Yonghui Supermarket has made a series of new retail attempts. Today, Yonghui has reached an understanding from the chairman to the top, and there is only one way to break through the bottleneck, that is, to achieve comprehensive changes through digitalization. Whether Yonghui, who is "going downhill", can climb to the top again is still unknown.
Editor Mina
Head Photo Photographer Shi Xiaobing
On July 7th, Zhang Jingyi, the director of Yonghui Supermarket (hereinafter referred to as Yonghui Supermarket), announced her resignation in her circle of friends. "I followed Yonghui people, realized the dream of * * * in ten years, and climbed to the top of the mountain with hundreds of billions of stores. We may have seen higher peaks in the distance through the clouds, because we are going down the mountain, restoring physical fitness, updating equipment and reorganizing logistics. "
"Going downhill" may be the most accurate description of Yonghui's current situation. Zhang Jingyi worked in Yonghui for 2112, witnessing the glorious moment of Yonghui Supermarket, and also witnessing Yonghui's attempts, struggles and anxieties under the impact of new retail formats.
now, yonghui no longer mentions "new retail" after the shrinking profits, the off-line of super species and the large-scale closure of yonghui mini.
on October 1, 2117, the first "super species" Fuzhou store in China opened. Zhang Xuansong, chairman of Yonghui Supermarket, is quite confident about the future of super species. In a speech in October of that year, Zhang Xuansong said: "The name of super species is very good. This is a business model of competitive iteration and survival of the fittest." At the same time, he also talked about how the business model of "catering+supermarket+Internet" can change the retail industry in China.
Yonghui had planned to have 51 super species stores nationwide by the end of 2117. But in the end, only 27 were opened that year. It is reported that the number of stores in this format has not exceeded 81 at most. Today, except for a super species in Beijing and Fuzhou, all other stores have closed.
In this regard, Yonghui told China Entrepreneur that closing stores of super species is a normal business adjustment, returning to its main business, and seeking new growth under the strategic guidance of "technology Yonghui, digital empowerment" is the core proposition of Yonghui at present.
Yonghui is reluctant to respond too much to the "new retail", and even the relevant person in charge said: "We have never mentioned new retail internally."
At the shareholders' meeting in 2119, Zhang Xuansong responded to the shareholders and said, "It can't be said that getting an APP is a new retail, and in the end, we have to solve the technical problems."
On May 21th, at the 2121 shareholders' meeting, Zhang Xuansong announced that Yonghui would return to the origin of Minsheng Supermarket, further promote digital transformation, and strengthen its technology and supply chain capabilities.
without mentioning new retail, returning to the origin of Minsheng Supermarket and carrying out digital transformation will bring Yonghui a second chance of rebirth?
at the beginning of the new retail wave, in order to alleviate the offline dilemma, the entrants including Yonghui tried almost all new formats.
"At that time, there were a lot of new formats, but no one was sure which one would succeed, and many times they were very anxious." An executive of a fresh retail enterprise in Beijing told China Entrepreneur. Confusion and anxiety, chasing the wind, and trying to follow the trend without thinking clearly are the common feelings of many fresh food industry practitioners in the exploration of new retail.
2117 is also called "the first year of new retail". This year, Box rode on Ali, holding high the banner of "new retail" and entered the fresh food industry, followed by JD.COM, Meituan and Suning, and traditional retailers such as RT Mart, Carrefour and Wal-Mart also entered the market one after another, and the new retail field began to "fight with the gods". This year, Yonghui Yunchuang, a subsidiary of "Super Species", received a strategic investment of 4.6 billion yuan from Tencent. With the help of capital, all parties began to burn money to expand and open stores crazily.
catching up with new retail outlets has also brought a "halo" to Yonghui. In October 2118, Yonghui's share price once reached an all-time high of 11.83 yuan, and its market value exceeded 111 billion yuan.
However, the good times did not last long. In 2118, the situation changed, and Yonghui's decline gradually showed. According to Yonghui's financial report, in the first three quarters of 2118, Yonghui Yunchuang's business lost 617 million yuan. From 2116 to 2118, Yonghui Yunchuang lost nearly 1 billion yuan for three consecutive years.
it's not just yonghui. New retail formats such as Box Horse and Meituan Elephant Fresh have been involved in the tide of closing stores. Hou Yi, the founder of Box Horse, also claimed that he had to change from "running for his life" to "running for his life". It is a "diagnosis" for the new retail "farce" in the industry to open a store on a large scale without running through the format.
