标题: Why Are 3D Printers Moving into Shopping Malls' Prime Retail Locations? [打印本页] 作者: admin 时间: 2026-11-4 20:13 标题: Why Are 3D Printers Moving into Shopping Malls' Prime Retail Locations? Source: Yicai.
During the recent National Day holiday, Bambu Lab opened two mall stores in Shanghai and Beijing. Its offline channels now cover more than 100 Chinese cities and over 400 sales touchpoints.
At prominent locations in leading urban shopping districts, curious consumers gather around printers. During holidays, parents and children often queue before opening to visit or enroll in experience classes.
These stores introduce a new retail format. Children watch filament become miniature buildings, toys, and desktop objects, often remaining for 30–40 minutes.
Bambu's offline retail head Shui Song said the most popular offering, surprisingly for a consumer-electronics store, is introductory classes for families and beginners. Traffic exceeded expectations: many stores receive thousands daily, sometimes 10,000–20,000 visitors staying in one store over a weekend. During busy periods, three or four people gather around while staff assist another customer.
Printer-brand store openings have become a notable retail change over the past year. Many occupy prominent spaces in premium malls previously associated with luxury, high-end beauty, and new car brands. How did this happen?
Prime Locations Change Hands
Six-year-old Bambu is a major driver of taking consumer printing offline. Around a year ago it began opening branded stores and entering Sam's Club, Apple authorized stores, JD Home, and family entertainment chain meland. Printers now appear in 262 Apple authorized stores.
Shenzhen Bay MixC was first to invite Bambu. Soon after opening, weekend crowds made entry difficult. Some opening-day visitors came from other cities, including people arriving directly from flights. Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and other cities followed.
On October 1, its second Shanghai store opened in Xintiandi, Huangpu. The same day, its first northern store opened at Beijing China World Mall, giving branded coverage across China's four first-tier cities.
The Beijing flagship occupies a former Lotus sports-car location. Its standalone Hangzhou MixC store neighbors Apple and Pop Mart, an important juxtaposition for a young printing brand.
As technology hardware gains recognition, malls are changing their calculations. Previously they focused on sales per square meter and who could pay most for traffic. Premium intelligent hardware now brings distinctive technology appeal and attention, encouraging malls to introduce new brands.
These stores often become major traffic centers. Over the past six months, Bambu's branded stores collectively recorded millions of actual visits with stays, with individual monthly traffic approaching 100,000.
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Shui Song said beginners ask about printing time, materials, safety, precision, and motion control, and their questions multiply as they learn. Short videos and product pages cannot convey these directly. Online presentation is largely two-dimensional, whereas owning and continuing to use a printer needs to be experienced concretely in physical space. This can give ordinary people their first real understanding of printing.
Stores therefore show more than machines. Beijing's wall model draws on an overhead view of the Forbidden City, and display roofs borrow the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests' three-tier form. Shanghai Xintiandi uses staged studies, bedrooms, and living rooms.
AM Yidao founder Zhong Yihan noticed especially attractive displays of many applications.
He said printing had traditionally been seen as professional equipment for mainly male enthusiasts. Recently, both online and offline formats have changed. Women and families with children increasingly share printing spontaneously on social media.
Previously, many people had heard of printing ten years earlier but never seen it physically. Premium mall presence shows both improved products and a new offline format.
Entering Sam's Club and Apple Channels
Expansion began in the fourth quarter last year. Following the Shenzhen Bay MixC store, Bambu soon entered Sam's Club.
Domestic key-account channel head Du Ya said leading channels were chosen to test who the users were, how to display products, and whether people would stop. These tests also established a foundation for subsequent expansion.
Feasibility was quickly demonstrated. Sam's family-oriented audience brought surprises.
Bambu initially introduced A1 and P2S products around RMB 2,000 and RMB 4,000. Based on previous digital-product sales, entry models should have led, but Bambu says the RMB 4,000 products sold better. Family enthusiasm exceeded expectations.
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Apple authorized stores moved rapidly from trials to expansion.
The first wave covered 62 stores, mainly in second- and third-tier cities, including Inner Mongolia. Sales soon exceeded expectations, while Bambu attracted new traffic for the stores. A second wave initially planned for 100 locations expanded to 200 before National Day.
Both channels bring new groups. Sam's after-sales questions mainly concern basic operation, indicating many beginners and clear audience expansion.
Apple-store users are more closely associated with technology and often already know about printers. Feedback concerns hands-on tasks such as repairs and modeling, with interest in self-made or personalized models.
Zhong sees broader industry significance. These channels educate the public and provide endorsement. Despite better usability, the industry still spends substantial effort on education, as it has over the past decade.
Entering Apple stores, Sam's, and meland shifts perception from specification comparisons toward scenario-based consumption. This gradual change in channels and consumer understanding benefits the entire sector.
Users' Imagination Exceeds Ours
Data show 90% of Bambu users still print a year after purchase. Offline activity adds further possibilities to the ecosystem.
Shui Song observed users making printing part of everyday life. Children described wanting to keep books on a desk and immediately thinking of designing and printing something themselves, rather than searching an e-commerce platform for a bookshelf. Uses extend beyond obvious aircraft carriers, figurines, armor, or chain toys.
Store displays and hands-on experience also shorten the route from interest to purchase. At the end of October, Bambu introduced its consumer CO₂ laser cutter R1. Because this is a relatively specialized, niche category in China, it was initially piloted at Shenzhen Bay MixC.
Experiences generated many prospective orders, mostly from newcomers to the category. With a suitable touchpoint, customers interested in creativity and positive about the brand can develop demand even for unfamiliar professional products.
Interaction and experience remain priorities. Bambu wants stores to become platforms where people see, try, exchange ideas, and gradually connect creation to their lives. Future displays will include more moving objects and imaginative possibilities.
AI-translated from an article by Beijixiong on Nanjixiong, originally published on 2026-11-02. Text and images retain the original source attribution. Read the original Chinese article
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