Convenience stores are small retail stores that mainly sell ready-to-eat goods or services, with the primary purpose of satisfying the needs of convenience, and adopt a self-selected shopping method. According to the business model, convenience stores can be divided into chain convenience stores and non-chain convenience stores; According to the region, convenience stores can be divided into community convenience stores, scenic convenience stores, commercial convenience stores, station convenience stores, etc., and there are certain differences in consumer demand for convenience stores in different regions. According to iiMedia Consulting data, the scale of convenience stores in China is expected to reach 503.3 billion yuan in 2025.
01 Convenience Bee closed a large number of stores and transferred directly to franchise
In late September 2023, Convenience Bee, which had been focusing on the direct sales model, suddenly opened up to join. According to its disclosure on the APP, the "Convenience Bee Partner Win-Win Plan" is divided into two forms: "entrusted partner win-win" and "store-based partner win-win". At present, Convenience Bee has only opened the form of "entrusted partner win-win", and the threshold for joining is 210,000 yuan. However, the form of "win-win with store-based partners" has not yet been opened. This is the first time that Convenience Bee has opened up to join since its establishment in 2016.
In 2022, factors such as store closures, business closures, and shortened business hours have paused the rapid development of convenience bees. Therefore, in March 2023, Convenience Bee also launched the "Hibernation Plan" to adjust some stores with weak service capabilities and low consumer demand, and the number of closed stores once reached more than 700.
According to the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, as of December 30, 2022, the number of convenience bee stores was 2,005, a decrease of 795 stores from the peak. In addition to closing stores, Convenience Bee has also repeatedly reported that multiple departments have started layoffs and contractions, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. In the first half of 2023, Convenience Bee also launched a round of layoffs based on technology R&D and operation and maintenance personnel, with a scale of 1,000 people.
For the opening of the convenience bee, some industry insiders have said: "Through the open franchise, the investment pressure of the headquarters can be reduced, and more importantly, the sense of responsibility and initiative of the franchisee can be brought into play, and the efficient management of the smallest business unit can be realized." "Retail Circle" also believes that with the continuous increase in operating costs, out of the need for expansion, opening up to join seems to have become an inevitable move for convenience bees. However, for franchisees, it is still debatable whether they can return to their original costs as soon as possible after choosing to join.
02The whole family opened a fifth-generation store and tested the water of pre-made dishes
On July 12, 2023, FamilyMart launched its next-generation store. It is understood that the store is located in Fahua Town Road, Changning District, Shanghai, and is the first fifth-generation store. As a fifth-generation store, the store has been comprehensively upgraded in terms of design and equipment, with the fresh food area enlarged and independent into an independent area, and the store's catering area has been upgraded to a café.
Since entering Chinese mainland in 2004, FamilyMart has carried out four iterative upgrades of its stores in mainland China. Compared with the previous four generations, the characteristics of the fifth-generation FamilyMart stores are mainly reflected in three aspects: first, the "five meals a day" strategy is fully launched; the second is to let the sub-brand "stand out" and achieve a new family; The third is to upgrade from meeting the product needs of customers to a composite store integrating products, services and emotional values.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the fifth-generation store, FamilyMart has also specially added a set of double-door 7-layer prefabricated food freezers, which is also another highlight of the FamilyMart's upgrade to a new generation of stores.
In fact, FamilyMart has started testing in prefabricated dishes since the end of 2021, and the stores selected for the test are mainly the relatively large residential business district stores in each city, and the number of products has also developed from the initial five or six SKUs to the current ready-to-eat, ready-to-heat, and ready-to-cook three categories of about 50 SKUs.
However, since the current prefabricated food freezer is still in the testing stage, FamilyMart has not disclosed the proportion of stores with prefabricated food and the sales of prefabricated food in its system. At the same time, the whole family also said that due to the different consumption scenarios of the two types, they will not reduce fresh food because of pre-made dishes**.
03Hongqi chain tested the new business format and equity change
On June 16, 2023, at the celebration of the 23rd anniversary of its establishment, Chengdu Hongqi Chain Co., Ltd. *** hereinafter referred to as "Hongqi Chain") officially announced that its first new format supermarket, "Huangguolan" supermarket, opened on the bank of Xinglong Lake in Tianfu New District, Chengdu, and the first 24-hour Hongqi chain smart supermarket was also unveiled.
It is understood that the newly opened Huangguolan supermarket of Hongqi chain, with the business philosophy of "new experience and more convenient", has introduced freshly ground coffee, prefabricated dishes, local snacks, imported goods, bulk snacks, local specialties and other categories, and superimposed more than 80 value-added services such as water and electricity bill payment, with the overall bias towards younger and mid-to-high-end positioning.
