In addition to its distinctive Chinese style, Modern China Tea Shop is quite different from the "online celebrity" brand in many aspects. "Customer-oriented" is perhaps Modern China Tea Shop's biggest secret.

China Entrepreneur reporter Li Xiuzhi

Editor Mina

Image source Respondent

Editor's note

The rise of national tide is the most distinctive feature of new consumption in recent years. A number of old brands have regained their vitality with the help of the national tide, and a number of new brands have injected fresh elements into the national tide with the internet. No matter whether they are old or new, the national tide has become a common practice.

Behind this is the growth of new consumer groups, represented by young people born after 1991s and 11s. They are no longer simply superstitious about international brands, but have a high degree of confidence in national culture, which makes the goods return to the essence and makes the national tide become fashionable.

Behind this is the growth of a new generation of entrepreneurs under the tide of Internet and digitalization. They have the patience and resilience to deepen the segmentation field, and are good at redefining the consumption scene and transforming the traditional manufacturing industry with Internet thinking and digital tools, while at the same time maximizing the aesthetics and experience of products.

behind this is the tide of consumption upgrading and industrial upgrading. From the demand for food and clothing in the era of shortage economy to the pursuit of quality, personalization and fashion consumption, the upgrading of consumer demand will promote the real upgrading of the industry. The national tide is only an important element to incite this industrial upgrading.

China Entrepreneur launched the column "New Consumption under the National Tide", which deeply analyzed the growth cases of new consumer enterprises, summarized the business logic of new consumer brands, and observed the growth soil of new consumer culture. I hope these vivid and vigorous brand stories can give readers different enlightenment.

Modern China Tea Shop got angry again.

On July 4th, the topic of cross-city purchasing of Modern China Tea Shop high-speed rail rushed to Weibo hot search. The reason is that more and more people place orders through the take-away platform, hire purchasers to take the high-speed train and go to Changsha from Hangzhou and other places to buy Modern China Tea Shop's milk tea.

The reason why daigou's milk tea was sold to a cup in 611 yuan gave birth to a crazy daigou market is also related to Modern China Tea Shop's perennial seclusion. As a well-known online celebrity brand in China, Modern China Tea Shop has been rooted in Changsha. It was seven years after its establishment that it began to expand to Zhang Zhilu in 2121 and opened its stores in Changde and Wuhan. In April this year, the first day of Modern China Tea Shop's opening in Shenzhen's pop-up shop, 31,111 people lined up.

On the evening of July 4th, Modern China Tea Shop official Weibo said that he did not support any purchasing behavior. When the store receives a large order, it will verify the reason for the purchase. If it is confirmed to be a purchasing behavior, it will refuse to take the order.

as a representative of new tea, Modern China Tea Shop, which focuses on Chinese style, not only has a completely different store style from modern fresh hi tea and Naixue tea, but also has a more cautious pace of expansion. By February 31th, 2121, Xicha had opened 695 stores in 61 cities around the world. Naixue Tea has opened nearly 511 stores in 71 cities across the country, but Modern China Tea Shop has only opened stores in the above four places so far.

"We don't know when we will open stores in other cities. A vague feeling is that in the last year or two, our focus has been to lay a solid foundation for cities with existing stores. First of all, at least the service quality of stores in Changde and Wuhan can't be worse than that in Changsha. Secondly, our talents and supply chain system must also keep up, so as to achieve a larger expansion. " On June 3rd, Sun Cuiying, the founder of Modern China Tea Shop, said in an exclusive interview with China Entrepreneur at the headquarters in Modern China Tea Shop.

In recent years, Modern China Tea Shop is a frequent visitor to hot search. As early as April this year, Modern China Tea Shop went to Weibo for hot search because of a lawsuit.

On the morning of April 26th, the Tianxin District People's Court of Changsha announced the first-instance judgment of Modern China Tea Shop's lawsuit against Chayan Guanse's unfair competition infringement case: Chayan Guanse lost the case, and it was necessary to stop the unfair competition behaviors such as advertising, investment promotion and false publicity with the same or similar decoration as Modern China Tea Shop, and compensate Modern China Tea Shop for 1.7 million yuan.

After learning this news for the first time, Sun Cuiying excitedly posted a message in the circle of friends: "It's so exciting!"!

after the first-instance judgment was issued, it immediately rushed to Weibo for hot search. In Modern China Tea Shop, in order to celebrate this crucial victory, Sun Cuiying and her husband Lv Liang (another founder of Modern China Tea Shop) decided to invite all employees of the company to have a cup of tea with milk tea.

it was only promoted in 2117, and the brand Chayan Guanse, which netizens called a pixel-level copy of Modern China Tea Shop, sued Modern China Tea Shop for trademark infringement in April 2121, and was later rejected by the court. In August, 2121, Modern China Tea Shop counterclaimed that she was too fond of tea because of unfair competition infringement.

