In the domestic environment, it seems that few brands can succeed in the "courtyard economy", but when it comes to overseas, the situation is very different. You have to know, Americans are famous for their garden culture. Products like garden lights, lawn mowers, lawn aerators... these types of courtyard products have no shortage of market overseas.

Recently, a Chinese brand called HOODINK has taken advantage of this wave of dividends on TikTok. Just its solar flowerpot lamp, in the past 30 days, has sold more than 10,200 units, with single product sales exceeding $279,600; the store's monthly income has even surpassed $1.18 million (about 8.014 million RMB), capturing a considerable share in the TikTok US market.

This achievement, in the garden light track that is rarely noticed domestically, can indeed be called a model of "making a fortune quietly".

 

Image source:TikTok

 

Image source:kalodata

How did a street light brand explode in sales on TikTok

Objectively speaking, HOODINK's approach is not very sophisticated. The core idea is just two points: let ordinary people sell goods, and let scenarios set the pace.

"Let ordinary people sell goods" should not be hard to understand, that is, to focus on cooperating with a large number of mid-level or even smaller influencers with fewer fans.

This can be seen intuitively in the brand's influencer profile. Most of these influencers are just ordinary family users and gardening enthusiasts.

 

Image source:kalodata

Why do this? Because users are more likely to trust "people like themselves".

For example, an influencer named Ray Marco who cooperated with HOODINK has only 38,700 fans, and his bio says "family man, gadget enthusiast, my son thinks I'm famous, my wife thinks I'm annoying".

 

Image source:TikTok

Such an ordinary middle-aged father, in the past year, brought HOODINK $495,100 in sales just through live streaming, with a total transaction amount of $546,300.

An ordinary person with less than 40,000 fans, relying on sincere sharing and continuous live streaming, supported a considerable part of the brand's revenue. Isn't this more convincing than investing in a big influencer with a million fans?

 

Image source:kalodata

So what is "scenario sets the pace"? Simply put, it's about moving users with a specific emotional scenario.

There's no need to ramble in the video about "IP65 waterproof", "high lumen brightness" and other parameters. Those can be clearly written on the detail page and in the copy. What short videos need to do is to make people feel the impulse of "I want this too" within 3 seconds.

 

Image source:TikTok

If you still don't get it, here's a direct case to break it down for you.

On February 28, TikTok influencer Mandi posted a video with the caption "This is the cutest Mother's Day gift". The whole video has no complicated script, just straightforwardly shows the product's appearance and function.

But why did it go viral? Because it used an emotional hook that everyone can understand and fits the current holiday trend—Mother's Day gifting.

This seemingly casual video reached over 7.6 million views on TikTok in 6 days, and now has reached 11.12 million views, driving a total transaction amount of $86,500.

 

Image source:kalodata

It's not just influencers shooting videos like this, HOODINK's own brand account is also using the same approach.

For example, in the video below, it starts with "one for mom, one for mother-in-law", which not only throws out the hook in one sentence, but also brings out the product's discount offer.

No complicated plot, just a few words about the product. As a result, this video reached 10.3 million views in a month, with a transaction amount of $98,600.

What if you miss holidays like Mother's Day or Father's Day? Actually, holidays are just the most convenient hook. There are more entry points you can use daily—for example, "My yard is too dark at night, after installing this it's much brighter", "Moved to a new house, adding something to the backyard".

As long as you grasp the golden 3 seconds of a short video, sometimes the hook can even be a bit outrageous.

 

Image source:TikTok

The "courtyard economy" is not a pseudo-demand, but a real market necessity

HOODINK's success, in the end, is the precise grasp of product to demand. TikTok is a catalyst, but the real underlying driving force comes from the sustained strong demand for gardening and outdoor products in overseas markets.

Take the US market as an example, except for some big cities, detached houses with their own yards are basically the standard for local housing. If you have a yard, you have to take care of it, and to take care of it you need to buy tools and decorations. This is the underlying logic of the "courtyard economy".

According to market research agency Grand View Research, the global gardening equipment market size is expected to reach $138.9 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% from 2025 to 2030, and the US is the largest single market.

 

Image source:Grand View Research

Actually, what's more worth noting is that consumption habits are quietly changing.

In the past, when people bought gardening supplies, they basically thought of lawn mowers and watering cans, focusing on practicality. But now it's different. More and more people are willing to spend money for aesthetics and mood—decorative lights, atmosphere ornaments, those little things that are not very useful but just make you happy, are selling better and better.

To put it bluntly, flowerpot lights are not really selling lighting. People don't care how many square meters it can illuminate, they only care that when the light comes on at night, "Wow, my yard can actually be this beautiful." This is a typical emotional consumer product.

From function to emotion, with this shift, many small things that were ignored in the past have instead become a blue ocean.

 

Image source: Internet

Final Words

Frankly speaking, HOODINK's methodology is not complicated and ordinary sellers can also replicate it.

The key is whether you have a sales champion mindset. Don't wait for users to tell you what they need, but actively help users find a reason to need it.

Just like that classic question, "How do you sell a comb to a bald man?" Some people's first reaction is that it's impossible, but some people will start thinking: how can I innovate, how can I make you have a need.

Doing overseas markets is the same logic. Don't always focus on "is it needed", think more about "who can use it, and in what scenario would they be willing to pay".

The overseas market is big enough, big enough that even a flowerpot lamp can earn over a million dollars a month. The opportunity is there, the rest is up to you to seize it.