http://www.bjreview.com AUGUST 29, 2019 BEIJING REVIEW 39
Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar
Comments to [email protected]The purchasing power of the Chinese
is growing. Per-capita disposable income
stood at 15,294 yuan ($2,227) in the first
half of 2019, up 8.8 percent year on year in
nominal terms, according to the National
Bureau of Statistics. The young generation
is the main force of this consumption since
they earn more than their parents did at
their age.
They also have an advanced consump-
tion philosophy. Besides basic needs, they
are willing to splurge on entertainment
and experience, and their upgraded con-
sumption demands have accelerated the
development of the waiting economy.
“The waiting economy also owes
its existence to the increase in waiting
time,” Duan said, explaining that exuber-
ant consuming is causing people to wait
more. When there are more consumers,
the supply of services can’t always keep
pace, which leads to lining up and waiting,
whether at a restaurant, theater or some-
where else.
Handsome profits
Waiting economy products such as mas-
sage armchairs and mini KTVs are low-cost
and require little follow-up investment.
Consequently, they are a favorite with
investors.
Take Youchang M-Bar, one of the mini
KTV brands, for example, the price of one
booth ranges from 16,000-28,000 yuan
($2,266-3,966) and the rental is 900-
2,000 yuan ($128-283) per month. There
is also a service fee, management fee and
maintenance cost but even after all that,
each booth is supposed to bring in 400
yuan ($57) daily on average, and the initial
investment can be recouped in three to six
months.
There are more than 10,000 such
booths scattered around cities in China
that are earning money for their investors.
In addition, the number of claw crane
machines hit 2 million by the end of 2017
and the annual revenue each generated
was 30,000 yuan ($4,250), with the market
scale reaching 60 billion yuan ($8.5 billion),
according to IDG Capital, a leading invest-
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has been increasing by 300,000 to 400,000
per year.
“These companies capitalize on
people’s piecemeal time, making people
consume without time and space limits. It
forms a new way of culture and entertain-
ment consumption,” Wei Pengju, Dean of
the School of Culture and Communication,
Central University of Finance and
Economics, told China Central Television.The still pristine market contains huge
potential for investors and more capital is
expected to pour in to take a share of the
spoils. But challenges also exist as the ex-
isting items have a low threshold and can
be easily copied and replaced. This taxes
investors’ ability to provide a better experi-
ence and match consumers’ individual and
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“Investors should focus on technical
research and development and integrate
waiting services with new technologies
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ality,” Wei said.
Currently, the profit model is simple:
direct payments from consumers, he
said. But in the future, they can combine
their products with advertisement, brand
promotion and activities to direct on-
line users to offline channels to increase
consumption.
“Young people are curious about new
products and services and would like to
have a taste of what is in season, but they
are also fastidious with an increasingly
more sophisticated taste and broadened
horizon,” Duan said. “I am expecting new
ideas for products and services that can
wow me.” QA young woman checks out songs at a mini KTV booth in a shopping mall in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, on January 10, 2018
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