When the “closing tide” of full-time convenience stores in Beijing is ongoing. On May 16, Chengdu Full Time announced that it had found the "taker", and where Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will go from time to time, attracting attention.
On the morning of May 11, "Notice of Suspension of Full-Time Convenience Store" was issued at all times, and then deleted. On the 12th, the "Notification Letter on Full-time Stored Value Cards and Member Points Redemption" was issued, which changed "stop business" to "strategic adjustment." Beijing stores will make business adjustments at 24:00 on May 20. The store will press the "pause button" again.
"Highlight moment": one hour was sold out
Because of the closed store, this year's "highlight moment" ushered in full time. On May 11th, full-time announcement of 40% off the entire store, directly triggering a "buy wave". The reporter visited a number of full-time in Beijing, and almost all of them were sold out. According to the staff of the full-time (Wanda Plaza store), the discount activity officially began at 17:00 that day. At that time, the goods were relatively complete and there were many people. From the store entrance to the exit, it was almost empty for about an hour.
"I'm here to pick up the leak." On the afternoon of the 12th, when a gentleman walked into Full Time (Wanda Plaza) after work, there was only a small amount of wine, umbrellas, socks, etc. in the store, and I walked around and didn't pick up any leaks. To. With few commodities left, there are still people pouring in. Ms. Bai walked in at about 18 o'clock and bought a few cans of beer. She said, "There is nothing to buy."
Full-time two modes of operation: direct management and franchise operation. In the face of closed store announcements, some stores are operating as usual and do not participate in discounts. Some stores also offer 20% discounts on merchandise for quick clearance. On May 13, a full-time franchise store in Fengtai, Beijing, the original price of 46 yuan a box of instant porridge, priced at 25 yuan, the clerk said that this is the last day of discount sales, on the 14th, new goods will be on the shelves. On May 17, some of the store's shelves were already full of goods, and discounts had stopped.
"This time it was too sudden." A full-time supplier responsible person told the reporters of China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that on May 5th, they would also allow them to deliver a batch of goods to the warehouse at full time on May 9. Later, I learned from my colleagues that I would close the shop full-time, but the goods were not delivered. The supplier said that in February last year, when it was shut down for the first time at full time, it greeted the supplier in advance, so as not to let the supplier "press the goods".
The fate of the next full-time sudden stop? As early as November 2018, the full-time parent company Fuhua's commercial capital chain broke, and the "Pause button" was pressed for the first time. In February 2019, full-time stores were "split". Among them, about 90 stores in East China and Chongqing were taken over by Lawson, and 500 stores in 4 cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Langfang, and Chengdu were taken over by new shareholder Shanhai Blueprint.
On May 16, Chengdu Full Time announced that all 106 stores of Chengdu Mountain and Sea Blueprint had joined the JF Convenience Store, and Chengdu had a "new destination" full time. Previously, a full-time announcement stated that after the integration, strategic cooperation will be actively introduced. This has also caused people to speculate, will Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei also be taken over by Jianfu? Or facing the fate of being "split" again?
A few days ago, Wang Hongtao, executive deputy secretary-general of China Chain Store & Franchise Association, said in the article that he received a call from the person in charge of the mountain and sea blueprint. The person in charge said: "At present, relevant government departments have intervened and worked on-site to actively help solve some The remaining problems help companies create a better recovery and business environment. "In Wang Hongtao's view," this may be a turning point, at least it will be good news for all parties. "
Why press the "pause key" again
"Because of the severe impact of the epidemic, we were forced to make strategic adjustments." In its announcement, the reason for closing the store was attributed to the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. During the epidemic, how was the overall operation of the convenience store?
According to statistics from the China Chain Store and Franchise Association, during the epidemic, some convenience stores achieved rapid growth, and some convenience store sales declined significantly. In the first quarter, the average level of the convenience store industry fell by 10% -15% year-on-year.
The impact of the epidemic is only one aspect, and the convenience store itself is a high-cost, low-profit mode of operation. In May 2019, the "2019 China Convenience Store Development Report" released by KPMG and the China Chain Store & Franchise Association showed that in 2018, store operating costs remained high. Among them, rent costs accounted for 34%, employee compensation accounted for 60%, different shops have some differences. 25% convenience store net profit margin is negative, of which, 37% convenience store net profit margin is between 0-2%.
Compared with the traditional local convenience stores, full-time convenience stores are considered to adopt the “asset-heavy model”. Earlier, Zhang Yungen, the helm of the full-time, said in an interview that the so-called heavy asset operation includes investment of 10 million yuan. Funded to develop a retail information management system, build a central kitchen, and add on-site cooking equipment and multi-person dining areas in specific stores. The investment scale of a single store exceeds 1.5 million yuan.