Modern China Tea Shop was born in Changsha in 2113. After becoming popular among consumers, Modern China Tea Shop was imitated by many tea companies. For example, in addition to observing the color of tea, Cha Li Yi Shi and Shi San Tea have also been dubbed by netizens as the Guangzhou version and the Nanjing version of Modern China Tea Shop. Even in South Korea, Modern China Tea Shop was registered as a trademark first.

"whether it's a brand with high similarity or a cottage store, we're not serious. Maybe others can learn from Modern China Tea Shop's face and learn the formula, but can they insist on quality and service at the same price? Modern China Tea Shop's core is quality and service, and we still have confidence in it. However, the behavior of watching the color of tea is too bad, and we have to fight back first. " Sun Cuiying said.

judging from the whole new tea track, the competition faced by Modern China Tea Shop should not be underestimated. Naixue's tea was successfully listed in Hong Kong on June 31, 2121, and Mixue Ice City completed the first round of financing in October 2121, with a valuation of more than 21 billion yuan. In addition, Xicha, Shanghai Auntie, 7-point Sweet and Lele Tea have all completed several rounds of financing in recent years.

When all the peers are sharpening their swords and racing around, can Modern China Tea Shop still be safe? After becoming online celebrity, can Modern China Tea Shop continue to grow red?

On February 1, 2121, the first store in Wuhan, Modern China Tea Shop officially opened in Wuhan Xintiandi Plaza. In addition to local employees in Wuhan, Modern China Tea Shop also arranged for more than 61 people to go to Wuhan from Changsha one day in advance. But what the management team didn't expect was that there were still so many customers that they were overwhelmed.

Zhai Minhui, the head of Modern China Tea Shop brand, recalled to China Entrepreneur that the wuhan heaven and earth store in Modern China Tea Shop normally opened at 9 am. At 8 o'clock, when the store staff came to work, they found that there was a "long queue" of tens of meters at the door. In order to relieve the pressure on the store, the management team immediately decided to open at 8: 31 in advance.

Even so, at 11 o'clock, customers who came to buy tea lined up for hundreds of meters, and the waiting time displayed on the queue reminder card at the end of the queue once reached 8 hours, while the milk tea bought by scalpers sold for 151 yuan a cup. This makes Modern China Tea Shop rush to the top of Weibo hot search again.

When did Modern China Tea Shop come into public view? In the impression of a local taxi driver in Changsha, this node is 2118. "The center of Changsha seems to be surrounded by Modern China Tea Shop. You can see it everywhere on the Internet, and young people around you are talking about it. It feels like (drinking colorful tea) has become a fashion." He told China Entrepreneur.

Modern China Tea Shop opened stores intensively in Changsha, benefiting from the support of capital. In October, 2118, Modern China Tea Shop received an angel round investment of several million yuan from Tiantu Capital. This year, the number of stores in Modern China Tea Shop has rapidly expanded from more than 41 to hundreds.

"After the number of stores opened in an area is increased, consumers' awareness and trust in this brand will be strengthened." The founder of a well-known chain brand told China Entrepreneur.

Strengthening consumers' cognition and trust is a key step for a brand to become online celebrity. The prerequisite for a brand to become online celebrity is uniqueness.

the most intuitive feature of Modern China Tea Shop is the Chinese style. For example, its brand LOGO is a classical beauty holding a round fan. Its drink names are quite poetic, such as "Sound Oolong", "Latte in Youlan" and "Sweet-scented osmanthus lane". Its beverage packaging and introduction also contain various fables and allusions and scenic spots. It also launched a variety of theme concept stores: Peach Blossom Garden, Bamboo Tea Making, Unique Cave, Movable Type Printing, etc.

Modern China Tea Shop's idea of focusing on Chinese style comes from Lv Liang. In 2111, after graduating from Changsha Radio and TV University majoring in Chinese Language and Literature, Lv Liang worked in advertising planning. At that time, the most popular pop singer was Jay Chou. Lv Liang loves to listen to Jay Chou's songs, likes vincent fang's ci, and has also done some creative planning of ancient style.

Lu Liang really caught the wind of Chinese style. In recent years, the China trend, represented by the cultural and creative products of the Palace Museum, has quietly become popular among young consumers.

Of course, the uniqueness of Modern China Tea Shop is not only reflected in style, but also in product design. Around 2113, there were many bubble tea brands on the market in Changsha, such as Diandian and COCO. But Lv Liang, a "literary youth", thought, "Why do I have to do bubble tea when everyone else is doing it? Milk tea, milk tea, is it not milk and tea? "

After many experiments, Lv Liang designed a set of "combination of Chinese and western" drink logic for Modern China Tea Shop: pure tea and pure milk were extracted on the spot, and some products were topped with cream and chopped nuts. Take the "Youlan Latte" as an example, its tea base is Ceylon black tea, and the top layer is cream and betel nut chips.

