From the price increase to the restoration of the original price, Haidilao and Xibei staged a reversal in succession under the attention of the whole people.

For a time, the word "apology" became their hot word. Haidilao's apology attracted consumers' understanding or condemnation; Sibei's apology was supported and questioned for marketing opportunities.

On April 11, Chu Xueyou, vice president of Xibei Catering, denied in response to a reporter from the Beijing News, saying that the apology was mainly for clarification, and now the catering companies are busy saving themselves, "there is no time to engage in hotspot marketing." He also believes that in the medium and long term, price increases are an inevitable trend unless all costs are greatly reduced. But at this moment, "price increases are not appropriate, and disappoint customers' feelings, so we are indeed wrong".

The fact that cannot be ignored is that the catering industry has been hit hard by the epidemic. Price increases may guarantee a certain profit, but consumers are relatively sensitive to prices. A person in charge of a catering company said: "Dare not to raise prices, fearing the loss of passenger flow." In the industry's view, whether the catering companies raise prices or not is actually a result of trade-offs. Whether it is accepted or not, the market has the final say, and consumers will ultimately vote with their feet.

Haidilao, Xibei trap price reversal storm

"The retaliatory consumption hasn't come yet, the retaliatory price increase has arrived first", and the remarks caused a chain reaction. Haidilao, known for its intimate service, took the lead in raising prices.

At the beginning of April, some netizens reported on Weibo, "Haidilao's prices have increased after resuming dinning." Someone bluntly said, "If you continue to rise, you can't afford it." On the evening of April 5, the PR department of Haidilao confirmed to the reporter of the Beijing News that the price increase is true, the overall price adjustment of the dishes is controlled at 6%, and different cities implement differentiated pricing.

Soon, news of Haidilao's price increase was quickly spread, and even boarded Weibo on the evening of April 6. However, just as the debate was in full swing, on April 10, Haidilao issued a letter of apology saying, “The price increase is the management ’s wrong decision, which hurt the interests of Haidilao ’s customers. The standard before the store closed on 26th. "

Sibei also reversed the price increase. Unlike Haidilao, Xibei's reversal is a little bit "confusing." Almost at the same time as Haidilao's price increase fermented, sharp-eyed netizens found that Xibei also increased its price. On April 7, Xibei Public relations director Yu Xin denied the price increase to the Beijing News reporter. According to his statement, Sibei did not raise prices during the epidemic. The latest price adjustment was in December last year, and the new prices were fully reflected before January 1, 2020.

But surprisingly, Xibei Chairman Jia Guolong himself overturned this statement. On the morning of April 11th, Jia Guolong issued a statement on his personal Weibo to confirm the price increase, and said, "At this time, the price increase is not correct. Starting today, the price of all the take-away and dine-in dishes will increase to January 26, 2020. The standard before the store closed. "

According to Jia Guolong, from February 1st, 18 takeaway dishes in Xibei Lunian Village Shanghai and the surrounding 8 cities have risen by 1-10 yuan. Starting from April 6, 25 dine-in dishes at 12 stores in Shanghai also rose by RMB 1-10; the prices of dine-in meals at 374 other stores nationwide have not changed.

Apologize for the move

Apologizing for the price increase of the catering companies, consumers also have their own views. Some people think that the operation of catering enterprises during the epidemic is difficult, and the appropriate price increase is understandable, and they understand and are willing to pay for it. However, some people questioned that the timing of the price increase of the head restaurant companies is not right, and it is a "failure".

Many consumers feel that price increases are more of a market behavior, and reasonable price increases are not unacceptable. The accusation just because the timing of the price increase is not appropriate is actually a moral abduction of the restaurant company.

A post-90s consumer is Haidilao's "dead loyalty fan". Haidilao is almost her only choice for hot pot. In her view, Haidilao has a good service, fruits are eaten casually, and the price is very high. She can accept Haidilao's price increase to a certain extent. "But considering that I have also reduced my salary, I might go a few times less." When she learned that Haidilao had returned to its original price, she went to eat it for the first time, and said that "the price hasn't gone up, of course, I have to support it."