Huangguolan Supermarket is a subsidiary jointly initiated and established by Chengdu Hongqi Chain Co., Ltd. and Chengdu Tiantou Asset Management. The registered capital is 50 million yuan, and Hongqi Chain holds 90% of the shares. Hongqi chain was founded in 2000, after more than 20 years of development, it has achieved remarkable achievements in the industry, especially in the southwest region, Hongqi chain is the "southwest king" title. However, with the intensification of competition in the convenience store industry in recent years, as well as the prominence of some problems of Hongqi chain itself, its development has also encountered some problems.
On the evening of December 20, Chengdu Hongqi Chain Co., Ltd. announced that the company's controlling shareholder was changed to Sichuan Commercial Investment Co., Ltd., and the actual controller was changed to Sichuan State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
According to the announcement, in order to achieve the long-term development of the company, Cao Shiru, Cao Zengjun and Yonghui Supermarket signed the "Share Transfer Agreement" with Commercial Investment Investment, stipulating that the three will hold a total of Hongqi Chain 2300 million shares (accounting for 1691%), which was transferred to the commercial investment investment of Sichuan Commercial Investment Group by way of agreement transfer, and the transfer **588 yuan shares, with a total amount of 135.2 billion yuan.
Sichuan Provincial Commercial Investment Group Co., Ltd. is the first newly established state-owned capital investment company in Sichuan and the only provincial investment platform for modern commercial and trade circulation services.
For Hongqi Chain, the addition of commercial investment is bound to build a larger platform and better resources for it, helping it to win more in the highly competitive convenience store track. It is worth noting that the change of state-owned assets holdings, as well as whether the Hongqi chain operation mechanism and management mechanism will be affected after Cao Shiru withdraws from the front line of operation in the future, still need to be verified by time.
04The number of Lawson stores in China exceeded 6,000
On August 4, 2023, with the opening of the Lawson Memorial Store in Haikou, Hainan Province, the number of Lawson stores in China exceeded 6,000 in August. On June 14, Lawson entered Dandong City, Liaoning Province, and 13 Lawson convenience stores opened in Dandong at the same time, further exploring the convenience store layout in the sinking market.
At the same time, Lawson mentioned that by 2025, Lawson will increase the total number of stores in China by 7% compared with the current level to 10,000. In fact, this is not the first time that Rosen has revealed this goal to the outside world. As early as 2020, Takemasu Sadanobu, president of Lawson Corporation, revealed in an interview with Japan's Kyodo News that he planned to increase the number of stores in China to 10,000 by 2025.
In 2015, Zhang Sheng, then the general manager of Lawson Shanghai, fully implemented the "Regional Large Franchisee Program", that is, when Lawson expands to other regions, it will choose leading retail brands with advantages in the local market to cooperate, and the regional franchise partners will serve as the general franchise of the region to expand the local Lawson stores.
In 2015, Lawson developed 3 large franchisees; In 2016, Lawson signed a cooperation agreement with Zhongbai Group, and Zhongbai Supermarket officially became the exclusive and franchised regional franchisee of the Japanese convenience store giant Lawson in Hubei. In 2017, Shanghai Lawson cooperated with Nanjing ** shopping mall, which also became the only "big franchisee" designated by Lawson in Nanjing.
In recent years, Lawson China's development has accelerated "hanging". According to data from the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), the total number of stores of the top 100 convenience stores in China in 2022 will be 171,340, an increase of 6 from 160744 in 202159%。
In addition, among the top 10 convenience stores, the total number of stores in China of the three major Japanese convenience store brands Lawson, 7-Eleven, and Family Mart reached 11,626, an increase of 1,365 over last year, of which Lawson became the fastest-growing brand among Japanese convenience stores, with a net increase of 1,175. It is understood that this is the third consecutive year that Lawson China has become the brand with the largest number of foreign-funded convenience stores in China since the number of stores surpassed FamilyMart to become the first of the three major convenience stores in Japan for the first time in 2020.
Amazon pauses unmanned convenience store expansion
At the beginning of March 2023, according to foreign media reports, Amazon will close 8 unmanned convenience stores in Seattle, New York and San Francisco on April 1 to further cut costs amid slowing sales growth.
According to the report, two of the eight Amazon Go convenience stores closed are located in Seattle, two in New York City and four in San Francisco. Amazon also said it would work to help employees affected by store closures seek other positions within the company.
"Like any brick-and-mortar retailer, we regularly evaluate our store portfolio and make optimization decisions along the way," said Amazon spokesperson Jessica Martin. We remain committed to the Amazon Go operating model, operating more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the U.S., and we will continue to evolve our Amazon Go stores to continue to understand which locations and features resonate most with our customers. ”
It is understood that the Amazon Go unmanned convenience store was initially put into trial operation for internal employees in 2016 and officially opened to the public in 2018. And at the February 2023 earnings conference**, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that the company has suspended the expansion of fresh food services (Amazon Fresh) and unmanned convenience stores. He also stressed: "We will not expand our brick-and-mortar fresh food stores until we have a differentiated and economically valuable form of operation that we like." ”
In this regard, some industry insiders have believed that under different circumstances, companies will choose different development strategies, and Amazon's suspension of fresh service expansion, or the closure of stores with poor operating conditions, may be an obstacle in the current stage of operation, and then expand after obtaining more stable development.
