The track for paid warehouse membership stores is getting more and more lively.

Recently, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned that Metro China's Dacheng Road store in Fengtai District will open in December.

At the same time, Metro China's new and old stores will gradually face consumers in the form of "paid membership stores".

Behind Metro China's full replication of the paid membership model is the current hot warehousing membership store track.

When physical retail generally adjusts and adapts to new consumption trends, warehouse membership stores have become a business format that many companies want to break out of.

　　All transformation paid membership store

　　Metro China accelerated the pace of opening stores and renovating old stores, grabbing the right to speak in the warehouse membership store market.

Recently, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily visited and found that the main body of the Metro membership store located on Dacheng Road, Fengtai District, has been completed.

　　A marketer close to Metro said that new equipment is being built in the new store, which is expected to officially open in December this year.

By then, the number of Metro China member stores in Beijing will reach 5.

　　So far, Sam and Fudi have opened 4 stores and 3 stores in Beijing respectively, and the Hema X membership store has 1 store in Beijing.

Metro has more stores than its peers.

　　When the new store opened, Metro China also hoped to attract more members in the face of the "ambush" of the surrounding competing products.

A reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned that compared with other stores, Metro's paying members can get one main card and one supplementary card, and consumers who become members through the new store channel can get an additional supplementary card.

　　A reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned during the visit that since mid-May this year, the four Metro member stores that have opened in Beijing have undergone membership reforms, and all of them have now been completed.

That is, consumers need to show their membership code before entering the supermarket and checking out.

　　Metro China has also replicated the above membership model in stores across the country.

Not long ago, Chen Zhiyu, deputy CEO of Metro China, said that all of Metro's new stores in China will be member stores, and in the future, it plans to transform all Metro stores in the Chinese market into member stores, covering B-end and C-end. market.

It is reported that Metro China has opened more than 100 shopping malls in 62 cities in China.

　　It is reported that Metro China has proposed that since 2020, Metro will begin to adjust its business model and launch "paid members" (PLUS members) in the To C business.

At present, Metro China's paid members have exceeded the 3 million mark.

"Compared with the number and growth, we pay more attention to the activity of members," said the relevant person in charge of Metro China.

　　"Membership system" is still far away

　　The competition on the track of warehouse club stores is becoming more and more fierce. Not only the veteran Sam and Costco have frequently released store opening plans, but Hema and fudi have also begun to seize market share.

　　In addition, a large number of traditional supermarkets have also flocked to the membership store market. Yonghui, Beiguo Supermarket, Beijing Hualian, and Jiajiayue have opened membership stores.

Carrefour opened its first member store in October 2021, Yonghui Supermarket also established its first warehouse store in Fuzhou, and RT-Mart also intends to deploy a warehouse membership program.

　　According to iiMedia Research consulting data, in 2021, the growth of the warehouse supermarket market will accelerate, with a year-on-year growth rate of 12.3%.

According to incomplete statistics, since 2021, more than 10 retail companies have deployed warehouse membership stores, and the number of newly opened warehouse membership stores has exceeded 100 in one year.

　　Today's warehouse membership stores have appeared in the market in pieces, and the domestic retail industry has also ushered in a new trial scene.

Hu Chuncai, a retail expert, said that warehousing member supermarkets are a blue ocean industry, and Metro's comprehensive reform is not only to meet the needs of Chinese members' consumption, but also to comply with market development.

In the development process of membership supermarkets, the supply chain is the biggest variable. Metro has accumulated experience for B-end users, which has advantages compared with traditional supermarkets such as Carrefour.

　　Of course, the warehousing club industry is also facing fierce competition and tests.

Whether it is a mature enterprise or a new recruit in the channel business industry, they are all facing the pressure of supply chain management, online distribution, product selection, quality control, customer service, etc., and need to cultivate internal skills and continue to iterate.

　　Localized adaptation of "exotic products"

　　Whether it's Fudi, Carrefour, etc. opening member stores in residential areas, or Sam and Metro opening stores faster, in the changing consumer trends, the new "exotic product" of member stores has begun a round of localized "shaping".

　　In the current fierce market competition, membership stores are seeking differentiated development in the homogeneous competition. Hu Chuncai pointed out that due to the influence of eating habits, most of the hypermarket-style warehouse membership stores are "imported products", which are not in line with the eating habits of the Chinese people. .

"Warehouse member stores, including Metro, should formulate a 'localized' development strategy, conduct research on eating habits, and reform products as needed to meet the diverse living needs of local people."

　　It is worth noting that Sam, Metro, Fudi, etc. have launched home delivery services to reduce the diversion of online consumption by opening e-commerce channels.

Lai Yang, chief expert of the Beijing International Business Center Research Base, emphasized that "instant delivery" is indispensable for C-end consumers, which is also the reason why warehouse-style members expand stores and select locations in communities.

In the future, with the improvement of commodity quality in traditional supermarkets around the community and the construction of a quarter-hour convenient living circle, the supply capacity of e-commerce will be further strengthened, and the advantages of warehouse membership stores in the outer suburbs will be greatly reduced until they are replaced by community supermarkets.

　　Regarding the transformation of Metro China's membership system to the C-end, fresh products have gradually become the "adhesive" for development. Lai Yang pointed out that the popularity of warehouse membership stores often lies in the fact that their purchasing supply chains all over the world can provide consumers with higher standards Fresh products from overseas, high-quality, high-priced meat and seafood products are the core highlight of warehouse membership stores that differentiate them from community supermarkets.

　　Beijing Business Daily reporter Wang Weiyi Wang Siqi