The new tea drink is a bridge for young people to get in touch with traditional tea, and in turn, the profound cultural heritage of traditional tea can also help the new tea drink to gallop smoothly on the road of innovation. Therefore, the collision between new tea drinks and traditional tea drinks is not only a path for the tea industry to learn from each other's strengths, but also a channel for the two to be renewed and upgraded.
In 2024, the new tea drink will enter the "Warring States Era", and it is the general trend to break the old and create the new, and the outlet of the traditional tea industry will gradually be revealed. In order to seek a way to break the circle of the traditional tea industry from the new tea market, "Talking Tea" launched: Looking at the tea industry from the "new" - a series of columns for new tea drinks. This article focuses on the store situation of new tea drinks.
The new tea drink ascension war is starting, and the store, as the main home of brand wrestling, has been focused on its development status.
On April 23, the ready-made new tea drink brand "Tea Baidao" was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with an opening price of HK$15.74 breaking 10% and continuing to fall after the opening, with the largest intraday decline reaching 38%. The listing performance of tea Baidao is not as expected, and the development path of the new tea beverage industry may be reconsidered.
△Tea and Joy Wuxi Nanchang Street Shengtangli Garden Club Store (Image source: Winshang.com)
New tea brands and traditional tea companies belong to the same tea industry, and the growth points in the field of new tea drinks often resonate with the development of traditional tea enterprises. Nowadays, in order to seize the market cake, the new tea drink rolls are listed, rolled out to the sea, and rolled co-branded, which can be described as their own strange tricks. It is worth noting that in the process of "rolling" the new tea drink, various store deployment strategies have been implemented throughout. In order to take advantage of its development, it will bring reference to the tea industry. "Talking Tea" conducted an in-depth discussion on the current situation of new tea beverage stores, and found the key to the increase of new tea beverage brands.
Entering the "10,000-store era"
How's the new tea store?
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According to the prospectus data of major new tea beverage brands, as of the first three quarters of 2023, the GMV (total merchandise transaction) of Chabaidao will be 12.5 billion yuan, the GMV of Guming will be 13.8 billion yuan, and the GMV of Mixue Bingcheng will reach 15.4 billion yuan. The overall consumption scale of new tea drinks has grown steadily, and the industry has gradually entered the "Red Sea". Under the endogenous competition, stores that bring a lot of exposure value to the brand have always been the key to the new tea drink to stabilize the market.
Looking at the entire new tea market, many brands still choose to expand their market territory by opening stores. At the beginning of this year, a number of new tea brands have successively adjusted their franchise policies:
At the beginning of January, Heytea announced three latest preferential policies for 2024: new stores signed in the first quarter will be free of cooperation fees, partners can get 66,000 decoration subsidies for every 3 stores signed and opened in the first half of the year, and stores that have been open for one month in 2024 (including those opened in 2023) can receive a performance guarantee subsidy for stores that meet the relevant standards in that month.
During the Spring Festival this year, Shanghai Auntie adjusted the preferential policies to reduce the franchise fee from 6,000 yuan to 16,600 yuan for new franchisees.
On February 28, Nai Xue's tea announced a new franchise policy for 2024. According to the "Nai Xue's Tea Partner" section in Naixue's official mini program, the investment budget of Naixue's single store has been adjusted to 580,000 yuan. In addition, franchise stores that complete the contract before June 30, 2024 can also enjoy a marketing subsidy of 60,000 yuan for a single store.
On March 6, Lele Tea announced the latest franchise strategy, the franchise fee and brand management fee remain unchanged, but the headquarters will give a certain "subsidy, open a store of no more than 50 square meters, 350,000 yuan of the headquarters will be "lump sum", and a minimum of 290,000 yuan can open a 30-square-meter store. In addition, if you open 3 or more stores, you will be given a subsidy of 5-7 points based on the actual annual order amount.
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The preferential strength of the franchise policy continues to expand, attracting more businesses to enter the new tea beverage brand and "heating" the industry business. Will the situation of landing in new tea beverage stores get long-term development due to the increase in franchise partners?
△ Data source: GeoHey|Polar Sea brand monitoring, sorted by the number of existing stores The statistical time is as of April 24
"Talking Tea" sorted out the top 20 new tea brands in terms of the number of stores and found that as of April 24, the number of stores in operation was 32,054, making it the only "10,000-store brand" for new tea drinks. Brands such as Gu Ming and Shanghai Auntie also followed, vying to enter the "10,000 stores" team.
Although the overall number of new tea stores in operation is considerable, the number of store closures also needs to be paid attention to. Judging from the brands sorted out in the table alone, the data shows that the gap between the number of stores opened and the number of closed stores of tea brands is less than 1,000, and the number of closed stores of Happy Sweet Potato even exceeds the number of stores, not to mention that some smaller brands may have a "group collapse". It can be seen that although store expansion is the primary path for new tea drinks to seize market share, it is not enough to pursue quantity, and the sustainability of store development is the key to extending the brand life cycle.
