Before the Spring Festival of 2021, Kweichow Moutai Sales Co., Ltd. ("Moutai Sales Company" for short) frequently introduced measures to control prices and stabilize the market: 100% unboxing sales; cancellation of online "snap-up" thresholds; announcing that all Moutai can be sold in 2020 Put it on the market and realize inventory clearance.

A reporter from China Securities News visited during the Spring Festival and found that it is still almost impossible to buy a 53-degree 500ml Feitian Moutai at a price of 1499 yuan/bottle, and a "new roasted seeds and nuts" came into being: a carton of Moutai was fried to 500 yuan.

  Consumers are difficult to "grab" online

  In the Siyuanqiao store of Beijing Carrefour Supermarket, a reporter from China Securities News found that the price tag of Moutai in the locked wine cabinet was marked as 1499 yuan per bottle. Many customers stopped by and watched, but the salesperson said, "I don’t sell here, grab it online." The customer's idea of ​​"finding the bargain" is instantly extinguished.

  For Feitian Moutai, whose online price is 1499 yuan/bottle, Moutai Sales Company requires e-commerce companies not to set consumption restrictions online.

During the Spring Festival, buy 1499 yuan/bottle Feitian Moutai page on JD.com and Suning APP, click the reservation button, and no longer pop up the prompt for membership.

The Xiaomi Youpin APP can make an appointment after completing the real-name authentication with the ID card.

In order to prevent "scalpers" from scrambling for orders, Xiaomi Youpin also set up a face recognition link, and the same user can purchase a maximum of 2 bottles within 30 days, and each purchase is limited to 1 bottle.

  After lowering the threshold, will it be easier to snap up Moutai online?

In fact, it is even more difficult for ordinary consumers to get past the "scalpers" who have a year of experience and software support.

"I have no chance to enter the second-level page." A netizen who participated in the purchase of Moutai on the two platforms of JD and Suning said that the "Buy Now" button will not stop as soon as the button is lit, but except for "I'm sorry..." "Sorry …" and other prompts, using "seckill" to describe this fleeting opportunity is conservative.

  "1499 yuan a bottle of Moutai? It's impossible. The store now has 2,700 yuan a bottle." In a special dealer store in Xicheng District, Beijing, a reporter from China Securities News saw more than ten Moutai handbags on the ground. Each bag contains two bottles of Moutai, which are sold at a unit price of RMB 2,750 to RMB 2,800.

  Moutai is full of "treasures"

  In January, the Moutai Sales Company stipulated that 80% of the 53-degree 500ml Feitian Moutai was unboxed and sold at the price of 1499 yuan/bottle in specialty stores every month, and then 100% unboxed and sold at the price of 1499 yuan/bottle. Check unpacking and sales from time to time.

If the number of boxes is found to be below the standard, the dealer will be punished accordingly.

However, during the Spring Festival, the Moutai market became more and more crazy, and even channels for selling Moutai cartons appeared. A Moutai cartons were sold at 500 yuan in 2020, and ordinary cartons of the same specification cost only 3 yuan each.

  According to industry insiders, the current market price of Moutai original box wine (6 bottles per box) is 3,300 yuan/bottle, loose bottle wine 2,700 yuan/bottle, and 500 yuan a carton plays an important role.

"People who buy a full box of Moutai don't drink it by themselves, otherwise they don't care about the cartons. Because of the cartons, the value of a single bottle of Moutai can rise by another 600 yuan."

  Liquor retailer Lin Ming (pseudonym) said that laymen think that people who buy boxes are pretending to be fake liquor, but they are not.

It is the terminal wine merchant who buys the box.

Many "new terms" were born under the "Unboxing Order", such as the original box, code coating, code deduction, and corner cut.

Lin Ming explained that the original box is a complete piece of Moutai, with the highest unit price of 3,300 yuan/bottle; followed by code coating, code deduction, and corner cutting. According to the integrity of the box, the price of the wine is different.

  Turning loose bottles of wine into the original box of wine as much as possible, getting the carton to find wine and getting the wine to find the carton to test the skills of the "scalpers".

The carton of Moutai and each bottle of wine have a corresponding batch and number, and the original boxes are collected if they correspond to each other.

In the words of "scalper", "to achieve'three identities'", that is, the production date, production batch, and logistics code are the same.

  Lin Ming told a reporter from the China Securities Journal that Moutai is a "treasure" all over.

In addition to boxes, streamers, wine glasses, bandages, bags, wine detectors, etc. can be circulated: a streamer is 2 yuan, a set of original wine glasses is 30 yuan, a bandage is 15 yuan, and a handbag is 100 yuan.

  Unsolvable knot under the spread

  In the case of increasing the amount of input, Moutai Sales Company regards the "unboxing order" as an important measure to control prices.

This heavy fist really made the high-priced Moutai of many distributors disappear. The whole box of Feitian Moutai has become a "scarce item". The price of the original box of Feitian Moutai has risen from more than 2,900 yuan to more than 3,300 yuan.

  Some supermarkets have other sizes of Moutai for sale, but there is no "500ml, 53%" specification. 2L of Moutai is equivalent to about 3000 yuan per 500ml.

According to industry insiders, the Spring Festival factor has supported the rigid demand for Moutai, leading to firm terminal prices in the market.

  In order to increase the bottle opening rate and realize "drinking wine without frying", some Moutai directly-operated stores have launched a "bottle-for-purchase" activity, that is, to show the warehouse receipt, empty wine bottles, invoices, etc. 1:1 to redeem Moutai.

  Tianyan Check shows that Moutai Sales Company has only two shareholders: Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd. holds 95%, and Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd. holds 5%.

  Li Zhen, chairman of Hangzhou Yanrui Asset Management Company, said that Feitian Moutai is a scarce resource in the market, and the main reason for the price increase is the imbalance between supply and demand, from 1499 yuan/bottle to 3300 yuan/bottle, and the profit margins attract merchants from all walks of life.

Due to the huge gap between the official price and the market price, the Moutai Sales Company’s price control measures to stabilize the market are facing challenges.