Photography O2O is on the rise and the scope of gold mining is gradually expanding

Judging from the current status of the traditional photography industry in China, the overall situation is not very ideal, and many studios and photo studios have closed down. The overall downturn of traditional photo studios has both internal and external factors. Let's first look at the specific reasons that led to the current wave of studio closures.

First of all, the operating costs of almost all photo studios are getting higher and higher. On the one hand, labor costs are increasing step by step, and on the other hand, costs such as store rent are also rising. In addition, the greater cost increase comes from the studio's customer acquisition costs.

Secondly, the entire offline traditional photography industry is currently in a very chaotic state. Many businesses will do anything to make a profit, and a large amount of false propaganda, bundled sales and other behaviors have deterred many consumers.

Thirdly, for many photo studios, most of their business comes from wedding photography, but for most people, they will only get married once in their lifetime, which means that the frequency of wedding photography is very low. At present, most families in China have only one child, and the number of newlyweds getting married each year is growing very slowly, which has affected the business of photo studios to a certain extent.

Fourth, the competition among studios is very fierce. There are only so many people getting married every year in the country. This is an industry with too many wolves and too little meat. Many studios that cannot withstand the competition will naturally find it difficult to survive.

However, the rise of Internet + photography has brought new vitality to the once lifeless photography industry. As new photography business models that combine online and offline continue to emerge, what opportunities will they bring to traditional photo studios and photography studios?

Taobao photography, the vast demand for Taobao stores has led to its prosperity

As people's requirements for the visual effects of online shopping pictures become higher and higher, more and more Taobao shop owners are looking for models to shoot clothes for their stores, which gives traditional photo studios and picture studios new market opportunities. From the beginning, clothing Taobao stores took the initiative to book models for shooting, and later many store owners simply outsourced photography services to some personal studios or photo studios specializing in photography. After that, the entire Taobao photography market began to flourish. Not only clothing stores, but also cosmetics, jewelry, food and health care Taobao stores have more and more demands for product photography, so countless photography Taobao stores were born.

Compared with other Internet + photography models, Taobao photography has several obvious advantages:

First, Taobao photography has a unique feature that other Internet photography platforms do not have, which is the strong demand from Taobao shop owners. In order to make their products more beautiful, many Taobao shop owners will choose some photography studios and photo agencies to shoot and process their products. Due to habit and payment convenience, most of them will directly choose to place orders on Taobao.

Second, as the largest e-commerce platform in China, Taobao’s strong online portal advantage is of great significance to Taobao photography stores. The most critical reason why many Internet photography platforms cannot operate is the lack of traffic. Without customers browsing, how can they achieve transactions?

Third, Alipay guaranteed transactions guarantee the quality of photography services to a certain extent. Many Internet photography platforms require customers to pay first or pay a deposit to the merchant, and then the merchant provides photography services. This is actually relatively unfair to customers. If they are not satisfied with the service, they will have a lot of trouble when they want to refund. Guaranteed transactions are different. As long as the service is not satisfactory, customers can choose to request a refund, so many merchants will try their best to provide good service.

Therefore, for some photography studios, individual models, and photo agencies, Taobao Photography has a lot of opportunities for them. As long as they provide good services, I believe they will find their own foothold in Taobao Photography. At the same time, since Taobao Photography's market positioning is mainly to serve Taobao sellers, many families who need personal photography, wedding photography, etc. will not go to Taobao to choose services, which led to the birth of other Internet photography platforms.

The rise of O2O, a paradise for individual photographers

After traditional service industries such as housekeeping, beauty salons, and community services began to be disrupted, the photography industry also began to change people's consumption habits. Since last year, a large number of photography O2O startups have poured into this field, and capital has also begun to favor this field. At the beginning of this year, Yueyue first received an angel investment of 10 million, and then Yuepaila announced the completion of a 20 million financing. Recently, a photography O2O platform that was established not long ago, Jiapai, also received an investment of 3 million. So, why is photography O2O so popular with capital? Liu Kuang believes that there are mainly the following points:

First, for many consumers with individual needs, they all hope to be able to take photos outdoors in beautiful scenery or have door-to-door services. The studios that provide such services generally charge high fees, but if they find some personal photographers to take photos for them, the price will be much lower. From the demand side, the market space for photography O2O platforms is very large.

