With the gradual improvement of the epidemic prevention situation, residents' lives began to return to normal, the order volume and the number of new users on the online fresh platform gradually declined, and the fresh food track entered a more fierce competition stage. For community group buying enterprises, when the half of the melee comes, how to consolidate the supply chain system and retain and attract users is the real test.
Recently, Wang Tianye, CEO of Meijia Grocery Shopping, put forward his views and views on how to deal with the surge in orders brought about by the epidemic, meet the daily needs of users, the strategic deployment of the post-epidemic period and the future development of community group buying.
As a strong player in the community group buying track, Meijia Buyer' predecessor was Meijia Premium, which was officially launched by Meicai in November 2018, and is committed to better serving home users. Over the years in the fresh supply chain of deep ploughing, Meijia buy vegetable management has accumulated a wealth of business experience, has in-depth understanding and judgment of the industry, I believe that his insights can bring more thinking to practitioners.
Under the epidemic situation, the community group purchase load is high, and the advantages of the supply chain are highlighted
Community group buying, which suffered a cold winter of development in 2019, has once again become the focus of the entire industry due to the outbreak of the epidemic. This format, which integrates fresh food, home and private domain, plays a role in ensuring people's livelihood in special periods. However, for platform merchants, the surge in orders and users has brought an unprecedented test to the enterprise supply chain.
From February to March this year, due to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, residents' consumer goods turned to online solutions, and the order volume of fresh platforms ushered in explosive growth. The weChat Mini Program officially shows that during the period from Chinese New Year's Eve to the seventh day of the first year, the number of visitors to the fresh fruit and vegetable format of the Mini Program increased by 168% year-on-year, and the community e-commerce format increased by 83% year-on-year.
At the same time as the high growth of orders, many platforms have experienced a shortage of goods, untimely delivery, and even the active cancellation of user orders due to inability to load. In the face of the test brought about by the sudden epidemic, Wang Tianye said that the epidemic is a historic training period for the whole people to buy vegetables online, but the high load operation has put forward higher requirements for the coordination management and supply chain capabilities of the community group buying platform.
It is understood that during the Spring Festival, the overall business volume of Meijia grocery shopping has doubled, especially in the Wuhan area. Due to the increase in orders, Meijia grocery shopping employees began to work on the second day of the Chinese New Year. "Our goal is very clear, we have to let the people eat first." In his view, due to the needs of prevention and control, it is normal for some areas to close cities and roads, and there is a temporary shortage of necessities such as fresh food, grain and oil. In response to these problems, American cuisine mobilized many times the daily needs of fresh meat for the first time and sent them to hubei to ensure the daily needs of local people.
"With 87 warehousing centers and 20,000 delivery vehicles across the country, Meijia Buy vegetables is backed by Meicai's strong supply chain, which can ensure the immediate supply and richness of goods, so as to better serve users." He told reporters that long-term accumulation and continuous optimization, Meicai's supply chain has been very stable, whether it is the breadth, depth and comprehensive capabilities of warehousing coverage, or logistics, commodity capabilities, and community operation capabilities can withstand the test of the epidemic, even under the pressure of high loads, it can also meet consumer demand.
During the most severe period of the epidemic, the vegetable production end in Hubei was seriously insufficient due to picking and processing personnel, resulting in slow sales of dishes and a gap between supply and demand. With the whole supply chain system of direct procurement from the source, Meijia Buy Vegetables timely connects the supply and demand sides, urgently links the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Commerce, coordinates and organizes personnel to purchase and sell distribution, including Hanchuan lotus root, Suizhou lettuce, Xiaogan white radish and Jiangxia red cabbage moss, totaling one million catties. While solving the dietary problems for the residents, it also helps the production side to solve the problem of unsalable dishes and alleviates the pressure on farmers to plant.
Steady progress is more important than rapid expansion
During the epidemic, community group buying has played an important role in ensuring the normal life of residents, gaining the trust of consumers and the recognition of the market. With the gradual improvement of the epidemic situation, how to grasp the development opportunities in the post-epidemic period has become a concern for many community group buying platforms.
"After the epidemic is over, you should practice your basic skills, because the big wave has receded, and you know who is swimming naked." Under high demand and high load, whose supply chain is more stable, whose products are more strictly controlled, and whose service capabilities are better, whether it is the leader of the group or the consumer will be judged in their hearts. Talking about future development, Wang Tianye said.
