Supermarkets and stores with the theme of "immediate goods and special discounts" are quietly emerging, and temporary sales are also accelerating the expansion trend of chain and branding.
Can the imminent food standing on the tuyere stand on its own?
According to public information, Xiaoxiang Life, a discount supermarket chain specializing in temporary food, has recently completed tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing.
Following the angel financing, in just one year, Little Elephant Life has received financing again, which shows the enthusiasm of the capital market for the food track in the upcoming period.
In the past two years, the temporary food industry has been rejuvenated and has become one of the popular offline retail formats.
Supermarkets and stores with the theme of "immediate goods, special discounts" are quietly emerging, and temporary sales are also accelerating the expansion trend of chain and branding.
The selling point is outstanding and quickly out of the circle
"6.9 yuan shower gel, 3 yuan a can of Nescafé coffee, 5 yuan Paris water, half-price Lay's potato chips, 20 yuan a box of Deya pure milk, all can be bought here." June 25 , In a temporary discount store in Beijing, Ms. Sun, a post-90s consumer, is wanton "buying, buying, buying".
She told reporters that the secret to such a cheap price is that the word "expiration" is added to the product.
In the past two years, temporary food discount stores have continued to be popular, especially among young people.
In the eyes of many snack lovers, this is a paradise for wool.
The reporter recently visited Beijing's Haodai, Hi Tego and other temporary food discount stores. The products sold in these stores are basically 10% to 50% off the general market price.
The food on the shelf is generally 2 to 3 months away from the expiration date, and some even reach more than half a year.
"The low-price strategy hits price-sensitive consumers, and the repurchase rate generally exceeds 50%." A businessman in a food supermarket told reporters.
Expired food means products that are "on the verge of expiry, but still within the expiry date".
In the eyes of industry insiders, imminent food is a phenomenon that has existed for a long time. One of the main sources of commodities is the tail goods of non-selling brands imported from foreign trade, and the other part is the inventory of existing consumer brands and retail channels.
In the past, these goods were generally only sold in some "gray areas", such as mom-and-pop stores, wholesale markets, etc., without forming a brand.
The emergence of special temporary food discount stores allows consumers to enjoy products at lower prices, while also helping merchants consume inventory and improve conversions.
The rich variety and low price have made discount retail stores out of the circle quickly, and the business format has continued to expand. Supermarkets specializing in temporary food discounts are located in first-tier cities to county markets.
The popularity of discount supermarkets continues to rise, boosting the accelerated development of the food industry during the period.
According to iiMedia Research, the temporary food market will reach 31.8 billion yuan in 2021, and will reach 40.1 billion yuan in 2025.
It is generally believed in the industry that the temporary food and tail goods track is a typical 100 billion yuan track, and the branding and chaining process of this track has just started.
Further diversification of business formats
It is not only consumers who find "treasures", but also all kinds of capital.
Since 2021, many brands in the food industry have received financing in the near term, and many companies, including Haodai, Prosperity Bazaar, Xiaoxiang Life, and Hitego, have received financing one after another.
At the same time, the temporary food track has become crowded.
According to the data from Tianyancha, last year, 125 new food enterprises were added in my country.
Taking the leading company Haodaishi as an example, it has completed 5 rounds of financing in less than 3 years. It has now established more than 400 stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other key cities. It is expected that the total number of stores will exceed 5,000 in the next three years. Family.
In addition to these new brands, large retailers are also rushing to the discount stores.
Traditional supermarket brands such as Hema, Yonghui Supermarket, and Suning have all entered the game.
Among them, Suning plans to open 100 discount stores this year, mainly selling online celebrity shopping, discounted products, imported leisure products, and daily necessities.
Hema also took a fancy to the food business. In October last year, Hema Fresh Outlet was born, mainly selling "Daily Fresh" products that were not sold out in each store that day.
In addition, the reporter found that in some Century Hualian supermarkets and Wumart supermarkets in Beijing, as well as convenience stores such as Convenience Bee and 711, there are "special offer areas" at the entrance of each store, with potato chips, drinks, etc. Various discounted food items.
Online channels, e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo, Tmall, Taobao, etc., have also opened many temporary food discount stores since the end of 2020.
On the JD.com platform, some merchants offer discounts as low as 1 to 20 percent on imported biscuits, and the monthly sales of spiced sticks on the Pinduoduo platform have reached more than 100,000 pieces.
It can be said that under the combined effect of multiple factors, the format of temporary discount stores is gradually becoming mature.
Is the operating model sustainable?
It is worth noting that during the visit, the reporter found that there are some food stores that are on an expiry date, and the goods sold are not limited to food, but also include alcohol, skin care products, daily necessities and other commodities that are not on the expiry date.
Compared with the brands that are familiar to the public, a large number of new brands or private labels have become the main products in the store.
Most of these products are regular products, and the product categories include coffee, chocolate, snail powder, small hot pot, lo-mei, etc. The price is basically about 50% off.
Industry insiders believe that the use of temporary food as a drainage tool can resolve the traffic dilemma. After the store has obtained a stable source of customers, it will extend the model of selling regular products, which will help increase revenue and profit, solve the problem of unstable commodity supply, and at the same time. It also provides distribution channels for new brands to further enhance the sustainability of the industry.
However, the accompanying voices of doubt are also constantly emerging. Regarding the shortage of supply, the products of the food discount stores are not due, but the voices of displaying many small brand products continue to appear.
On platforms such as Meituan and Xiaohongshu, consumers complained about buying unknown brand products in discount stores carefully, and some people even issued relevant pit avoidance guidelines.
At the same time, some consumers also have doubts about food safety.
Some consumers on the Black Cat Complaint Platform said that they bought freeze-dried coffee powder in temporary food stores and had moldy spots, and merchants who bought expired cosmetics refused to compensate, and so on.
In the field of special sales, Japan gave birth to Don Quixote. As a new retail format, it can also become an important supplement to the retail industry in China.
In this industry that is racing against time, opportunities and risks coexist. Food merchants need to cultivate their internal strength in supply chain, marketing, and logistics to form scale and brand effect. They must have "good prices" to attract consumers, and also have Only by retaining consumers can "good products" have an advantage in development.
Our reporter Yang Ranran
Workers Daily (Version 07, June 28, 2022)