After all, the stall has ushered in a new spring, right?
Author/Li Youhuan ID/ Ling Shouke
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In addition to fresh food, convenience stores should be regarded as the most controversial topic in the retail format.
This format is not lonely at all these days. The store here has always been taken over by good neighbors, and the convenience bees there have announced that the store in Beijing is profitable.
In Hefei, Anhui, which is 0/000km away from Beijing/Kloc-0, neighbors who started three years ago also completed the layout of 400 convenience stores, and 40 new ones were opened in May alone.
In the "Top 100 Chain Stores in China in 20 19" just released, Meiyijia ranked 33rd with 22.62 billion yuan, with the number of stores 19236 (on May 6th, Meiyijia announced on the official micro signal that the number of stores in China exceeded 20,000), which truly made the store a bigger chain.
Another convenience store is even more fierce. Sinopec Yi Jie ranks ninth among the top 100 chain stores with annual sales of 70 billion and 27,600 stores. This should be the first time that convenience store companies have squeezed into the top 10 of this list.
Convenient Bee, which was also born just over three years ago, publicly announced that more than 500 stores in Beijing had achieved overall profit, and some media reported that it had completed the C round of financing of more than 1 100 million yuan. This news makes many people feel that convenience stores, which have already fallen from gold mines to stone mines and have been gradually weakened by capital and industry, seem to be "turning stone into gold" again.
Even the supermarket format, which has been growing wildly during the epidemic, is facing a decline in performance, but convenience stores are rising against the market, which is somewhat unexpected-convenience stores are welcoming spring again?
After all, the stall has ushered in a new spring, right?
The reality may not be so beautiful.
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According to the data of 20 19 top 100 chain stores, the sales growth rate of convenience stores is also the highest among all formats, which is 16.5%, much higher than that of specialty stores, supermarkets and department stores.
It is really not easy to maintain the growth of this figure, which also shows to some extent;
(1) This format is still rising;
(2) There are many enterprises in this field, hoping to find gold.
In other words, the department store really leaked rain all night. Originally, it increased slightly and suffered an epidemic. It can only be described in one word: miserable. And the future may be worse.
Being born at the wrong time is the most beautiful mistake.
In 20 19, the number of stores in convenience stores was also very high, accounting for 7.8%, while supermarkets, department stores and specialty stores were 7.7%, 2.4% and1.5% respectively-of course, this figure is not something to be proud of because of its small scale.
But in fact, not all convenience store enterprises have the scale and bright sales data of Yi Jie and Meiyijia (although Yi Jie sells 70 billion yuan, it is still unknown whether it is profitable).
As far as the whole industry is concerned, due to the epidemic situation in COVID-19 in 2020, the sales of convenience store enterprises in the first quarter should be bleak. Even if the whole country is in full swing, the performance is estimated to have only recovered by about 80%.
Fortunately, a dozen full-time convenience stores have reopened under the takeover of good neighbors. It is expected that most shops will resume business in the first half of this month.
"Spirit Beast" understands that although the brand has not been changed for the time being, this reopening is not a simple opening marketing, but a comprehensive adjustment of the system, commodity allocation, logistics and distribution, store operation, including management system and organization. According to a person familiar with the matter, some stores in Beijing with a serious mismatch between rent and income will be closed, and this number may be in the dozens.
The latest news is that good neighbors and full-time controlling party Shanhai Blueprint are also communicating on equity, operation and other aspects, and do not rule out any future cooperation mode, but at present, the two sides have not reached a specific agreement on equity acquisition.
However, in the full-time store in Chengdu, Zhang Li, chairman of Fu Jian Convenience, has made it clear that all cards will be turned over in the future.
Out of water, people go, heaven and earth. The spring you see may be someone else's winter.
There is a good saying: there are always some people who sing very sadly.
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It's like hitting a stone with water, and instead of waves, it will ripple.
However, this analysis is obviously nonsense.
In addition, there are many mysteries about profit. For example, there are so many convenience store brands in Beijing market, whether it is franchise or direct mode. If the profit from several single stores exceeds 7- 1 1, who can't have several?
All the successful convenience store giants in the world have achieved rapid development and formed market competitiveness through joining mode. The management and control of the direct mode is relatively simple, and the requirements for management and operation of the franchise mode will only be higher, not lower, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to who is more suitable for the two modes. Mainly depends on the enterprise's own strength, market environment, regional consumption habits and so on. Without these, it is meaningless to talk about strategy and model.
Take the convenience bee as an example. Its profitability does not mean that all convenience stores can follow its example. Only investing in this, 99% of convenience store enterprises can't do it-convenience bees have raised more than 65.438+0.5 billion US dollars, and huge expenses have been invested in the front and back office. It claims to be algorithm-driven, so the way of focusing on asset operation is not suitable for the development path of most enterprises.
