel air conditioning sales surged by 45% year-on-year. Among them, the sales of central air conditioning increased by 84% year-on-year. According to the "2023 Observation of Home Cooling Utensils Consumption" released by JD Consumer and Industrial Development Research Institute, the search volume for "Home Cooling Utensils" exceeded 3 million times in July, and more segmented and functional products such as ice silk mats, latex mats, and even visual ice keyboards were favored by consumers.

In addition, people's willingness to travel during the summer has increased, and the popularity of summer tourism has increased.

Tourists check-in in front of the landmark in Mohe City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Kaixin

This summer, the average temperature in Heilongjiang Province is around 20 ℃, and taking the special train to the north to escape the heat has become a new hotspot. It is reported that China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd. has launched special trains for red tourism, study tours, and summer vacations. In July, it served 66 long-distance tourism trains from all over the country to Heilongjiang Province and 66 medium and short distance tourism trains within the province, receiving nearly 30000 tourists, setting a new historical record.

Jiang Zhao, Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Circulation and Consumption at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that the demand for a cool summer has significantly increased, and industries such as smart home appliances, cold drinks and snacks, water sports, and tourism will achieve good development, with promising growth prospects.

Rich and diverse summer supply

"The summer 'hot economy' cannot be achieved without the promotion of local governments. Many places have adopted a series of policy measures to support the development of the 'hot economy', such as issuing summer consumption vouchers, creating summer shopping festivals, etc. In addition, with the increasing demand for summer cooling and cooling by residents, enterprises have developed more targeted and diversified products and services to better meet the upgrading needs of residents' consumption." Jiang Zhao said.

Taking advantage of the summer consumption boom, online and offline merchants have launched various discounts and promotional activities to further enrich the diverse summer supply. A platform has launched the "Summer Consumption Festival" to distribute summer cooling consumption vouchers to citizens; More than 50 key commercial districts in Beijing have collaborated with over a thousand brands to carry out a series of consumer promotion activities, including summer rejuvenation, travel essentials, heatstroke prevention and cooling, and other popular items with a 50% discount.

On August 16th, tourists watched performances and tasted delicious food during the midsummer consumption season on the Grand Canal. Photo by Feng Chunfang from People's Daily Online

Efforts are being made in various regions to innovate consumption scenarios and models. The "2023 Shandong Summer Consumption Season" launched in Shandong lasts from June to August, during which 50 consumption activities are held, highlighting summer consumption characteristics such as cool consumption, summer vacation consumption, and outdoor consumption, creating consumption scenes such as quality shopping and summer cuisine. The summer consumption season in Guangxi focuses on the theme of "Happy Summer · Summer Consumption" and adopts promotional forms such as "subsidies+activities". Among them, the focus is on cooling down and cooling down residents, and the "Refreshing Summer" home appliance and home furnishings promotion activity is carried out, guiding financial institutions and leading enterprises to continue carrying out summer catering promotion activities.

He Daixin, Director of the Finance Research Office of the Institute of Finance and Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the key to issuing consumption vouchers and holding shopping festivals for summer "cool consumption" in various regions is to identify the starting point and establish a coordinated mechanism between the market and the government to effectively promote consumption.

In addition, multiple regions are creating "summer destinations" to help turn "cool resources" into "hot industries". For example, Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area County is actively developing the summer economy, targeting the market demand for summer vacation such as elderly health care, student summer care, family leisure, etc., and increasing the supply of summer tourism projects such as health care vacations, research and study summer camps, outdoor sports, parent-child homestays, and pastoral picking, so as to constantly enrich tourists' summer experience.

Developing a "hot economy" according to local conditions

Xu Xingfeng, Director of the Market Operation and Consumption Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce, stated at the State Council's policy briefing held on July 31 that the Ministry of Commerce will further implement and refine the "Consumption Boosting Year" activities based on the "Measures for Restoring and Expanding Consumption", encourage various regions to combine regional and seasonal characteristics, highlight scene innovation, and meet the consumption needs of residents for summer vacation, outdoor sports, and night life.

In economics, there is a concept called the "one degree effect", which means that when the temperature changes by 1 ℃, the sales of goods will undergo significant changes, and it contains huge business opportunities behind it. How to grasp the market demand and vitality during the summer, and better develop the "hot economy"?

"This year's summer consumption has shown characteristics such as increased consumption integration, diversified service supply, and fast product upgrading. The 'hot economy' plays a prominent role in stimulating summer consumption. He Daixin said that various regions should accumulate relevant experience, implement policies according to the city and local conditions, and achieve the goal of promoting consumption and expanding demand through measures in specific seasons and fields.".

Jiang Zhao suggested that local governments should continue to introduce diversified consumer brands and enhance commercial consumption supply in the trend of the "hot economy" heating up during the summer; Effectively utilize fiscal funds, better leverage social capital investment, increase the distribution of consumption vouchers, consumption subsidies, and other resources; Organize special consumption themed activities, create a landmark for internet celebrity consumption check-in, continuously optimize the consumption environment, and enhance the satisfaction and comfort of residents in consumption.

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