During the past National Day holiday, Bambu Lab opened two branded retail stores in shopping malls simultaneously, located in Shanghai and Beijing. Its offline channels now cover more than 100 cities across China, with sales touchpoints exceeding 400. In prominent locations within top-tier commercial districts of first- and second-tier cities, one might spot rows of 3D printers surrounded by curious consumers. If visiting during a holiday, crowds of parents and children often gather before the doors even open, waiting to enter and tour the store or sign up for hands-on experience classes.
These stores have brought a new business format to shopping malls. Many children watch spools of filament being drawn into fine threads, layer by layer building miniature buildings, toys, and small desktop objects, sitting for thirty to forty minutes at a time. "Many people might not believe it, but as a consumer electronics retail store, what's most popular is actually the experience classes aimed at families and beginners," said Shuisong, head of offline retail at Bambu Lab. The store's popularity exceeded his expectations, with daily foot traffic at multiple locations often reaching thousands, and on some weekends a single store could see ten to twenty thousand people entering and staying. Staff members attending to one customer while three or four others gather around is a common sight during busy seasons.
The opening of retail stores by consumer-grade 3D printer brands, with Bambu Lab as a leading example, has become one of the most notable changes in offline retail over the past year. Many stores are located in the most prominent positions of high-end commercial landmarks, locations that over the past decade typically belonged to luxury goods, premium beauty brands, and new energy vehicle startups. So how did this shift come about?
Prime retail spaces have changed hands
Bambu Lab, founded six years ago, is a major force behind bringing consumer-grade 3D printers into physical retail. About a year ago, Bambu Lab began its offline expansion, opening branded stores under the company's name and also entering Sam's Club, Apple authorized resellers, JD.com stores, and the family entertainment venue Meland. Among these, 262 Apple authorized reseller stores now carry Bambu Lab 3D printers. The first to invite Bambu Lab in was Shenzhen Bay MixC. If you visited on a weekend shortly after opening, it was nearly impossible to squeeze into the store. On opening day, many customers had traveled from other cities, some having just landed at the airport. Next came branded stores opening successively in Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and other locations.
On October 1, as Shanghai's second offline store, Bambu Lab's location in Huangpu Xintiandi began welcoming customers. On the same day, Bambu Lab opened its first northern China store in Beijing's China World Mall, marking the brand's coverage of all four first-tier cities in China. The space for Bambu Lab's Beijing China World flagship store previously belonged to Lotus sports cars; the standalone store in Hangzhou MixC is situated next to Apple and Pop Mart. A young 3D printing brand appearing alongside these names says a great deal in itself.
As technology hardware companies gain prominence, shopping malls have changed their calculations. In the past, they looked at how much sales revenue each square meter could generate and who could afford the highest per-visitor rate. Now, with the trend toward premium smart hardware, cutting-edge technology and smart hardware brands can bring a unique sense of tech and excitement, and high-end malls are willing to bring in fresh blood. As a result, these companies often end up in the most foot-traffic-dense locations within these malls. Over the past six months, the cumulative actual in-store foot traffic at Bambu Lab's branded stores has reached the million level, with monthly in-store foot traffic per location approaching the hundred-thousand level.
"How long does it take to print, what materials to use, is it safe, what's the precision, how does motion control work. The deeper beginners dig, the more questions they have. These questions are hard to present intuitively through short videos or product detail pages," Shuisong said. Online presentations tend to be two-dimensional, while users care about the moment of owning a 3D printer and the ongoing experience afterward. This must be seen and experienced in a physical space through concrete means, which is a three-dimensional approach. "It allows ordinary people to truly understand 3D printing technology for the first time."
Based on this design philosophy, what users see when entering the store is more than just machines. The wall diorama at Bambu Lab's Beijing China World store is designed based on an aerial view of the Forbidden City, and the top of the printer display stand incorporates the three-tiered roof structure of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. At the Shanghai Xintiandi store, the experiential feel has been enhanced, with all display walls designed around scenarios simulating a study, bedroom, and living room.
External observers have a sharper perspective. Industry insider and founder of AM Yidao, Zhong Yihan, noticed that 3D printing stores often feature many usage scenario displays with particularly exquisite arrangements. "Previously, whether inside or outside the industry, 3D printing was seen as professional equipment or a tool, and the user profile was definitely geeks, mostly male," Zhong Yihan said. But whether online or offline, the business format has undergone significant changes recently. Since the beginning of this year, some female users and families with children around him have begun spontaneously sharing 3D printing on social media.
