The most playful young people go to class in the bath center.

Wen | Dingjiao Wang Lu

Editor | Jia Wei

"It’s not enough to lie here for a day." It has become a new summer trend for young people to go to the bath center.

There are migrant workers who have been busy for a week to go to class and enjoy the happiness of disconnection in an independent space; There are young tourists who spend the night in the bath center, which can not only feel the local bath culture, but also leave a sum of hotel expenses; Some people like the luxurious decoration of the bath center and go for the film; In the last two days, the game "Black Myth Wukong" exploded, and some players met to play in the bath center, and it was hard to find one in the e-sports area; There are also foreign guys who are attracted by the China cuisine provided in the bath center and arrange bathing in the special forces trip.

According to the data of Meituan in August, the search volume of "bathing" on the platform increased by 40%, the search of keywords related to "bathing overnight" increased by a hundredfold, and the search related to "bathing buffet" also increased by a factor of three.

At present, everyone’s understanding of the bath center has changed from simple bathing to leisure meeting places to tourist accommodation. Leisure, dating, business talks and group building all come to soak in soup, which is unlimited all year round, and the connotation of bathing is constantly expanding.

Under this wave of passenger flow, merchants also received dividends. Many merchants said that summer was the traditional off-season, and now it has become the peak season.

Why did the bath center that middle-aged uncles loved to go to become a social place favored by young people? How long will this wind last?

Bathing centers that can be soaked, eaten and played are making countless young people addicted.

According to Dingjiao, young people aged 25 -35 can account for more than 50% of the passenger flow in bath centers at different price points in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Xi ‘an.

Zhao Ling is a novice. Originally, she still had a stereotype about the bath center, but after going to the bath center, her idea was subverted.

What impressed her was the luxury of the bath center, with tickets to 100 yuan, but the hardware facilities were comparable to those of five-star hotels, and the toiletries were complete. The bathrobes for men and women were divided into different sizes, and there was a waiter to guide them around the corner, but there was no staff to sell the cards throughout.

Because the experience was very good, after learning that the bath center could stay overnight, the next day, she found another bath center to stay for one night.

Slowly, who lives in Shanghai, is an old hand at soaking in water and goes there almost once a month. When she can’t figure out where to meet her friends, she will choose to ruin it. On a recent weekend, I slowly changed my original travel route because I had temporary work to deal with, and took my boyfriend straight to the bath center. "It can not only meet my needs of comfortable office and cool, but also rest and eat."

She found that the service in the bath center was getting more and more popular, and a store she often went to recently provided chest stickers for women. "It is very hot for girls to bathe in underwear, but it is not appropriate for men and women to mix in public areas. This move is really intimate." Show it slowly.

Jiayi is also a bubble bath lover. She found that many bath centers opened in Beijing this year all contain outdoor soup springs, which have high cost performance, good environment and good meals.

Not only domestic young people fell in love with the bubble, but also foreign young people went to into the pit.

The video of foreign guys coming to China for a bath was spread on various social platforms. A French guy went to a bath center in Xi ‘an and was directly supported by China cuisine. When he felt the foot massage, he even asked the master if it was "China Kung Fu".

Attracted by these videos, pumpkin also experienced it with her British boyfriend.

Pumpkin said that after her boyfriend entered the bath center, he first felt that he had come to a palace, which was big and luxurious. Then, the free buffet made him unable to walk and even wanted to move his family here. After feeling the bath, I even sent out the feeling that I never knew I was so dirty.

Why are so many young people coming to ruin this summer vacation? Many consumers and businesses have summed up three major factors for "fixed focus".

The first is the tourist craze. At the beginning of this year, "Southern Potato" took a bath in the northeast, and then it quickly spread to the whole country. Punching in the bath center has become an important trip for young people. Since July 15th, China has increased the number of applicable ports for foreigners’ 144-hour transit visa-free to 37. With the help of the policy, more and more foreigners come to China for "special forces travel". Luxuriously decorated bath center, where all kinds of China delicacies can be eaten for free, and you can stay overnight, has become a new choice for many "special forces" foreigners to punch in China.

Image source/pear video screenshot

This is also evidenced by data. The TOP cities where the beauty group and the public comment on the online heat growth of bath centers include Beijing, Harbin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Xi ‘an, and these are undoubtedly popular tourist cities in summer.

Secondly, the convenience and transparency brought by online channels.

