Walmart Opens Sensory Pop-Up in Shenzhen to Promote Own-Brand Mid-Autumn Gift Boxes
Walmart ran an eight-day sensory pop-up in Shenzhen from September 14–21, showcasing its Wo Ji Xian own-brand mid-autumn gift boxes alongside an 18-page print special.
Walmart (沃尔玛) ran an eight-day pop-up store called "Simple Food Stall" (简单食铺) at Shenzhen's Shiye Shangcheng mall from September 14 to 21, built around mid-autumn gift boxes from its own label Wo Ji Xian (沃集鲜). The activation structured the visit as five sequential sensory actions — see, smell, touch, brew and taste — set inside a space modelled on the aesthetic of a traditional Chinese herbal medicine cabinet.
Visitors drew blessing cards from a hundred-drawer cabinet and exchanged them for mooncake samples sorted by flavour. A dedicated ingredient wall displayed raw fillings — goji berries, polygonatum, poria and others — in the manner of what the brand described as a "mooncake science museum." A scented installation piped sweet osmanthus from Guilin through glass vessels, while transparent brewing stations demonstrated how to assess ingredient quality by steeping them. Guests could also assemble their own herbal sachets to take home and sample a health beverage on-site.
Running alongside the pop-up, Walmart released the third edition of "Simple Report" (简单报), an 18-page print publication timed to the mid-autumn season. The issue continued the editorial format established in earlier editions focused on matcha and food-as-medicine themes, carrying supply chain features on northern grassland dairy skin-product origins and Yunnan ham workshops. Agency Tian Yu Kong (天与空) partnered on a mid-autumn short film titled "Voice at the Entrance" (入口有回声) connected to the campaign. The Wo Ji Xian brand launched nearly 1,000 new products during a wider 2025 refresh.
The campaign reflects a pattern among large retailers in China of using premium private-label products as credibility-building exercises rather than purely value plays. By grounding mooncake gift boxes in visible supply chain storytelling — raw ingredients displayed in their unprocessed form, regional provenance named explicitly — Walmart positions Wo Ji Xian as a quality narrative rather than a discount alternative, a distinction that carries particular weight in the competitive gifting season.
