What do you think you can buy in a convenience store? Candy, drink, and now a relationship. Well, at least at the one convenience store called Saying Goodbye to Single in Shanghai China.
According to Internet reviews, visitors can buy a Saying Goodbye to Single bottle at the cost of just 3 RMB ($0.47) at the “convenience store” located on the city’s Nanjing road. Each bottle contains a note that includes basic information about a stranger such as gender, age, height, job, and social media IDs. As well as a short self-introduction stating their hobbies, personalities, and ideal types.
These bottles are displayed across 365 slots in a lattice wall, with each slot corresponding to a specific personality category. Approximately 2,000 people have sealed their personal information in this “wish bottle” at the store, 80% of whom are post-95s or post-00s, showing the country’s young people still desire a relationship despite a reluctance to get married.
This is an interesting way to interweave personal needs with consumer needs, with Saying Goodbye to Single capitalising on the younger generation’s biggest desires.
This “dating” model has soon turned into an Internet sensation on Chinese social media, as the “sense of mysterious” has drawn huge interest from the young cohort. Having reached the ages that are deemed suitable for marriage, many young Chinese have been under huge pressure from their family when it comes to their relationship. However, in spite of the push, Gen Zers and the crowd of Millennials still prefer looking for their soul mate through meet-up by themselves instead of blind dates set up, most likely, by their parents.
Such random “shopping” for a relationship is also viewed to have helped young people connect to a wider network source and allows a “free-style” hunt for love. In an age where online dating is embraced, this new service provides a physical base to a similar dating style system, that allows people to find others they may not meet otherwise.
This type of shop is another example of tapping into the country’s “single economy”. The latest figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that there are about 200 million single adults in China as of this September. With the lucrative demographics continuing to unleash their purchase potential, they have been driving up the country’s consumption of anything from pets to a one-day boyfriend renting service.
The curiosity of Chinese young consumers, that draws them into new experiences such as the Saying Goodbye to Single convenience store, coupled with the fact that they still crave love, would undoubtedly attract more players to come into the market. However, as the young are also warned of the potential risks of engaging with such new activities, out of the concern of having their personal information abused by others, businesses would have to take more responsibility in safeguarding participates’ personal information.
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