A Brazilian engineer picks out a birthday gift for his wife, an Indonesian man achieves independent walking here, an Italian family makes four trips back and forth… The Shanghai Elderly Care Expo Innovative Product Experience Hall (Shanghai Silver-Haired Store), located at Puxi Financial Plaza on Daduhe Road in Putuo District, has recently welcomed more and more foreign customers, becoming the ‘first stop’ for foreigners coming to Shanghai to buy elderly care products and rehabilitation aids.

Shanghai Silver Economy Store

The store breaks away from the traditional shelf display model and, centering on the five-dimensional needs of seniors—clothing, food, housing, transportation, and entertainment—creates a new silver economy consumption scenario that is ‘strollable, experienceable, and shoppable.’ As the ‘never-ending showcase’ of the Shanghai Elderly Care Expo, it closely connects global silver economy resources with the consumer experience of elderly care and rehabilitation aids.

Among the overseas customers who visit the store, some are traveling in China and treat it as a must-visit spot for purchasing assistive devices; some work in silver economy-related businesses and see it as a cutting-edge window into China’s silver industry; and others work and live in Shanghai and treat it as a supply station for meeting their silver lifestyle needs.

A Swiss customer visits the store to buy a lightweight trolley

Not long ago, an elderly Brazilian couple walked into the store pushing a manual wheelchair. The elderly woman had difficulty walking, and they wanted to buy a lightweight, foldable electric wheelchair to fulfill their long-cherished wish of a long-distance trip in China. The elderly man was an engineer and had strict criteria for evaluating every wheelchair’s performance, specifications, motor, and battery. ‘It must not only be usable in China, but also adapt to the differing standards for battery transport on high-speed rail and domestic and international flights.’

As the elderly man tried and compared each wheelchair one by one, the staff not only explained the performance and compared the specifications for him, but also prepared bilingual battery test reports, English battery labels, and product manuals. In the end, the elderly man purchased a suitable wheelchair and said emotionally: ‘My wife’s birthday is next month. This electric wheelchair and this trip to China are my birthday gift to her!’ Upon learning of the elderly man’s intention, the store specially printed the elderly woman’s name on the invoice, adding a sense of ceremony to this birthday gift. The next day, the couple flew to Beijing with this electric wheelchair. The electric wheelchair purchased at the Shanghai Silver Economy Store carried the deep affection of years spent together and the expectations of their later years as they set off for distant places, accompanying them throughout their journey.

In recent years, Putuo District has continued to deepen its efforts in the silver economy and improve the supporting infrastructure for age-friendly industries. As an external showcase window for the district’s silver economy, Shanghai Silver Store not only displays high-quality age-friendly products, but also focuses on foreign consumer scenarios. By precisely adapting to cross-border transportation standards and providing refined foreign-related services such as bilingual explanations and foreign-language receipts, it continuously aligns with international service standards.

This summer, an Indonesian man in his 30s, tall in stature, walked into Shanghai Silver Store on a walker, supported by his wife and mother. He told the staff that he hoped to use an exoskeleton robot to improve his mobility. He had been following the store’s overseas social media accounts for a long time and came specifically to try it out in person.

‘This exoskeleton robot is equipped with China’s new-generation AI gait algorithm.’ The staff helped the man put on the device. During the trial, he rested his left hand on the shoulder of a store employee and his right hand on his mother’s shoulder, thanking them in English as he walked. ‘Don’t rush, take it slow. We’ll walk a few more steps with you so it can better adapt to your gait,’ the staff encouraged him step by step. As he walked, the man felt his steps become steadier, and the hands resting on the employee’s and his mother’s shoulders gradually relaxed. He said joyfully to his mother, ‘Mom, you can let go with peace of mind. I can try to walk on my own.’ His mother and the employee continued to slow their pace, staying by his sides; the man began to step forward independently with the help of the exoskeleton robot.

A British customer visits the store to learn about the exoskeleton robot

Letting go of a pair of supporting hands upholds the dignity of an independent life. This scene of warmth transcending national borders confirms the broader value of Shanghai Silver Store—it is transforming cutting-edge technology into tangible, perceptible life support, continuously extending the boundaries of age-friendly services toward friendliness for all ages.

