How Yiwu Merchants Tap Into Emotional Consumption

"Would you like to adopt a little bear," a shopkeeper at a toy store in Yiwu asks potential customers. Yet she is selling far more than plush toys - she is actually selling companionship. By redefining "purchase" as "adoption", merchants endow goods with companionship value, forging a soft emotional bond between products and people.

From focusing on affordable and practical goods in the past to catering to current demands by facilitating emotional connection and self-expression, merchants in Yiwu have accurately tapped into the new trend of emotional consumption.

It is not only the merchandise on the shelves that has changed, but also the people behind the counters. The older generation of merchants, who once walked the streets of Yiwu with rattle-drums to promote their products, are now passing their stores onto the next generation. These second-generation entrepreneurs, and other young startup founders, excel at design and brand storytelling, and are all selling products that deliver emotional value.

According to official statistics released by Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center, new-generation operators account for 52 percent of all tenants in the center, while 57 percent of merchants have developed proprietary brands and intellectual property-based products.

From a global wholesale mall for daily necessities to an emotional convenience store, Yiwu's product lineup keeps upgrading, yet its decades-old business acumen of reading market trends and understanding human emotions remains unchanged.