The epidemic - the first big test in 2020, screened out a group of companies with weak risk resistance, and also tested a group of strong brands that became more and more courageous in the storm; some people lost everything, while others found new models in the epidemic and doubled their revenue.

In the second half of 2020, what kind of business model will attract consumers whose consumption habits have been changed by the epidemic?

01

New consumer demand "

Hot pot ingredient supermarket" is popular

It is not necessarily true that the epidemic has impacted all businesses. The supermarket industry has made new developments in this epidemic - more subdivided and specialized "hot pot ingredient supermarkets" came into being.

Affected by the epidemic, people have changed from "eating in the hall" to "ordering takeout" and then to "making it yourself". Traditional convenience stores and supermarkets have also quickly adjusted their product structure according to their consumption habits, adding ready-to-eat products, and the proportion of various condiments and ingredients. Many hot pot bases and hot pot ingredients that were only available in large supermarkets in the past are now also available in convenience stores. In addition, a large number of supermarkets specializing in hot pot and barbecue have emerged in the past six months.

Why are hot pot supermarkets on the rise?

For consumers who value experience, the ingredients in chain supermarkets can no longer meet consumer demand.

Imagine that if you eat hot pot at home, you need to buy pots, seasonings, and ingredients from different channels, and you have to process the ingredients again and plate them separately when you get home. It takes most of the day to prepare a hot pot, and the taste is not as good as eating in the hall. Are you still willing to eat at home?

"It's troublesome to handle ingredients, it wastes time, and the taste is not as good as eating in the hall" has become the main pain point for consumers who eat hot pot at home.

Based on such pain points and the increasing number of "lazy people" consuming, "hot pot ingredient supermarket" has emerged.

This is a new type of ingredient supermarket. The store concentrates all the products that may be used for hot pot, such as pots, grills, seasonings, base materials, sauces, and ingredients. Consumers can get them all at one stop. Because of its novel model and high concentration of ingredients, it has been widely sought after as soon as it was launched.

02

Under the "lazy economy"

Whoever makes customers worry less has a say

First, compared with supermarkets and fresh supermarkets, the dishes and goods are more concentrated, and consumers can get all the ingredients they need in more than 10 minutes; secondly, compared with vegetable markets, the ingredients are cleaner and the consumer experience is better; compared with traditional restaurants, it has attracted a large number of hot pot chain brands to enter the ingredient supermarket. Among them, Taotuluo, which has 5 years of experience in small hot pot takeout, is one of the entrants.

After looking at all the hot pot ingredient supermarkets on the market, Zhao Zikun, founder and CEO of Taoluo, discovered a problem: Although supermarkets save consumers’ shopping time, the existing barbecue hot pot supermarkets are not yet fully mature and are still a little short of making consumers “worry-free”. If you want to be truly recognized by consumers in this industry, there are a few things you have to do:

(1) Replace “packaging bags” with “dish plates” and cook directly without processing

Most hot pot supermarkets’ products are placed on the shelves in the form of “bags”. Consumers have to tear open the packaging, wash, and plate the products after taking them home; for special products such as duck intestines and tripe, consumers have to wash and cut them again after they get home.

The products in Taoluo’s ingredient supermarkets are all restored to the serving style of hot pot restaurants; Taoluo helps consumers complete secondary processing in the store kitchen, arranges the plates, and puts them in the freezer and refrigerator. Consumers can take them home and pour them directly into the hot pot to eat without any operation, which is almost like “feeding” the dishes to the customers’ mouths.

(2) Providing more attractive prices to increase customer consumption frequency

Compared with other food supermarkets, although the prices of Taituluo are almost the same, the product range is more complete. Taituluo has ingredients that cannot be bought in other stores. Currently, there are more than 200 SKUs, and this number will be expanded to 400 by this year. Relatively speaking, it is more cost-effective.

Compared with hot pot dine-in, Taituluo's prices can be more than 50% cheaper. It provides the quality of restaurant takeout ingredients, but only needs to pay the price of the vegetable market.

