Text丨Zhongtong Media reporter Yifan
High interest rate savings, seemingly pie actual trap
A fixed deposit of 100,000 yuan for two years, with an interest rate of up to 28,800 yuan - the interest rate is as high as 14.4%.
A 150,000 yuan fixed deposit has an interest of 18,000 yuan for one year – the interest rate is as high as 12%.
Such a high annual interest rate is not a bank that has sent kindness, but a thanksgiving feedback pre-deposit project launched by the mother and baby store that ran away some time ago in the anniversary celebration.
"Because the interest rate is higher than that of the bank, many of our mothers choose to store in their stores. When saving money, the staff at the store also said that the money could be withdrawn at any time. A mother who had deposited 150,000 yuan in cash in this mother and baby store said.
In addition to the policy of high interest on saving money and being able to take it at any time, saving money to return milk powder is the most important thing, because the threshold for this pre-deposit is low, which can allow more mothers to enter the pit.
Consumers who deposit 50,000 yuan in advance can enjoy 50 cans of milk powder for free, and after a year, 50,000 yuan in cash will also be returned.
To put it simply, it is to return the interest of 50,000 yuan to consumers in the form of milk powder.
You must know that based on the average price of milk powder, the price of 50 cans of 200 yuan milk powder is about 10,000 yuan, which is almost a year's ration for infants and young children.
Do the math, at present, the maximum annual interest rate of two-year fixed deposits of major banks is less than 4%, while in this chain store, the annual interest rate of each pre-deposit activity is about 10%~15%.
"This activity of saving money to return milk powder can be said to be a scam completely tailored for Bao Ma. A local channel dealer shared with a reporter from Zhongtong Media.
Why tailor-made?
On the one hand, 50,000 yuan in cash is not too much but not too little for most maternal and infant families, but it can be taken out, and 50,000 yuan is nothing compared with those who have saved hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people who eat high interest.
On the other hand, for most mothers, they never expect 50,000 yuan to create any wealth, what they value is 50 cans of milk powder that are saved for 50,000 yuan a year and returned to consumers, which can save the family's biggest expenses on their children.
But it backfired, and this feedback activity, which made the local mother seem to make a steady profit, was like a giant python, eating people without spitting out bones.
The laws and regulations regarding pre-deposits are not perfect
The pre-deposit model is not uncommon in the maternal and infant industry and even the entire retail industry.
On the one hand, it can bring stable cash flow to the retail side, and on the other hand, it can also provide certain price discounts for consumer groups.
However, there are also certain risks associated with this model, especially when there is a problem in the merchant's capital chain, and the rights and interests of consumers are easily damaged.
Isn't this exactly the case with the maternal and infant system mentioned in the previous issues of the pre-existing manuscripts?
With the continuous fermentation of the heat of the maternal and infant store runaway incident, it has attracted the attention of many maternal and infant peers and maternal and infant consumers to the pre-deposit consumption mode and related regulations.
"The impact of this kind of incident on the maternal and infant industry is huge. A mother and child channel shared to a reporter from China Children's Media.
Because at present, an important reason that affects whether consumers consume in stores is the problem of trust. Especially the current young mothers, the wall of trust that may have been built with great difficulty will collapse because of public opinion on the Internet.
In addition to the impact on the maternal and infant industry, this incident also exposed the current lack of supervision of industries related to pre-deposits.
In the mainland, the laws and regulations related to the prepaid consumption mode are not yet perfect, although the relevant departments have issued some relevant regulations, such as the "Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests", although it mentions the issue of refunds for prepaid consumption, including the latest "Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests", which also stipulates that "a written contract shall be concluded with the consumer to collect the advance payment", but this is only a kind of evidence after the accident, which is a kind of after-the-fact relief.
The real killer trick is to control the money.
In this regard, some local governments have already taken action.
