Recently, Watson's 1-cent mask promotion has caused great controversy. First, offline stores refused to pick up goods on the grounds of "out of stock", and then the anchor of the official live broadcast room insulted consumers as "mad dogs" and "beggars", causing strong dissatisfaction among consumers.
After the matter fermented, late at night on January 14, Watsons China issued an emergency apology statement, saying that it would take the way of replenishment to fulfill the remaining orders, and the anchor was a third-party agency personnel. However, some netizens did not buy Watson's apology, saying that the matter had fermented for 4 days, and it was only after the hot search that it came out to apologize, which was not sincere enough.
As a former "retail king", Watson and consumers are torn on the hot search because of the 1 cent promotional mask, reflecting the dilemma that Watson's highlight moment is no longer and the performance is insufficient.
1 cent promotion mask after not allowing to pick up
Anchors scold consumers like "mad dogs" and "beggars"
It is understood that on January 11, Watson launched a promotional campaign online, and some of the brand masks can be bought for only 0.01 yuan. After many consumers paid attention to the information of the event, they rushed to the platform "Xue Wool".
However, many consumers who have picked up wool offline are told that they are "out of stock".
According to the black cat complaint platform, some consumers reflected that after receiving the SMS notification, they were the first to go to the store to pick up the goods, waited for more than 10 minutes to finally pick up the goods, and the clerk suddenly received a phone call not to let them pick up the goods, let them wait for the notification. Subsequently, the consumer received a text message notification saying that it was out of stock and could not be picked up. "Obviously there is a stock, I also saw the clerk order the goods", the consumer suspected that the store was under the premise of goods to refuse consumers to pick up the goods, thinking that Watsons official activities in the end but "can't afford to play", wasting their time and money.
Another consumer shared his experience on social media that he waited for the mall to pick up the goods as soon as it opened the door, but the store manager had a very poor attitude and said that there was no goods, but the goods were on the shelves, and when she called the industry and commerce complaints, the store manager let the clerk take the goods in.
What is even more dissatisfied with consumers is that the masks that are claimed to be out of stock are still sold in live broadcasts. Therefore, some consumers reacted to this matter on Watson's official live broadcast platform and hoped to be resolved, which triggered a conflict between the anchor and the consumer.
Some consumers reported that they asked when the mask was available in the live broadcast room, and then they were blocked and kicked out of the live broadcast room, unable to enter again.
According to a video clip of more than 20 seconds on the Internet, a female anchor accused consumers of wanting to bite like a mad dog for 1 cent of something, and said, "My live broadcast room, I want to kick and kick, I don't welcome you, you don't use it." I kicked you happy. ”
In addition, there are voices from behind-the-scenes staff, saying, "You don't recognize the cheap when you get cheap, and you don't come to bite people." ”
It is worth noting that in addition to the use of the uncivilized word "mad dog", some consumers said that Watson anchors had scolded consumers who participated in mask promotions as "beggars" in the live broadcast on January 13.
Red Star Capital Bureau noted that in the black cat complaints, there were more than 7,000 complaints about Watsons, of which 1616 were class action lawsuits for "1 cent promotional mask" that were not given.
Watsons apologized overnight: mask replenishment
The anchor is a third-party organization personnel
In response to the controversy caused by the 1-cent promotional mask, on January 14, Watsons customer service staff responded that due to system abnormalities, consumers who placed an order for a "1-cent promotional mask" in Meituan could only cancel their orders. "In view of this abnormal situation, we will also ask the relevant departments to investigate."
On the evening of January 14, there were successive consumer feedback to receive meituan 50 yuan consumption coupon compensation, but at the same time, meituan customer service also responded that the price of the event was set by the merchant itself, and had nothing to do with the Meituan system, and the compensation was not Watson's compensation plan, but only to make up for the consumer's experience on the Meituan platform.
At 23:59 on January 14, Watsons issued an apology statement on the official Weibo. Watsons said that due to system reasons, a large number of abnormal orders far exceeded the inventory were generated in a short period of time, and Watsons has paid part of the orders in the case of inventory support, and later suspended the redemption due to insufficient inventory, and Watsons decided to take the way of replenishment to fulfill the remaining orders.
In response to the inappropriate remarks of the anchor in the live broadcast room, Watsons said that the anchor is a third-party institution personnel, and Watson will deeply reflect on and strengthen the training and supervision of all personnel of the company and third-party cooperation personnel.
As soon as the apology statement came out, the related topics quickly rushed to the top of the hot search.
However, some netizens did not buy Watson's apology, saying that the matter had fermented for 4 days, and it was only after the hot search that it came out to apologize, which meant that Watson was not sincere enough. Some netizens believe that female anchors who have inappropriate remarks should also come out to apologize.
