Wal-Mart, with its pioneering business model of cash-and-carry warehousing chain members, has made many sales achievements soon after its opening. The name "Wal-Mart" was once famous in Beijing business circle, and it was also cloned by many retailers at that time. At this point, supermarkets named after Kelon emerge one after another, which is a retail scene in China.
Record sales and cash on delivery are just one of the highlights of Wal-Mart's entry into China. At that time, a series of commercial measures opened the eyes of China's retail industry and benefited a lot.
Wal-Mart does not blindly pursue cheap land rent like other businesses, but adopts the way of purchasing land use rights. Wal-Mart believes that although the one-time investment is large and seems to increase the cost, it is actually more beneficial to investors: after the one-time investment is completed, the annual land rent will be saved, which is a good test for all investors and saves future reinvestment. In addition, the focus of Wal-Mart's investment is basically large and medium-sized cities in developing countries, and its geographical location is very promising. If the land is leased, the amount of rent is almost negotiated every year. This will inevitably consume considerable manpower, material resources and financial resources, and it is unstable; And buying land investment only needs one negotiation, saving people and effort. The appreciation of land price in the future will increase fixed assets and reduce operating costs. "Even if Wal-Mart doesn't open a shop here in the future, it won't lose money only by land transfer." A marketer who knows how Wal-Mart operates said.
Wal-Mart is a membership-based warehouse mall. Before opening the business, arduous recruitment work is needed. However, Wal-Mart's loose membership system is still welcomed by individual consumers. "Our membership system is different from other membership systems. There is no need to pay for the card here. As long as you agree to accept Wal-Mart's business model, we will issue you a membership card. If you just come to the store temporarily, it only costs two yuan to apply for a temporary card. If you buy a certain number of times, you will become our target customer. " This loose membership system is obviously very different from Wal-Mart's membership system that requires comparing photos, confirming identity and paying fees.
Membership system has a strong psychological induction effect, which is easy to cater to the curiosity and freshness of ordinary citizens. Because only people with membership cards can shop, it also strengthens its image of "small profits but quick turnover" and will have a strong incentive for non-members. At the same time, the relaxation of the membership card also makes Wal-Mart attract a large number of individual consumers to join the membership.
However, Wal-Mart's advantages did not continue to shine. Under the background of China's entry into WTO, more and more international retail giants began to enter the China market on a large scale. At the same time, local retailers in China are also growing rapidly, and Wal-Mart customers are beginning to be diverted in the form of hypermarkets and shopping centers. Wal-Mart, which is engaged in wholesale business abroad, has gradually entered a four-year silence period because it has no legal status at home.
Be in a dormant state
Wal-Mart has never opened a new store in the four years since it opened in Beijing in 2000. Looking back on the four-year silence, Wal-Mart made no secret of its detour in China.
"Policy factors are of course one aspect, but China's strong wholesale market is the main reason." Yang Bobiao, then general manager of the Dutch side of Wal-Mart in China Federation of Industry and Commerce, said that Wal-Mart's business orientation in China was forced to take a detour due to the strong squeeze of the wholesale market. All Wal-Mart stores in the world are warehouse membership stores. The main customers of this format are not individual buyers, but professional customers such as small retailers, hotels, restaurants and government agencies. "Wal-Mart has no competitive advantage in the format of big supermarkets, which is determined by its own characteristics." However, in those four years, due to the influence of the traditional wholesale market, dealers and suppliers also seized the market, and Wal-Mart was forced to operate wholesale and retail, even retail-oriented, so that more than 70% of Wal-Mart's sales came from individual users, while the wholesale sales for professional customers only accounted for 20% ~ 30%. With the emergence of many supermarkets and hypermarkets at home and abroad, Wal-Mart's individual members are gradually decreasing. Coupled with the vicious competition in the wholesale market, Wal-Mart's sales began to decline from 1999. In addition, Wal-Mart has not opened a new store for four years because of the strategic mistakes of the company's top management in achieving development through performance growth. Wan Gang used to be the northern agent of a food company in Panyu, Guangdong. His main job is to put several jelly products under the company into major supermarkets in Beijing, and he has dealt with Wal-Mart for a long time. Wan Gang believes that the biggest feature of warehouse stores is to sell a lot of goods at a lower price, and this scale benefit is mainly achieved by increasing the number of stores. As a supplier, he hopes to increase the shipment of products. "If it has fewer and fewer single stores, it will not be attractive to suppliers because it has fewer stores." Wan Gang said. That is, in this year, Wal-Mart realized this problem and adjusted its customer base to group, small and medium-sized retailers and other unit members, and its declining performance once again showed an upward trend.
