The threshold is low, the service is not standard, the product homogeneity is serious, and the car washing and beauty industry is about to be reshuffled
How to "Break Out" of Car Washing Companies
Our reporter Huang Shiqiang
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In the new round of shuffling, traditional auto service stores need to adapt to the development of the times, make full use of the dividends of the times brought by the Internet and digital technology, take the road of digital transformation, and plug in "digital wings" if they want to gain a place in the new round of shuffling.
"In the past two weeks, we have only washed 12 cars, and put film on 3 cars. After taking out the cost of labor, water, electricity, materials, rent, etc., not only did we not make money, but I still have to pay it back. If it goes on like this, only It can be closed."
On the afternoon of March 31, Yang Yong, the owner of a car beauty shop in Jiulong Street, Jiulongpo District, Chongqing, watched a few workers playing with mobile phones and secretly thought about how to increase the store's capacity and transform and upgrade.
In recent years, with the continuous increase of car ownership in my country, the field of car washing and beauty has become the "golden zone" in the automotive industry. In addition, the industry's entry threshold is low and there is no unified service standard, and the number of car and beauty stores has grown rapidly.
According to data from Tianyancha, there are currently more than 2.1 million auto beauty companies in my country.
With the increasingly fierce market competition, the continuously upgraded consumer demand and the increase in operating costs, the auto and beauty industry is about to reshuffle, and many auto and beauty stores have embarked on the road of digital transformation.
"Qianjing" vast "gold industry"
Recently, the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Statistics and the Chongqing Survey Team of the National Bureau of Statistics released the "2021 Chongqing National Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin" (hereinafter referred to as the "Bulletin"), showing that in 2021, the number of civilian vehicles in Chongqing will be 8.3709 million, which is higher than the previous year. Year-end growth was 9.4%.
Among them, the number of private cars was 7.6823 million, an increase of 10.2%.
The number of civilian cars was 2.7384 million, an increase of 7.8%.
Among them, 2.5456 million private cars, an increase of 8.8%.
Faced with the rapidly growing car ownership, Zhou Chunbo, who has 5 years of experience in car washing and maintenance, is not surprised.
He told reporters that after the outbreak, the number of vehicles on the road increased significantly. He previously worked for two car wash stations and three maintenance and beauty stations in the store that were often "full."
So he is working with friends to start a car beauty shop.
"I'm particularly optimistic about 'Qian Jing' in this industry." Zhou Chunbo said that the services related to car beauty can be said to be all-encompassing, ranging from car cleaning, waxing, filming, to installing the car's audio and video system, setting and modifying the car's machinery equipment.
At present, more than 80% of senior car owners and more than 50% of intermediate car owners have the habit of regularly cleaning and beautifying their cars.
For a 200,000 yuan car, the annual travel is calculated at 15,000 to 25,000 kilometers, and the annual routine maintenance cost is more than 4,000 to 6,000 yuan. If some additional items are added, the cost will be even higher.
According to Zhou Chunbo's estimation model, a small wash shop with less than 2 workers can make money by only doing business of 800-1,000 yuan per day on average, and it usually only takes two or three cars to complete this goal, and sometimes even one The cost of a car is much more than that.
Xu Lei, who has been engaged in market management in companies such as Tmall Cars and Tuhu Cars, believes that as the concept of "three-point repair and seven-point maintenance" gradually penetrates into the minds of car owners, people are more concerned about the daily cleaning and care of cars, regular beauty maintenance, and car maintenance. The purchase and use of maintenance products have become daily consumption behaviors, which has promoted the field of car washing and beauty to become the "golden zone" of the entire automobile industry.
At present, the field of car beauty has been subdivided into many fields such as car cleaning, paint beauty, interior care and other parts renovation.
Xu Lei said that under the guidance of young people becoming the main body of car purchases and consumers, and the increasingly escalating consumer demand, the more personalized and diversified new automobile beauty field will become a popular "outlet".
The traditional beauty shop is in an embarrassing situation
The reporter learned that although the market prospects of car washing and beauty are optimistic, attracting a large number of people in the industry and outside the industry to join, but in the context of increasing operating costs, increasingly fierce competition and upgrading consumer demand, traditional car washing and beauty shops are facing opening and closing. A dilemma of embarrassment.