Whether it’s the first time a newcomer or a veteran, most of them will buy online. Zhao Ling said that there are many optional packages on the platform, and the price is transparent. You can also see the comments and notes posted by users as a reference, so that Xiaobai can step on the pit as little as possible, which also reduces everyone’s decision-making cost and makes soaking in water as simple as buying something.

On the social platform, soaking in water has become one of the popular leisure ways for young people. Some people ask about matters needing attention in soaking, some people take stock of the ceiling of the bath center, and some people teach how to write about feelings after soaking. These discussions have further enhanced the heat of the bath center.

In addition, the bathing culture is more and more in line with the spiritual needs of young people.

At present, many young people position the bathing center as having healing and emotional value, and it is a good place for social animals to escape from work and spend a little money to enjoy their solitude. Xiaomi, a migrant worker, will come to the bath center every time she is in a bad mood, and she will deliberately choose a store that can’t take her mobile phone to soak in the water. The purpose is to completely empty herself. After soaking, she feels that her body and mind have been cured.

For the student party on holiday, the bath center is a cool choice for class reunion in hot summer. After all, there are free e-sports, PS games, unlimited food and drinks, and it is not a problem to organize a group.

In the past two days, the first 3A game "Black Myth Wukong" in China has become a national trend. Some merchants responded quickly and quickly launched the group purchase package of the game. Many young consumers snapped it up at the first time, and the e-sports area of the bath center was crowded with "Wukong fans".

According to the data of Meituan in August, the search volume of platform bathing increased by 40%. What kind of businesses can get this bonus?

Some businesses with top comprehensive rankings and high quality have ushered in new additions.

Take Xiangshanghui Group as an example. It owns two brands, namely "Shuibao Tangquan", a luxury spa bathing brand, and "Qushui Lanting", which is known as Hermes in the spa industry, and both of them scored as high as 4.8 points in public comments.

Although the unit prices of these two brands are not low, "Shuibao Tangquan" is around 400 yuan per capita, and "Qushui Lanting" is around 1000 yuan, but it still ushered in the sales season.

Zhao Xuewang, CEO of Shanghui Group, told Dingjiao that according to his observation, consumers aged 20 -35 can account for 70% of the total passenger flow of Shuibao Tangquan, and users of Qushui Lanting aged around 30 can account for 65%-70%.

Tuyuan/Qushui Lanting Public Comment Account

Among them, some consumers are the whole family to enjoy food and services; There are also many foreign tourists, including many foreigners. Many loyal business users are also frequent visitors to the bath center. Zhao Xuewang said that some young people who come on business trips will choose to drag their suitcases to rest in the "water-wrapped soup spring" and go straight to the airport when they arrive.

In other more affordable bath centers, the increase is mainly for overnight consumers, most of whom are tourists.

The unit price of "Youma Tangquan" in Changsha is around 240 yuan. Compared with the same period of last year, the number of overnight guests in Changsha has increased by 30%, and it has reached 40% on Friday and Saturday. The proportion of young people who come to Changsha to take a bath by the way has reached more than 60%.

A number of bath center leaders said that they usually formulate business strategies based on the consumption characteristics of young people.

Zhao Xuewang’s feeling is that young people do not blindly pursue low prices, but value the "quality-price ratio". If the service is done to the extreme, young people are willing to pay the bill.

For example, in response to the needs of some young people to pay attention to the sense of boundary, they have opened a non-interference mode; For female customers, in addition to providing first-line brands of skin care products, cosmetics, hair care products, hair blowing services will also be provided.

In the supply of food, they are even more willing to "blood". Take the current seasonal fruit watermelon as an example. The variety they selected is called Rolls Royce in watermelon, and it is kept at 5 degrees Celsius, and only the core is given to customers to ensure the best taste.

According to Zhao Xuewang, Shuibao pioneered the operation mode of "global high-quality fruits and drinks can be eaten freely", especially "durian freedom", which is very popular among young people. Nowadays, this model is also widely promoted in the industry.

Tuyuan/Beijing Shuibao Tangquan Life WeChat WeChat official account screenshot

Paying attention to online sales channels and online promotion to provide young people with diversified choices is also an important factor for bath centers to "go out of the circle" among young people.