Guangdong's small-scale production and wholesale are highly prosperous, but they can't enter standardized supermarkets and need matching circulation channels, and Guangdong's developed bazaars and wholesale markets just meet this demand. The wholesale market is similar to the customers of the warehouse, but the irregular operation makes its operating cost lower, so the warehouse is caught between two sides: when it wants to take the individual route, it can't beat the fast-growing hypermarkets; When it wanted to return to the wholesale and group passenger routes, it was cut off by the developed wholesale market. What are we doing? Wal-Mart chose to leave this battlefield.
force
Wal-Mart has been allowed to set up 30 branches nationwide after shortening the northern line, and this task should be completed before 20 10.
In 2004, Wal-Mart began to exert its strength. In that year, it opened 1 branch stores in Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Shenyang, with sales of 1 100 million yuan. Its goal is directed at professional wholesalers, which will challenge the traditional domestic wholesale market. For Wal-Mart, which has got the wholesale business license now, there is no identity problem.
"Wal-Mart should start with fresh food and attack the wholesale market where business is booming." Yang Xiaohong said. Her basis is that many wholesale markets are being rectified by China officials because of counterfeiting, tax evasion and so on; On the other hand, more importantly, the catering industry has been one of the fastest growing industries in many fields in China, with an annual growth rate of about 20%. Today, people have begun to pay more and more attention to the food safety of three meals a day. Wal-Mart hopes to make thousands of restaurants and government canteens in Qian Qian its most loyal customers.
Of course, expanding food wholesale is only a starting point for Wal-Mart's transformation. At the same time, they will continuously improve service efficiency through operation management and information technology, and cultivate and expand a stable and loyal professional customer base. Wal-Mart's two stores in Beijing are transforming from end users to large customers, and strive to achieve 70% to 80% sales of group customers as soon as possible.
There is a clipboard at the door of Wal-Mart, which reads the morning market price of various vegetables and Wal-Mart's pricing every day. The price is clear at a glance. In contrast, Wal-Mart's pricing is nearly 20% cheaper than the morning market. This low price stems from Wal-Mart's strong purchasing ability. Wan Gang, who has dealt with Wal-Mart, said: "Wal-Mart earns less money from customers and more money from suppliers. But there is no way, suppliers also need a lot of shipments to ensure cash on hand. " "High sales volume, low gross profit and low cost" is the core of Wal-Mart's business model.
With a stable supplier, how can Wal-Mart attract small and medium-sized retailers to become its loyal customers? A Wal-Mart executive said that Wal-Mart will not pose a threat to small and medium-sized retailers, but will strengthen their training and provide solutions to help them survive and develop. They and Wal-Mart are complementary partners in business, and achieving a win-win situation is the purpose of Wal-Mart.
Some experts believe that Wal-Mart will play a positive role in changing the existing operating mechanism of the wholesale industry after obtaining the wholesale business license. However, for a long time, China's traditional wholesale market will still attract tourists by flexible price advantages, rebates and other opaque means, and will also have strong vitality. Wal-Mart, a warehouse mall, will only coexist with the wholesale market for a long time.
Other experts are very concerned about the phenomenon that foreign enterprises accelerate the deployment of large supermarket chains. Foreign businessmen ask China to open its distribution, not only to gain circulation profits, but also to be able to sell the goods produced by domestic companies, so that foreign goods can enter the big market of China more smoothly.
The spring of Wal-Mart has come, does it also mean that the winter of some local enterprises in China has come?