On March 5, 2021, Yuanhe Chencun hosted the first session of its 2021 "Kunpeng Hui" ecosystem industry salon at Dongsha Lake Fund Town. This event focused on the To C sector, with the theme "New Consumer Trends in Modern Business." Representatives from five prominent consumer-focused funds within Yuanhe Chencun’s ecosystem—Black Ant Capital, Huaying Capital, Tiantu Investment, Wuyue Capital, and Rich Capital—as well as two portfolio companies, Xiaoguo Culture and Haote Mai, delivered engaging keynote presentations. Additionally, nearly 40 business leaders and executives, including representatives from regional economic and modern business management institutions such as the leadership team from Suzhou Industrial Park Management Committee, along with CEOs and senior executives from companies like Suzhou Xinyuan and Suzhou Hengtai, attended the salon.

In the themed sharing session "Making Consumption More Valuable," He Yu, Managing Partner of Black Ant Capital, analyzed consumer variables and the core variables of offline retail. He Yu believes that consumer groups are the core variable offline, and their changes come from three shifts: "from We to Me," "layering of consumer groups," and "contextualization of consumer groups." Among these, the layering of consumer groups has led to the segmentation of offline business formats, while contextualization has become the core barrier offline, with scenario-based consumption giving rise to many new business formats. He Yu also mentioned that offline commercial formats should be designed with the mindset of designing consumer products, creating consumption scenarios that match the attributes of different consumer groups.

Wang Weiwei, Managing Partner at Huaying Capital, shared his thoughts on offline business models. Wang Weiwei noted that Suzhou is a city with deep-rooted and uniquely distinctive cultural heritage, giving it a natural advantage in terms of both geography and its vibrant consumer base. To enrich offline experiences, he emphasized the importance of blending contemporary interpretations of traditional culture with the on-site integration of consumer brands and cultural elements—strategies that can help create more innovative shopping environments and foster a younger, culturally resonant connection with consumers.

In his keynote speech titled "Using Fast Fashion to Unlock the Beauty Dividend," TianTu Investment Management Partner Pan Pan delved into the key principles of fast fashion and the unique beauty-driven opportunities of today's market. Pan argued that China is currently experiencing a renaissance in aesthetic sensibilities—meaning whoever manages to embrace and embody this newfound appreciation for beauty first will reap substantial rewards, a trend distinctly characteristic of China's evolving consumer landscape. Meanwhile, fast fashion’s rapid pace of product updates and iterations makes it easier to encourage repeat purchases, fostering strong brand loyalty among customers. Combined with the inherently healthy gross-margin structure of the fashion industry, integrating new retail elements into product branding can significantly enhance the potential for scaling up business operations.

Speaking about investment trends in the consumer sector, Qian Kun, Partner at Wuyue Capital, notes that the consumer industry has experienced three major investment booms over the past 15 years: offline retail chains gaining capital attention (2005–2009), the explosive growth of e-commerce (2010–2014), and the rise of social media, ushering in the era of omnichannel marketing (2016 to present). Looking ahead, the ongoing interplay between brands and distribution channels will remain a defining dynamic. Meanwhile, offline retail environments like commercial complexes—characterized by their large scale, fragmented market structure, intense competition, and well-organized management—will serve as effective "offline brand filters." As a result, in the next 2 to 3 years, we can expect the emergence of larger, more robust consumer-brand companies capable of scaling up into extensive, multi-location retail networks.

Unlike online shopping platforms, offline commercial spaces offer consumers far more touchpoints for interaction. Miao Miao, a partner at Rizhao Capital, provided examples and analysis on how creating compelling commercial and consumer spaces can boost purchasing opportunities. Today, commercial spaces are continuously enhancing the consumer experience—whether through innovative hardware design, complementary soft services, creative thematic curation, or dynamic spatial transformations—ultimately unlocking new avenues for consumption growth.

During the corporate sharing session, He Xiaoxi, founder and CEO of Xiaoguo Culture, and Zhang Ning, partner at Haote Mai, each entrepreneur shared insights from their respective businesses, highlighting new opportunities and possibilities for offline expansion in comedy-driven consumer products like stand-up comedy shows, as well as fast-moving consumer goods.

He Xiaoxi stated that Xiao Guo Culture positions itself as a comedy-themed consumer goods company. Leveraging its strong content creation capabilities, the company is committed to building a "Young-Style Comedy+" industry ecosystem. It uses long-form video content as both a traffic driver and a platform for online advertising, guiding audiences from digital spaces into real-world comedy consumption experiences. Additionally, through offline performances and innovative urban comedy venues, the company is exploring new opportunities to expand the potential of physical spaces and enhance consumer engagement beyond the digital realm.

Zhang Ning shared how Haotemai operates its "You Haohuo," "You Tijie," and "Te Haomai" flash-sale strategies. By offering attractive discounts to consumers, Haotemai has expanded its store network across multiple cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, and Nanjing. At the same time, the company has partnered with globally renowned brands, creating a strong customer attraction effect and building a solid reputation—ultimately paving the way for a new, agile growth model in the offline supermarket chain sector.

During the discussion and exchange session, all parties present thoroughly discussed and shared insights, drawing on regional economic and urban characteristics as well as consumer market dynamics, to explore new directions in modern business development and the localization of emerging consumer models.

Ms. Qing Xu, Managing Partner at Yuanhe Chencun, stated: "Yuanhe Chencun aims to continuously demonstrate the resource-bridging value of our fund-of-funds through Kunpenghui, strengthening collaborative development within our ecosystem. At the same time, Kunpenghui will consistently address diverse topics in the future, leveraging its robust resource network to empower the ecosystem, connect key resources, and ultimately drive industry growth."

"Kunpeng Hui" is a high-end industry event crafted by Yuanhe Chencun, designed as a flagship fund ecosystem that brings together LPs, GPs, innovative enterprises, and industry stakeholders. Each session focuses on trending industry sectors and emerging market opportunities, inviting renowned fund investors, corporate executives, and leading industry experts to continuously foster an open knowledge platform for the fund ecosystem itself, a deep-connecting hub between capital providers and industry players, and a vibrant networking space where entrepreneurs and investors can collaborate and build meaningful relationships.