Wu Yongqian works in his studio.

Presented with the opportunity to put their innovative ideas into practice and tap into their talents, China’s second-generation e-commerce entrepreneurs have brought various creative goods and individualized shopping experiences to consumers, creating over 2,000 specialized markets on China’s biggest online shopping website, Taobao, Chinanews.com reported on Oct.15.

According to a recent report on the creativity of young people in China, jointly released by Taobao and a data platform named CBN Data on the e-commerce website Taobao.com, there are over 2 million post-90s generation online shop owners. Last year alone, the platform witnessed over 10,000 shops selling original products being opened by young people.

Unlike their predecessors, these second-generation practitioners, born in the Internet era, are predominantly highly educated young innovators with a keen understanding of social media operations and a shared awareness of the power of creative, individualized, and unique commodities over price and hot sale lists.

Wu Yongqian, the owner of an online shop which sells hand-made wood carvings, was an illustrator in a US-based games company after graduating with a master’s degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Based on the creativity of combining art with daily use items, Wu's store now has nearly 100,000 followers.

In 2013, three graduates of Tsinghua University, one of China’s top universities, opened their online shop on Taobao.com to sell self-designed household items. Their products, such as stools in the shape of adorable farmyard animals, won the hearts and wallets of consumers.

Similarly, new products that continuously renew our knowledge of e-commerce, like courses teaching people how to transform old household objects into useful new ones, a “goodnight” service before sleep, and even cat appreciation sites have all become colorful realities in the ecology of online shopping.

Besides meeting consumers’ needs by offering creative products, young shop owners engaging in e-commerce have also generated new consumption demand.

Qing Qing paints on shoes.

Qing Qing, a girl who specializes in ancient Chinese style hand-drawn designs, has accumulated a number of regular customers by providing hand-drawn designs on shoes in Hanfu style, a traditional Chinese clothing of Han nationality. Thanks to her shop, fans from all over the world can discover the beauty and fun of these designs.

The creativity of young people and the transformation in consumption have both led to the rapid growth of featured online markets.

As Zhang Yong, CEO of Alibaba, the Chinese multinational conglomerate that created Taobao, said, “In the past, Taobao has offered consumers what they like, while in the future, we will help consumers find their consumption demand.”

There are allegedly more than 2,000 featured markets and 86,000 sellers engaging in featured products across various fields, including dresses, furniture for children, cosmetics for men and pregnant women, and diving equipment.

Stools in the shape of animals

It seems that young entrepreneurs have unlocked their potential and formed a beneficial circle in online business. With more young entrepreneurs born after 1995 and 2000 joining the team, e-commerce in China is expected to continue to grow and produce even more possibilities.