06Tianfu Convenience's first takeaway warehouse opened
On June 9, 2023, Tianfu's first takeaway warehouse (Dongguan Dongcheng store) officially opened. This marks the official opening of Tianfu's new business model of "instant retail" supply, and "good things are not expensive, how fast and good saving" is the core advantage of Tianfu takeaway warehouse.
It is reported that the take-out warehouse is a new business model of instant retail supply launched by Tianfu, by setting up a take-out warehouse within a geographical range closer to consumers, after consumers place orders on third-party platforms such as Meituan and Ele.me, Tianfu's operators will directly pick up and package the goods from the warehouse, and the platform's takeaway staff will deliver them to the door. Tin Fook's first takeaway warehouse covers an area of more than 400 square meters, providing more than 4,000 products, covering daily necessities and FMCG products. Through 24-hour operation, with Tianfu take-out warehouse as the center, it provides a 10-kilometer radius and 30-minute instant delivery service. On the first day of the opening of the takeaway warehouse, the total order volume (online and offline) exceeded 720 orders, and the total transaction volume exceeded 48,000 yuan, creating an amazing performance, which opened the prelude to the development of the takeaway warehouse and added strong impetus to the development of Tianfu.
Retail Circle" learned that Guangdong Tianfu Chain Commercial Group is a large-scale and efficient comprehensive commercial enterprise group. Its predecessor is Dongguan Tianfu Convenience Store, which was established in July 2004, of which Tianfu chain convenience store system is one of the top ten chain convenience store systems in the country, and in 2022, it will rank fourth in the country in terms of the number of stores on the top 100 convenience stores in China and second in the list of value brands of chain convenience stores in Guangdong. At present, it has developed more than 7,000 stores in Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou, Fujian and other regions, and Tianfu has created a development miracle in the history of China's convenience store entrepreneurship.
077-Eleven parent company founder Masatoshi Ito died
On March 10, 2023, Masatoshi Ito, a promoter of 7-Eleven convenience stores and a legendary Japanese entrepreneur, passed away due to aging at the age of 98.
Masatoshi Ito was a major driver of the spread of 7-Eleven convenience stores around the world, and he founded Yokado (today's Ito-Yokado) in 1958, and later opened York Seven (now 7-Eleven Japan) and opened a family restaurant such as Denny's in Japan. On March 13, 7-Eleven's parent company, Seven and Yi Holdings, issued a statement thanking Masatoshi Ito for his contributions.
Masatoshi Ito, the founder and honorary chairman of Ito-Yokado, is one of the representative operators of Japan's post-World War II distribution industry, and his net worth is estimated to be 43$500 million. As early as the 70s, he introduced Japan's first 24-hour supermarket, 7-Eleven, in Tokyo, and later bought a controlling stake in 7-Eleven and promoted 7-Eleven to the world. Ito-Yokado, founded by Masatoshi Ito, was renamed Seven and Yi Holdings in 2005, and the "i" in the name is a tribute to its founder, Masatoshi Ito.
If we count from the first 7-Eleven convenience store opened in Tokyo in 1974, Masatoshi Ito's history is nearly 50 years ago, and in the past half century, 7-Eleven convenience stores have opened 8 stores around the world30,000 rooms, of which 1 4 are in Japan. For many years, Masatoshi Ito has been the spiritual coordinate of the 7-Eleven supermarket kingdom.
The death of Masatoshi Ito has aroused widespread mourning in the Japanese economic community. Masashi Yanai, chairman of Fast Retailing Japan, commented that Ito laid the foundation of 7-Eleven convenience stores and contributed to Japan's economic development. Taku Okada, Honorary Chairman of the AEON Group of Japan, spoke highly of Ito's work during his tenure as President of the Japan Chain Store Association. According to the Japanese news agency, Ito has played an important role in the development of supermarkets in Japan.
08Meiyijia topped the list of China's top 100 convenience stores
On April 17, 2023, the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) announced the list of "Top 100 Convenience Stores in China in 2022". Among them, Meiyijia surpassed Sinopec Yijie for the first time and became the first place in the TOP100 convenience stores in China, becoming a veritable "first brother of convenience stores".
