--- title: "Young people's passion for consumption is vividly reflected in discount stores." type: "Topics" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/38991261.md" description: "Not long ago, an authoritative research report painted a portrait of current young consumers: they are meticulous, with "value for quality" becoming the core of their purchasing decisions; they spend on what they love, with emotional value driving personalized choices... A line in this report accurately summarizes the consumption consensus of this generation—"It's okay to buy expensive things, but not okay to overpay." This pragmatic attitude of "saving where you should, spending where you should" is reshaping the entire consumer market landscape. In the first three quarters of 2025, the scale of discount stores in China grew by 92% year-on-year, far outpacing growth rates among all offline FMCG channels. This whole discount thing..." datetime: "2026-03-02T13:41:02.000Z" locales: - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/topics/38991261.md) - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/38991261.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/38991261.md) author: "[阿尔法工场](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/5044766.md)" --- > Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/38991261.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/38991261.md) # Young people's passion for consumption is vividly reflected in discount stores. Recently, an authoritative research report painted a portrait of current young consumers: they are thrifty, with 'quality-to-price ratio' becoming the core of their purchasing decisions; they buy for 'heart-throbbing' moments, with emotional value driving personalized choices... A line in the report accurately summarizes this generation's consumption consensus—'It's okay to buy expensive things, but not okay to overpay.' This pragmatic attitude of 'save where you should, spend where you should' is reshaping the entire consumer market landscape. In the first three quarters of 2025, the scale of discount stores in China grew by 92% year-on-year, far outpacing growth in all offline fast-moving consumer goods channels. Discount shopping has long evolved from 'occasional bargain hunting' to a 'daily necessity' for young people. The most direct manifestation of this trend is the sustained boom in discount retail. For example, from July 2024 to June 2025, 205 quality outlet projects nationwide achieved sales of 180 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%; foot traffic reached nearly 900 million visits, up 12.5% year-on-year. Guangzhou's Wanguo Outlet was so crowded it had to limit entry, Hangzhou Bailian's 'opening red' saw record-breaking daily foot traffic and sales, and Yangzhou's Sands Outlet had peak wait times starting at two hours. Some consumers have done the math: a pair of yoga pants costing eight or nine hundred yuan at a department store can be had for three or four hundred at an outlet; a pair of sneakers just over a thousand yuan can be found at 50% off or even lower. This kind of 'tangible value' makes young people willing to queue in the cold wind. Moreover, the outlet boom is not just about being 'cheap.' As industry insiders point out, the essence of hard discounting is removing intermediate markups, allowing consumers to get better quality at lower prices. In other words, what young people value is not just the low price, but the quality behind it. The same logic holds true in the online discount retail sector. Known as the 'online outlet,' $Vipshops(VIPS.US) achieved net revenue of 105.9 billion yuan for the full year 2025. More noteworthy is another set of data: the number of active SVIP users increased to 9.8 million, maintaining double-digit growth, and these high-value users contributed 52% of the platform's total online sales. It's clear that these loyal fans are not just occasional 'bargain hunters'; they have gradually developed a stable shopping habit. Once they find a platform that can meet their dual expectations of quality and price, they will keep coming back. From rational choices of careful calculation to a lifestyle attitude of spending on emotion and quality, contemporary young people are redefining the market's direction with the consumption philosophy of 'quality-to-price ratio supremacy.' The boom in discount retail is not just about the wisdom of saving money, but also a firm pursuit of real value. When affordability and quality are no longer opposites, and when rationality and passion can coexist, this new consumption trend will continue to drive the industry forward in a more substantial and people-centric direction. ### Related Stocks - [Vipshop Holdings Limited (VIPS.US)](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/VIPS.US.md)