Summarizing the two apology statements, it is not difficult to find that both Haidilao and Xibei Youmian Village acknowledged the fact of price increases through apology statements, apologized for the price increases, and then emphasized the discount activities currently being promoted by the brands.

Some consumers discovered that Haidilao has also posted electronic card membership vouchers on Juhuasuan. The voucher has a face value of 111 yuan, and the price after subsidies is 55 yuan. This 50% discount is better than Haidilao’s current self-collection business.

The discounts are even greater, and for this reason, questions about the hype and marketing practices of Haidilao and Xibei, which have increased prices and then apologized for price reductions, have begun to arise.

Previously, Haidilao had explained the price increase after raising prices, saying that due to the epidemic and rising costs, the company had adjusted the prices of some dishes, with the overall price increase controlled at 6%, and each city implemented differentiated pricing.

Beijing Business Daily reporters also contacted the heads of some catering companies. Among them, Liu Jingjing, the founder of Jiahe Yipin, made it clear that catering companies are indeed facing pressure from rising ingredient costs, but Jiahe Yipin has not yet adjusted product prices.

According to an unnamed person in charge of a catering company, due to the need for epidemic prevention after the resumption of dine-in dining, the store turnover rate and occupancy rate are still far behind those before the epidemic, and the daily operating costs of the store are uncontrollable. Indeed,

This will cause an increase in operating costs for the company.

However, some heads of catering companies said that they did not feel the increase in costs after the resumption of dine-in operations, and believed that Haidilao was suspected of hype.

Just after Haidilao and Xibei successively apologized for the price increase, doubts about Haidilao and Xibei's marketing hype by adjusting prices have become louder and louder.

Some consumers believe that Haidilao and Xibei took the opportunity to gain a lot of attention and appeared on hot searches, "making a wave of advertising without spending any money."

A reporter from Beijing Business Daily also contacted Haidilao and Xibei respectively regarding the suspicion that the two companies first raised prices and then apologized for price reductions, which was suspected of speculation. As of press time, Haidilao had not made any response to the above doubts.

The relevant person in charge of Xibei responded that Xibei did not use the apology for marketing purposes, because it is a fact that some stores in Xibei have increased prices, and the apology is a genuine attempt to say "I'm sorry" to consumers.

Should restaurant companies increase prices?

Resumption of work is the current proposition of the catering industry. How catering companies can protect themselves while recovering losses as much as possible at the current stage is a common issue and difficult problem for catering companies. However, price increases have become the biggest issue in public opinion and industry consensus.

focus of attention.

Discussions in the industry about whether catering companies should increase prices are getting louder and louder.

Wang Jun, partner and CFO of Daily Excellent Fresh, publicly expressed his views through media platforms, saying that price adjustments for some catering brands are just the beginning. He believes that the epidemic has led to a decline in sales of catering companies, but at the same time, rising labor and logistics costs, and tight supply chains have led to catering companies

The root cause of the price increase.

He also said that according to public data from the Ministry of Commerce, 80% of catering operations across the country had resumed operations at the end of March, but sales had only recovered 35%, indicating that the catering industry is still in a difficult state.

In addition, some people believe that as the process of resumption of work and production accelerates, more and more companies are likely to use price adjustments to help alleviate revenue pressure. Among them, there are some who use price increases to relieve cost pressure and promote revenue, and some

To attract consumers by lowering the prices of some products, these are closely related to the recovery of corporate supply chains, the recovery of daily operations, and cost changes.

However, Wang Dongming, a catering chain consultant, believes that price increases will not become a common phenomenon after the catering industry resumes work. He believes that the retaliatory consumption predicted by the industry will not last very long, and the epidemic will affect the entire industry, not just the industry.

With the catering industry out of the equation, consumers are naturally unwilling to pay for price increases by catering companies as their incomes drop.

In Wang Dongming's view, price increases for catering companies have always been a very sensitive topic, so most catering companies are also very cautious about price increases.

Catering companies that raised prices when the epidemic was about to end were also suspected of "taking a big gamble", because not raising prices may endanger the survival of the company. It is better to give it a try, but if the price increases, it will cause a decrease in customer flow. For chain catering brands

The gain outweighs the loss.