According to the "2022 China Convenience Store TOP100" public list, Meiyijia ranks in the "2022 China Convenience Store TOP100" position with 30,008 stores, surpassing the second place Sinopec Easy Jet by about 2,000 stores, the third place Sinopec Kunlun Hospitality by about 9,000 stores, and the tenth place FamilyMart by nearly 27,000 stores. And opened a big gap with competitors.
It is understood that Meiyijia was born in Dongguan, Guangdong 25 years ago and belongs to Guangdong Dongguan Sugar and Liquor Group. In the 90s, when Wal-Mart had just entered China, Meiyijia started its own convenience store era. In the impression of many people, in Chinese mainland, the convenience store format is many years later than hypermarkets, which may be Meiyijia's vision.
In the 2022 industry outlook launched by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, Zhang Guoheng, chairman of Meiyijia Holdings, once said that from the perspective of the industry itself, in 2022, the convenience store industry has the following trends worth paying attention to: first.
1. Instant retail will have a significant impact on convenience stores. Take-out platforms, home delivery services, and half-hour community retail are more convenient than convenience stores, and the day when convenience stores are "woolened" may really come. Second, the "integrated" response strategy. PC integration, online and offline integration, and network integration. In the face of the stock market, who can truly be customer-oriented, understand customers, satisfy customers, and create value for customers will win the market.
In the view of "Retail Circle", the development of Meiyijia is, on the one hand, its 25 years of experience in the industry, with strong brand capabilities, management capabilities, and first-class chain capabilities. On the one hand, the development of small business formats is also in line with many policy supports, because convenience stores are also the main formats of instant retail mentioned in Document No. 1 of 2023.
09JD convenience store made a comeback
In August 2023, JD Convenience Store will open investment promotion and release a "0" yuan franchise guide. According to the investment inspiration, JD.com will empower franchisees from different perspectives such as store image, supply channels, and operation system. In addition, in terms of cost input, Jingdong does not charge franchise fees, and franchisees only need to pay a deposit of 30,000 yuan, which is implemented in cities other than Anhui, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.
As a representative of JD.com's smart and innovative stores, the JD convenience store program originated in 2017, when Liu Qiangdong said that in the next five years, JD.com would open more than 1 million JD convenience stores across the country, half of which were in rural markets. However, six years have passed, and JD Convenience Store has not only not completed its initial store opening plan, but also closed a number of franchised stores under the impact of major foreign-funded convenience stores and local convenience stores, and continued to struggle to "survive".
In this regard, some industry insiders believe that "Jingdong convenience stores tend to decline, mainly due to its "sheep-herding" franchise "method", this model lacks core competitiveness, and stays more on the surface of empowerment, which will lead to a greater weakness in the store in the rationalization of commodity structure and headquarters operation support in the long run. In this way, compared with other convenience store brands, it is natural to have a higher opinion. ”
But even so, in the face of the fiercely competitive market environment, JD.com still has an attitude of "not giving up, not abandoning" the convenience store format, especially in the new 20-year cycle, when the important level of innovative retail is constantly being improved.
Retail Circle" learned that up to now, Jingdong has laid out more than 10,000 offline stores, including Jingdong Home, Jingdong Mall, Jingdong Electrical Super Experience Store, Jingdong Computer Digital Store, etc.
10 Tang Jiu 24-hour food, fresh pre-made dishes
In August 2023, at a summit related to prefabricated dishes, Zhu Dongsheng, the former supervisor of Japan's 7-Eleven headquarters and the current CEO of Tangjiu Convenience Store, gave a speech on the theme of "The Inspiration of Japanese Convenience Store Prepared Food to China".
In his speech, Zhu Dongsheng said that the popularization of high-quality prefabricated dishes is an irreversible trend in the food industry and retail industry in the future; Efficient, convenient, time-saving, good quality, cost-effective prefabricated dishes will have a broad space for development; The research and development of prefabricated dishes should always start from the needs of consumers and meet the pain points in consumers' lives; Prefabricated dishes can help catering, retail and other industries improve operational efficiency and profit margins.
Based on Zhu Dongsheng's identity and the current momentum of the development of prefabricated dishes in China, some industry insiders believe that this speech may release a signal that Tangjiu convenience stores will make efforts in prefabricated dishes in the future.
The first store opened in 1998, when Taiyuan was still a "commercial desert", and now, after more than 20 years of development, Taiyuan has become an oasis of convenience stores. According to the "China Convenience Store Development Report" released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association in 2022, Taiyuan has been ranked among the top three convenience store cities in China for three consecutive years, becoming the only northern city to enter the TOP.
It is understood that Tang Jiu adopts the franchise model usually used by domestic franchising, that is, after the franchisee pays the franchise fee, he can obtain the brand's single-store franchise right, and get business model, commodity distribution, training and other business support. In April 2023, on the list of "2022 China's Top 100 Convenience Stores" released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), the number of Tangjiu convenience stores in 2022 was 2,200, ranking 13th.