Carrefour, the largest supermarket in Asia, closed in Zhongguancun


　　How do traditional hypermarkets break through?

　　Our reporter Ma Jing

　　Recently, Carrefour in Zhongguancun Plaza closed its business, announcing the exit of the former Asian flagship store.

At the end of March, the last Walmart supermarket in Shandong also closed.

According to incomplete statistics, since 2021, 13 domestic supermarket companies have closed more than 100 stores.

Years ago, supermarket hypermarkets attracted customers with the charm of "one-stop shopping", but now this advantage has disappeared.

In the face of the new market environment, supermarkets and hypermarkets have "broken their arms to survive", looking for a way to break through.

　　Formerly the largest supermarket in Asia to exit

　　When it opened in 2004, Carrefour Zhongguancun Plaza Store was known as the largest supermarket in Asia at that time, covering an area of ​​11,600 square meters. It was the first flagship store in China built by Carrefour according to its own design concept.

　　"It was quite beautiful when it opened." Ms. Han, who grew up in Zhongguancun, still remembers the scene at the beginning of the opening. Many people came here specially, and the scene was very popular.

After entering the underground commercial area where Carrefour is located, you will first see that the business of many small shops in the leased area is also very hot.

But in recent years, the shops in the leased area have changed one after another.

When the reporter visited the store before closing, the clerk of a clothing store revealed that although it was promoting at a low price, the business was not good.

　　The Zhongguancun business district where this store is located actually never lacks passenger flow. The nearby Xinzhongguan and Link Shopping Plaza are gathering places for many young people.

Why are supermarkets getting more and more deserted?

Residents nearby said that people's consumption habits have changed, and visiting hypermarkets means higher time costs.

For example, the fresh food area and the department store area are on different floors, and it takes a lot of time to buy only a few items at a time.

In addition, consumers have more choices in shopping channels, and can buy daily necessities at a higher cost.

　　With the closure of Carrefour, Zhongguancun Plaza will be upgraded.

According to insiders, it is still unknown whether Carrefour will return after the renovation is completed.

　　13 supermarkets close hundreds of stores in one year

　　As the "godfather of hypermarkets", Carrefour has opened the era of "one-stop shopping" since its entry into China in 1995.

However, with the rapid development of China's retail industry and escalating consumer demands, the retail giant has also encountered bottlenecks in its development.

　　According to data released by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association, the number of Carrefour stores in China in 2016 was 319, but it has shrunk to 228 by 2020.

Suning.com’s announcement in response to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s letter of concern in February this year showed that Carrefour China closed seven hypermarkets in the second half of 2021 alone, and Carrefour China’s overall operating income in 2021 will drop by more than 10% year-on-year.

The announcement explained that Carrefour China's main business has been affected by many unfavorable factors such as the expansion of community group purchases at low prices, the slowdown in consumption growth, and repeated epidemics.

　　Since the beginning of this year, Carrefour has closed four stores in Guangzhou Wanguo Store, Nanchang Shanghai Road Store, Chongqing Shapingba Store, and Beijing Zhongguancun Plaza Store.

Among them, the Nanchang Shanghai Road store is Carrefour's last store in Nanchang, while the Guangzhou Wanguo store is its first store in Guangzhou.

　　Hypermarkets are on the decline, and it is not only Carrefour that is affected.

The reporter visited and found that the Auchan supermarket located on Chaoyang North Road also quietly closed this year.

Retail giant Walmart is also shrinking its hypermarket business, with double-digit store closures in 2021.

At the end of March this year, the last Walmart shopping mall in Shandong was closed.

　　According to statistics from Winshang.com, in the first half of 2021, only 2 of the 13 listed supermarket companies achieved double growth in net profit and revenue, while 11 had a decline in net profit. In the second half of the year, the decline could not be reversed, and the annual performance was not optimistic.

These 13 supermarket companies will close more than 100 stores in 2021.

　　Supermarket transformation should highlight products

　　In the Internet age, do people really need physical supermarkets?

The reporter found that on social platforms, many netizens still share the fun of shopping in supermarkets, and these punch-in destinations are mainly emerging warehouse-style membership stores.

　　In the boom of warehouse club stores, many companies are scrambling to deploy.

In May last year, Beijing's first local fresh storage-style membership store, Fudi, was unveiled on the East Fourth Ring Road. Data disclosed by the company in January this year showed that the number of members in this store has reached 60,000.

Last year, Wumart transformed its hypermarket in Caoqiao into a Metro membership store to enter the new track.

Sam's Club is also accelerating the opening of stores. The new Sam's store in Xihongmen, Beijing is under construction, and a new Sam's Club will be added to the Yongfeng business district in Haidian.

　　According to Lai Yang, chief expert of the Research Base of Beijing International Business Center, the fundamental reason for the popularity of Sam's Club is not the warehouse-style club, but the advantages of personalized products such as fresh food.

　　The young mother, Ms. Liu, has membership cards for Sam, Fudi, and Metro. She spent tens of thousands of yuan in the three stores last year. She is familiar with the characteristics of each store: Fudi has a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, and the prices are cheap and cost-effective. Higher; Metro has a lot of imported seafood; Sam's Club has many homemade delicacies, such as mochi, cakes, roast chicken, etc.

"The princess dress I bought for my daughter at Sam costs only more than 100 yuan. When I meet a friend's child's birthday, a toy box of 100 or 200 yuan is also a good choice."

　　The physical hypermarket that many consumers look forward to is the model of the Costco member store in the United States.

"Good quality shirts and jeans cost less than 10 dollars, and Samsonite suitcases cost more than 100 dollars. There are very few people in such hypermarkets who are not interested." Xiao Jiang, who returned from studying in the United States, believes that if the physical store wants to regain trust, it needs to be It is necessary to carefully select high-quality products with high cost performance for customers.