On the evening of April 10, when a reporter from the Beijing News visited Haidilao's three stores in Beijing, a number of consumers interviewed randomly indicated that they could understand Haidilao's price increase. Among them, a consumer who ate at the Changhua Hualian Store said that in a first-tier city like Beijing, if the price increase of Haidilao does not exceed 10%, it is basically acceptable.

The post-80s consumer Li Min does not think so. She feels that Haidilao, as a listed company, has a certain ability to resist risks, and the price increase during the epidemic is "not kind." And the timing of the price increase is not right now, and consumers' feelings are not taken into account. But she also said: "It's quite touching to apologize, Haidilao really made the customer first."

Sibe suspected of taking the opportunity to market

This is the first time that the price of Xibei, which specializes in northwestern cuisine, has risen in price again. Some consumers on the Internet believe that Sibei followed the apology and rubbed the heat of Haidilao, "a bit of an opportunity to market."

Li Min is also an old customer of Xibei. She often takes her children to eat. She also holds the same view on the price increase of Xibei. Well-known brands should still consider the customer's feelings first. "Especially Xibei was already quite expensive and followed the price increase. Now I see Haidilao's apology and follow the apology. I feel like I'm taking the opportunity to market and feel quite defeated."

In response, on the evening of April 11, Xi Bei, Vice President Chu Xueyou, responded to a reporter from the Beijing News: "The main purpose is to clarify to consumers. Now catering companies are saving themselves, trying to find ways to increase passenger flow and control costs. Hotspot marketing. Moreover, Sibei also introduced a discount of 100 minus 50, if it is for marketing, the financial cost is too high. "

Chu Xueyou further explained that before Sibei denied the price increase, but after internal verification, it was found to be inaccurate, so the increase should be clarified to consumers. At the same time, Sibe also realized that some customers are taking care of Sibe's business, and the price increase is indeed inappropriate. The company must also take care of the consumer's mentality and mood and consumption expectations, recognize the mistakes in time, and adjust the price-increasing dishes back. .

"In the medium and long term, price increases are an inevitable trend unless all costs are greatly reduced, and the scale advantage of dinner is not as good as fast food, and it is impossible to minimize cost control." From the perspective of Chu Xueyou, the rising prices of catering should be viewed from the general trend. Raw materials, labor, and rents are all rising. If these costs do not fall, the price decline will be limited. But at this time, although only a dozen stores are not suitable for price increases, consumer psychology has just recovered. Everyone comes to Sibei to support the business. If Xibei finds a price increase, it will disappoint customers.

According to Chu Xueyou, 80% of Sibei ’s dishes had the same price before, but some dishes will be fine-tuned according to the location and business district.

As for Sibei, is there any price increase plan in the next 3-6 months? Chu Xueyou said he was not sure, but at least he would not raise prices until May 31st. "It is impossible to increase prices while giving preferential treatment."

Haidilao

For Haidilao, the price increase caused controversy, this is not the first time.

As early as last year, Haidilao tried to raise prices by canceling college student discounts, which was also unsuccessful. In September last year, the news from the Internet began on October 1st that Haidilao ’s exclusive discounts for college students will be updated, canceling the 6.9% discount for the afternoon session, only opening the midnight session, and reducing the discount to 25% discount. At that time, the Haidilao company told the Beijing News reporter that after carefully listening to customers' opinions and suggestions, it "decided not to adjust the discount for the time being."

In fact, for Haidilao, in addition to the cause of the epidemic, the price increase may be related to its own actual situation. From the industry point of view, the trend of price increase in the hot pot track has been obvious in the past two years. Xiabu Xiabu hatched high-end brands, and upgraded ordinary stores while introducing milk tea and other products, also to increase customer unit prices; hot pots such as Banu and Xiaolongkan The unit price of the first-tier cities where the enterprises are located has also risen to 140-170 yuan per person, while the per capita consumption of Haidilao in 2019 is 110 yuan. Moreover, the price of pork has increased significantly since last year, which has also caused the prices of beef and mutton and other ingredients to rise Both face certain cost pressures.