The person in charge of a convenience store company told the spirit beast that the convenience bee was fierce. First, it takes the store at a high price; Second, several stores can be opened adjacent to each other on the same street, and even several stores can be opened at the same time in an office building.
There are three convenient bees in jiayue Square, where the office of Spirit Beast is located. Prior to this, there were many convenience stores, such as full-time convenience stores and merchants benefiting the people. Now there is only a convenience store in Wu Mei that has just opened, and one of the convenience bees is fighting alone with a distance of 30 cm. Sometimes when I see that there are more clerks than customers in convenience stores in Wu Mei, I can't help but flash a trace of regret: Why?
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There is a view in the industry that convenience stores in Beijing are half-day (lifestyle), half-year (climate) and half-street (traffic) businesses. In fact, most convenience stores in the north are basically facing such embarrassment.
Therefore, some people think that if we know that we can only open half a street, why can't we open another one across the street?
Theoretically, this statement is correct.
But the problem is, if rent, passenger flow, manpower, expenses, etc. It's all a comprehensive calculation, I'm afraid it won't be so optimistic-business in half a street is extreme, and convenience stores can't fly happily.
Therefore, if you dare to do so, you must first have bold capital.
For example, an enterprise driven by capital and algorithm (technology) like convenience bee is not so urgent and important in the short term, is it?
In other words, it can open three stores within 100 meters, but can you?
In the eyes of an industry insider, the convenience bee really did a good job. As soon as its store opened, the diversion to other convenience stores was still obvious. "If 3,000 Japanese businessmen are diverted, the corresponding monthly gross profit is 30,000." He believes that the strategy of convenience bees is to close an area and set up shops intensively, so that opponents can't help but leave at all costs, and then find ways to optimize the layout of outlets and harvest the market.
All this needs one word: money. Besides, it costs a lot of money.
If you pull the camera back to Beijing, is the convenience store gap in this market really serious? Think carefully, which business district and office building are not lined with many convenience stores?
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According to Ye Tao, the general manager of Good Neighbor, there will be more markets for convenience stores that can really serve the community in the future, such as the green label store of Good Neighbor. Now everyone is vying for commercial convenience stores and fast food restaurants. The competitive pressure is too high and the cost is too high, which is not the best business choice.
"Many people don't understand that the success of 7- 1 1 depends not on the convenience store in Roppongi, Ginza, but on more than 20,000 convenience stores in communities, towns and even villages." He said.
A tiger has a tiger path, and a snake has a snake path. There are more than 20,000 convenience stores in the United States, not by direct sales; Many regional convenience store enterprises live well in the local area, not necessarily by joining. There are both full-time franchisees and direct sales. The scenery is infinite when it expands, and it is also a chicken feather when it declines.
Therefore, only you know whether you live well or not, and your feet have the most say. Enterprises should not be misled. There is no shortcut to retailing, which requires long-term accumulation and enough patience. The same is true for a company or a model.
It should also be reminded that convenience stores are a form of consumption upgrading. Only when the economy continues to grow and consumption continues to upgrade will this format have the greatest market prospect.
Without these, the future of convenience store format will only be how to ensure survival. The community convenience store mentioned by Ye Tao may be more suitable for the future strategy of most convenience store enterprises.
Ye Tao thinks convenience stores are not impossible. From the perspective of future development, convenience store is the most economical urban service format, and there is no one. "But we can't follow Japan today to imitate ours. It is not an industry that can blow bubbles quickly. "
It is also worthy of attention. It is hard to imagine that the stall economy, which started overnight, can bring greater performance increment to the convenience store format.
Haven't you noticed that for a long time to come, stalls will be close to customers and become a headache competitor around convenience stores?
Extended reading
The above are some views of Lingwu on convenience stores two years ago. If you have read it, you might as well read it again.
Although the fragrance is charming, the trap is also fatal.
Convenience stores certainly have a market, any format has a market, and any format has profitable enterprises. Regret is regret, but not you.
Its market space is large enough. However, although the fragrance is charming, the trap is also fatal.
But you must be sober, not all cities are suitable for the large-scale development of convenience stores. China is so big, there is room for the development of convenience stores, and there are also cities suitable for the development of convenience stores. Certainly not all cities are suitable. Moreover, the prospect of convenience stores, in the environment of continuous innovation and iteration of other commercial formats, the market prospect is more and more confusing.
So, don't be fooled by appearances. Let's just take a look at how big the pit is in the convenience store.
1) The competitors are not peers.
Many people think that the biggest competitors of convenience stores are other convenience store brands, such as 7- 1 1 to Rosen and his family, and Barosen in Wuhan to this day. Yes, this is an opponent.
