In the complex and changeable business environment, there are always people who turn "possible" into "inevitable", and Xiaoyu handed over an answer sheet for reference.
Author: Zhou Lixi 丨 Editor: Jing Xue
At present, the sauerkraut fish market is still active. According to the forecast statistics released by Frost & Sullivan Consulting, the compound growth rate of China's pickled cabbage fish market from 2018 to 2024 is as high as 33.7%, and in 2024, the market size of pickled cabbage fish is expected to reach 70.5 billion.
The huge development potential has also attracted a number of sauerkraut fish brands to continue to increase their weight and start rapid expansion. For example, the Little Fish, which was founded in 2019, has shown an amazing growth rate in the past four years. Red meal big data shows that up to now, the number of stores of the brand nationwide has exceeded 600.
In the downturn of the consumer market and the complex and changeable business environment, how does it achieve rapid expansion?
In 4 years, more than 600 stores have been expanded, and the East China market has run out of sauerkraut fish heavyweight players
Back in 2016, an ordinary simple restaurant opened in Xiamen, which was also the prototype of Xiaoyu.
At that time, although the store's operation was acceptable, in the view of Ma Meiqing, the co-founder of the brand, there was still room for further improvement.
At that time, the opportunities of the sauerkraut fish track had begun to emerge, but it was mainly presented in the form of a meal, limited by the price, the speed of the meal, and the speed of sound such as the meal scene, although the sauerkraut fish was loved by customers, it has never been able to usher in rapid development.
Ma Meiqing noticed this, and began to try to improve the single item of sauerkraut fish, and decided to make it a fast food form that is more in line with the needs of daily meals. Since the second half of 2016, she has been working with her team on product development, taste debugging and store model adjustment.
In 2019, after several taste adjustments, the team determined four different flavors of sauerkraut fish products: sauerkraut, tomato, sour soup, and Sichuan fragrance, and the first Xiaoyu model store was officially born.
Thanks to the previous management experience of fast food stores, coupled with the rich taste and convenient dining experience of sauerkraut fish fast food, the restaurant became popular immediately after its opening, and Xiaoyu quickly became well-known in the market. In 2020, in Xiamen alone, Xiaoyu opened nearly 60 stores.
It was also in this year that Xiaoyu implemented a unified takeaway operation strategy, improving operational efficiency and service quality by integrating takeaway resources, and in 2022, Xiaoyu launched a comprehensive digital transformation and optimized store operations and supply chain management by introducing advanced technologies and tools.
Through the continuous refinement of the operation, as well as the continuous polishing and improvement of the business model, Xiaoyu has also started a rapid expansion mode, and with Xiamen as the base camp, it has deepened its layout around the entire southeast coastal market. According to the big data of Red Meal, up to now, Xiaoyu stores have covered more than 40 cities across the country, including Xiamen, Fuzhou, Taizhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Jinan, etc., and the number of stores nationwide has exceeded 600.
Selling more than 10 million servings of sauerkraut fish a year, why is Xiaoyu numbered?
In the increasingly competitive Chinese fast food market, the reason why Xiaoyu has been able to achieve rapid expansion may be seen from its product design, store model and brand operation.
1. The main 50-80 square meters of small store model, the site selection is more flexible
Different from the "large and complete" business model pursued by some pickled cabbage fish brands on the market, Xiaoyuhao is accurately positioned in the Chinese rice fast food track, pursuing a "small and fine" business model, focusing on a small store model of 50-80 square meters, which gives it a lot of flexibility and freedom in site selection.
Based on this, Xiaoyuhao also set up most of its stores in office buildings and densely populated communities where office workers gather, and also opened stores in bustling commercial streets and universities, aiming at the daily consumption of surrounding customers, covering office workers, students, families and other consumer groups.
Taking into account the characteristics of this type of customer group and their consumption needs, Xiaoyu also changed the traditional large portion of sauerkraut fish to a more delicate and small portion. The unit price is about 20-30 yuan, so as to meet the needs of consumers for daily meals.
More cost-effective, better dining experience, Xiaoyu gives consumers a reason to choose it.
2. The product system of "pickled cabbage fish + grilled fish + small hot pot + snacks" meets diversified consumer needs
The price of fast food is only one aspect, and more importantly, the Little Fish also provides the quality of the main meal.
It is understood that the annual sales of its sauerkraut fish products have exceeded 50 million copies, and the combination of sauerkraut fish and rice has always ranked first in sales.
Behind this, in addition to relying on the "addictive" taste blessing of the sauerkraut fish itself, it also stems from Xiaoyuhao's attention to the selection of materials. According to Ma Meiqing, the fillets of Xiaoyu are black fish with few spines and a tender taste, and the rice is made of high-quality Heilongjiang rice flower fragrant rice.
"We are constantly innovating around our products to provide a better taste. For example, we are researching the use of some fresh raw products, and we are also looking for some domestically farmed fish to adapt to sauerkraut fish products. Ma Meiqing said.
In addition, when walking into the store of Xiaoyuhao, it is difficult for customers not to be attracted by its diverse products. At present, Xiaoyu has built 13 major product series, including 6 sauerkraut fish series such as lemon, golden soup and tomato, 4 large grilled fish series, small hot pot series and some special snacks.
The diversified menu selection has enabled Xiaoyu to successfully attract more repeat customers and maintain a competitive advantage in the market.
3. Serve meals in 3 minutes and turn over the table in 20 minutes to achieve efficient operation
In addition to selecting ingredients to improve the quality of dishes, Xiaoyu has also achieved efficient operations by standardizing the meal delivery process and building a standard supply system.