"When someone else does something new, I will reflect: Am I wrong? Not taking a new and fashionable road is like doing something wrong. " The above-mentioned executives said that during that time, they seemed to be held hostage by capital and tried many new formats with the wind. Looking back now, the business models of these new formats are not mature enough. But at that time, they were immersed in the business imagination of industrial upgrading woven by "new retail" and were convinced that new retail was the future of the industry.
At the same time, a large number of entrepreneurs, such as pre-warehouse mode, community group buying, fresh e-commerce, etc., also entered the market.
The competition faced by offline retailing is diversified and all-round. Because of these potential competitions, Yonghui has also laid out the pre-warehouse mode and made a group purchase in Yonghui community. However, the pre-warehouse mode belongs to the mode of large capital consumption, and it can be run through locally, so it is not so easy to go to the whole country.
"users are used to migrating online, but what mode is used for docking? I can pat my head and say that most online models are losing money now. " The above-mentioned executives said that in the past, new retail was burning money with capital and doing online business in a way that was out of normal operation.
this statement is not a lie. Take the recently listed fresh e-commerce platform with front warehouse mode as an example, the net loss of daily fresh food in 2121 will reach 1.649 billion yuan; The net loss of Ding Dong's grocery shopping in 2121 was 3.177 billion yuan, and the net loss in the first three months of this year increased to 1.385 billion yuan compared with 245 million yuan in the same period last year. Box Ma Xiansheng has been rumored by the outside world, and most stores are at a loss.
An entrepreneur of B2B fresh supply chain trading platform explained to China Entrepreneur: The solutions of many platforms are Internet plus traditional channels, but the upstream supply chain is still a first-class wholesaler and a second-class wholesaler. "This is equivalent to installing an aircraft engine in the retail industry, but the source industry such as wholesale is still a tractor, which is like an old cow pulling a broken car."
The entrepreneur believes that the traditional retail links are already perfect, and e-commerce will further reduce costs and sell at low prices on this basis, as well as service costs such as warehousing and logistics. He bluntly said: "If you don't solve the supply chain problem, you will just be a porter and you will always lose money."
It takes at least three to five years, or even more than ten years, to settle down and do a good job in the supply chain. "Many people don't have this mentality, and too many people are eager for quick success." The above entrepreneurs said.
the supply chain is a huge challenge for the online platform of fresh e-commerce that started from the internet. However, Yonghui has been deeply cultivating the supply chain for many years, which should have been its core competitiveness. However, due to the company's lack of Internet genes, the transformation line is now blocked, which is also a difficult topic for Yonghui.
all attempts to innovate business were initially carried out under the system of Yonghui Yunchuang.
yonghui yunchuang was established in 2115. its internal positioning is to provide innovative exploration and services, and it owns super species, yonghui life APP, yonghui mini and other businesses.
in the exploration of innovative business, Yonghui once had internal differences.
In June 2118, at the shareholders' meeting, Zhang Xuansong once said, "I have differences with CEO Zhang Xuanning about superspecies. He emphasizes catering, and I think the focus should be on home. "
in the first three quarters of 2118, Yonghui Yunchuang suffered a loss of 617 million yuan. At the end of 2118, Yonghui Yunchuang was separated from the main body of Yonghui's listing. For this "separation", an insider told China Entrepreneur that "listed companies need to consider profitability and give investors an explanation. The divestiture is due to operational considerations."
In the second half of 2119, Yonghui Supermarket launched Yonghui Shopping APP, which is very similar to Yonghui Life APP, and transformed into online business, which was regarded by the outside world as a serious disagreement between Zhang Xuansong and Zhang Xuanning. This "internal friction" lasted less than a year and ended.
In March, 2121, the interface reported that Yonghui Shopping APP was taken off the shelves at the end of that month, and the two apps would work together to develop home business. An Yonghui employee revealed in an interview with the interface that "the two platforms are operated by two groups of people, and there are certain internal frictions in activities such as publicity and promotion."
On July 31, 2121, Yonghui announced that Zhang Xuanning had transferred 21% equity of Yonghui Yunchuang to Yonghui Supermarket for 381 million yuan, and Yonghui Supermarket held 46.6% equity of Yonghui Yunchuang, becoming its largest shareholder again. For this transaction, Yonghui said that the resumption of Yonghui Yunchuang is based on the importance of Yonghui Life APP in the company's business. This transaction will enable the company to better integrate resources and improve the efficiency and service quality of online business.
