Since 2015 began to build an online shopping platform, in the autumn of 2020 to integrate the supply chain system into independent corporatization operations, in September 2021 to set up a vertical market segmentation of the front warehouse company, and positioned in the "second kitchen manufacturing", output finished and semi-finished products of "prefabricated dishes", Shanxi retail giant Meitehao began a new round of entrepreneurship.
From relying on supermarkets to "reach the peak" 10 years ago to targeting the young people's market today, The retail company That Started as a traditional supermarket is exploring the transformation of traditional supermarkets. I just don't know if I can start a new round of rapid growth?
Various preset dishes in the freezer The Beijing News shell financial reporter Bai Huabing photographed
Can the old supermarket play with the new brand, can you learn the essence?
"Can be officially hired, have a basic salary, just within 1.5 kilometers of 19 minutes to deliver, do not have to rush a long distance, hurry, relatively safe, the work is still relatively satisfactory." Deng Xiaoming, who delivered a single order, told the Beijing News Shell financial reporter in the gap waiting for the next order.
This is a front warehouse called Duo Ge'er on the south side of the Welcome Store of Shanxi Meitehao Supermarket. Aside from its tender green face, it's not so conspicuous in the deep corners. Indoor refrigerators are lined with fresh, colourful dishes that can be eaten by heating or simply stir-frying.
The courier took the dishes from the front warehouse to deliver the Beijing News shell financial reporter Bai Huabing photographed
The store manager told Shell Financial Reporter that the store has been open for a year. Stores like Duoge'er have opened to 40 in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Chen Jingyi, brand director of Meitehao Group, explained, "Duoge'er is a second-level sub-brand of Meitehao established in September 2021 for the young people's market segment, and is an online supermarket that distributes finished or semi-finished fruits, vegetables, meat, milk and other daily necessities to nearby residents. ”
Shell financial reporter learned that Meitehao Group is a Shanxi retail leader founded in 1993 from the supermarket, with an annual turnover of about 8 billion yuan making it rank 50 or 60th among retail enterprises in the country, and it is much higher in the ranking of supermarkets.
Shell financial reporter saw in the Duoge'er Triumphal Arc experience store that in the shop full of factory-style wrought iron elements, more than 600 dishes have been configured, and even a special chef can cook these dishes. Customers can dine in and deliver by placing orders online. Even small canteens with simple processing conditions became the first customers. "This personalized design for the 'home economy' is to change young people's 'fear' of the kitchen and make cooking easier." Chen Jingyi explained.
Not long ago, at the "2021 China Prepared Vegetable Industry Conference Main Forum" held in Fuzhou in early December 2021, Chu Dequn, chairman of Meitehao Group, said: Now China's economy has transformed from a high-speed growth stage to a high-quality development stage, with the intervention of e-commerce, a "buyer's market" has been formed, and how to cut from the consumer's demand point to encircle its own customers has become a priority issue for every enterprise.
"Pre-made dishes" have emerged in recent years, and compared with traditional markets, this dish decomposes most of the functions of the kitchen through collocation and primary processing. However, its popular development also requires a process of market recognition and system building. Although the traditional supermarket Meite has the advantage of playing pre-made dishes in this regard, it remains to be seen how far it can go in brand upgrading and personalization.
How much initiative is there in the 10-year transformation breakthrough?
Shell financial reporter learned that China's traditional supermarket development to today, through three stages: the first stage, in the 1990s, the new supermarket gradually became the main force of retail in large and medium-sized cities, its function is to meet consumption; the second stage is the first 10 years of this century, supermarkets develop at a high speed, foreign retail giants have seized the market; the third stage, is the past 10 years, supermarkets in the impact of e-commerce began to adjust and upgrade.
Li Haiqing, president of Meitehao Group, told Shell Financial Reporter that in the 10 years just experienced, Meitehao has gone out of Shanxi and entered the development of large and medium-sized cities in Hebei, Shandong, Inner Mongolia and other provinces (autonomous regions), and set a goal to open 50 stores in North China in the next 5 years. However, with the rise of e-commerce and the differentiation of the consumer market, the development of Meitehao soon encountered bottlenecks, and the profitability of some stores declined. Shell financial reporter combed and found that this is consistent with the development of other traditional supermarkets in the country.
