"Without an extreme pursuit of product quality, Shangke You wouldn't be where it is today." When introducing the success story of Shangke You to reporters, Ma Yingyao, Chairman and President of Shangke You Group, emphasized this point in particular.
At the recent U+ product launch, Shangke You announced its fourth major product upgrade — the U4-level product, which features hotel beds raised to 55 centimeters in height, 100% pure cotton bedding, softer towels and bath towels, as well as technical enhancements to soundproofing. The hotel bathrooms adopt a three-zone separation design: a U-shaped shower area, a washing area, and a toilet area, all separately arranged to maximize guest convenience. Even if three people use the bathroom simultaneously, awkwardness can be avoided.
Such meticulous attention to consumer needs is inseparable from Ma Yingyao’s personal pursuit of an exceptional lifestyle. He places great emphasis on quality of life in his own daily routine and has extended this ethos to his business. "The hotel industry also needs the spirit of Steve Jobs. Without a fanatical pursuit of a perfect experience, Shangke You could not have achieved the legend of a thousand stores in five years," said Ma Yingyao.
Watches? Only Patek Philippe. Obsessed with mechanics.
The entrepreneur has been labeled in many ways by the public — "CEO of the post-80s generation," "youngest president," and even playfully referred to as the "most handsome male god in the hotel industry." But when asked how he would describe himself, he said he is simply a "product enthusiast" who idolizes Steve Jobs and wants to be the Steve Jobs of the traditional hotel industry.
He enjoys collecting watches, a trait of an entrepreneur particularly fascinated by mechanics. He told reporters that he only wears Patek Philippe and loves nothing more than using an expensive magnifying glass to observe the inner mechanical workings of a watch. He appreciates precision, intricacy, and accuracy, and believes that these qualities are indispensable in running a business or creating a product.
Shangke You has internalized this pursuit in everything from positioning and products to future planning. At its founding, to determine the right market positioning, Ma Yingyao drove across over 200 counties nationwide to research the market, because at the time the major players in the hotel industry "looked down" on this market, believing it had no potential for commercialization.
But Ma Yingyao carefully examined and explored the scene. On platforms like eLong, he noticed that it was difficult to book hotels in county towns, and even when bookings were made, reviews were poor. To further assess the situation, he personally traveled to these areas and experienced the service levels firsthand. He stayed in local guesthouses and found them to be "shabby, dirty, and terrible," which was unbearable. He decided something had to change.
At that time, the hotel industry in first- and second-tier cities was relatively saturated, but there was significant demand in third- and fourth-tier cities, which had not yet been met due to the absence of major brand hotels. So he decided to target this market.
As it turned out, Shangke You quickly grew into a "rising star," achieving a thousand stores within five years and earning recognition from both consumers and franchisees.
In terms of products, Shangke You has gone through four generations of upgrades, while other major brands in the industry have relatively slower upgrade cycles, with only two or three generations despite having a longer history. From the beds, TVs, and bath towels in hotel rooms, to bathroom designs, and overall room style, Ma Yingyao has meticulously planned every detail, aiming to provide guests with the most comfortable stay and the best value for money.
Shangke You’s target consumers do not have high spending power, which posed a challenge: how to deliver the highest quality service at the lowest cost? This high-standard approach intrigued Ma Yingyao, and he was eager to take on the challenge. He found the most suitable suppliers, created a purely franchised model, and continuously upgraded the products.
Shangke You also launched Holiday Meidi SPA Hotels, offering a solution for franchisees struggling to find suitable buildings to open hotels in first-tier cities like Shanghai. This brand targets small properties with 10–20 rooms, effectively controlling costs, while adding SPA services as an additional revenue stream, thus pioneering a niche market. Ma Yingyao always manages to find the optimal point among many options, much like solving a math problem with multiple variables — he can identify the underlying constant and deliver the most precise answer.
He believes the current hotel industry is still immature. From one- to four-star hotels, there are no truly prominent big brands, and consumers often make blind choices. More often than not, they select nearby hotels based solely on location, knowing little about the actual service level. He envisions that various segments of the hotel industry will see substantial development in the future. Shangke You is also planning to invest in and acquire smaller hotel service providers to deepen its presence in niche markets and seize future opportunities.
Fond of technology, optimistic about internet hotels
Ma Yingyao loves cars, especially luxury ones. The vehicles he drives always have engines with eight cylinders or more. He told reporters that he has recently been learning to fly a plane, which requires mastering many flight principles, but he is willing to challenge himself.
He is a technology enthusiast and was among the first entrepreneurs to pay attention to the O2O business model and apply it to the hotel industry during the rise of the O2O trend. Quoting Shen Nanpeng, founding and managing partner of Sequoia Capital China, who said that China will have two trillion-dollar markets in the future — O2O and internet finance — Ma Yingyao aims to create internet hotels and use O2O thinking to "pioneer new territory."
Shangke You owns Chengke Distributed Hotel Apartments, with the goal of utilizing idle family apartment resources. Through standardized management and internet technology, these are developed and offered to consumers. This also aligns with the increasingly popular sharing economy model in the internet industry.
Chengke Distributed Hotel Apartments adopts a novel approach — all transactions and room selections are done online, "eliminating" the front desk, making it extremely convenient and fast. It caters to tech-savvy younger generations born in the 1980s and 1990s, who love new things and can’t live without their phones. They enjoy using their mobile devices to manage their lives. This demographic is precisely the most important mainstream consumer group for the hotel industry in the future. By laying out early, Shangke You has secured a business advantage.
When "free" became a hallmark of the internet, the hotel industry was not to be left behind. Ma Yingyao put forward the slogan of creating internet hotels and launched a "stay at a hotel, pay nothing" service. At Shangke You Select Hotels, any item in the room that a guest likes can be scanned and purchased. There is also a "shop for free stay" policy — if guests purchase goods worth a certain amount, their room fee is waived. For consumers, this means they can buy home goods while staying at a hotel, saving both time visiting furniture stores and the cost of the room.
Slightly avant-garde and fashionable, with demanding standards for life and an extreme pursuit of product excellence, the Steve Jobs of the hotel industry comes vividly to mind. That Ma Yingyao has become the youngest CEO of the post-80s generation is certainly no accident. However, when asked if he would follow in Jack Ma’s footsteps as a "startup mentor," he humbly replied that he has no such plans for now. But he does have his own vision: "to make it easy for everyone to open a store," just as Alibaba aims to "make it easy to do business anywhere." Shangke You hopes to help traditional offline businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and KTVs overcome operational challenges and find a brighter future.