Community group buying, which arose in 2018, is optimistic about capital due to its efficient and low-cost fulfillment model. However, after more than a year of rapid development, difficulties such as supply chain integration, group leader management, and fresh quality control have been highlighted, and many enterprises in the second half of 2019 have closed down due to rapid expansion and inability to make profits.
In his view, because fresh food has the characteristics of high loss, high frequency and difficult control, the expansion of the platform must match its own operational capabilities. "In the post-epidemic period, Meijia Grocery shopping is not in a hurry to expand rapidly, but focuses on making steady progress on the basis of optimizing the supply chain." If the basic skills are not done well, the platform cannot be carried when the order grows, which is the biggest problem. Therefore, we have the rhythm of expansion, we must ensure that the quality is guaranteed, and the service is more satisfactory, which is the embodiment of the core capabilities. ”
According to reports, in the past two years, in addition to continuously upgrading the commodity supply chain and integrating warehousing capabilities through logistics innovation, Meijia Grocery Shopping has also taken North China and Central China as deep-ploughing areas and gradually radiated to the whole country. This year, in addition to continuing to deepen cultivation in the original area, Meijia will accelerate the penetration of other areas, carry out warehousing construction, and steadily sink.
At present, Meicai has covered more than 300 cities across the country and has built 87 warehousing centers. The overall SKU of Meijia is in the range of 3500 to 4000, of which fresh accounted for 60%. The reporter learned that these data are still in the continuous optimization and improvement, this year's new "rdc" (regional central warehouse) network of American cuisine, has formed a food into the "rdc", the staff can be distributed to the entire supply system of the city warehouse through it, so that it can break the circulation barriers and reduce costs.
The industry generally believes that the epidemic has accelerated the development of the fresh track, and community group buying is gradually becoming the main channel for residents to consume, for enterprises, after a short window period, the real competition has begun.
The industry pattern is clearer and will continue to improve operational efficiency
In the post-epidemic period, the community group buying track has ushered in more entrants, and the industry has accelerated its integration and competition has become more and more intense. In the past two months, whether it is e-commerce giants such as Hema, JD.com, suning, or traditional supermarkets such as Yonghui Supermarket, BBK, and Wal-Mart, they have all made efforts to promote community group buying models.
In the face of new competitors, Wang Tianye said very confidently: "First of all, we are very excited to see everyone enter this industry, indicating that there is an opportunity. Meijia has always maintained an open attitude, because competing users will have a better service experience. In the past, we learned a lot from our peers. I think each family has its own strengths and weaknesses. As a platform that has been deeply engaged in the industry for two years and has accumulated six years of supply chain operation, we are very confident and hope that everyone can better serve users through competition. ”
In fact, Meijia's confidence in buying vegetables stems from the continuous growth of its own business. It is understood that after the epidemic, the operation data of Meijia users has maintained very well. From March to April, Meijia's user retention, repurchase rate and daily active visit frequency were relatively stable; in May, Meijia's user data also ushered in growth. Especially in the Beijing area, while the number of new users is increasing, the frequency of monthly orders of old users is as high as 12 times.
In his view, the more fierce the competition, the more it shows that this model has been recognized by the market. After the epidemic, the industry pattern will be clearer. "We have seen that the demand for everyone during the epidemic is very strong, ushering in a period of rapid development and expansion, many platforms have seized the opportunity, and many platforms may have lost these opportunities." We have judged that there will be more than one unicorn company in the industry within two to three years. ”
Talking about the next strategic planning, Meijia said that it always adheres to the concept of user-centered. "Even if there is no epidemic, Meijia's grocery shopping business is still to be vigorously developed, and for the entire group, our positioning is the second growth engine." Facing the development and competition of the industry, the original intention of Meijia has not changed."
In the past two years, in the WeChat Mini Program and Aladdin rankings, Meijia shopping has been at the forefront of the industry. Wang Tianye attributed the sustained growth of performance to the robustness of the supply chain, and he believes that the sustainability and robustness of warehousing and distribution, the ability of community operation, and even the ability to land in all aspects such as traffic, such a refined operation requires time accumulation, and is also the focus of competition between enterprises after the epidemic.