Below our office building, there are four or five convenience stores such as Good Neighbor, Full-time, Convenience Bee and Merchants Huimin within 50 meters of Fiona Fang, and there are unmanned convenience stores downstairs. Faced with such cruel competition, I want to know how they survive.
But it's nothing. Because it also ignores a bigger competitor, the mom-and-pop shop, there are nearly 6 million such small shops in China. Convenience stores compete with their peers' brands, and these mom-and-pop stores are also one of the biggest competitors of convenience stores.
Besides, you must standardize. Share, random, affectionate, acquaintance economy. It is a completely different way of playing, not even in the same competitive dimension and fair market environment.
In other words, as soon as the convenience store opened, it was plunged into a people's war in Wang Yang.
So, at least you have to think clearly, how can we win a people's war?
2) High rent and high labor cost.
The characteristics of convenience stores determine that the area is not large, but the location must be good. This means that the rent must not be low-if it is in a first-tier city, the rent and labor costs alone are enough to make a convenience store with average performance busy every day. This, I believe convenience store companies are more clear: the baby is bitter, and the baby does not say it.
According to the China Convenience Store Report (20 18) issued by China Chain Store & Franchise Association, the operating costs of the convenience store industry have risen rapidly in the past year, including rent cost 18%, water and electricity cost 12%.
Well, second-and third-tier cities, better shops, the cost will not be much lower, right? Do you really think you can sell it every day as soon as you open it 123000?
The truth is that among the nearly 65,438+10,000 convenience stores in China, it is the most common one that sells for one or two thousand yuan a day-to be honest, I am embarrassed to find that many companies are boasting about B.
3) Take-away platform grabs orders.
According to the report of Prospective Industry Research Institute, in 20 17 years, the proportion of convenience stores with food sales below 10% in China market dropped to 4 1%. At the same time, the proportion of convenience stores with food sales 10 ~ 20% and 20 ~ 40% increased to 24% and 20% respectively, that is, food sales increased.
However, compared with most convenience stores in Japanese market, the proportion of fresh and semi-finished products is 30% ~ 40%, and the proportion of ready-to-eat food sales in China market is not enough.
Not enough? It's impossible.
One of the core commodities and main profit sources of convenience stores is Chinese food. But this is not the case in most markets in China or in most parts of a city.
The reason is that China has the most developed catering industry in the world, which permeates almost every street, every alley, every community and even every downstairs. People in China are not short of places to solve fast food, and convenience stores in Otawa are equally experienced.
More importantly, China also has the most developed takeaway platforms in the world, such as Meituan and Hungry, which are highly developed and ubiquitous. Although they brought some orders to the online business of convenience stores, they also took away many businesses that should have been done by convenience stores, such as Chinese food.
Ok, convenience store company, how do you win the war between Wang Yang and the takeaway platform?
4) Hard night consumption
A large part of the income of convenience stores comes from night consumption, that is, from 23: 00 to 7: 00 in the evening, and there is a data that accounts for about 30%.
But for most markets in China, especially the northern market, this is a false demand-except for southern cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Changsha and Wuhan, Shanghai in East China is not bad.
Most convenience stores in China account for about 10%, right?
Excuse me, how should convenience store enterprises make up for this impossible performance?
5) I don't understand Chinese direct selling.
Judging from the development path of the international convenience store industry, especially in Japan, whether it is 7- 1 1, the whole family or Rosen, they have finally embarked on the road of profit, relying on joining.
This is the last thing we can understand, because in China, most convenience store enterprises operate directly without hesitation-of course, I understand that it is because of the lack of supply chain capacity, headquarters management and operation capacity, but can the lack make direct profit possible?
Why do you think you can work miracles through direct selling?
6) Stop studying 7- 1 1, you are irregular.
Why is the granddaddy of convenience store 7- 1 1 also a pit?
You can't learn 1, 7- 1 1, and there is no law, because this is a systematic project. Learning a little fur will only be counterproductive, and you can't climb up if you fall into a deep pit. At present, no convenience store enterprise in China market can survive by counting with fingers. They are not learning 7- 1 1, but living in constant adjustment and change according to their own business circle.
This is the most important thing. 7- 1 1 is not suitable for most domestic markets. 7- 1 1 How many years have you been in Beijing? How many shops are there now? Is there no pressure to learn 7- 1 1?
7- 1 1 is the authorization of enterprises in Taiwan Province Province, China in South China and East China. How many stores have become an indispensable pole for retail enterprises in China? You haven't felt it for so many years?
In addition, so many community fresh food formats and specialty stores are eating into the performance of convenience stores, as well as the looting of the three-kilometer living circle carefully constructed by new retail enterprises, and. . . Stop talking.