Taking a selfie with Wukang Mansion sea salt cheese ice cream, and then going to the post office themed shop in Wukang Mansion. Here, while enjoying the coffee, you can scan a QR code with your mobile phone to upload the photo. You may also record your best wishes to generate a "talking" postcard and send it to your distant friend with a special postmark. On social media, "visit Wukang Mansion like this" has become one of the most popular travel recommendations during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Given the convenience of online shopping, why are people still willing to go shopping in real Shanghai, especially in a special road attraction where Wukang Mansion is located? I believe that the relationship between consumption and scene is the factor at work.

Scene creates consumption. With the higher quality of the consumer market, consumers, especially young consumers, are paying more attention to the consumption scene. The current definition of "scene" has expanded from a tangible geographical factor to an intangible interaction that allows consumers to "match and meet" with goods in a specific area by building platforms, setting themes, and embracing innovation. Consumers are willing to visit Wukang Mansion not only because the building itself is attractive, but also because it indicates an elegant lifestyle. Spending money here allows them to express their taste, which taps into their pursuit of mass approval.

Today, all businesses are trying to attract Generation Z consumers. Unlike their parents, Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2009, have a new way of thinking about consumption, chasing newer business models and being willing to pay for experiences. Although more young people may prefer to shop online, they still value store experience and are keen on feedback and sharing. As consumption has been seen as an important way to realize self-worth and expand social networks, young people pay more attention to the opinions of strangers rather than the experience of acquaintances. This is a challenge and an opportunity for Shanghai, which is being built into an international consumer center.

On September 18, the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the Implementation Plan for Shanghai to Build Itself into an International Consumer Center was published. It is mentioned in the document that we should build a gathering place integrating global consumption resources, a global consumer goods distribution center, and an international consumption center metropolis with global influence, competitiveness and reputation by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan".

In integrating global consumer resources, Shanghai needs to build commercial and cultural "soft power" above all else.  Consumers are only truly satisfied when the culture embodied in or set off by the goods and services resonates with them. During the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Nanjing Road Walkway offered new experiences to attract consumers, such as the "New Power of Art" Mid-Autumn Festival themed event, which recruited Chinese avant-garde artists to present a number of "Big Moon" art installations;  "Walkway Blessing and Lucky Consumption" themed activity, which provided the sale of limited blind box and other discount events.

Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road and other traditional commercial streets attract consumers not only by their enduring reputations, but also by reflections of changes in the city. This is the intangible value of the "old" commercial street. As these road attractions are of undiminished value in changing times, if we introduce self-pleasuring, socializing, entertainment and other needs to them, we can create richer consumption scene experience. For example, the outdoor film screening in Chuangyi Square on Yuyuan Road this summer. The event was organized by an Internet company and Shanghai Animation Film Studio, and bloggers were invited to visit and showed their chatter topic tags online to promote the activity. As a result, a new nighttime lifestyle was praised, tapping into the summer lifestyle and shopping trends of young people. Similarly, the new consumer brand pop-up shop in Yu Garden, which adds consumption scenes for tourists through route design.

For many of "old" commercial streets in Shanghai, "rigidity" and "monotony" are a drawback. To enable "new" consumption, the key is to explore more diversified shopping scenes based on the single, linear function of tourist destinations. For example, a huge model of "doll face ice cream" made a shopping mall on Huaihai Road a "phenomenon" recently, attracting many young people.

The atmosphere of the "old" commercial streets is long-standing over the years and is of unique advantages. By adding capacity to connect young consumers and incorporating diverse elements, it will surely activate the "new" consumption potential and provide a source of core competitiveness for Shanghai to build itself into an international consumer center.

 

(Fang Xiang, Xinmin Evening News)