Jimu news reporter Kang Xuyang
Can't sleep at night, wake up easily in the middle of the night, and young people are falling into insomnia and anxiety. In order to save insomnia, they began to try various sleep-assisting products such as melatonin, scented candles, sleep sprays, and smart sleep aids, and the sleep economy arose.
From health care products to sleep aid to black technology sleep aid, more and more companies are running into the game and laying out the sleep field. According to CCTV Finance, the size of the mainland sleep economy market will exceed 400 billion yuan in 2020, and it is expected to exceed one trillion yuan in 2030.
Young people fall into insomnia and anxiety
At 10 p.m., after taking a shower and lying in bed, the day's leisure time has just begun: open the mobile phone to watch live games, brush short videos to read novels, and if you don't pay attention, it will be midnight. Knowing that it is time to sleep but not wanting to compromise is the norm for this young man's night.
Aik is an MCN agency that runs it, and at 10 p.m. it's her time off work, spending half an hour commuting, another hour getting home to wash and take care, and approaching midnight when she's lying in bed. "At this time, I will pick up my mobile phone to brush Weibo and watch dramas, and the more I play, the more excited I am, and I will play until two or three o'clock in the middle of the night." Echo said that when she realized she should sleep, she couldn't sleep at all.
"The more I get to the night, the more I can't put down my mobile phone, and sometimes I am not sleepy, or I am reluctant to sleep." Once a certain point in time has passed, I can't sleep when I want to, and over time I become insomniac. Echo said she began trying to light a scented candle to help sleep, "there is a little effect, it can help soothe the mood, but only if you put down the phone first." ”
There are not a few insomniacs like Echo, some of them are sleep clock disorders caused by "retaliatory staying up late", and some are difficult to fall asleep due to external pressure or physical emotions, and shallow sleep. Under the topic of #insomnia on platforms such as Weibo and Douban, many netizens discussed and sought ways to fall asleep quickly, or tell their own insomnia stories.
"You think I'm getting up early, but I haven't slept yet." At 5 a.m., Wu Lei, a Wuhan citizen engaged in the financial industry, updated his status on the social platform. He told jimu news reporters that he dreamed a lot of shallow sleep, often woke up in the middle of the night by a little "wind and grass", and then it was difficult to sleep. In order to make himself sleep better, he spent a lot of money to buy sleep-assisted mattress pillows, melatonin, earplugs and eye masks, and also went to the hospital to prescribe drugs to adjust his body and improve the quality of sleep.
According to the "2022 White Paper on Healthy Sleep for Chinese Nationals" released by the China Sleep Research Association and other institutions, nearly three-quarters of respondents have had sleep troubles. The proportion of respondents who frequently have sleep troubles reached 12%; the proportion of respondents who occasionally had sleep troubles reached 59.5%; and the proportion of respondents who have never had sleep troubles was only 26.3%. According to the "China Sleep Research Report (2022)" released by the Institute of Social Research of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other institutions, the sleep index of the Chinese people in 2021 is 64.78 points (on a percentage system), slightly higher than the passing level, and only 7.97% of residents sleep more than 8 hours a day.
Drive the development of the sleep economy
Insomniacs who fall asleep with external forces are driving the development of the sleep economy, and a variety of sleep aid products are dazzling.
Jimu News reporter searched for "sleep" keywords on the e-commerce platform, and there were smart sleep devices, sleep sprays, sleep pillows, sleep masks, sleep-aid earplugs, sleep-aided aromatherapy and other products, which were priced down to a few yuan and up to 10,000 yuan.
On May 4, in a shopping mall in Xudong, Wuhan, consumer Ms. Yin was picking out an aromatherapy machine. "I usually sleep poorly, I want to buy an aromatherapy machine with a sleep-relieving essential oil, try to see if it is useful." She said that she had also tried to buy melatonin and other health care products before, but after eating it for a long time, her body seemed to be immune, and she could only change her way.
According to the clerk of the store, the essential oil added to the aromatherapy machine can soothe the mood, and consumers can choose the essential oils with different effects according to their own needs, "There are also essential oils that can play a role in helping sleep, similar to the sleep spray sold online, but it is only through soothing emotions to improve the quality of sleep." ”
Aromatherapy machines and essential oils in a shopping mall
Moxibustion, SPA, etc. have also become a popular way to help sleep, Jimu News reporters noticed that Wuhan has many health experience halls with "tranquility and sleep" package, a single experience price ranges from 88 yuan to hundreds of yuan, 25-year-old Xiao Liu is one of the experiencers. "There is a period of time when I will go to a health SPA after work, which can play a role in relieving stress and helping sleep, but the cost is a bit high, and it cannot solve the fundamental problem." Xiao Liu said that she has also tried free sleep assistance methods, such as wearing headphones to listen to radio soothing music before going to bed or listening to the blogger's voice-controlled sleep aid video to achieve the effect of soothing emotions.
In order to sleep better, there are also consumers who buy sleep aids, sleep aids and other "sleep artifacts" that claim to have black technology, which are priced from hundreds of yuan to thousands of yuan. On the e-commerce platform, a hand-held smart sleep device priced at 428 yuan has a monthly sales volume of more than 1,000 orders. According to customer service, the sleep apparatus by releasing microcurrent massage hand acupuncture points, the hand and the nerves are closely connected to the brain, so that the brain can be relaxed, thereby helping insomniacs to enter sleep faster, "you can adjust the intensity of the massage yourself, but the effect varies from person to person, and it cannot be guaranteed to be effective for everyone." ”
A sleep device priced at 3999 yuan claims to guide the sleep frequency of insomniacs back to normal through the principle of physical resonance, which is useful for people who have difficulty falling asleep, sleeping deeply, sleeping shortly, and not waking up. Another thousand-yuan sleep pillow sold more than 200 orders a month, and the customer service said that it had no sleep aid effect, but it could prevent or reduce snoring to improve sleep quality.
However, whether these "sleep artifacts" are useful or not, users have mixed reviews, some people think it has really played a role, and some people think it is an "IQ tax".
Many companies enter the sleep field
More and more companies are targeting the sleep anxiety of young people, running into the layout of the sleep field.
Jimu News reporters search for "sleep" keywords in Tianyancha show that there are currently 159 related enterprises in Hubei, some of which provide sleep-related products, and some of which are engaged in research and services of sleep aid products.
According to the data of Tianyancha, in the past 5 years, the number of registrations of sleep-related enterprises in the mainland has increased significantly. At present, there are more than 2400 enterprises in the mainland whose names or business scope include "sleep, sleep aid, sleep, melatonin", and the status is in business, survival, migration in, and out of the relevant enterprises. In terms of industry distribution, 64% of sleep-related enterprises are distributed in wholesale and retail trade. In addition, 15% of sleep-related enterprises are distributed in scientific research and technical services.
According to CCTV Finance, the size of the mainland sleep economy market will exceed 400 billion yuan in 2020, and it is expected to exceed one trillion yuan in 2030.
"The sleep economy has huge room for development, but all kinds of sleep-assisted products and services on the market are emerging in an endless stream, and it is difficult to measure whether they are effective, and it is urgent to formulate relevant industry standards and service specifications." Industry insiders suggest that some sleep aid products are only useful but only play an auxiliary role, and consumers should consume rationally. If you want to have a good night's sleep, you must first figure out the cause of insomnia and prescribe the right medicine, "If the insomnia is very serious, you need to go to the hospital as soon as possible, if it is controlled by electronic products, the best way is to consciously put down the mobile phone." ”