The 39 yuan Swiss roll was sold to 120 yuan, and the Internet celebrity brand was involved in controversy

　　China News Service, Beijing, March 16 (Wei Xianghui and Zhang Yuhui) The 39 yuan Swiss roll was sold by "scalpers" at a price increase of 120 yuan. Is it really delicious and attractive or is it a marketing ploy behind such popularity?

Recently, the Swiss roll brand "the Roll'ING Handmade Swiss Roll" has been involved in controversy.

  At the Roll'ING Swiss roll store in Beijing, a sign saying "No scalpers" was erected in front of the queue.

Photo by Wei Xianghui

The queue for a piece of Swiss roll starts from 30 minutes

　　At 6 pm on March 14, China News Network visited the Roll'ING Swiss Roll store in Joy City, Chaoyang, Beijing. This is the first store in Beijing and the only store of the brand in Beijing. It opened in February this year.

　　Roll'ING Swiss rolls feature four flavors, namely French rich cheese roll, black gold matcha cheese roll, Damascus rose lychee roll, and perfect chocolate Swiss roll. Except for the cheese roll, which is priced at 39 yuan, other flavors are sold individually. Both are 49 yuan.

　　There is a "no scalpers" sign at the door of the Joy City store, but "scalpers" can still be seen in the queue.

Some "scalpers" carry several bags per person and sell them to consumers at an additional price of 20 yuan each. If they want flash delivery, etc., the price will be increased additionally.

A "scalper" at the scene told China News that if he bought one, he would receive a flash gift. "I will just queue up here normally, and no one can say anything to me."

On some trading platforms, the price of purchasing this brand of Swiss roll has even reached around 120 yuan.

　　On the same day, Roll'ING issued an announcement stating that it had learned from previous lessons and that from the very beginning of its opening, store partners had been paying special attention to suspected scalpers. Whenever a scalper was discovered, they would immediately report it to the nearest police. Seek help from the government agencies.

Relevant police officers have also repeatedly stopped “scalpers” in person.

　　The brand has also launched a "reward for reporting": Anyone who discovers a "scalper" in the queue and successfully reports it will receive a single transaction for free; anyone who discovers a store clerk and "scalper" engaging in illegal activities and successfully reports it will receive a Roll' ING Swiss rolls are free for a whole year.

　　There are store clerks on site to issue number plates to consumers, who can use them to queue up and then check out and pick up the goods.

Among them, one point that netizens questioned about the existence of "hunger marketing" is that there is only one flavor in each round of queue, and there can only be one number plate in each round of queue.

One of the "scalpers" told China News Service that he queued for seven or eight rounds that day.

　　In this regard, brand founder Jiang Haowen explained to China News Service that due to the store area and other reasons, there is currently only one oven in the store, and one oven is 36 rolls. From the on-site whipping of raw materials and fillings to entering the oven and then coming out, it takes a long time. Over 80 minutes.

In order to sell to consumers faster, the three-layer oven goes in and out without interruption, ensuring that it can be delivered to consumers in 30-40 minutes.

As for why he only grilled one flavor at a time, he said it was to avoid flavor transfer.

  At Roll'ING Swiss Roll Store in Beijing, there is only one flavor for each batch of Swiss rolls.

Photo by Zhang Yuhui

Is it a "smooth job" or a marketing ploy?

　　Some of the consumers queuing up at the scene came at the right time to pick up the goods and leave in 10 minutes; others queued for nearly an hour to buy different flavors.

　　Even Jiang Haowen himself said that no food is worth waiting for more than 30 minutes.

However, this did not dispel consumers' doubts about the efficiency of the brand's stores.

　　Last year, the Roll'ING Swiss roll store in Shanghai was controversial due to reasons such as the "excessive workmanship" of the store staff and the price increase of "scalpers".

This situation also occurs with KUMO KUMO, another baking brand run by founder Jiang Haowen.

　　They are all stores with an area of ​​20 to 30 square meters, equipped with open kitchens, and the entire production process is completed on-site under the watchful eyes of consumers.

After the KUMO KUMO cake is baked, the clerk will ring the bell and use an iron plate to print the logo on the cake.

In the Roll'ING store, the clerks make cakes, bake them, roll cream fillings, and even use rulers to measure and cut...

　　Industry analysts say that this approach of slowing down efficiency and creating a large queue of consumers in front of the store is creating a traffic code for an Internet celebrity store.

However, Roll'ING's head of operations, Yang Zhuo, admitted to China News Service that long queues in stores and price increases by "scalpers" have caused strong dissatisfaction among consumers and have also caused damage to the brand image. They are currently adjusting their operating strategies.

　　Yang Zhuo flew from Shanghai to Beijing to check the store on March 13.

According to him, on the 14th, nearly 7 new employees were added to the Beijing store, and there are currently 23 people. The average queue time has been shortened by about 15 minutes.

　　When asked whether he had taken any pre-planned measures in response to the popularity of the Beijing store, Yang Zhuo responded, "We are constantly polishing the store model."

  At the Roll'ING Swiss roll store in Beijing, "scalpers" are purchasing on behalf of others.

Photo by Wei Xianghui

There are risks in queuing to bring business

　　In the past period of time, relying on queuing to generate business was one of the ways for catering brands to quickly become popular, such as Haidilao, Heytea, and Chayanyuese in the early days.

　　Previously, Cha Yan Yuese was exposed to the situation of "employing people to queue up".

But now this approach is obviously not cost-effective.

China News Network learned from a human resources agency that the cost of organizing a queuing event is about 120-150 yuan per person, of which the agency takes about 20 yuan.

　　However, this practice involves excessive marketing, routine consumption, etc., and will be punished by regulatory authorities.

　　For example, Chongqing Internet celebrity catering brand "Gui Baozi" was reported by consumers to hire people to queue up in fake queues to recycle the sold buns and sell them again.

The bun shop's "sitter-style" marketing method is suspected of "employing others to conduct deceptive sales inducements."

In the end, the Chongqing Bishan District Market Supervision Bureau ordered the party to immediately correct the illegal behavior and fined him 6,000 yuan as an administrative penalty.

　　In addition, the behavior of "scalpers" selling at increased prices may also be suspected of violating the legal red line by disrupting market order.

　　Xia Hailong, a lawyer at Shanghai Shenlun Law Firm, told China News that all retail businesses are essentially about buying low and selling high. As long as the goods are not prohibited by laws and regulations from being resold, they can be bought and sold freely.

"It is okay for individuals to resell scattered food, but if 'scalpers' use buying low and selling high as a business behavior, it may involve illegal operations of food business without a food business license."

　　Article 122 of the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that if anyone engages in food production and trading activities without obtaining a food production and trading license, the food safety supervision and management department of the people's government at or above the county level shall confiscate illegal income and illegally produced and traded food , food additives, and tools, equipment, raw materials and other items used for illegal production and operation; if the value of illegally produced and operated food and food additives is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed; If the amount exceeds 10,000 yuan, a fine of not less than ten times but not more than twenty times the value of the goods will be imposed.

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