From another point of view, the coverage of store business districts is also an important indicator to explore the situation of stores. To this end, "Talking Tea" starts from the top five new tea brands in store coverage and displays the number of stores in each province.
△ Data source: narrow door, sorted by the number of provinces covered The statistical time is as of April 24
At present, the coverage of new tea stores is becoming more and more extensive and covers almost the entire region. The table shows that although the number of stores of most new tea brands is unrivaled in one province, the gap in the number of stores in other provinces is small, showing a relatively balanced development trend. At the same time, the "2023 New Tea Drink Research Report" shows that the growth rate of new tea takeaway orders in fourth-tier (30%) and fifth-tier cities (36%) is higher than that in new first- to third-tier main markets (28%). It can be seen that the market layout of the new tea beverage brand is oriented to the whole country, and the sinking market is regarded as a key area.
From the new tea drink format
Get a glimpse of the development situation of the tea industry
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Perseverance and innovation are the methodologies for traditional tea enterprises to seek development in the tide of the times. As the focus of the consumer market, the new tea beverage track contains many new opportunities. From the above-mentioned status quo of new tea beverage stores, it can be seen that consumption coverage and sinking market are the key words of the current situation of the new tea beverage track. Applying these keywords to traditional tea brands may give a glimpse of the real economy of the tea industry.
Unite multiple parties to release dividends
The reshuffle of the tea industry is accelerating, and if the development does not advance, it will retreat. The new tea beverage brand releases dividends by adjusting the franchise policy, which is essentially to win the joint entry of partners. In order to take the lead in the "market competition for position", traditional tea companies continue to expand their enclosure while combining multiple advantages to consolidate the foundation of brand development.
From the establishment of Wuyixing Dahongpao Industrial Consortium by enterprises, franchisees and scientific research institutions, sharing high-quality production materials and centralized procurement resources, to signing a strategic cooperation agreement between China Tea Xiamen Company and Xiamen Wanqiantang Tea Ware, and working together to explore a new path for the integration of "tea" and "ware", the tea industry has continuously broken the boundary barriers and entered the field outside the industry for development. Traditional tea companies cooperate with all parties to seize market share, not only to "form a good game" but also to "play good chess".
△ Launching ceremony of the "Wuyixing Dahongpao Industrial Consortium" project (Photo source: Wuyixing)
Expand the consumer base
Expanding the coverage of stores to the whole country and even overseas is a measure implemented by New Tea Beverage to capture a larger consumer audience, and the same is true for traditional tea companies. In order to win more market share, tea brands have broken the space constraints and continued to extend the tentacles of the tea market.
When it comes to expanding consumer groups, developing online e-commerce and focusing on diversified markets, they are undoubtedly the two major grasps to seize market share. Online, whether it is traditional tea companies such as Bama Tea Industry and Taetea Tea, or Bai Master, a white tea brand that started with e-commerce, they have built a model of direct connection between tea enterprises and consumers with the help of online shopping, live broadcast and other channels; offline, we can see that national tea brands such as Huaxiangyuan and China Tea Fujian have repeatedly stepped onto the international stage, showing the brand confidence of Chinese tea and stunning the world. A series of combination punches continue to expand the publicity coverage of tea brands, so that Chinese tea can gain the favor of more consumers.
△On April 9, 2020, the staff of Hefeng County Xinnong Tea Industry Co., Ltd. live-streamed tea picking Image source: Xinhua News Agency (photo by Yang Shunpi)
Nuggets sink into the market
In the case of market saturation in first- and second-tier cities, the sinking market has become a new blue ocean for the tea industry. In order to kill all sides in the sinking market, tea brands have changed from adjusting prices, improving tea products into convenient life teas, and optimizing tea consumption scenarios to enter the sinking market.
From the high-end niche group to the mainstream tea drinkers and young people, tea brands can always quickly adjust their marketing strategies according to market reactions. In addition to the measures of setting different prices for tea, tea companies have made great efforts in products. For example, Xiaocan Tea has launched a new product line - Xiaocan Tea Yue Series Life Tea, which broadens the consumption scene of Xiaocan Tea with a selection and design that is more in line with the aesthetic preferences of young consumers. At the same time, in the past two years, hearth tea, hearth iced tea and canned roasted milk have emerged, integrating popular factors such as cost performance, experience, and health care that are respected by consumer audiences.
△ Iced tea around the hearth (Image source: Yuhang Cultural Tourism)
As we all know, there are many commonalities between traditional tea companies and new tea brands. Nowadays, the listing of tea Baidao has encountered Waterloo, which is an outlet for traditional tea brands and a key direction of change. Gain reference value from the situation disclosed by the situation of new tea beverage stores, and seek development through mutual reference, whether it is new tea drinks or traditional tea enterprises, they can take a more stable pace in the future.
Editor-in-charge / Yao Yiling
Editorial Board Member / Wang Miaorong