For this matter, China News Network commented that whether it is "wool wool" or brush traffic, for the "1 cent promotional mask" can not pick up the incident, Watsons, as the brand side, should have given consumers a positive response and solution in time. Its anchor loudly mocked consumers as "mad dogs", as if they regarded the live broadcast room as their own territory, and wantonly kicked consumers out of the live broadcast room.
We can't help but ask, in this merchant-to-consumer promotion, who is the "God"? Water can carry boats, but it can also cover boats. Consumers are the core of all business activities of enterprises, and only by taking sincerity as the basis can the brand do it for a long time. Watsons should let go of his arrogant posture and not make a mistake about his identity.
According to media reports, Li Xinan of Hunan Wanhe United Law Firm said that in this incident, consumers paid 0.01 yuan to buy goods through the platform link, and there was no fault for the non-malicious "shearling". The merchant shall deliver the goods to the consumer in accordance with the agreement, and cannot refuse the delivery on the grounds of operational errors, insufficient inventory, etc., or suggest that the consumer refund because there is no stock.
The listing was unsuccessful, and the stamina was insufficient
The former "retail king" can no longer sell goods
Without this 1-cent mask incident, many people may not have remembered that there is such a shop as Watsons.
Watsons originated in a Western pharmacy in 1828 and was bought by Li Ka-shing in 1981. After the acquisition of chain enterprises in the Netherlands, France, Russia and other places, Watsons gradually became an important part of Li Ka-shing's retail layout.
In 1989, Watsons opened its first store in Beijing, its 100th store in 2005, and its 1,000th store six years later, and now Watsons has spread to nearly 500 cities in the mainland, with more than 4,000 stores.
As The largest beauty and daily chemical chain brand in China, Watsons has made great strides and is regarded by countless young people as a representative of fashion.
At the end of 2013, Watsons was exposed to plans to list independently, with a valuation of HK$192 billion to HK$312 billion.
It was Watson's highlight moment, but then there was a fall.
In March 2014, Li Ka-shing abruptly sold a 24.95% stake in Watsons to Singapore's national sovereign fund Temasek for hk$44 billion, significantly below market estimates. The real reason for Li Ka-shing's "cheap sale" of Watsons is unknown, but his move undoubtedly buried Watsons' future in the capital market, and the listing plan was finally terminated.
With the advent of the e-commerce era, Watson's performance has gradually shown a downward trend.
According to the financial report, since 2016, Watson's performance growth in the Chinese market has not been satisfactory. During the year, A.S. Watsons China's operating income was HK$20,914 million, the first decline in performance. EBITDA, which measures the ability of a company's main business to generate cash flow, that is, EBITDA, also fell by 4.21%.
From 2017 to 2019, Watsons' revenue in China was HK$21.783 billion, HK$23.855 billion and HK$24.591 billion, respectively, excluding the impact of exchange rates, the growth rate was 5%, 7% and 7%, respectively, all of which were low-digit growth. In 2020, Watsons suffered a severe blow during the epidemic. According to the financial report, its revenue in China slid by 19% to HK$19.984 billion.
The performance is weak because Watsons can't sell anymore. In 2015, Watsons same-store sales fell 5.1% year-on-year and were negative for four consecutive years. In 2019, Watsons same-store sales rebounded slightly, up 2% year-on-year, but then encountered the epidemic and suffered a heavy blow. With the stabilization of the epidemic, Watsons same-store sales increased by 17.8% year-on-year in the first half of 2021.
In the first half of 2021, Watsons' performance recovered, with sales in the Chinese market up 32% year-on-year, but still not returning to pre-pandemic levels.
At the same time as same-store sales declined, Watsons also opened a large number of new stores. According to the financial report, from 2016 to 2019, the number of Watsons stores in China increased from 2929 to 3947, almost one store a day. As of December 31, 2020, Watsons had 4,115 stores in the Chinese market, compared to 3,947 in the same period of 2019, an increase of 4% year-on-year.
At a time when Watsons' performance has stagnated, the era of e-commerce in the beauty industry has arrived. Watsons, who is busy opening stores offline, missed the dividend period.
Watsons has also tried to regain the attention of young people through online brand marketing.
On February 28, 2021, Watsons officially announced the signing of Cai Xukun as the brand spokesperson. Prior to this, Watsons also launched a joint name with line friends, and used AI technology to produce a virtual brand spokesperson Qu Chenxi to create a theme store. In addition, Watsons also launched the advertising song "Love 105 ° C You". However, the song has spread all over the Internet, but many people do not know that this is an advertising song for Watsons distilled water marketing.
Compared with the overly enthusiastic shopping guide in Watson's family, young people still seem to prefer Li Jiaqi in the live broadcast room.
Red Star News comprehensive China Fund News, Xiaoxiang Morning News, Times Finance, NetEase digital reading reports.
Edited by Yu Dongmei
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