Staff "fully armed" carrying catering in the glass window Photographed by Bai Huabing, a shell financial reporter of the Beijing News
"In the state at that time, some supermarkets began to turn to commercial squares and even real estate, and some supermarkets began to shrink and close stores on a large scale," Li Haiqing told Shell Financial Reporter, "Meitehao did not choose to escape, but after decisively cutting down the supply system without advantages in the provincial stores, focusing on retail itself, by optimizing the circulation supply system, improving store services to win customers." At the same time, it began to explore e-commerce channels, and launched a global frog e-commerce platform focusing on online in 2015, and then began to create in-store consumption scenarios and increase catering supporting services. In 2020, the supply system will be separated and the supply chain company of Youxian Duoge will be established. ”
Ma Jin, vice president of YouxianDuoge Supply Chain Company, also told Shell Finance, "Unlike traditional logistics warehousing, YouxianDuoge is an open supply chain, not only supplying to Meitehao supermarkets, but also supplying other supermarkets across the country. At the same time, YouxianDuoge is also a huge central kitchen, developing a variety of catering services. ”
At the headquarters of Youxian Duoge Qingxu, Shell financial reporters found that the storage center covering an area of 253 acres shipped 200 tons of various daily necessities every day, while the laboratory central kitchen is supplying finished meals to taiyuan organs and schools.
Chen Jingyi told Shell Financial Reporter that Duoge'er is based on such logistics distribution to establish a subdivision of young home life consumption of the front warehouse, after several months of operation, has been accepted by many citizens.
According to anxin Securities research report, the size of China's prepared vegetable market is about 210 billion yuan, and it is expected to grow to 600 billion yuan by 2025. Some analysts believe that in the future, the scale of China's prefabricated vegetable market can reach a staggering 3 trillion yuan.
Diversification of supermarket development, fragmentation or integration?
Shell financial reporter found that in recent years, traditional supermarkets have been seeking innovation, actively developing online services, personalizing stores, and changing from shopping to leisure services. It is in this context that the good pre-made dishes of the United States are produced.
Staff in the storage center to configure goods Beijing News shell financial reporter Bai Huabing photo
In fact, in recent years, prefabricated vegetable companies have frequently obtained financing, and major restaurant companies have also launched pre-made dishes. On the surface, pre-made dishes are the expansion of supermarkets and restaurant companies in the foodization of catering, but what is involved behind it is actually the entire production chain, and even the entire catering ecology. Although it occupies an advantage in the upstream of the product, if the supermarket wants to go further in the pre-made cuisine model, it needs to deepen the cultivation of the entire catering market.
Li Haiqing believes that prefabricated dishes are only one of the paths for the diversified development of Meitehao, she believes that with the narrowing of the demographic dividend and the slowdown in the growth of residents' consumption expenditure, the growth rate of total retail sales of social consumer goods will continue to decline, the retail market will shift from "incremental robbery" to "stock competition", the "golden age" of traditional supermarkets to obtain market share growth by opening stores is gradually drifting away, the era of business dividends is coming to an end, and the future traditional supermarkets are facing a situation of continuous squeezing online, near-field format diversion, and the influx of emerging players. If you want to achieve rapid development, you need to strengthen the supply chain system, with the help of the Internet platform, online and offline integration, the development of multiple vertical market segments, to create or innovate personalized consumption scenarios.
Chen Jingyi told Shell Financial Reporter that at present, Mei Te Hao already has shopping malls, baking restaurants, food markets, tea houses, fine wine, beauty cosmetics, bun stores and other formats, opening up a diversified development path.
Some analysts believe that the diversified development of traditional supermarkets must be "coordinated development", establish an ecosystem, and refine the market and extend personalized services on the basis of the advantages of the supply chain, location and flow of people of traditional supermarkets, rather than abandoning the traditional foundation to innovate. If there is no inheritance of traditional advantages, there is no shortage of competitors in any market segment, and these competitors have been deeply cultivated on their respective tracks for a long time.
Chen Jingyi said that the current main consumer population is changing, the proportion of consumption after 80 and 90 has accounted for more than 50% of consumption, the consumption structure is changing, and the consumption content is also changing. At present, the traditional shopping location has changed from "venue" to "scene", and it is precisely many new retailers that exaggerate the "scene" and ignore the product itself, which is the opportunity of traditional supermarkets. It is only in the process of diversified development that leverages strengths and avoids weaknesses, neither can we engage in the separation of the old and the new, nor can we only play the concept and weaken the service, the new bottle of old wine, we must innovate in persistence, and reshape in innovation.
Beijing News Shell Financial Reporter Bai Huabing Editor Fang Jingyi Song Yuting Proofreader Guo Li