The rise of temporary food supermarkets to tap new retail business opportunities

In the past two years, the food industry has been rejuvenated and has become one of the popular offline retail formats

The selling point is outstanding and quickly out of the circle

A box of 500 grams of red-faced strawberries is priced at 39.

The core selling point of Linqi Supermarket is big-name discounts.

Expired foods are products that are "on the verge of expiry, but still within the expiry date"

The rich variety and low price have made the discount retail stores out of the circle quickly, and the business format has continued to expand.

The popularity of discount supermarkets continues to rise, boosting the accelerated development of the food industry in the early stages

Continued operations face challenges

The rise of temporary supermarkets has turned the temporary food slowdown problem faced by traditional supermarkets into a huge business opportunity

The first is the issue of supply

There are three main sources of food supplies for the temporary period: first, downstream retailers, including supermarkets, convenience stores, e-commerce and other inventories; second, upstream food companies and distributors; and third, imported food distributors

Good Deals initially targeted imported food distributors

China's temporary food warehouses are mainly located in port cities, such as Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao, and good deals started in Shanghai

With the continuous expansion of the scale, the push purchase has expanded the scope of supply to the second category, that is, upstream food companies, both domestic and foreign

The second is the issue of profit margins

　　It is not the big brands that make the most of the profits for the good deals, but the small brands and private labels on the shelves

　　At present, Haodian has registered its own brands such as "Xiaqu", and already has more than a dozen SKUs such as fried rice, chicken feet, and freeze-dried durian

　　The core competitiveness of the supermarket chains in the temporary period includes: first, the ability to directly connect with the upstream channel.

Further diversification of business formats

　　Since 2021, many brands in the food industry have received financing in the near term, and many companies, including Haodai, Prosperity Bazaar, Xiaoxiang Life, and Hitego, have received financing one after another
.
At the same time, the temporary food track has become crowded
.
According to the data from Tianyancha, last year, 125 new food enterprises were added in China
.

　　In addition to these new brands, large retailers are also rushing to the discount stores
.
Traditional supermarket brands such as Hema, Yonghui Supermarket, and Suning have all entered the game
.
Among them, Suning plans to open 100 discount stores this year, mainly selling online celebrity shopping, discounted products, imported leisure products, and daily necessities
.

　　Online channels, e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo, Tmall, Taobao, etc.
, have also opened many temporary food discount stores since the end of 2020
.
On the JD.
com platform, some merchants sell imported biscuits with discounts as low as 10-20%, and the monthly sales of spicy sticky products on the Pinduoduo platform have reached more than 100,000 pieces
.
It can be said that under the combined effect of multiple factors, the format of temporary discount stores is gradually becoming mature
.

　　(Comprehensive arrangement by Gao Na)

　　"China Food News" (07 edition on August 12, 2022)

　　(Editor-in-charge: Gao Na)