Yangcheng Evening News financial commentator Qi Yaoqi
According to media reports, the recent news of Coca-Cola's price increase has attracted the attention of industry insiders, and some netizens called out "fat house happy water is not happy". In fact, not only Coca-Cola, but also a number of beverage companies have raised prices for their products since this year. Recently visited offline supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail channels and found that apart from mineral water, there are few drinks below 3 yuan, and products above 5 yuan are occupying more positions in the beverage area.
Coke, sparkling water, lemon tea, milk tea, the four major categories are very popular drinks for young people at present, from the price point of view, the price of these four categories in convenience stores has also risen, step by step breaking through 5 yuan. The reason is also the most common "affected by factors such as rising raw material costs".
In an almost perfectly competitive market, companies can also raise prices for cost reasons, while few companies reduce prices because of costs. Isn't that an interesting phenomenon? When the cost is high, the company will increase the price to maintain a certain profit, in the pure competitive category of beverages, how can a positive profit margin be determined? According to this logic, isn't the higher the cost, the better, then the price can rise and the revenue can increase greatly.
Anyone who knows a little about economics knows that commodity prices are basically the result of the combined forces of supply and demand. Enterprises can say that their costs are high, so the pricing should be high, then the demand side can also say that the cost to themselves is high, and the price must be low. The result of the final game is either that well-known products can really sell expensive, or fewer people buy them. As an individual demander, of course, it is impossible to know whether others around you have this spending power.
Further inference, although the increase in the cost of cola is behind the shortage of raw materials in a certain country, the increase in price is inseparable from the arrival of the beverage season. The growth of consumer demand for beverages, especially cold drinks, has led to an increase in tolerance for slightly higher prices of beverages, which is a prerequisite for companies to generally raise prices. In this process, if further subdivided, some laggard enterprises actually have opportunities. For example, the development of some Internet celebrity juice milk tea, etc., at a price 10% lower than the average price, may also form a difference with the price increase of the product, thereby opening up sales.
In particular, young people have a greater desire to try new brands and categories, which are both new and beautiful and low-priced, which is an important reason why many unknown products can be put on the top. Whether it is called an Internet celebrity or a national trend, a healthy drink, or a beauty drink, the beverage market will be in a state of reshuffle for a long time. If senior old brands can develop sub-brands accordingly, this is not only the protection of the value of old brands, but also the positive integration and development of the young market. No matter how you look at it, this is much smarter than a direct price increase. However, in reality, the more established the giant beverage company, the more incompatible its youthfulness often looks, like playing football in a suit. Therefore, the development of the young market, the premise is that the corporate decision-making level must have more resonance with young people at the same frequency.