The concept of fresh-keeping operation entered China with foreign-funded commercial enterprises in 1996. At the initial stage of its gradual introduction, all kinds of supermarkets followed suit and became all the rage. Once it was launched, there were many problems: the overall image and effect of fresh-keeping operation were not satisfactory, and it could not meet the expectations of customers; Or the input-output ratio is very different, making ends meet; Or the loss of fresh goods is large, and management and control are difficult. In short, many enterprises find it difficult to do it. Through further investigation of these phenomena, we can see that there are some basic management problems with * * * in the operation and management of fresh food areas in some enterprises. These problems not only restrict the development of fresh food management, but also reflect the overall management level of enterprises from one side.
first, objectively understand the position of fresh food area in large supermarkets
domestic large supermarkets compete for fresh food management, with different starting points and methods, but few can maintain their original intentions. One of the important reasons is the lack of an objective and clear understanding of the status of fresh food areas in large supermarkets before making decisions.
The exploration in practice in the past four years has brought about an improvement in understanding. First of all, fresh-keeping operation is an indispensable part of the functional allocation of modern large supermarkets. It is no doubt that the maturity of supermarket format development can be reflected through the operation of fresh-keeping area and its effect.
Secondly, engaged in fresh food business in China, because there are many kinds of fresh food products, involving supply, production, sales and other links, loss is easy to occur, and the corresponding management is more complicated, so that the fresh food area has become one of the most demanding management items in supermarket management. Do a good job to achieve the purpose of collecting customers and making profits; If you don't do it well, it will easily become a loss-making item in the supermarket, and it is more difficult to expect customers to patronize frequently. At the same time, we should also see that the initial investment in fresh food management is large, so we should be cautious and do what we can before making the last decision, so as not to be greedy for the big picture, so that we can't lose the tail.
Thirdly, fresh food management is still in the introduction stage in China's retail industry, and there is still a gradual process of gradually exploring and accumulating experience in the business items, categories, scale and methods of fresh food areas. Fresh-keeping enterprises should have a full evaluation and psychological preparation for the difficulty of fresh-keeping management, and should not easily change course because of temporary difficulties. The return of fresh food management is based on good management. As long as the management is persistently strengthened and refined, the corresponding return can be expected.
for fresh food operators, fully and objectively understanding the position of fresh food area in large supermarkets is the basic starting point of high-level management.
second, grasp several basic principles of scale positioning
how to grasp and use the enterprise's own resources, choose appropriate ways to reflect the scale of operation, and then arrange the scale positioning of fresh operation reasonably is also an important pre-planning work for fresh operation.
1. Economies of large-scale operation and investment scale
Generally speaking, the operation scale of fresh food area can be reflected from several aspects, such as the quantity of goods, operating area, equipment input and processing capacity, and finally the expectation of large-scale sales can be achieved through the effective combination and operation of many aspects. In some large supermarkets, the equipment investment in the fresh area accounts for about one-third of the total investment, which is very important. There is no doubt that fresh-keeping operation needs scale operation, but the scale of investment is not the only form of scale operation, and all the elements of scale operation can be combined with emphasis. Therefore, while striving for scale operation, special attention should be paid to the economic rationality of investment scale.
2. Ordering of factors for scale positioning
When considering the scale positioning of fresh food areas, the common decision-making method is to first define the location and area of fresh food areas in large supermarkets, then plan and configure relevant equipment according to the financial strength, then subdivide the business areas, determine the categories and commodity structure of operations, and fill the display spaces with various commodities. According to this logical thinking, it is easy to get out of touch between the positioning of business scale and the structure of fresh goods, so that some equipment is vacant and the rest is beyond the use load. Improper arrangement of equipment investment will inevitably lead to waste.
To choose the business model, items and methods of fresh-keeping area, we should determine the direction and commodity structure of fresh-keeping operation based on the local consumption environment; Once the positioning of business projects and methods is clear, the investment amount and equipment configuration can be determined accordingly, and the framework of the project is basically formed; Finally, the layout of processing area and sales area and other work details are arranged. Therefore, the correct order of scale positioning elements should be: first, design the fresh products and commodity structure, and consider reserving them according to the future business development; Secondly, according to the financial strength, the equipment of various specifications and grades is reasonably selected; Finally determine the scale of fresh operation. According to this design procedure, the accuracy of investment application can be improved.
to realize this decision-making process depends on the accumulation of experience in chain operation of fresh food areas and the presence of experienced fresh food area planners and designers, otherwise, it will encounter great difficulties in selecting fresh food categories and commodity structures.