A few days ago, a family of three from Italy walked into Shanghai Silver Store pushing a somewhat old manual wheelchair. After comparing multiple products, they chose an electric wheelchair and additionally equipped it with two high-endurance batteries. From consultation and trial to order confirmation, and from repeated testing to fine-tuning, this family visited the store four times in total. They placed an order on their first visit, yet the follow-up service was not discounted in the slightest, which made the hostess, Ms. Rosa, feel especially warm. ‘I’m really sorry to have troubled you so many times.’ Over the course of several interactions, the staff helped guide them to mobile phone repair, provided travel tips for Hangzhou, and even sent a translated English invoice via WeChat, sparing them many inconveniences in cross-border communication.

Four visits, four warm receptions—closing a sale is never the end of service, but the starting point of trust between China and the world. Ms. Rosa specially brought a handmade souvenir she had knitted herself, saying “thank you” in the Chinese she had just learned. Not long after, she sent a family photo from a boat on Hangzhou’s West Lake, her words brimming with the joy of travel, warmly inviting the staff to visit Italy. From “welcome” to “welcome back,” Shanghai Silver-Hair Store, with its meticulous service, fulfills this city’s promise to every overseas guest and weaves bonds of friendship that span mountains and seas.

An Italian customer purchases an electric wheelchair at Shanghai Silver-Hair Store

To better serve overseas customers, Shanghai Silver-Hair Store continues to upgrade its service system. Multilingual communication, foreign-related payment, and foreign-language invoices have become standard. For products that draw greater attention, such as wheelchairs, canes, anti-fall vests, and exoskeleton robots, the store has prepared English manuals and usage videos in advance. All in-store staff hold rehabilitation assistive-device technical consultant certificates, have undergone professional first-aid training, can use AEDs, and can communicate fluently in English and Japanese. Through standardized development down to the smallest details, the store breaks down the barriers to assistive-device selection caused by differences in language, culture, and rules, so that every foreign customer can choose with peace of mind and use with confidence.

A British customer experiences a hearing test in the store

While serving individual consumers, Shanghai Silver-Hair Store is also building itself into a frontier reception room for matchmaking between Chinese and foreign silver economies. Relying on the store’s product displays and experience scenarios, it continues to attract elderly-care product agents from Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia, and also brings together silver-economy operators and nursing-home executives from Brazil, the UK, Switzerland, and other countries. Buyers and merchants from various sectors come here to obtain first-hand information on China’s elderly-care assistive devices, both pushing Chinese elderly-care enterprises into overseas markets and bringing overseas customer resources into China. Shanghai Silver-Hair Store has thus become an important fulcrum linking China’s silver economy to the global market, actively playing the role of a bridge, promoting Chinese elderly-care enterprises going global, and advancing deep collaboration between Chinese and foreign silver economies.

At present, China’s silver economy has entered a period of strategic opportunity, and Shanghai is accelerating the building of an international age-friendly city. The silver economy has become a new track for integrating culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions and for promoting consumption upgrading. As a physical fulcrum in Putuo’s “three zones and two centers” layout for the silver economy, Shanghai Silver-Hair Store not only provides livelihood services to the public, but is also an open industrial platform linked to the world. Moreover, as an important window for Shanghai to serve foreign nationals and showcase the city’s warmth, as more and more foreign customers come here, what they take away is rehabilitation assistive devices, while what they leave behind is an understanding of China’s elderly-care products and urban services. With a broader vision, a more inclusive mind, and warmer service, Shanghai Silver-Hair Store is showing the world the innovative vitality of China’s silver economy, letting the world see the openness and goodwill of a “people’s city,” and helping China’s silver economy shine on the global stage.

Shanghai Silver-Hair Store Convenience Information

Address:1st Floor, Building D, Puxi Financial Plaza, No. 452 Daduhe Road (Exit 4 of Changfeng Park Station on Metro Line 15, walk about 80 meters in the opposite direction)

Business Hours:Monday to Sunday 9:00-17:00 (subject to store announcements on statutory holidays)

Contact:17621657365