The person in charge of a full-time franchise store in Beijing Fengtai said that the basic investment of opening a store of about 100 square meters is about 2 million yuan, of which, the rent accounts for the bulk, about 600,000 yuan / year, or the position of the store is relatively biased. Down; need to hire two employees, the monthly salary of a single employee is about 4,000 yuan. During the epidemic, because of the small number of customers, it has been in a state of loss, but it still has to be maintained for those in need. "As everything stabilizes, I hope there will be new improvement."
Under the high cost, behind the full-time rapid expansion is the dilemma of the convenience store industry: it is difficult to achieve large-scale profit without expansion, and expansion will face high costs. In 2015, Full Time proposed a plan of "Thousand Stores in One Year and Ten Thousand Stores in Five Years"; In 2017, it also proposed a plan of "One Hundred Million Cities", claiming to invest 10 billion yuan, covering 100 cities and 1 million in five years terminal. Seeing that the "five-year contract" was approaching, he suddenly stopped.
Well-known economist Song Qinghui said that compared with foreign countries, the domestic convenience store market is fiercely competitive and homogenization is very serious. In this context, the survival of the fittest in the convenience store is inevitable, which is also one of the main reasons for the readjustment of the second shutdown in China. "The main costs of convenience stores are manpower and rent, not a heavy asset model. Most of the problems in convenience stores are because the offline stores are too fast, and they encounter sudden market changes, such as the new crown epidemic and the capital chain break. .
In a business district, it is not uncommon for multiple stores to compete within a hundred meters. There are only "one wall apart" between stores in individual areas. In a community in Fengtai District, Beijing, the reporter observed that there are three convenience stores within 300 meters, namely full-time convenience stores (joint stores), Tmall stores and convenience bees. In a community where the flow of people is relatively fixed, how should the three stores "divide food"? The person in charge of one of the convenience stores told a reporter from the China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, "One store can be full, two stores can be served, and three stores will starve to death."
A new future will be opened after the epidemic
As one of the leading companies of convenience stores, Full Time closed the store suddenly, and some people began to sing down the convenience store industry. What is the prospect of the convenience store industry?
From the perspective of the overall environment, the domestic convenience store industry is developing well. According to the "Research Report on the Market Prospects and Investment Opportunities of China's Convenience Stores in 2020-2025" released by China Business Research Institute, China's convenience stores achieved sales of 226.4 billion yuan in 2018, the industry growth rate reached 19%, and the number of stores reached 122,000 Home. In 2019, the number of convenience stores was approximately 135,000, an increase of 10.3% from the previous year, and sales were approximately 281.2 billion yuan, an increase of 24.2% from the previous year.
New stores continue to rise, and the expansion of convenience stores continues unabated. In September last year, Good Neighbor announced that it would relax the franchise standard and accelerate the attraction of franchisees. In September last year, Convenience announced that it had broken 1,000 stores. In February this year, it was announced that there were more than 1,500 stores nationwide, and there are still stores in preparation. Rosen officially announced its entry into Hebei, following Beijing and Tianjin, and accelerating the layout of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration; by the end of March, Rosen had more than 2,500 stores in China; May 6, the convenience store brand headquartered in Dongguan Meiyijia announced that the total number of stores nationwide has exceeded 20,000.
In addition to faster growth, the profitability of convenience stores is also improving. "2019 China Convenience Store Development Report" shows that in 2018, the average daily sales of a single store was 5,299 yuan, an increase of 7% compared with the same period last year. Convenience stores with a negative net profit margin fell by 2% from last year, and convenience stores with a net profit margin of more than 4% increased by 3%, accounting for one-fifth of convenience stores. In Wang Hongtao's view, the convenience store industry is still worth investing in.
It is worth noting that the policies on promoting the development of convenience stores are "overweight". On May 12, the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission solicited opinions on the "Administrative Provisions of the Municipal Government on Investment in Fixed Assets Supporting Convenient Commercial Facilities (Trial) (Draft for Comment)". The consultation draft disclosed that 5 types of newly-built or under-convenience commercial projects including convenience stores (supermarkets), etc. can apply for financial support, and are expected to receive 30% or even 50% of the total investment.
In addition, under the impact of the epidemic, some problems in the convenience store industry have also emerged. For example, operational capabilities and supply chain efficiency still need to be strengthened. Wang Hongtao said that the operation of convenience stores is a "bitter" industry. The epidemic has hit the industry's sales and has also promoted the comprehensive upgrade and convenience of convenience stores in terms of cash flow management and control capabilities, emergency capabilities, supply chain capabilities, and digital capabilities. Iterate. "After the epidemic, it is not a return to the past, but a new future."
China Youth Daily · China Youth Daily trainee reporter Zhao Limei Source: China Youth Daily