3. Conventional calculation parameters of fresh food area scale
The format of supermarket directly affects the operation scale of fresh food area and the proportion of its elements (function, area, equipment, personnel and investment, etc.). The following are some general analysis parameters related to the area scale of fresh food area for reference:
supermarket type, operating area, area proportion of fresh food area
food supermarket 1111-1511 square meters, 31%-41%
large supermarket 3111-5111 square meters, about 25%
super supermarket 8111 square meters. The above 21% or so
There are two points to explain: First, the business area of fresh food area is the sum of the areas including fresh food processing area and sales area; Second, the upper limit of the fresh food area of super-large supermarkets generally reaches about 2,511-3,111 square meters. Due to the limitation of the number of fresh food items and commodity structure, the fresh food business area does not increase with the increase of the overall business area of supermarkets.
Third, the system and organizational guarantee of fresh food management: management standards and management system
The foothold of the survival and development of supermarket fresh food area is that it is fundamentally different from the traditional meat market: first, the quality improvement of the shopping environment in the fresh food area, such as clean and tidy stores, constant air conditioning and good service; Second, it integrates the requirements of supermarket operation on the management of fresh food area, including product quality assurance, no out-of-stock phenomenon, clear price tag and so on. It is impossible to achieve the expected business objectives in fresh areas that cannot fully reflect these fundamental differences; To achieve and maintain a high level of fresh food management, we must take high-level management standards and management systems as the basic guarantee.
1. Management standard of fresh food area
Management standard of fresh food area refers to the basic state that each work should achieve and maintain, or a certain level of completion of this work. The general operation of fresh-keeping areas involves three main work links: raw material supply and storage, production and processing, and display and sales, so the management standards are correspondingly decomposed into raw material supply and storage standards (basic stock standards, storage conditions standards, storage and use standards, etc.), production standards (production standards, product quality standards, production hygiene standards, etc.) and commodity sales standards (display standards, quality control standards, expiration date management standards, service standards, etc.).
establishing and adhering to management standards is related to the corporate image, and it also affects whether the fresh food area of the supermarket can be finally done. It should be emphasized that the most important thing in the above standard series is the quality standard of fresh products, and there are many common misunderstandings in this point: in order to reduce the loss, the supermarket fresh-keeping area repackages expired goods and labels them with new production dates and then continues to sell them; Do not indicate the product production time or expiration date; The display and preservation conditions of fresh products can not meet the requirements of the specification; Expired goods are not removed from the shelves in time; The display of goods is not timely, which affects the display effect and so on. These bad phenomena directly lead to the decline of the credibility of fresh goods to customers, the frequency of customers' patronage will also drop significantly, and the business situation will gradually fall into a vicious circle of "defective products-recession-more defective products-more recession". It can be seen that the fundamental way to control the loss lies in improving the management level, and should not reduce the quality of fresh products, otherwise it is tantamount to "drinking doves to quench thirst."
2. Management system
The achievement of management standards and management effects of supermarket fresh-keeping areas depends on a clear, efficient and standardized management system for fresh-keeping areas. This management system is composed of a series of work routine, work flow, post responsibility system and work supervision mechanism. Its ultimate goal is to make every employee know when and how to do it, what is the standard for completing the work, and how big is the scope of his own work responsibility? It is the organizational guarantee for the management of fresh food area to reach the standard and enter an orderly state.
the establishment of such a high-level management system depends on a group of pragmatic managers who go deep into the management details. It can be continuously improved and systematized after repeated revisions, training, inspection and guidance. This is a long-term and arduous work process, and it is also the place to test the management skills of enterprises.
iv. vitality of fresh-keeping operation: diversification and innovative operation
People's dietary consumption is varied and constantly changing, and the main commodities and operation methods of fresh-keeping operation should be brought forth through innovation in response to consumption replacement, so the vitality of fresh-keeping operation comes from continuous innovation, and new marketable commodities are introduced in time and place to maintain and guide people's attraction to fresh-keeping consumption, and finally achieve the purpose of gathering customers and making profits. Commodities without individuality and freshness can only be foil or auxiliary commodities.
every commodity has its own life cycle. On the basis of determining the main fresh commodities and characteristic commodities, we should master the sales rules and seasonal changes, pay special attention to the launch, promotion, maintenance and update of the main commodities, and extend their sales life cycle as much as possible, so as to produce the greatest sales performance in this cycle.