Article 22 of the Regulations on the Administration of Single-Purpose Prepaid Cards of Beijing, which came into force on June 1, 2022, proposes that pre-deposits should enter the depository bank's special depository account for funds. It shall be formulated by the municipal industry department in conjunction with the local financial regulatory department, and shall be announced to the public after approval by the municipal people's government. ”
At present, the detailed rules for withdrawing advance deposits have not yet been seen.
"Laws and regulations are just norms, and no one can stop the mother and baby store that wants to run. A mother and child channel dealer shared with a reporter from Zhongtong Media.
This is undoubtedly a big truth.
If it weren't for the fact that there was a problem that was too big to solve, no one would put a good business and don't do it, choose to take the case on their backs, be infamous on their backs, and run away.
Isn't this the case for Gu, who was tortured on the Internet this time?
However, is the trigger for the chain system to run away from the incident be the reason for the pre-deposit?
Combined, it's not all.
What's Behind the Pre-Deposit?
"We have a local mother and baby who was arrested last year because of financial problems. A channel dealer shared with a reporter from Zhongtong Media who recently visited the market.
According to the channel, the mother and baby companion who was arrested was arrested because the loan borrowed from the bank could not be repaid, and it was not because of the problems related to the consumer's pre-deposit.
Judging from several recent incidents, whether it is because of a pre-deposit or a bank loan, the reason why the mother and baby store can really affect the run away or close down is a major vice of the mother and baby store - no discipline in cash flow management!
"Many store owners are blinded by the deposit and cannot see their financial status clearly. Xu Lin, general manager of Henan Nuanbao Commerce, once preached at the fourth agent conference.
There is no doubt that the part of the stores that have closed, closed, and run away have not seen their financial status clearly, and have been countered by the bad habit of undisciplined fund management, and finally fell into trouble due to anomie in fund management.
Top 5 Vices of Cash Flow Management
"In recent years, the mother and baby stores that have run away have all collected advance deposits and gone to other places. There are those who buy cars, buy houses, eat, drink and have fun, and those who invest in other industries and lose all their money. A channel dealer preached.
"But no matter what they did with the deposit, they ignored the value of the money itself. ”
Consumers deposit 10,000 yuan in advance, of which at least 8,000 is the cost of the product, and the remaining 2,000 will be allocated to the cost of rent, water and electricity, personnel, etc., especially now that the profit margin of the product is further compressed, and the profit that the store itself can share is also decreasing.
The occurrence of this situation also illustrates the lack of financial discipline behind the mother and baby store and several major loopholes in the internal management of the industry.
Vice: Confusion in accounts
Many mother and baby stores lack professional financial personnel, resulting in unclear income and expenditure records, mismatched accounts, and no effective internal control system, which not only makes it difficult for stores to grasp the real financial situation, but also fails to ensure the accuracy and compliance of financial data, and also fails to identify and correct potential financial problems in a timely manner.
Bad habit 2: Poor inventory management
In order to pursue sales performance, some mother and baby stores hoard a large number of goods, resulting in a serious inventory backlog and poor capital turnover. This practice of excessive inventory, once encountering changes in market demand, can easily cause the capital chain to break.
Habit 3: The price strategy is arbitrary
In order to attract customers, some stores frequently carry out promotional activities, and even vicious competition occurs. This kind of unplanned price war, while it may bring traffic in the short term, will erode profit margins and damage the financial health of the company in the long run.
Habit 4: Ignoring cost control
In daily operations, some stores neglect to reasonably control the costs of water, electricity, rent, manpower, etc., resulting in high operating costs and seriously affecting profitability.
Bad Habit 5: Lack of awareness of risk management
The uncertainty of the market environment requires that mother and baby stores must have a certain risk response mechanism. Some stores blindly follow the trend to invest in popular projects or expand their scale, but do not conduct sufficient market research and financial budgeting, which ultimately leads to investment failure and heavy losses.
In general, several major problems in the cash flow management of mother and baby stores not only affect the financial health of mother and baby stores, but also bring serious operational risks to them. Therefore, mother and baby stores should pay attention to financial management and establish a sound financial discipline, which is very important for the healthy development of mother and baby stores and even the entire industry.