“Design in China” e22 – 野兽派 The Beast Shop – China’s Growing Lifestyle Shop
The Beast Shop – China’s Growing Lifestyle Shop
Concept stores with expert-curated products are popping up all over China. There’s a growing market for such shopping experiences. The Beast Shop, founded in 2011, is a cutting-edge online and offline lifestyle retail concept targeted at Chinese consumers from the top and middle classes. It is headquartered in Shanghai, China’s most populated city. Through 24 locations spread over 11 cities, many e-stores, and the app, The Beast offers Chinese consumers high-end brands from all over the world. Some store locations include Beijing Sanlitun Taikoo Li, Beijing Yintai, Chengdu Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li, JOYCE in Beijing’s International Trade Center Phase III, Lane Crawford in Shanghai, Shanghai International Trade Plaza, Shanghai Xintiandi and most famous Wukang/Anfu Road.
Interestingly, it began as a modest, carefully selected flower company on the social network Weibo. However, it grew to become The Beast, a lifestyle store present across China. Former television producer Amber Xiang started selling story-telling flowers on Weibo where the consumers could not see how the flowers appeared until the arrangement was delivered to their door. The florist business had 100,000 followers in just six months. Riding the popularity of her Weibo followers, Xiang launched The Beast Shop, a complete online shop that eventually extended offline to stores all around China.
Although flowers are the store’s main product, it also sells cosmetics, candles, household items, jewelry, silk pajamas, and more in flower-paired gift boxes. The whole collection of flowers is also available online, along with a larger selection of luxury presents including Delbôve and Lancôme cosmetics, furniture, gourmet foods and beverages, kitchenware, and perfumes. The Beast Shop’s aesthetics and details were paramount to its success. It presents as bold and free-spirited. It has established itself as a trend-setting platform in China by offering high quality in both the product experience and consumer experience. The brand has become successful due to its constant effort of looking to connect with new companies or shops to create a curated experience for the customer whether they shop online or in its many stores.
Online platforms and social commerce on popular applications like Sina, TikTok, Weibo, and WeChat have long assimilated into Chinese daily life. Chinese customers use their mobile devices for approximately five hours per day. At the same time, there has been a resurgence of shopping in stores, especially for luxury goods. The Beast Shop has leveraged both the channels to grow its business. Although Covid-19 lockdowns impacted brick-and-mortar stores more than online stores, companies like Beast Shop managed to stay in business because of their hybrid approach.
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