Zhong Yihan said that previously, 3D printing could not be seen in any offline channel. Many people heard about 3D printing ten years ago but had never seen one in person. Now, entering multiple high-end shopping malls shows on one hand that the products are already good enough, and on the other hand, it represents a new business format for offline retail.
Stationed in Sam's Club, entering Apple stores
Starting in the fourth quarter of last year, Bambu Lab's offline channel expansion gradually unfolded. After the first offline store landed in Shenzhen Bay MixC, Bambu Lab quickly entered Sam's Club. Du Ya, head of Bambu Lab's domestic key account channels, recalled that the main consideration at the time was to start with leading channels and work through the issues that needed validation in offline retail scenarios: who the users are, how to display products, and whether users would be willing to stop for them. At the same time, they hoped to establish a reference framework for subsequent channel expansion, making offline implementation more solid.
Feasibility was quickly validated. Among these, Sam's Club mainly targets families and parent-child users, and this channel brought some unexpected surprises. Bambu Lab initially selected two products, the A1 and P2S, for Sam's Club, priced at the 2,000 yuan and 4,000 yuan segments respectively. Based on Sam's Club's past best-selling digital products, entry-level products should be more popular, but according to Bambu Lab, the 4,000 yuan segment product was actually more popular. Family users showed enthusiasm for 3D printing beyond imagination.
At Apple authorized reseller stores, 3D printing went from testing the waters to rapid expansion in a short time. To validate the results, Bambu Lab first placed products in 62 Apple authorized reseller stores, mainly distributed in second- and third-tier cities, including one store in Inner Mongolia. Sales data quickly exceeded expectations, and Apple authorized reseller stores also attracted new foot traffic through Bambu Lab. As a result, the second batch of store expansion was originally planned for 100 locations, but eventually 200 were added at once before the National Day holiday.
From Sam's Club and Apple channels, new customer groups kept pouring in. Du Ya discovered from Sam's Club after-sales feedback that users mostly reported basic usage issues, with beginner 3D printing users making up the majority. The Sam's Club channel played a significant role in expanding the customer base. The customer group from Apple authorized reseller stores is strongly linked to "technology." Many users had already learned about 3D printers before. Feedback from these users centered on scenarios requiring hands-on skills, such as repairs and modeling. Many users wanted to handcraft models or generate more personalized ones.
Entering these two channels, in Zhong Yihan's view, holds greater significance for industry development. "These channels can help the industry with mass market education and also have an endorsement effect," Zhong Yihan said. An important task the 3D printing industry has undertaken over the past decade is market education. "Although devices are becoming increasingly user-friendly, even today, a large portion of the industry's efforts is still devoted to market education." He said that in the past, everyone focused on comparing specifications when looking at 3D printing, but after Bambu Lab entered Apple stores, Sam's Club, and Meland, people subconsciously began to see it more as scenario-based consumption. This subtle consumer shaping and channel shaping is crucial, and the entire 3D printing industry will benefit from this endorsement, user education, and the shift in scenario-based consumption awareness.
"Users' imagination exceeds ours"
Data shows that 90% of Bambu Lab users continue printing one year after purchase. Offline channels have also brought more tension and imagination to the 3D printing user ecosystem. Shuisong saw more unexpected things offline: users have already made 3D printing part of their lives. "Users' imagination exceeds our own. 'Using 3D printing to do what you want' is rooted in everyone's way of thinking," he reflected. One child shared at the store: wanting to keep a book on the desktop, the first reaction wasn't "I need a desktop bookshelf" and then browsing e-commerce platforms, but rather "print one out" and model it themselves.
It's not just for making aircraft carriers, figurines, armor, or chain toys, the kinds of things one would easily think of. He also found that in-store displays and experiences shortened the path from interest to purchase. At the end of October, Bambu Lab launched the consumer-grade CO2 laser cutter R1. CO2 laser cutting is relatively niche in China, with a high barrier to entry, making it a relatively professional product. The team ultimately decided to pilot it first in the Shenzhen Bay MixC store. Unexpectedly, after offline users experienced it, a considerable number of intent orders were generated. Most were even new users to this product category. This shows that even for relatively professional products, once there is a suitable touchpoint, customer groups who have goodwill toward the brand and interest in creation may generate demand, even if these users had never heard of the related product before.
Enhancing user interaction and experience remains the focus for the next step. Shuisong said Bambu Lab hopes to make stores more like a platform, letting more people first see, then try, then communicate with others, and gradually connect it with their own lives. Next, dynamic object displays will also be designed, and stores will showcase even more imaginative possibilities.
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