The reason why it can offer this price is that 5 years of deep cultivation of the supply chain has given Taituluo Food Supermarket more room for profit. The store's target is the community population, and only the right price can attract customers to increase the frequency of purchase.

(3) Supply bone broth and provide aprons and tablecloths for free

Other food supermarkets are just retail product supermarkets, but Taituluo Food Supermarket has more "hot pot flavor". The store provides bone broth for only 3 yuan, eliminating the need for consumers to go home and mix the hot pot base with water, helping consumers to make the "hot pot restaurant taste" at home to the greatest extent.

Unlike the sesame sauce with preservatives and a shelf life of up to 12 months used in traditional supermarkets, the sesame sauce dipping sauce featured in the Tailulang store is freshly made daily by the store without any preservatives, and is only stored in the refrigerator for 1 day, highly reproducing the taste of the restaurant.

Not only that, Tailulang Food Supermarket also provides free deodorizers, disposable aprons, and tablecloths to reduce the trouble of consumers cleaning up after meals.

Don't underestimate this step. In the current era of the "lazy economy", making it more convenient for consumers will make them stickier with you; it is best if you have everything ready, so that they don't have to think and can pay directly, and customer satisfaction will be higher.

There is a set of data that can confirm the correctness of Zhao Zikun's decision. A third-party software that calculates the number of orders and stores counts the number of stores and sales of Tailulang Food Supermarket and competitor stores at the same time. On average, Tailulang's order volume is twice that of its competitors, which means that it only uses more than 500 stores to achieve the order volume of more than 1,200 stores of its competitors, and its profitability is amazing.

After verifying the profitability of the store, Zhao Zikun learned from the experience and lessons of competitors and began to promote the Tailuolang food supermarket nationwide.

03

To seize the bonus

They want to make a thousand-store plan

With his understanding of the retail industry, accurate grasp of consumer psychology, and confidence in the business model, Zhao Zikun plans to open 1,500 stores across the country by the end of 2020.

Is the thousand-store plan too aggressive at the moment?

In the long run, expanding stores is not aggressive, but a "smart layout strategy". Tailuolang has 5 years of takeaway accumulation, 5 years of precipitation of food supply chain, coverage of nearly 300 cities, and strong product sinking verification. They have already walked through and understood the road of "hot pot retailization".

In the first quarter of 2020 (during the epidemic), when other companies' revenue was sluggish, Tailuolang's customer unit price remained between 200-210 yuan, and the revenue from hot pot takeaway alone exceeded 100 million yuan. The data once again confirmed the stability of Tailuolang's model.

With a mature operation team, unified publicity support from the headquarters, business logic that can withstand scrutiny, and a large fan base, Taoluo has gone a smoother path than most competing brands.

While others are still worrying about how to break even, Taoluo has been planning the development direction of its future stores. It may be a mini version of "Hema Fresh", or it may add more life convenience services, or it may create a new model in line with the times. But no matter how it develops, Taoluo will not stop moving forward.

Business is like this, the bold will die of overeating, and the timid will die of starvation; whoever can meet the diverse needs of consumers, create more convenient living conditions, and gain more recognition from consumers will have more say.

Looking at the resume of Taotuluo, it is not a "nobody" who came out halfway, but a "blue chip stock" backed by high-quality resources:

1. Draining the industry: In 2015, it took the lead in launching takeaway hot pot, which set off a wave of imitation in the industry;

2. Capital support: It has completed four rounds of financing of nearly 100 million yuan, and investment institutions include well-known domestic institutions such as Zhen Fund and Innovation Works;

3. Stable revenue growth: From 2015 to 2019, sales have increased exponentially for 5 consecutive years, and sales in 2019 exceeded 300 million yuan;

4. National layout: So far, it has more than 500 stores in 30 provinces across the country; there are large food distribution warehouses in Beijing, Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Guangzhou;

5. Large fan base: Many celebrities are its fans on social media, and its high appearance and high quality make it a topic of its own.

6. Haidilao and Xiabuxiabu entered the food delivery market in 2016 and occupied the top two positions in sales. Taotuluo still surpassed other brands with its strong food delivery operation capabilities and occupied the third place in the food delivery market.