Second, for some individual photographers, most of them are engaged in other industries, and photography is just a hobby. With the emergence of O2O platforms, individual photographers can also find a part-time job. If one day the income from this part-time job exceeds their salary at work, individual photographers will use the O2O platform to do full-time photography. From the supply side, the O2O platform can bring extra income to more amateur photographers, so they are naturally willing to join.

3. Compared with many traditional photo studios, photography O2O platforms save a lot of intermediaries, directly connecting photographers and consumers, and making it more transparent. The emergence of this model is a subversion and a trend for the traditional photography industry with opaque information.

Therefore, for individual photographers, O2O platforms will be able to bring them more entrepreneurial opportunities. O2O platforms will be a nightmare for traditional photo studios, but a paradise for individual photographers.

Photography group purchase, a powerful tool for offline photo studios

The rise of group buying has helped many lifestyle service providers find a new promotion platform, and the same is true for traditional photo studios. Through cooperation with group buying websites such as Meituan , Dianping , and Baidu Nuomi, many photo studios that were usually quiet are becoming more and more prosperous. Liu Kuang believes that photography group buying also has several advantages that other photography platforms cannot replace:

First, group buying has a clear price advantage. In the eyes of many people, photography is a relatively expensive service, and it is this high price that stops many people who need to take photos. After the emergence of group buying, photography services that used to cost thousands of yuan can now be achieved at a price of only hundreds of yuan. Although the profit margin for traditional photo studios has shrunk, group buying has increased their customer base and even brought them some long-term, stable and loyal users.

Secondly, group buying is a good brand promotion platform for offline photo studios. Many photo studios have opened, but no one knows about this place. By displaying on group buying websites, the exposure of the store can be greatly increased. Not only that, offline photo studios can also use group buying websites to carry out service and brand promotion very well.

Third, with the disappearance of the chaotic situation of group buying, a pattern of three companies, Meituan, Dianping and Baidu Nuomi, has been formed. In terms of group buying consumption, the three companies have launched services such as free bill if not satisfied, refund at any time if not consumed, and refund after expiration. If users are not satisfied with the service of the photo studio, they can complain and give bad reviews on the group buying platform. These three platforms are very likely to immediately terminate their cooperation with the photo studio, which will cause heavy losses to the photo studio, but provide sufficient service guarantee for users.

Fourth, with the rise of mobile Internet, nearby group buying has stimulated more local service consumption. The three major group buying platforms also have a strong entrance traffic advantage. With the help of group buying, offline photo studios can radiate to all residents in the surrounding areas, which has an advantage in regional promotion compared to other Internet promotions such as Baidu search.

Fifth, many wedding photography studios pay Baidu search more than millions of dollars for promotion every year, and some even pay tens of millions. The payment-by-transaction method of group buying guarantees the publicity effect of the studio to a certain extent. This truly ties the group buying platform and the merchants together. If the studio cannot sell the order, the group buying platform will not earn any commission.

Therefore, group buying is a platform with many opportunities for offline photo studios whose main business is personal portraits, parent-child photography, wedding photography, etc.

The studio's own online platform opens up a closed loop between online and offline

With the rise of the Internet and mobile Internet, many photo studios have opened their own online official websites, official Weibo accounts, official WeChat public accounts, etc., which has also brought more opportunities to photo studios.

First of all, opening their own online platform can better integrate with offline and bring more income to the studio. Especially with the help of Weibo and WeChat, many studios have cultivated a large number of loyal fans, and these fans will be their potential customers.

Secondly, for many offline studios, especially those chain-operated ones, the establishment of an online platform can enable users to have a more comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the studios, and open up the online and offline closed loop, which is of great significance for brand promotion.

Finally, Weibo and WeChat public platforms have a common feature of social networking. With this feature, traditional photo studios can interact well with their customers and keep abreast of their new needs, feedback, etc., so that they can better serve their customers.

In summary, Liu Kuang believes that the combination of the Internet and the photography industry will have a disruptive impact on the original single traditional offline photography industry, and it will also bring more opportunities. For the entire photography industry, information will become more and more transparent, and service quality will be greatly improved. Whether it is for amateur photographers, studios, or offline photo studios, Internet + photography will be full of gold.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.