"Since I opened a bread of more than 50 yuan at the regular price of 19.9 yuan, I have no incentive to buy it at the original price."
Recently, "leftover blind boxes" have begun to quietly rise in some cities. Sushi with an original price of more than 100 yuan, Chinese pastry cooked food of more than 30 yuan, coffee of more than 20 yuan, etc., can be bought at 1/3 or even 1/4 of the original price, which attracts many young people to "squat" to rush to buy.
Consumers: Set N alarm clocks to grab "leftovers"
"17.9 yuan can buy 3 different types of bread with a total price of more than 40 yuan in the store, my meal is relatively small, one bread and milk for breakfast every day, which is equivalent to solving three breakfasts with more than ten yuan." Orange (pseudonym), who is in Beijing, told Zhongxin Finance that it wasn't long after he tried to snap up "leftover blind boxes" on mini programs, but he was already a little hooked on this kind of surprise similar to buying lottery tickets.
"I will set up the 'subscribe' button in the mini program and wait 1 minute in advance, and the store will be opened when it is new, and I will know the moment I pick up the specific purchase." Orange said. She said that according to her own purchase experience, the "leftover blind boxes" on these WeChat mini programs are not real leftovers, but unsold food before the store closes, and merchants randomly sell them to consumers according to the remaining conditions.
Zhongxin Finance randomly selected a store on a mini program and purchased a sushi blind box for 19.9 yuan, and after payment, the order showed that the pickup time was from 9 pm to 10 pm on the same day. The page also has a reminder: Cancel the order 10 minutes after the order is placed, and the latest cut-off time: If you can cancel the order before 5pm on the day of pick-up after 8pm, if you pick up before 8pm, you can cancel outside 5 hours before the cut-off time.
A "leftover blind box" product from a chain store in Beijing's Xicheng District. Photo by Peng Jingru
Zhongxin Finance noticed that at about 11:30 a.m., there was only 1 copy of the 39.9 yuan set menu in this store, and only 3 copies of the 19.9 yuan set meal. After arriving at the store that night and showing the food collection code, Zhongxin Finance received three boxes of sushi, the original prices were 29 yuan, 15 yuan and 9.9 yuan, a total of 53.9 yuan.
"If the hand speed is slow, it may not be seconds, and I will study the time for each store to update the inventory in advance." Ms. Zhou, who works in Sichuan, told Zhongxin Finance that in order to grab the "leftover blind box" of her favorite store, she would set two to three alarm clocks at different times a day. "The nearest 'blind box' at the light food store I frequented was sold out around 11:40 p.m., and one of my favorite bakeries usually renews its inventory at 2 p.m." Miss Zhou flipped through the alarm clock notes on her mobile phone and said.
Merchant: Sell one order and lose ten yuan
"At present, there are not many merchants participating in this activity, and we belong to the cooperation that the brand has discussed with the Mini Program." The manager of a chain of sushi restaurants near Xizhimen in Beijing told Zhongxin Finance that a single "leftover blind box" would lose at least 10 yuan.
The store manager said that in addition to the "leftover blind box" activity, the store will also launch promotional activities from time to time every night, generally from Monday to Thursday around 8:40 p.m. will start to buy one get one free, more than 3 boxes of 50% discount. "This kind of in-store promotion will start earlier than the 'blind box' pick-up time, and it will work well." Blind box' products because of more losses, we will control the number of products every day, and different product combinations will only be on the shelves in total 7 or 8 a day. ”
A chain store in Beijing's Xicheng district launched a special promotion in the evening. Photo by Peng Jingru
A bakery chain clerk in Beijing's Haidian District also said that the number of "blind boxes" to be launched on the day will be determined according to the goods and sales on the day, and an average of 3 to 4 blind box products will be listed every day, and the price range will be marked. However, the specific products are prepared by the store, consumers cannot choose by themselves, and priority is given to products that are closer to the expiration date.
Zhongxin Finance noted that the "leftover blind box" products are currently mainly launched in first-tier and new first-tier cities, and there are limited stores, and the companies behind the launch of such product mini programs in various cities are mostly small and micro enterprises that have just been established. Among them, "Food Wise Magic Bag" covers more cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Nanjing, Kunshan, etc., "Rice Box" and "After Eight O'clock" focus on Chengdu area, and "Fun Bag" focuses on Shanghai. According to the Tianyancha APP, the earliest of the companies to which these mini programs belong was established in 2019, and the one with the largest registered capital is 5 million yuan.
Expert: There are certain food safety risks
At present, consumers have different views on "leftover blind boxes". Some netizens said that this method helps businesses avoid food waste and allows consumers to get preferential treatment, which is a win-win good thing; Some netizens also said that the quality of the "leftover blind box" in each store is uneven, some store products are excellent value for money, and some store products are not guaranteed in terms of quantity and quality.
Screenshots of some of the negative reviews of "leftover blind boxes" by consumers on the Mini Program platform.
Zhu Danpeng, vice president of the Guangdong Food Safety Promotion Association and a food industry analyst, told Zhongxin Finance that some "bread blind boxes" and "leftover blind boxes" use temporary food, and in the case of complete sealing, the number of bacteria in some foods may not be easy to control, so there are certain food safety risks.
"In addition, during the sales process, is the food stored at room temperature or low temperature? How long is the sales period and will it overrun? These make blind box food have many uncertainties. Zhu Danpeng said.
The mainland's anti-food waste law has been in force for more than two years. Since March this year, local market supervision systems have launched a three-month special action to stop catering waste. During this period, catering enterprises in various places actively participated and made every effort to curb catering waste. In this way, the rise of "leftover blind boxes" has indeed stepped on the "anti-waste" outlet.
"Not all food products are suitable for sale in blind boxes. For example, pasta, fast food, etc., are easy to cause quality problems due to improper storage, packaging, and labeling. Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iMedia Consulting Group, said in an interview with the media that leftover blind boxes, as a promotional activity to solve the temporary food problem, are a beneficial attempt to reduce food waste, but the premise of all its should be within the regulation of food safety.
Low-priced "leftover blind box", will you rush?
Source: From China News Network