Modern China Tea Shop's initial fame came from young people and students. As a post-91s generation, Zhai Minhui first came into contact with Modern China Tea Shop in 2115. At that time, she was a junior at Jiangnan University and returned to her hometown of Hunan to look for internship opportunities. In Changsha, she saw Modern China Tea Shop's store.

"My first reaction was, did I meet a' ghost hitting the wall'? There are shops on three sides of a building, and each shop has a small area. Moreover, its Chinese-style decoration is not the same as the style of the general tea shop, which makes me have the psychology of trying (the taste of milk tea in Modern China Tea Shop). " Zhai Minhui said that with strong curiosity, she changed from a fan in Modern China Tea Shop to a company employee after graduation in 2116.

after the first investment in Naixue's tea in October 2117, Pan Pan, the managing partner of Tiantu Capital, and his team also noticed Modern China Tea Shop. Compared with the high-end Naixue tea, Modern China Tea Shop is in the middle market. The drinks in Modern China Tea Shop are basically below that in 21 yuan, but the teas in Naixue are mostly from 25 yuan to 35 yuan.

"Under the tide of national consumption, the new tea track has long-term growth potential. Because many consumers are more sensitive to price, brands that can make innovative products and services will have greater opportunities in different price ranges of this track. " Pan Pan told China Entrepreneur.

In the summer of 2117, Pan Pan, also a native of Changsha, returned to his hometown and met Lv Liang. While touring the shop, they discussed the business model of Modern China Tea Shop and their respective understanding of new tea, and had a good talk. Half a year later, Modern China Tea Shop completed the angel round financing from Tiantu Capital.

Modern China Tea Shop is full of people, and you don't just start a business.

On February 28th, 2113, the first store in Modern China Tea Shop opened in Changsha Huangxing Square. The manager is Sun Cuiying, who once opened a beauty salon. Lv Liang is responsible for product development, brand marketing and store decoration, while Sun Cuiying's sister Sun Xiaoju is responsible for finance. There were only three of them in Modern China Tea Shop's initial entrepreneurial team.

Because winter is the off-season of tea, Modern China Tea Shop's products are not quite the same as the mainstream products in the tea industry at that time. They launched the activity of half-price drinks, put up signs in the street, called for wheat and tried drinks for passers-by, and finally attracted some customers. However, because everyone's experience in making milk tea is not rich enough, the first cup of milk tea made by the new store was messed up.

"The cream is ugly, and there is too much sugar." Sun Cuiying recalled the opening scene at that time. "It's really full of conditions and terrible."

clerk's mistakes are inevitable. In order to maintain the reputation, in March, 2114, Modern China Tea Shop launched a "permanent claim" service to consumers: as long as they feel that the taste of drinks is different, consumers can walk into any store at any time and ask for a free redo.

After gradually forming a certain popularity in Changsha, Modern China Tea Shop launched a franchise plan for some time. "Catering companies that do a little well are doing franchises, and we also want to join." Yan Minhui said. But soon, they gave up the joining mode, because "the more they did, the more they found that Modern China Tea Shop was not suitable for joining mode".

the main reason for "unsuitability" is that the service quality is difficult to control.

Modern China Tea Shop attaches great importance to the customer experience. For example, it requires employees to pour out the brewed and unsold tea every two hours. If the customer fails to take away the milk tea in time after placing the order, the employee also needs to pour out the milk tea that has been placed for a certain period of time and make it again. "Many franchisees have no way to accept these requirements." Yan Minhui said.

even if it is completely self-employed, Modern China Tea Shop cannot guarantee the service quality of all employees. For the founding team, patrolling the store is a way to stay awake.

Sun Cuiying revealed that at the end of 2117, she and Lv Liang found that in dozens of stores in Modern China Tea Shop, there were no staff at the door to welcome guests, there was no oral broadcast in the store, and the display of goods was not standardized.

At that time, Sun Cuiying was pregnant with a second child. The doctor said that the health of the fetus was not very good, and she was advised to raise the fetus with peace of mind. In view of the fact that Modern China Tea Shop is in the critical period of angel financing, Sun Cuiying insists on working in the front line. After seeing that the atmosphere of one store was worse than that of another, she felt that "Modern China Tea Shop's service was collapsing, and her heart was cold.".

so did Lv Liang. Soon, under his auspices, the management of about 51 people in Modern China Tea Shop held the first "black and white meeting" in the ruins of a newly renovated shopping mall, that is, a major internal reflection meeting. A theme banner with black characters on a white background is just like a memorial service.

"What will Cha Yan die of? It may die because everyone is accustomed to and numb to the lack of service awareness! " Zhai Minhui remembers that at that reflection meeting, Lu Liang lost his temper and everyone else spoke. Love went deep and everyone cried.

However, the meeting was effective, and the service quality in Modern China Tea Shop has been significantly improved since then. Modern China Tea Shop has also been trying to find problems and solve them.