According to the relevant person in charge of Yonghui, Yonghui Yunchuang, which has returned again, has now been integrated with Yonghui Supermarket. At present, the two teams are working in Yonghui Headquarters. "The management and assessment at the employee level are unified."
In addition, Yonghui is accelerating the integration of new formats that it tried in the past.
It is reported that the super species under Yonghui Yunchuang system opened 27 stores, 46 stores and 15 stores from 2117 to 2119. Yonghui mini opened its first store at the end of 2118, and it quickly increased to 511 stores in the first three quarters of 2119.
The epidemic is like the last straw to crush camels, which makes new retail models such as super species stand out as "acclimatized".
from 2119 to 2121, the number of Yonghui mini stores decreased from 573 to 156, and in 2121, Q1 further decreased by 86, leaving only 71. At the beginning of July this year, China Entrepreneur inquired about Yonghui Life APP again and found that only Fuzhou and Beijing each had a super species store, but none of the other cities found it.
In addition, after the epidemic, the changes in user habits and store demand directly promote the transformation of business model, especially the impact of community group buying. How to "break through" has become an important topic faced by traditional retail supermarkets.
the battlefield of retail has been constantly adjusting and changing, and the waves before it fall on the beach. Even if it is a community group purchase that has been in the limelight since 2121, some insiders said that with the intensification of industry competition and the return of capital to rationality, it is expected that there will be a wave of adjustment and reshuffle in the second half of this year.
On July 7th, the community group purchase unicorn Tongcheng Life declared bankruptcy, which was called "the first bankruptcy case of community group purchase".
On April 31th, Zhang Xuansong reflected on Yonghui's past innovation layout at the 2121 performance briefing. "Innovation is a very difficult thing, and it needs a group of core team elites with wisdom and practical ability to do it."
So, he hired Li Songfeng, who has 11 years of technical experience, as the CTO of Yonghui, and set up a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yonghui Technology in Beijing.
Before joining Yonghui, Li Songfeng worked in JD.COM for 11 years, and deeply participated in the transformation of mobile Internet in JD.COM, the construction of Taiwan, and the empowerment of technology. Joining Yonghui this time, Li Songfeng will lead the team to explore Yonghui's digital transformation.
The above-mentioned Yonghui people said that within Yonghui, from the chairman to the top management, they have reached a * * * understanding, and there is only one way to get out of the bottleneck of operation, users, efficiency and business, that is, digitalization. "Everything speaks with technology and numbers" is the core of Yonghui's reform.
can digital transformation solve yonghui's dilemma?
"When the technical team can set up the underlying data and computing platform, digitally transform every link of the operation and continuously optimize it, and integrate online and offline business and home-to-store business, the operating efficiency can be improved." The above-mentioned Yonghui people said.
Yonghui executives have given great respect and authorization to the grassroots for their investment in digital construction.
According to a developer of Yonghui, when I first came to Yonghui for five or six months, there were many urgent things that needed to be dealt with immediately. To this end, he led the team to start several closed development. For example, the management and development of supply chain, the development of data center and the revision of Yonghui APP. "We hope that in three months, the APP will be revised several times, requiring that there will be no big shortcomings at least compared with other Internet platforms."
With the listing of online fresh e-commerce platforms such as Daily Fresh, Dingdong Shopping and so on, with the help of capital, the competition of fresh track is more intense. If you want to rob users, time is particularly important.
similarly, talent recruitment and team building are accelerating. Beijing Yonghui Technology, which has just been established, quickly set up a team of 111 people from scratch within 111 days. In the entire science and technology center, including Yonghui Shanghai, a technical team of more than 1,111 people has been recruited and formed in just over half a year. Today, they are building the middle platform of Yonghui.
According to China Entrepreneur, the online and offline teams of Yonghui in the past, including the new business team, were separated from each other. Through the establishment of the central platform, the previous chimney should be overturned and replaced with a fusion system. Compared with Internet e-commerce, Yonghui's middle platform is more complicated. The middle platform to be built has at least seven or eight large modules, including partial trading, partial supply chain, partial logistics performance and other modules. The logistics is also divided into large central warehouses, normal temperature warehouses, fresh warehouses, terminal performance and delivery, and then the path planning for the last three kilometers.
At the 2121 performance briefing, Zhang Xuansong revealed that Yonghui's management team has been discussing the need for transformational management recently, and he specially emphasized that "it is change, not reform."
In order to meet the current business needs, Yonghui began to focus on building a flat organizational structure. The premise of all this is the exchange of information at the bottom, which requires team members to have consistent values and agree with what they are doing now.