Shitanjiajiayue's first warehousing member store The leading layout of local supermarkets has a new format to seek new changes

Reporter of this newspaper, Wang Xi

Jiajiayue has ushered in the first Spring Festival examination since its opening in Jinan at the end of December 2021. At the moment when the local membership-based warehouse supermarket is quietly laid out, how does this new move of the regional supermarket leader Jiajiayue perform in the Spring Festival examination? With this question in mind, a reporter from Securities Daily made a field visit during the Spring Festival.

New formats are popular

Relying on the complex comes with "traffic password"

The picture shows jiajiayue's first member store opening in Jinan Wang Yuan/photo

Jiajiayue's first member store was opened on the negative floor of Hongyang Plaza in Jinan West Railway Station Area, which is different from the "single-family" model of sam's clubs, Costco and other member-based warehouse supermarkets in first-tier cities, and the first store of Jiajiayue member store in the country chose the model of symbiosis with a rich commercial complex.

The Jiajiayue Club in the "Open Experience Day" stage has a huge flow of people and many "early adopters". Since January 4, the store has officially opened the "member access" stage, and consumers need to pay an annual fee of 198 yuan / year to become a member before they can enter the supermarket for consumption. According to the staff in the store, the "member only" model is the first time in Jinan, although it somewhat restricts the enthusiasm of consumers to enter the store to experience consumption, but also makes some consumers feel incomprehensible, but since the implementation of a month, especially during this year's Spring Festival, more and more consumers have applied for membership cards, and they have come to feel a "value-added experience" that is slightly different from ordinary supermarkets.

The "Securities Daily" reporter also made several visits to the store on the eve of the Spring Festival this year, the first day of the Chinese New Year and the fifth day of the Chinese New Year and found that although the flow of people during the Spring Festival was not as good as the "crowd" during the open experience period, relying on the commercial "traffic password" and special goods and shopping experience, the member store was still crowded. In particular, some product areas with local characteristics and popular Internet celebrities are quite popular with shoppers.

On the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, mr. Li's family filled the huge shopping cart. "I usually work in Shanghai, often visit Sam's Club, Costco and other member supermarkets, did not expect to launch this model in my hometown, although the scale here is slightly smaller, but many of the member shop Internet red products, such as Net Red Roast Chicken, SpongeBob SquarePants Swiss Rolls, etc. have here, but also very affordable, cost-effective or good." Mr. Li told the Securities Daily reporter.

Ms. Zhou, a citizen, told reporters, "I accidentally found that Jiajiayue opened a membership store, visited several times and felt good, every time I came it was like 'treasure hunting', many of which were jiajiayue's own brands, with both internet celebrity member stores and local characteristics." ”

However, when the reporter visited, he also encountered a number of consumers who did not understand or even did not understand the membership supermarket, and they expressed a wait-and-see attitude towards how much survival and development space the membership supermarket model can have in second-tier cities such as Jinan.

Local leaders seek new changes

Traditional supermarkets grasp local advantages to promote transformation

Han Yongqi, the manager of Jiajiayue's first member store, introduced to the "Securities Daily" reporter that unlike the pursuit of all categories and multiple varieties of ordinary large-scale supermarkets, Jiajiayue member stores in the business area of 7,000 square meters, a professional procurement team composed of more than 400 members, in more than 30 countries and regions, selected more than 3,000 good things, directly docking manufacturers, and truly achieving "high quality and good price". "Many of our commodities are regionally representative and independent, and even if they are relatively low-proportioned conventional products, the price is quite advantageous." Han Yongqi said that because the member store only focuses on more than 3,000 items, the purchasing team can concentrate more energy on negotiating prices with merchants and striving for more discounts.

In order to attract more consumers to join the membership, Jiajiayue Member Store, on the basis of ensuring that members enjoy value-added goods and value-added services in the store, also relies on the channel advantages of the rooted commercial complex and Jiajiayue's own brand, and establishes a "cross-industry alliance" with movie theaters, gas stations, gyms, etc., such as consumers can enjoy half-price movies at China Film South Cinema in Hongyang Plaza with membership qualifications.

Of course, during the field visit, the reporter also heard a lot of opinions and suggestions from consumers. In this regard, Jiajiayue Club has set up a collection book of opinions at the entrance and checkout. "This model has just been tested in Jinan, and we also hope to continuously adjust and improve in the positive interaction with members." Han Yongqi said.

It is understood that the earliest member-based warehouse supermarkets that sprouted in the United States, although they have been introduced to the mainland as early as the mid-1990s, but it is not until recent years with the upgrading of consumption and the cultivation of consumption habits, starting from first-tier cities, membership supermarkets have gradually been accepted by consumers. At the same time, more and more traditional supermarkets have also begun to quietly lay out member stores in China, as an important subdivision direction for the transformation of traditional supermarkets. According to incomplete statistics, in 2021 alone, Yonghui Supermarket, METRO China, Carrefour China, etc. have launched the transformation layout of stores and opened new formats of member stores.

"2020 is the first year of China's local warehouse-style member stores, and in 2021 it will explode." IPG China chief economist Bai Wenxi told the Securities Daily reporter. It can be said that the opening of Jiajiayue's first member store in the country has also caught up with this boom.

Bai Wenxi believes that compared with well-known foreign member stores, local member stores are more familiar with the consumption psychology, consumption behavior characteristics and regional consumption preferences of local customers, which is an advantage that foreign well-known member stores do not have. "The paid membership model is a mature business model that needs to go through a process of localization trial and error and adaptation, and how to provide paid members with value-for-money goods to exceed the expected service experience is the core essence of retaining paid members."

(Edited by Sun Qian)