Caoqiao Store is about to close. Shangpin+ moves forward under pressure.

Since the opening of Beijing’s first discount store in 2000 and its subsequent closures, Shangpin+ has experienced a tumultuous development in the urban outlet industry. Recently, the discount retail brand Shangpin+ City Outlet has announced multiple store closures; after the Shunyi store officially ceased operations on April 2nd, the Caoyang store also announced it would close after business ends on April 26th. The consecutive exits of these two stores not only significantly shrink Shangpin+'s commercial footprint in Beijing but also once again highlight the survival difficulties faced by city outlet formats.

Only three stores remain in the Beijing market, marking the regretful farewell of a 13-year-old store. According to an announcement from Shangpin Business, the Caoyang store has been serving consumers for 13 years since opening in 2013. From April 3rd until its closure, all products were capped at 30% off, available while supplies last. Not long ago, the Shangpin+ Shunyi store, which opened in March 2024, announced its closure after just over two years of operation.

With the closure of these two stores, the number of Shangpin+ outlets in Beijing has changed. After the Caoyang store officially closes on April 26th, only three Shangpin+ stores remain in Beijing: the Shangpin+ Olympic Village store, the Shangpin Discount Wukesong store, and the Shangpin Discount Huilongguan store. The remaining stores are operating normally. The announcement states that consumer membership points, Shangpin cards, and other benefits can continue to be used at the remaining stores, and after-sales issues can be addressed through offline stores or online customer service channels.

The repeated closures reflect a common pain point in the city outlet industry. The announcement for the Caoyang store mentioned that the store is affected by the overall operating environment of physical retail, along with unresolved property rights issues, continuously rising rent costs, and many brands reducing cooperation conditions due to operational pressures. The Shunyi store directly cited “rising venue rent and high operating costs,” and despite Shangpin+‘s efforts to coordinate, it was unable to meet merchants’ demands for fee reductions and rent cuts, making stable operation difficult.

At the same time, insufficient foot traffic and consumer spending power have also led to frequent closures of Shangpin+. A Beijing Business Daily reporter learned that the Shunyi store is located far from the core commercial area, with no direct subway access, relying solely on surrounding community foot traffic, which makes it difficult to support the “citywide traffic draw” model of outlet formats. Although the Caoyang store is an established location, it has experienced declining in-store traffic due to the impact of online e-commerce and changing consumer habits, leading to reduced brand cooperation willingness and creating a vicious cycle.

On the public review platform Dianping, many consumers commented that prices are inflated, discounts are not substantial, and the number of well-known brands has decreased, indicating that Shangpin+'s advantages compared to ten years ago have already diminished.

In recent years, competition in the discount retail sector has intensified. The traditional city outlet’s advantage of “authentic low prices” has been continuously diluted by online platforms and live-streaming e-commerce. The costs of customer acquisition and operation for physical stores remain high, and small- to medium-sized brands have weak risk resistance, further increasing store operating pressures.

Some industry insiders pointed out that the core of traditional outlets is “big-brand low prices + suburban traffic,” but city outlets are often located in urban areas where rent costs are much higher than in suburbs, yet they struggle to replicate the “one-stop resort shopping” experience of suburban outlets. Some city outlets are situated away from core commercial districts, with insufficient foot traffic, and due to cost constraints, they cannot attract top-tier brands, turning into “community discount stores” and losing their core competitive advantage. Aside from flagship outlet projects, most city outlets face difficulties in attracting tenants; well-known brands are cautious about offline expansion, leading to lower-tier, highly homogeneous projects lacking distinctive features. The rise of e-commerce and live-streaming platforms allows consumers to buy low-priced authentic products from home, significantly weakening the price advantage of offline outlets. Meanwhile, consumer shopping habits are shifting from “in-store shopping” to “online purchasing,” causing the customer acquisition costs of offline stores to keep rising, making the traditional “relying on foot traffic” model unsustainable.

For city outlets like Shangpin+, to break through, they need to transform across multiple dimensions such as positioning, tenant recruitment, and operations. Industry experts say that to succeed, city outlets must precisely target their customer groups, create differentiated brand combinations and scene experiences; simultaneously, they should integrate online and offline channels for omnichannel operation, optimize cost structures, and balance rent and merchant interests. For Shangpin+, after the closure of these two stores, focusing on remaining locations and improving operations to maintain its foothold in Beijing will be its key challenge moving forward.

Beijing Business Daily Reporter Liu Zhuolan