The epidemic is still recurring, and the lives of workers continue.
Recently, the national epidemic has "blossomed everywhere", and everyone opens their eyes every day, in addition to seeing if they have entered the "final circle", they are still pondering the overlap of the trajectory of the flow.
In fact, around the trajectory of the flow of workers, it can be found that in addition to home and company, many people's lives are inseparable from convenience stores.
After all, its appearance not only ignited the temperature of the city, but also warmed the hearts of every worker.
But in the past 315 party, the convenience store also overturned, which undoubtedly brought a blow to the workers.
Recently, some media have exposed the 7-ELEVEn convenience store Oden ingredients on the trash can, hot drink expired labels and other kitchen chaos, Lawson convenience store also appeared "expired buns are still sold, the abandoned Oden boiled and then cooked" and other issues. In response, the relevant company issued an apology letter acknowledging that there were irregularities in the relevant stores.
Image source: Network
At the same time as the convenience store overturned, there are still many financing actions around this format.
Public information shows that recently, the new membership-based catering convenience store chain brand Daily Gudu has completed about 10 million yuan of angel round financing.
In recent years, the development of convenience stores has risen and fallen, climbed the peak, and also fallen to the altar, and now, capital is still looking for the next opportunity to make a fortune on this track.
1
A product of efficiency society
Talking about the development of convenience stores, it is also a history full of charm.
As we all know, convenience stores are an imported product, the world's first real convenience store - 7-ELEVEn was born in the United States, the predecessor was founded in 1927 "Southern Continent Ice Company", and later introduced to the Japanese market by Japan's Ito-Yokado, slowly this standardized convenience store business model became popular and went global.
Image source: official website
In fact, the rise of convenience stores is also inseparable from the changes in people's consumption habits and needs.
In the fast-paced urban life, the pursuit of high efficiency has become the first priority, and with the development of the economy, the per capita consumption level continues to increase, and the corresponding consumption scenes under the consumption upgrade are sought after, and convenience stores naturally stand out.
Looking at the development of convenience stores in China, the first is that the market has been opened by the entry of foreign convenience stores into China.
In 1992, 7-ELEVEn landed in Shenzhen, taking the first step for convenience stores in the Chinese market. Subsequently, with the implementation of the franchise strategy, foreign convenience stores such as Lawson, FamilyMart, and 7-ELEVEn quickly occupied market share, and to a certain extent, educated the market. According to the 2018 China Convenience Store Report, The proportion of Franchise Stores of Japanese convenience store brands Rosen, FamilyMart and 7-ELEVEn reached 95%, 97% and 98% respectively.
Hungry for this cake firmly grasped by foreign capital, local companies also could not hold back, and set up convenience store brands, at that time, they first started from imitation and began to challenge the dominance of Japanese convenience stores.
At that time, convenience stores were a capital outlet, after all, the concept of new retail has emerged, convenience stores can also be regarded as the "last mile" between retail and consumers, and their own standardization is conducive to large-scale development and full of imagination.
For example, the new convenience store convenience bee has completed several rounds of financing, and investors include Hillhouse, Tencent Investment, Zebra Investment, etc.
With the help of capital, many local convenience store brands began to run wild and expand, and for a time China's convenience store market entered a period of rapid development.
However, this leap forward gesture did not last long, and the convenience stores that entered the market obviously overestimated their own strength.
Convenience stores are heavy assets, in the operation and management capabilities have not been explored before the understanding, many companies have been overwhelmed by high costs, capital chain breaks are often a thing, such as the neighboring convenience store "thunder" - the embarrassment of closing 168 stores overnight is still vivid.
The industry began to cool down is also expected, steady progress is the main tone, fortunately, there is also policy support, the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Notice on Promoting the Branding and Chaining of Convenience Stores three-year action", proposed: Strive to 2022, the total number of stores of the national brand chain convenience store reached 300,000.
According to public data, the number of national brand chain convenience store stores will reach 193,000 in 2020, and the sales of national brand chain convenience stores will be 296.1 billion yuan; it is expected that by 2025, the sales of mainland convenience stores are expected to exceed 550 billion yuan.
It is worth noting that although the brand power and scale effect of foreign convenience stores are high, they cannot sit back and relax at present, and opponents have caught up.
According to public data, the top three stores in the number of traditional convenience store stores in China in 2020 are Sinopec's EasyJet, Meiyijia, and PetroChina's Kunlun Hospitality, with the number of stores being 27,600, 22,394, and 20,212, respectively. The number of 7-ELEVEn convenience stores is 2387, ranking 7th, behind Rosen and FamilyMart.
2
Rolling it up can you seize the opportunity?
We can find that local convenience store brands have caught up, and foreign convenience stores are facing a more severe competitive situation.
Obviously, with the spread of the franchise model, many convenience store brands are difficult to find a balance to weigh the relationship between speed and quality, and the frequent emergence of food safety problems is an example.
In a way, this is fatal to a convenience store with a high brand recognition, after all, now that their competitors are numerous, consumers are more willing to choose better services and food in the context of serious homogenization.
Image source: KPMG
To know that convenience stores are benchmarked against high-frequency consumer groups and scenarios, if they want to stand out, they must take a differentiated route, not only to meet shopping needs, constantly launch explosive products to attract consumers, but also to develop more convenient services, so as to ensure profitability and improve brand stickiness.
More critically, convenience stores must learn to catch the trend.
Today, they basically get growth space from two directions, one is to hit the sinking strategy, and the other is digitalization.
First of all, it can be found that in recent years, in the face of the offensive of local convenience stores, the expansion direction of foreign brands has been sinking, and it has begun to target small-town youth in the second and third and fourth lines.
After all, the space of first-tier cities led by CBD business districts has become increasingly saturated, and the superimposed rent and labor costs have made it under pressure and there is not much room for development, while convenience stores in second-, third- and fourth-tier cities can have more opportunities to adapt to local conditions and face more potential groups. However, how to win the local players in China and occupy the advantage is the pain point faced by these foreign convenience stores.
In addition, although the recurrence of the new crown epidemic has cast a cloud on production and operation, this is also a rare opportunity for convenience stores, which not only allows them to expand against the trend, but also promotes the digital process.
Remember when convenience stores were on the cusp a few years ago, and unmanned convenience stores were picked up?
Under the immersion of the new retail concept, its development was full of temptation, but at that time, this profit model did not really work. The sudden outbreak of the epidemic has made it revitalized again, after all, whether it is online payment or contactless services, or even the use of big data, it has been naturally popularized. According to public data, as of 2020, the online business opening rate of mainland convenience store enterprises will be as high as 73%, which is a challenge to the operation of traditional convenience stores and an opportunity for change.
On the whole, although convenience stores provide fast-paced convenience life services, they are not a fast-food business in themselves, and with rapid expansion, they still need to consider the balance of efficiency and quality, after all, under the attributes of heavy assets, they still have to operate first.
3
epilogue
Today's convenience stores are not just selling things, but have become a culture that carries people's urban feelings. Capital recognizes sentiment, but prefers to look for business opportunities. In the final analysis, this is also a retail format, so how to meet people's changing needs through innovation and then revitalize yourself is a topic that convenience stores need to explore continuously.