At present, both foreign and domestic commercial enterprises are also facing the problem of insufficient development of fresh products. The sales of the original main commodities are gradually declining, the main commodity groups are aging, the characteristic commodities are lacking, and the development of marketable new commodities is lagging behind. The contradiction is particularly prominent in the off-season of sales, which is a great challenge for the overall fresh operation.
The main reasons for the difficulty in innovation and renewal of fresh products are: enterprises have failed to effectively form their own product development and planning guidance capabilities; Most fresh commodity suppliers are weak in strength and have limited development foundation and ability; The effective communication and cooperation between enterprises and suppliers in product development is not enough. In order to reverse the weak development of fresh products, fresh-keeping enterprises should focus on the following tasks:
1. Cultivate the core competence of product development. Fresh food enterprises, especially chain enterprises, should make great efforts to form their own product development capabilities, which not only refer to their own product development capabilities, but also include the ability to plan and guide the development of fresh products, so as to guide suppliers to speed up the variety update, and the most important thing is the cultivation and relative stability of the main talents.
2. Good learning ability. Fresh-keeping management requires managers to constantly track and study residents' consumption habits and their changes, constantly go out and learn from the experience of other regions and competitors, capture and learn useful things, learn from each other's strengths and optimize their product structure. Good thinking and learning ability is indispensable to improve the competitiveness and sustainable development of fresh food area management.
3. Improve the ability of sales planning. There are many traditional festivals in various parts of China, so product development should grasp the laws and characteristics of seasonal sales of fresh goods, make annual plans, move season by season, respond to the situation and strive for maximum benefits.
V. Fresh-keeping Operation Mode: Winning by the Optimal Combination of Self-management and Leasing Operation
In the initial stage of fresh-keeping operation planning, domestic enterprises mostly chose leasing operation mode for the consideration of capital investment, managers and management experience; However, the enterprises that choose self-management mode are forced by management difficulties and poor management results, and often turn to partition and classified leasing operation. Although it has been repeated several times, it still feels unsatisfactory. It can be seen that in the choice of the main body and mode of fresh-keeping operation, the question of which is better or worse, self-operated or leased operation, is quite universal.
the first thing to see about the optimization of business entities and modes is that no matter which mode of operation fresh-keeping enterprises choose, they cannot do without the basic condition of management ability. Under the condition that the management standard cannot be established and the management system cannot be established, it is impossible for any kind of management mode to achieve satisfactory performance and effect.
Secondly, judging from the relatively successful fresh food leasing operation of some large supermarkets, they generally have a period of self-management experience and accumulated supplier resources, and their leasing operation only accounts for a certain proportion of the fresh food area. Therefore, in the choice of operation mode, we should give priority to self-operation at the beginning, and then consider the combination of self-operation and leasing after we have a certain management foundation and coordination ability, so as to gradually expand the benefits of leasing operation and the utilization of supplier resources.
thirdly, in the lease operation, we should pay attention to supporting and giving full play to the role of suppliers, strengthen interaction and cooperation, create a good external environment for fresh food operation, and seek common development in the key sales peak period. In this regard, there are several issues that need to be well considered:
★ How to coordinate the combination of self-made products and suppliers' products in terms of categories and varieties, so as to achieve the purpose of improving gross profit and enriching fresh goods?
★ Does the supermarket have the ability to independently develop products and guide and promote suppliers to launch new products?
★ Can the supermarket increase the proportion of semi-finished products, so that the processing links can be effectively moved out, so as to reduce the processing area, equipment investment and product production cycle in the fresh food area of the supermarket?
★ In the peak sales season, can some processing links be transferred to neighboring suppliers to improve the effective supply of goods?
The choice of mode involves the coordination between fresh-keeping enterprises and suppliers and the optimal combination of resources. Studying and solving the above related problems will help to achieve the "three benefits" for supermarket fresh-keeping areas, contractors and suppliers.
The above five basic management issues of fresh-keeping operation are interrelated, especially the management standards and management system, which have become the most basic issues affecting fresh-keeping operation at present, and are also the difficulties for fresh-keeping operation and the overall level of supermarket enterprises. Solving these problems is very important for fresh food management and even the future development and maturity of supermarkets.