Yang Yong told reporters that his store has been open for 7 years. The business scope has expanded from only car washing at the beginning to all washing and beauty businesses except for refitting. The store has also undergone two relocations, and its area has been expanded by nearly three times. The number of people has also increased from the original "self-produced and self-sold" to 4 people.
"After the outbreak, the business volume of the store dropped sharply. Last year, two new stores of the same type were opened nearby, and the business was even worse."
Yang Yong admitted that due to bad business, at the end of last year, he had the idea of changing hands or closing the store, but considering that he had been in this business for so many years, it was a pity to close down, so he bravely persisted, but today’s The income is only enough to maintain the basic expenses and can't make money.
When Yang Yong was in a dilemma, his colleague and friend Lu Ming, because he was in a similar situation, proposed a partnership to open a store.
At the beginning, Yang Yong was worried that the partnership would be prone to disputes. In the end, not only would he not be able to make money, but his friends would also part ways, so he refused.
Since mid-March, the continuous rain in Chongqing has made the performance of his car wash-based store bleak.
In order to find a way out, Yang Yong had to reconsider how to "hold a group".
"I have been thinking about the transformation of the store since last year, but upgrading equipment, adding items and expanding capacity requires a lot of money. After investing, I am worried about losses, so I have not made any moves."
Yang Yong said that not only him, but almost all small and medium-sized stores are facing the dilemma of no money to "upgrade".
Yu Jinhui, the head of Chongqing Jinhui Auto Beauty Service Co., Ltd., who is in the transition stage, said frankly that due to the low barriers to entry in the industry, the blurred positioning of traditional stores, and uneven service quality, traditional beauty stores have been unable to adapt to consumers' needs. individual needs.
At the same time, small and medium-sized stores lack effective management in customer management, human resources, product supply and sales, and after-sales service.
Yu Jinhui said that the continuous rise in rent and labor costs, as well as the impact of the deep integration of "Internet +" and the industry on the operation model of traditional beauty salons, may lead to "closing tides" and "partnerships" in the new round of industry reshuffles. tide".
Testing the waters for digital transformation
"With the advent of the Internet era, 'Internet +' has swept all walks of life, bringing opportunities and challenges to the traditional car beauty industry."
In Xu Lei's view, in order to gain a place in the new round of reshuffle, traditional auto service stores need to adapt to the development of the times, take the road of digital transformation, and make full use of the dividends of the times brought by the Internet and digital technology.
Xu Lei said that at present, innovating equipment, technology and reshaping business models are the main ways for traditional car wash and beauty stores to "break the game", but for small and medium-sized stores, take advantage of the Internet to integrate market resources and get through offline and online. Dual channels, breaking the shackles of the "acquaintance economy", broadening service boundaries, and reshaping business models are undoubtedly the best choices.
According to Xu Jinhui, before the transformation of his store, the main source of business was the old customers accumulated over the years. With the rise of the post-90s and post-00s consumer groups, Internet consumption is becoming the mainstream. The in-store management system, service traceability tracking mechanism and other methods have initially realized the operation mode of placing orders online, arriving at the store offline or providing door-to-door services.
"We are still exploring digital transformation to allow the store to form a cooperative relationship with brand owners upward; establish a win-win linkage mechanism with peers in various regions in the middle to open up information exchange channels; downwardly, cooperate with the store and other skilled workers Establish a 'flexible employment' model." Xu Jinhui said.
The reporter noticed that many traditional car wash and beauty stores in Chongqing have launched in-depth cooperation with major Internet platforms.
Chongqing Bei'an Jujia Auto Maintenance Co., Ltd. cooperated with the Tmall car-raising platform to open a comprehensive auto beauty shop on Fortune East Road, Yubei District, Chongqing, offering online orders and offline services.
Xiong Jiayao, the person in charge of the company, said that traditional washing and beauty stores often do not lack skilled masters, but what is lacking is drainage channels, management and service concepts that are in line with the times, and personalized service content based on big data analysis.
Cooperating with a platform that has been rooted in the Internet industry for many years, it can not only fill the traffic gap of the store, but also further optimize the service and achieve profitability by locking customers.
In addition, some large auto beauty stores in Chongqing started digital transformation as early as around 2018.
Today, these first batch of "crab-eating" stores have begun to operate users with the help of digital tools. Not only have user operation posts been set up in the areas of beauty, maintenance, and tires, but also data analysts and algorithm experts have been deployed. The transition from "traffic thinking" to "user thinking".