For example, many bath centers from the northeast to the whole country have taken crawfish, seafood, sashimi, global food and other buffets as standard business. In terms of parent-child guests, such as Shanghai’s "Shangyin" and other stores, they have introduced water parks that focus on parent-child amusement. In addition, the bath center merchants designed the Zhou Bianyou route for the tourists, which was in line with the young "special forces".

There are also many merchants who launch group purchase packages on the local life platform, which grasps the preferences of young people and shortens the time period from planting grass to placing orders. In addition, the platform will also display featured merchants through various products such as bathing guides and sales lists. Under the blessing of traffic, more and more young people have become the experiencers and consumers of trendy bathing.

In Changsha, the annual sales volume of a single 16-hour bath ticket for "You Ma Tang Quan" (including durian from Thailand) on the US delegation exceeded 12,000, and the platform kept showing that someone had placed an order a few minutes ago.

Many merchants concluded that young people are not just following the trend, but will value service, word of mouth and price.

Bathing culture has a far-reaching history in the world, among which Turkey, Russia, Finland and Japan are more representative. The Chaao Oulu bathroom in Turkey has a history of almost 300 years; Russia has a tradition that newlyweds go to the bath center together after marriage, which means that they will live together in the future. Finland is famous for its sauna experience; Japan has many natural hot springs.

Bathing culture in China has existed since ancient times. Zhao Xuewang, who has been engaged in this industry for more than 20 years, divided the development of domestic bathing centers into three stages: at first, the bathing centers were mainly for government and business groups, and the management was not standardized enough. Many bathing centers would have invisible consumption, such as water and lighters, which required money. Since 2008, the industry has been standardized and evolved into a comprehensive leisure place integrating bathing, massage, sauna and entertainment. Around 2017, bathing began to change to a new lifestyle of young people, and it continues to this day.

He found that the connotation of bathing is constantly expanding, and it is full of new vitality.

How wide is the influence of bathing culture in China now? An international student told Dingjiao that in her language class, the teacher talked about the local history of bathing and steaming. The teacher heard that bathing in China was very popular in recent two years, so the homework left for everyone was to analyze the development of bathing culture in China.

This market is still growing rapidly. According to the data of Meituan, in 2024, the number of online users in the bath market is expected to exceed 40 million, the scale of online transactions is expected to reach 15 billion, and the compound annual growth rate of industry users is expected to reach 19% from 2023 to 2026.

For the future development trend, many merchants gave three judgments: younger, especially after 95 -00, customers will continue to increase; Online channels and word-of-mouth maintenance are becoming more and more important; Geographically, the market layout will gradually sink.

Younger bathing is the general trend. Some merchants said that they would further reduce the price to attract consumers, but others said that they would improve the service quality and bring consumers a value-for-money experience on the basis of maintaining price stability.

Zhao Xuewang introduced that Xiang Shanghui has its own food supply chain, and strives to provide consumers with the best quality food at the same price. At the same time, it also constantly innovates in ingredients. For example, if young people like to eat seafood and spicy food, they will do some precise cooking, taste fusion and dish research and development accordingly.

The concept of "urban micro-vacation" has also emerged with the bath fever. Zhao Xuewang introduced that at present, Xianghui has a comprehensive and systematic layout in terms of aesthetic design, food, service and talent building. Whether it is a three-five-friend or a family group, you can experience an escape from the daily urban micro-vacation in the water-covered Tangquan or Qushui Lanting.

Online is the mainstream development channel unanimously recognized by bath merchants. It is understood that at present, no matter the bath center taking the boutique route or the cost-effective route, the proportion of online passenger flow mostly exceeds 50%. Online ordering-shopping in the store-online evaluation has become the standard operation of young people. Whether it is the acquisition of new users, precision marketing, or a deep understanding of consumer fashion vane, it is inseparable from online channels such as Meituan.

At present, China’s bath centers are developing regionally, concentrated in the north, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and the three northeastern provinces, and there are not many national chain bath brands. With the further "out of the circle" of bathing, many practitioners believe that the bath market still has great potential to be tapped, especially the second, third and small counties with high consumption power, which will be the next market for bath centers.

However, different from the first-tier cities, taking a small and beautiful route may be a new choice for bath centers to sink into the market in the future.

When more young people enter the bath center, China, which has been seeking innovation and change, will play more new tricks.

* The title map comes from the quotation+public comment account. At the request of the interviewee, Zhao Ling, Pumpkin and Xiaomi are pseudonyms.