Online platform brings "hidden value" to condiments

In line with the principle of "where the consumer is, the channel will extend", major condiment brands have actively embraced emerging channels in recent years, but in this process, the uneven capabilities have created the phenomenon
of different performances of major brands.
Taking the e-commerce "Double 11" promotion that has just come to an end as an example, judging from the sales lists disclosed by major platforms, most of the top are grain and oil brands, and there are not many
condiment brands on the list.
Industry insiders said that online channels have never been the main sales position of the condiment industry in the past, but with the continuous change of consumer groups and needs, such channels are becoming more and more important
.

Competition is intensifying

From the earliest traditional comprehensive e-commerce represented by Taobao, Tmall, Jingdong, Pinduoduo, etc.
, to community group buying, to interest e-commerce such as Douyin, and new retail such as Meituan flash sale.
.
.
Online channels are constantly changing
as a product of the times.

With the divergence of various platforms, the competition of online channels has become increasingly complex
.
This year's "Double 11", Tmall, Jingdong and other platforms have not released final transaction data
.
Tmall said that this year's Tmall "Double 11" is stable and good, and the transaction scale is the same
as last year.
JD.
com said that this year's "Double 11" surpassed the industry growth rate and set a new record, and the number of retail shopping users also hit a new record
.
According to data from market data provider Star Map Data, this year's "Double 11" (20:00 on October 31 - 23:59 on November 11), the total merchandise transaction volume (GMV) of the whole network reached 1,115.
4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.
7%.

In terms of proportion, Tmall, JD.
com and Pinduoduo are still the mainstream, with a total transaction volume of 934 billion yuan, but the growth rate is only 2.
9%; In contrast, live streaming e-commerce such as Douyin, Diantao, and Kuaishou only had a transaction volume of 181.
4 billion yuan, but the growth rate reached 146.
1%.

In addition, new retail and community group buying also present a completely different side
.
New retail sales represented by Meituan Flash Sale, JD Daojia and Taoxianda were 21.
8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.
8%; The "wolf nature" of community group buying represented by Duoduo Grocery Shopping, Meituan Youxuan, and Xingsheng Youxuan disappeared, and although it achieved a total sales of 13.
5 billion yuan, an increase of only 1.
1%.

Changes in platform traffic have also led to changes
in corporate sales.
Data from Star Map data shows that during this year's "Double 11", the total sales of grain and oil condiments reached 21.
3 billion yuan, but according to the list, the grain and oil sector still accounts for the majority
.

According to data from China Business Intelligence Network, during the "Double 11" period in 2021, the sales of condiments on the whole network were only 1.
06 billion yuan
.
Among them, the top 10 brands in condiment sales are: Haitian Weiye, Haorenjia, Haidilao, Qianhe Weiye, Lee Kum Kee, Tataile, Zhongyan, Xinhe, Mingyang, and Fanye
.
Among them, Haitian Taste Industry ranked first, accounting for 12.
7%; followed by good people, accounting for 6.
8%; Again for Haidilao, accounting for 5.
8%.

Different from last year, Qianhe Weiye appeared on this year's Tmall "Double 11" grain and oil fast food store sales report list, and ranked 13th, becoming the only company in the entire condiment industry on the list, and it was also the first time that Qianhe Weiye appeared on the mainstream list
.

Public opinion events have an intuitive impact
on a brand's online sales.
The reason why Qianhe Weiye was able to suddenly "counterattack" in online channels was due to years of intensive cultivation and market education at the level of "zero addition" products; On the other hand, compared with other brands, Qianhe Weiye has invested earlier and more
in online channels.

In the long run, many condiment categories are extended from online channels to offline, such as various emerging sauces represented by Sichuan Wazi pepper sauce, various light food seasoning products represented by vinaigrette, and some Western-style seasonings
.
But if you look at the entire condiment industry, such cases are also a minority
.

Specifically, there are more inevitable factors for the popularity of roast pepper sauce, and the chance of vinaigrette is stronger
.
In the past, in the field of sauce, the tempeh paste of the old godmother and the soybean paste of Haitian Weiye Industry were the mainstream, and the product cycle was long
.
Chuanwazi was previously mainly based on B-end users as the main sales channel, and then gradually expanded to the C-end, and after laying the foundation with hot pot seasonings such as bowl chicken, roast pepper sauce became the "pillar" of Chuanwazi to pry open the C-end market
.
Roast pepper sauce not only continues the mainstream spicy base tone of sauce products on the market, but also has a unique flavor, and has a wide range of consumption scenarios
such as accompaniment and cooking.
In addition to pouring a lot of financial and material resources into publicity, the solid product power of roast pepper sauce has become the key to
its popularity.

The popularity of vinaigrette is mainly due to the accident brought about by the epidemic, with the popularity of light food culture and the decline of people's exercise and other factors, vinaigrette quickly penetrated among light food people
.

Growing importance

From the essence of business, the brand layout of different channels, in addition to the brand occupancy related, to achieve link profitability is the ultimate goal
.
The functions of online channels mainly include sales expansion, brand display, consumption cultivation and brand marketing
.

From the perspective of sales volume, the scale of e-commerce channels is not small, and the increase is obvious
.
Data show that since the beginning of this year, online sales of condiments have maintained a rapid growth rate
.
From January to October, the sales of mainstream platforms in the domestic e-commerce market of condiments increased by 22% compared with the same period in 2021, surpassing the overall growth level
of 17.
4% in the food and beverage industry.

However, behind this growth trend, we must also see the generally low profitability of online channels, which is clearly reflected
in various fields.
On the one hand, the cost of customer acquisition in online channels is rising, and more and more brands are deploying this channel, and market competition is further intensifying.
On the other hand, subject to product form, the logistics cost of products based on glass bottle packaging, such as traditional soy sauce and sauce, will be higher, thereby diluting profit margins
.
These two factors make it imperative for condiment brands to win in terms of volume in their online channels
.

It is worth noting that consumers who purchase condiments through online channels are more "picky" than the main consumers of offline condiments, and this pickiness includes both the brand level and the product level
.
In addition to the large brand and high product quality, factors such as health, deliciousness, and convenience may rank ahead
of the price in the reason for purchasing.

As far as the condiment industry is concerned, the overall hidden value of the online channel layout is greater than the sales value
.
On the one hand, the iterative trend of condiment consumers has been formed, and more and more post-80s and post-90s consumer groups have begun to become the mainstream of household condiment consumption
.
This part of the group is also the main force of online channel consumption, and this part of the group
can be better reached through online channels.
On the other hand, although the help of online channels at the sales level is not obvious, and it cannot change the status quo that offline channels are still mainstream, they play an irreplaceable role
in brand exposure, insight into changes in consumer trends and consumer communication.
This is also an important reason
why current brands put new product test sales on online channels.

Looking at the consumer industry in 2022, the explosion of online channels of brands such as Qianhe Weiye well proves the importance of online channels and provides new ideas
for the next product layout of brands.

(Spearstone)

China Food News(November 24, 2022, Version 04)

(Responsible editor: Gao Jiaodi).