Why does the
supermarket
bid to promote the paid membership system
our reporter Ji Leilei
A few days ago, Metro PLUS member stores opened in Beijing and Chengdu.
This is a brand new store for PLUS members after Metro fully implemented the 199 yuan paid membership system in 60 cities in China in December last year.
The hypermarket is changed to a fee-paying membership-based supermarket store. Will consumers buy it?
The two newly opened PLUS member stores of Metro have been transformed from traditional hypermarkets.
For example, the predecessor of the Beijing Caoqiao Store of Metro PLUS Member is Wumei Caoqiao Store.
When the reporter visited the Caoqiao store of Metro PLUS members in Beijing, they found that although the store area is not as large as a warehouse supermarket, differentiated products such as Australian Tomahawk steak and French imported blue lobster are very attractive, and consumers have stopped.
There are about 2500 kinds of products in the METRO PLUS member store, of which more than 40% are imported, exclusive and private brand products.
Zhou Yang, vice president and chief operating officer of Metro China, said in an interview that the biggest feature of warehouse supermarkets is large packaging. Although the unit price is favorable, it does not match the needs of Chinese families.
To this end, Metro member stores have introduced mass-market packaging that is more suitable for Chinese families to buy and store, which can be bought and eaten at an advantage in price.
It is worth noting that the track of membership-based supermarkets has become more and more popular in recent years, and major brands have been eager to open stores "circle fans."
In addition to the opening of Metro PLUS member stores, Sam’s Club plans to open 5 stores this year, and Costco has opened stores in multiple cities. Hema also said that it will open 10 new Hema X member stores this year.
Why do supermarkets join the track of paid membership-based supermarkets?
Experts say that the paid membership system is beneficial to both supermarket enterprises and consumers.
For commercial and supermarket companies, charging membership fees can directly bring benefits to the company, and at the same time, it can consolidate the stickiness of old users and further expand the user base of the platform.
More importantly, member big data is the "wealth" of the enterprise, and it can collect rare information for optimizing product structure configuration and understanding regional consumption habits.
For consumers, paying members can enjoy more diverse and differentiated services.
Zhou Yang said frankly that opening a member store is essentially because "consumers used to spend money on goods, but now they are willing to spend money on services and experiences."
However, getting consumers to pay is not an easy task. Product power, shopping experience, and service are all indispensable.
Zhou Yang said that METRO PLUS member stores pay more attention to scene-based creation. For example, the Caoqiao store in Beijing has opened a children's playground and dining and leisure area.
With the continuous update and iteration of the retail industry, digital transformation has become an inevitable trend in the reform of supermarkets.
Liu Guihai, a partner of Multipoint Dmall, said that the paid membership system developed based on the commercial SaaS model has been opened in Metro stores across the country. If other businesses want to open the paid membership business, the system can support it at any time and quickly replicate it.
However, industry experts also said that as there are more and more paid membership-based supermarkets, whether they can continue to attract consumers depends on the ability of supermarkets to integrate the supply chain and their investment in membership rights.