In the past few days, another new commercial species has entered Ningbo.
Sam's Club will open on May 30, having invested heavily in Jiangbei before Vientiane City, and has held open days since last Friday, inviting citizens to try various dishes.
In my circle of friends, there are people who have gathered enough Jiugongge, but they still joke at themselves that they only ate one-third of the stall ▲ My taste test will be enough for afternoon tea. This is the confidence of international giants.
Free trial, just to show you, you have to wait a few more days if you want to spend money.
In the future, if you want to enter again, you must first become a member. The threshold for membership fees is 260 yuan/year, and there is also a superior card with higher benefits of 680 yuan/year.
Regarding this 260 yuan, netizens on forums, Moments, and group chats have different opinions. They think it is not that easy for the budget-conscious Ningbo people to pay this money. After all, Ningbo aunts have several house keys hidden in their pockets.
People in Ningbo, who are used to asking for the free plastic roll bags in supermarkets, naturally have a say in the membership system. People here have seen the world for a long time. Supermarkets like Sanjiang that dare to accept membership cards worth 20-30 yuan are also popular in China.
It's rare. There is also the Yinzhou Metro, which has been open for more than 20 years. It used to deny entry without a card, children, and shirtless and slippers. In the end, it didn't open its doors.
Therefore, when the threshold of 260 yuan is placed there, some people naturally want to ask: Does Sam understand this city?
But if you think about it carefully, Sam has been in China for 23 years, and Wal-Mart and Wanda, which are behind it, have been in Ningbo for more than ten years.
When Wang Jianlin decided to build the first product of Wanda's third-generation urban complex in Yinzhou after being persuaded by Lao Li, it was a rice field.
But it was this Wanda that made Wang Jianlin sigh, "In 2006, I seemed to finally understand what commercial real estate was." In 1998, Zhejiang's first foreign-funded supermarket, Metro, came to Carrefour in 1999, and in 2017, Zhejiang's first Hema Fresh Store opened
, Ningbo has always been a testing ground for new businesses.
Therefore, don’t be too surprised that Sam, who has only opened 24 stores in 23 years, will open two in Ningbo this time.
In 1995, Metro entered China.
In 1996, Sam's Club entered China.
▲If you just look at the photos of the first Sam’s Club store in Ningbo, you may think that they have the same warehouse industrial style, with similar high shelves, XXL shopping carts, large packaging, and large parking lots. But in essence, their development paths in China are completely different.
The former once focused on units and wholesale customers, but experienced many swings on the matter of membership, and finally compromised. Now it has opened individual memberships and does not require money; the latter, on the contrary, increased the membership fee from the original 150 yuan to 260 yuan.
Another big difference is that Metro is better at the B-side, while Sam's has already made plans for the C-side right from the start, such as setting up a mother and baby room where everyone is welcome to visit for parent-child time.
▲ Ningbo Sam’s Mother and Baby Room ▲ Walk-in refrigerated area, remember to wear a coat Once upon a time, the year Metro entered Ningbo, it opened six stores in Changfa, Xinjiangxia, Meilemen, Chenghuang Temple, 200, and Hualian
The bosses gathered together to discuss how to deal with it; and now, the Ningbo that Sam has to face is the base camp of Sanjiang and M6, and Ali is behind them.
When the first batch of foreign-funded supermarkets have changed their looks, Wal-Mart and Carrefour joined the Tencent department, Auchan and RT-Mart joined hands with the Alibaba department, and E-Mart and Lotte Mart withdrew from the Chinese market. Scenes of stories of apprentices killing their masters were staged. Sam chose to be in this
When the time comes to strike, its plan is to accelerate store openings, with the goal of opening 40 stores next year.
At the same time, another giant, Costco, Sam's biggest competitor is also rumored to open its first store in Shanghai this year. Known for its cost-effectiveness, it is bound to start a new round of competition.
I have to say, timing is really important.
Twenty years later, what Sam is waiting for is more private cars and more urban middle class who are willing to pay for quality.
And, how can it satisfy the tricky tastes of Ningbo people if it does not sell fresh food? Before this test, it first chose to open during the fishing ban season.
But in this country where the myth of Pinduoduo is being created at this moment, there is a red sea of ??micro-business everywhere in this circle of friends. This place pays attention to freshness when buying things. The proprietress of the fruit shop downstairs in the community is forming a group buying WeChat group, thinking about how to sell a box of live goods faster.
In an era when swimming crabs and live shrimps are delivered to your doorstep, anything is possible. No boss should be blindly confident.
————Then, I went shopping for everyone. What I saw personally is for reference only.
The entrance prompts that it is for members only. Next to it is the area where you can directly apply for membership. You can operate it independently on your iPad: ▲ Cashier area ▲ Comfortable 9-meter-high cement floor and warehouse-style shelves. Everything is neatly stacked. Sam’s and general supermarkets 2
-The number of products varies from 40,000 to 40,000. Its SKU is controlled at around 4,000. It is a selection of products, suitable for people who have difficulty choosing.
For example, when buying paper towels, we all have the trouble of having a dazzling selection, and Sam’s idea is to help you save time. After all, we have passed the age of pursuing dazzling products.