趣味赛事成为商场引流新利器

各地商场正在探索一种新的营销方式——通过举办低门槛的趣味赛事来吸引消费者。1郑州中原锦艺城推出"补作业大赛"，武汉群星城举行"嗑瓜子但不吃大赛"，东营吾悦广场办起甩人字拖比赛。1

从数据来看，这种新模式的效果显著。参加趣味赛事的商场客流和销售实现了双向增长，涨幅约为12%，其中餐饮商户的增长尤为突出。1中国传媒大学广告与品牌学院教授冯丙奇指出，这类活动的核心在于"创造娱乐、开心和体验"，他将这种做法概括为"搭便车营销"。1

与此同时，专家也指出了传统商场营销手段面临的挑战。1首店营销的热度持续时间较短，网红效应难以长期留住消费者，打折促销的边际效益也在递减。1趣味赛事通过打造体验环境，正在成为零售商场应对这些问题的新尝试。

Shopping malls across China are increasingly hosting low-barrier entertainment competitions to draw crowds and boost sales. Malls in Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Dongying have launched events such as "homework completion races," "sunflower seed cracking contests without eating," and "flip-flop throwing competitions" 1. These initiatives are yielding measurable results, with participating malls reporting approximately 12% growth in both foot traffic and sales, with dining merchants experiencing particularly strong gains 1.

According to Feng Bingqi, a professor at the School of Advertising and Branding at Communication University of China, these activities represent a shift in retail marketing focus toward "creating entertainment, joy, and experience"—an aspect traditionally overlooked by conventional marketing approaches 1. He characterizes this relationship between malls and fun events as "free-riding marketing" 1. The appeal of these contests lies in constructing an experiential environment rather than pursuing direct monetization 1.

The pivot toward experiential entertainment reflects broader challenges facing traditional mall marketing tactics. First-store marketing campaigns have seen diminishing impact duration, social media hype proves difficult to sustain for long-term customer retention, and discount-driven promotions face declining marginal returns 1.