At the same time, the rapid expansion of Haidilao after its listing also brought a certain decline in the turnover rate. In 2019, the turnover rate was 4.1 times per day, and in 2018 it was 4.5 times per day. Therefore, Haidilao also hopes to increase the unit price of customers. In the past two years, beer, milk tea and other products have been launched to increase customer prices with multiple categories.

Catering costs have risen sharply under the epidemic

Price adjustment is a normal market behavior. Why did Haidilao and Xibei get such high attention this time? Industry analysis believes that this is mainly related to the current environment. On the one hand, catering companies have been hit hard, on the other hand, consumers have "tightened their wallets."

Haidilao mentioned in the reason for the price increase that the number of reopening tables and the number of customers received by each store are limited. The employees cannot work at full capacity. The labor cost plus the cost of some ingredients cause the price of dishes to increase.

The epidemic caused heavy losses to the catering industry. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to February this year, the national catering industry revenue was 419.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 43.1%. According to the survey report released by the China Hotel Association on March 2, most restaurant companies believe that the annual turnover will be cut, and nearly 60% of the restaurant companies believe that the annual turnover will fall by more than 40%.

In terms of cost structure, catering companies have long faced problems such as high raw material costs, high rents, high labor, and low gross profit. However, most catering companies were shut down in the early stage of the epidemic, but they still have to pay fixed costs such as employee salaries and rents. Great economic pressure.

Take the grandmother's family as an example, its founder Wu Guoping said in an interview with a Beijing News reporter on February 1 this year, "Only looking at labor and rent, we will have to pay 2.5 million yuan at dawn." The previous survey report of the Chinese Culinary Association also admitted that Even if food companies are trying to take out food and retail products to save themselves, it is only a slack.

With the alleviation of the epidemic, although catering companies are returning to business one after another, they are still facing greater operating pressure. The influencing factors involve the frequency of consumers going out to eat. The epidemic prevention requires that stores need to "seated", reception capacity and turnover rate All have dropped and so on.

At the end of March, Wu Guoping admitted to the Beijing News reporter: "In fact, the most difficult thing for catering companies should be from April to June. Business has not been fully restored, but it is impossible for employees, landlords to receive basic wages or give some preferential treatment as in the early stage of the epidemic. Because everyone lives. "

Whether the price adjustment is successful or not, the final consumers "vote with their feet"

Is it appropriate for catering companies facing operating pressure to raise prices to ensure efficiency? China Food Industry Analyst Zhu Danpeng believes that it is not a good time to raise prices. Consumer income has shrunk due to the epidemic, and prices are also sensitive. The price increase of catering companies is facing greater public pressure. Moreover, the State Administration of Market Supervision currently advocates enterprises. As for the "three guarantees" action of "guarantee price, quality and supply", Haidilao and Xibei took the lead in raising prices, which is psychologically difficult for consumers to accept. After the original price is restored, it means that customers can be retained for it.

Some catering practitioners who did not wish to be named told the Beijing News reporter: "Now catering companies are under pressure, but consumers are also more sensitive. Price increases mean that customers are lost, so most companies are afraid to increase prices, and some companies are Looking for ways to discount sales and pick up passenger traffic, the pressure is even greater, but now is also the time to increase brand favorability, whether the price increase or the promotion depends on the company's own choice. "

On the evening of April 11, Shu Congxuan, the chairman of the Chinese fast food brand, said through his personal Weibo that the catering companies did not usher in retaliatory consumption, plus sterilization and other expenditures, catering companies pressure Very large, but at the same time, the consumer spending of customers is affected by income. During this period, the price increases. "I dare not think about it, the old chicken does not increase the price, we even think about how we can reduce the price."

Qin Chao, an observer of the catering industry and the founder of the internal reference of the catering boss, believes that the price increase and price reduction of restaurant companies are the result of trade-offs. The price increase of Haidilao is related to the various cost increases caused by the epidemic. It is responsible to shareholders and the price increase is also in line with business logic. There is only one criterion for the success of the price increase and price reduction. In the end, customers "vote with their feet". After all, for catering companies, busy business is the first priority.

Beijing News reporter Xiaorong Zhang