The operating crisis of the once “overlord” of Beijing convenience store has aroused social concern——

　　Is the convenience store a good business?

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　　The full-time convenience store in Beijing is facing an operating crisis, which has aroused social attention to the convenience store industry. However, problems in the operation of individual enterprises will not affect the development of the entire industry. In fact, the number of convenience stores in my country is still not enough to meet the needs of people's lives. The convenience store market still has huge potential for development, with second- and third-tier cities being the main growth points.

　　A few days ago, a number of media reported that Good Neighbor is currently doing its best to assist the operation adjustment of Beijing full-time convenience stores, provide supply chain and system support, and help resume operations as soon as possible.

　　Earlier, the official WeChat official account of Beijing Full-Time Convenience Store issued a "Notice of Suspension of Business", saying that due to the adjustment of the company's business strategy, all stores in the Beijing area of ​​Full-Time Convenience Store will be closed at the end of May. However, it was not long before the notification letter was deleted.

　　As the once "overlord" of Beijing convenience stores, a full-time operation crisis triggered the society's attention to the convenience store industry. In this regard, Wang Hongtao, executive deputy secretary-general of the China Chain Store and Franchise Association, told the Workers Daily that problems in the operation of individual enterprises will not affect the development of the entire industry. "But this also brings a warning to the industry, the development of convenience stores needs to be stable and steady, pay attention to the basic skills of the operation and the profitability of the store, and establish a benign capital cycle."

　　In fact, convenience stores have also received the attention of relevant state departments. Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said at a press conference held by the State Council Office on May 18 that there are currently only 130,000 chain convenience stores in the country, and the number is still not enough to meet the needs of the people's lives. In the future, we will focus on optimizing the layout and promoting the chain development of convenience stores.

The former "overlord" once again faces the test of life and death

　　In recent years, with the capitals coming in one after another, the slow industry of convenience stores has entered the fast track of development, and it is undoubtedly the leader on this track.

　　Public information shows that the full-time convenience store was established in 2011 and was once the largest convenience store brand in the Beijing market, known as "most like a 7-11 local convenience store." In 2015, the number of full-time stores reached 150, and at the same time announced the plan of "ten thousand stores in five years and thousand stores in this year". In 2017, Full Time became the "overlord" of Beijing convenience stores with the number of 360 stores. In November of the same year, Full-Time Convenience Store also launched the ambitious plan of “One Hundred Million Cities”, which cost 10 billion yuan to enter 100 cities in five years, covering 1 million terminals.

　　But unfortunately, in November 2018, the capital problem of the full-time parent company Beijing Fuhua Excellence Business Management Co., Ltd. not only caused the expansion plan to be interrupted, but also almost closed.

　　In February 2019, Lawson took over most of the full-time stores in East China and Chongqing, while its stores in Beijing, Tianjin and Chengdu were operated by Shanhai Blueprint. After more than a year of taking over, the mountain and sea blueprint failed to get Beijing out of the dilemma and ushered in the development of vitality, and enterprises faced the test of life and death again.

　　Business crisis, affected by the epidemic?

　　Regarding the operation crisis, Beijing Full Time responded: "It is not because the capital chain is broken, but because of the severe impact of the epidemic and strategic adjustments are made. The business of the convenience store contracted first, and there will be other cooperation after the suspension of business."

　　Meng Qi, the former head of strategy at JD.com, said that during the outbreak, the biggest impact on convenience stores was passenger flow. Even if costs such as rent have not risen, the decrease in offline passenger flow will also bring operating pressure.

　　However, Wang Hongtao believes that the impact of the epidemic on convenience stores is temporary. He said: "The epidemic has more or less impact on every industry, and the same is true for convenience stores. From the data of the first quarter, the year-on-year sales of the convenience store industry have also declined to a certain extent, but the overall performance is still relatively stable. , Is steadily picking up."

　　Some insiders told reporters that the full-time operation crisis was not caused by the epidemic, but rather caused by their own operations. Convenience stores are inherently difficult to make money. In addition to the high cost of rent and labor, the gross profit of FMCG products is also very thin. This is a typical high-investment, long-term, slow-return industry. The lack of capital, refined operations and supply chain integration capabilities may all lead to development difficulties.

　　Working together internally and externally can get out of the predicament

　　"The epidemic will change the consumer's consumption habits, imperceptibly, and will have some changes in all walks of life in the future. From the perspective of business models and development patterns, for the convenience store companies' operating efficiency, supply chain level, and digital level, there are Certain boosting effect." Wang Hongtao said.

　　In response to the impact of the epidemic, some convenience store companies have begun to save themselves, such as cooperating with takeaway platforms, getting involved in fresh food, carrying out community group purchases, expanding online sales channels, and deploying home services. "For convenience stores, now we need to add some new services to create new value for users." Meng Qi said.

　　Compared with self-help, the support of external forces is also very important. Chen Liping, a professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business, said that convenience stores have become a basic industry in urban life and an important force to protect people's livelihood. Targeted policies such as ensuring the operation of convenience stores and providing rental subsidies for convenience stores should be issued in a timely manner.

　　"As long as this period of time is exceeded, the industry will usher in new opportunities." In Wang Hongtao's view, the market space for the convenience store industry is still very large. According to the 2019 Top 100 Chain Store List released by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association on June 2, among the top 100 companies, the sales growth of convenience stores in 2019 was 16.5%. From the comparison of international and domestic data, my country's convenience store market still has huge development potential, of which the second and third tier cities are the main growth points.

　　Yang Zhaokui