For example, in terms of optimizing the dining process, Xiaoyu continues to polish the standardized SOP of the store, forming a set of efficient actions of "3 minutes of meal delivery, 20 minutes of turnover". Even new staff can get started quickly and easily. On the premise of ensuring taste, it also improves the efficiency of the restaurant.
In terms of supply chain, Xiaoyu has built a "disintermediary" supply system.
"We first built a logistics system, established Xiamen warehouse, Fuzhou warehouse and Hangzhou warehouse, and the scope of supply radiation is gradually expanding; at the same time, we also directly cooperate with the factory to customize product labels, product specifications, determine product standards, and it took about half a year to build a supply system and form a systematic supply chain. Ma Meiqing said.
4. Set up online operation and takeaway operation teams to help franchise store operations
In addition to the above three advantages, the reason why Xiaoyu can open more than 600 stores in an increasingly complex environment is also inseparable from its franchise business model. It is understood that the vast majority of Xiaoyu's current stores are franchise stores.
From Ma Meiqing, we learned that Xiaoyu has built a complete franchisee empowerment system, including professional guidance for the preparation of the store, and the team will also provide continuous support and help in the follow-up operation management.
For example, in terms of online promotion, Xiaoyuhao focuses on the closed-loop management system that combines online and offline, and helps franchise partners achieve a complete system from online exposure to offline customer repurchase, from traffic acquisition, word-of-mouth management, and community repurchase.
Among them, in the traffic exposure and new section, Xiaoyu has a professional online local life operation team, focusing on the operation of mainstream platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, etc., which can deeply analyze user data, identify the preferences of target markets and potential customers, and create more targeted content. It is understood that in 2023, the number of viewers of Xiaoyu on the Douyin platform alone will reach 50 million.
In addition, in the word-of-mouth retention sector, Xiaoyu also has a department for online word-of-mouth management and maintenance, as well as two community operation teams of WeChat/Alipay, which can realize the retention and precipitation of users in the store and promote repurchase.
In this way, the complete marketing closed loop not only enhances the brand influence of Xiaoyu itself, but also brings customer flow and business opportunities to franchisees.
In addition, compared with the main meal brand, the proportion of fast food takeaway is higher, so Xiaoyuhao has also set up a special takeaway team to formulate various takeaway business strategies for different franchised stores, such as special dish promotion and peak hour specials. Through the analysis of takeaway data, the team provides timely feedback to franchisees to help franchisees adjust dishes and services in a timely manner according to market changes and improve their operations.
5. The brand is younger and upgraded, and the co-branded linkage is out of the circle!
Unlike many traditional fast-food chain brands, Xiaoyuhao does not stick to the rules, but focuses on the upgrading and building of a younger brand, and in 2024, Xiaoyuhao will upgrade the overall VI and SI of the store.
It can be found that Xiaoyu has made many attempts in joint cooperation. For example, on April 1 this year, Xiaoyu and the hot pot brand Xiaolongkan made a festival and tried the linkage cooperation of the first "Fishman Festival".
In addition to the cooperation with the industry, Xiaoyu also tried the cooperation of the joint promotion and distribution of the first national peacekeeping-themed film "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team". In addition, it has also reached an in-depth cooperation with ByteDance, becoming the first restaurant chain partner of Douyin Eat, Drink and Play Free Trial.
"In the future, we look forward to more linkage cooperation between the same industry and different industries, and truly play 1+1>2 out of the circle, and also look forward to interested brands can contact us to plan together and achieve each other. Ma Meiqing said.
Rushing to the domestic market and expanding overseas, the Little Fish still has big ambitions
From a long-established Sichuan menu dish to a nationally famous dish, the sauerkraut fish category has a promising future.
But on the other hand, after several rounds of adjustment and reshuffle, this track is also facing more fierce competition, and only truly powerful brands can stand out.
As Ma Meiqing said: "At present, the market of sauerkraut and fish is seriously involuted, and it will also face competition from other Chinese food categories. In this context, catering companies should have a deeper understanding of the upstream market of raw materials, and also need to steadily expand the scale of stores and enhance brand influence. ”
Ma Meiqing said that Xiaoyu will also strengthen cooperation with upstream suppliers in the future to ensure a stable supply of raw materials and controllable quality, and at the same time explore more possibilities for cost optimization.
In terms of store expansion, in the past, Xiaoyuhao's stores were mainly concentrated in southeastern coastal cities, but in the future, Xiaoyuhao will not be limited to regional development, but will radiate the brand's potential energy to the whole country and enter more sinking markets.
At the same time, for overseas markets, the brand will continue to explore and have a layout in more countries and regions. It is understood that in May last year, Xiaoyu signed a contract with a Cambodian agent, and its local store has been opened, and a Taiwan agent was also signed at the same time, and the current site selection work in Taiwan is also in full swing.
In addition, at present, the docking of stores in Malaysia, Singapore, the United States and Spain is also being carried out in an orderly manner, and its brand overseas business department is looking forward to more like-minded partners from more countries to join.
It is worth mentioning that in the process of expanding the market, Xiaoyu will also further strengthen cooperation with franchisees and build a closer relationship with franchisees.
"By providing all-round support and assistance, Xiaoyu will help franchisees better integrate into the market and achieve a win-win situation. At the same time, Xiaoyu will continue to optimize the franchisee empowerment system, Xiaoyu has completed the construction of the business school, from the learning course map to the management tools are also continuously upgraded, to enhance the franchisee's operational ability and market competitiveness. Ma Meiqing said.
*Source: Courtesy of Little Fish