In this era of rapid change, the business thinking and model of traditional mother and baby stores are facing unprecedented challenges. The maternal and infant industry, as an area closely related to every family, has a particularly urgent need for transformation and upgrading.
In 2013, Yang Jingjing founded Xinjiang Emperor Baby, and her entrepreneurial story is a microcosm of this wave of change. Her entrepreneurial experience tells us that mothers and babies should have the courage to innovate and change, break the shackles of tradition, and achieve self-transcendence.
On January 22, 2024, Shanxi Maternal and Child Medical Care Base was established, and Yang Jingjing joined in it to achieve better transformation to meet market challenges by holding together with maternal and infant shops to meet market challenges, and empower the industry with local maternal and infant people!
From the initial exploration and attempt, to the later group buying, WeChat marketing, transformation into a health conditioning mother and child store, and then to the current "shop-in-store" model, every step has condensed Yang Jingjing's keen insight into market trends and deep understanding of customer needs.
It's hard to break the traditional mindset, but you have to be brave enough to innovate and change
In 2013, Yang Jingjing ushered in her baby. In order to better meet the feeding needs of the baby, she decided to start her own business and open a mother and baby store. However, due to the lack of relevant experience, Yang Jingjing invested a lot of time and money in the early initial stage.
"When I first started in the industry, I was a complete novice. There were no sales and no customers," Yang recalled, "All I could do every day was wipe things, and I tried a lot of ways to get customers." ”
In the early days, Yang Jingjing used the most traditional model, that is, to distribute leaflets to the surrounding towns to promote the store, but the effect was not ideal.
Later, she started to do group buying, and through group buying, she attracted a lot of customers to the store. "Later, after WeChat became popular, I added a lot of Bao Ma's WeChat, and I would also post orders and goods in the circle of friends every day. Because during the epidemic, many mothers can't go out of the house, but they can see what others are buying through WeChat to measure whether their babies also need it.
Yang Jingjing said that the more popular drainage method at that time was WeChat Moments likes, and many new customers were attracted to the store through "Moments likes".
In this way, Xinjiang Emperor Baby has gradually grown up in continuous exploration, and has continuously deepened its deep cultivation of the nutrition sector. Since last year, Yang Jingjing has gradually transitioned from basic nutrition products to conditioning products. "I see that the post-90s mothers have a demand for nutritional conditioning products, and the country is also advocating the concept of great health. The specific implementation in the mother and baby store is actually the health management of the child, which I think is a very meaningful thing," Yang Jingjing said.
In fact, in recent years, the transformation of traditional mother and baby stores into healthy and conditioning mother and baby stores has become a hot trend in the industry, and a large number of mother and baby stores have completed the transformation or are in the process of transformation. In fact, stores like Yang Jingjing, which have been engaged in the maternal and child industry for more than ten years, will start their transformation relatively late in 2023.
"It is true that because some inherent thinking is difficult to be broken at once, there are too many mother and baby stores in Yuncheng that are actually still inherent business models, and customers can sell what they need, and there are many homogeneous products," Yang Jingjing concluded, "I can take the lead in taking this step because of 'going out'." I have participated in a lot of professional training for brands, and after seeing a different model of mother and baby stores outside, I decided to make some changes as well. ”
Through the "shop-in-shop" model, the operation of the whole category is coordinated
But in the process of transformation, Yang Jingjing also encountered some problems. "The most difficult thing is to improve one's own professional quality," Yang Jingjing said, "Conditioning stores need to have strong knowledge of nutrition and medicine." Only professional enough can be recognized by customers. The most basic logic of the customers is, why can I leave the child to you to take care of with confidence? "Each store also needs to have differences, and the differences are mainly reflected in the service to customers, including the whole process of accompanying the children in the conditioning process, and everyone's ways and methods are very different.
In addition, team building is also a very important matter. "The strength of one person is very weak, and I am now planning to form a team," Yang Jingjing said, "I want to make the activities more abundant, but the current strength is very limited, I hope that the team will continue to have fresh blood injected in, and together to achieve the most ideal state." ”
Similarly, the lack of traffic is also one of the pain points of Xinjiang Emperor Baby. In the store, the author saw a dazzling array of goods, and it is understood that most of the goods are used to attract traffic. But generally speaking, after transforming into a nutritional conditioning store, it will also invest huge costs and energy in this sector, so many store owners will choose to reduce other product categories, but Yang Jingjing has a different view.
"I didn't want to give up on the whole category, so I was thinking about how to solve it. At present, there are special personnel to be responsible for the daily operation work, and the staff of the conditioning area may be increased in the future. "Through the "shop-in-shop" model, the different sections are divided, so that we can focus on making nutritional conditioning products.
On the shelves located at the entrance of the store, the author saw a lot of toy products, and it is understood that toys have brought a lot of traffic to the store. "There is a kindergarten with a relatively high fee nearby, so according to the surrounding environment, we have placed a number of well-branded toys to attract traffic," Yang Jingjing said, "but the conversion rate needs to be improved, and at this stage, we are accumulating some customers who trust me, and maintaining these customers, so that they can help us publicize." ”
Choosing the right brand is half the battle
"It is my advantage to do all kinds of products and nutritional conditioning products," Yang Jingjing concluded, "Combining nutrition and conditioning products together, doing regional division, and establishing the Dolphin Mother Family Health Management Center." It is understood that the Dolphin Mother Family Health Management Center is a professional area, similar to the "shop-in-shop" model. "Let the mother in need come in and go together to customize a personalized nutrition plan for the child that suits him."
Looking back on her growth experience over the years, Yang Jingjing said, "It is necessary to choose a trustworthy brand, because the brand has a strong empowerment of the store, which can not only play a role in not taking a detour, but also have regular professional training, with doctors and professional nutritionists from tertiary hospitals teaching, which is of great help to the improvement of the store's professional ability." ”
When talking about the level of awareness of Yuncheng consumers on nutritional conditioning, Yang Jingjing told the author a vivid case, "My child always coughed some time ago, and his grandmother had to take the child to the hospital. I told my grandmother not to go to the hospital this time, because the child has just shown symptoms, and we can use our own products to recuperate and see the effect. Sure enough, after 2 days, the child's symptoms improved, and it was then that the grandmother realized that not all symptoms had to go to the hospital.
"So the thinking of consumers in Yuncheng is still in a stage of change, and it needs to be popularized and educated," Yang Jingjing said. But she also observed that post-90s mothers have a high demand for professional maintenance knowledge and nutritional knowledge, and mother and baby stores need to continuously improve their professional level.
"We will also often hold some mother's class activities, inviting mothers and children to come to the store to do some handicrafts, including the sharing of parenting knowledge, so that everyone can communicate, communicate and learn together," Yang Jingjing said, "My ideal is to make a small salon, create a very comfortable and warm atmosphere, and grow together with babies and mothers." ”
Record the story of the excellent mother and baby store, look for new growth in the industry, and the golden sign has been on the road!