The Dominance Aura Of Large Supermarkets Has Been Gradually Weakened.

According to the survey and statistics of typical enterprises of China Chain Store Association, the sales volume of large supermarket enterprises increased by only 7.8% in the third quarter of 2013, which was lower than that of supermarkets, convenience stores and franchised stores. The gross profit margin of large supermarkets also dropped from 15.5% to 17.3% in the third quarter of 2012. Some large supermarket operators obviously feel that the number of visitors is decreasing, the unit price of passengers has been reduced, and the sales growth of stores has dropped.

For this reason, some large chain supermarket companies have slowed down the pace of opening large stores, while others have reduced the number and business area of large stores. In 2012, the growth rate of WAL-MART, Carrefour and Tesco, the top 3 retailers in the world, grew by an average of 27%. In 2013, in addition to the 3 big shops that WAL-MART closed in Shanghai, Wuxi and Shenzhen, the bee lotus shop closed more than 8 large shops with serious losses. The large supermarket of Beijing and Jinsong jointly owned by Ito's and Wuxi's department stores also closed due to losses.

A sharp contrast with the big supermarkets' bad year is that small and convenient shops are running smoothly. The survey and statistics of typical enterprises of China chain operation association show that in the third quarter of 2013, the sales of convenience stores in small format increased by 13.3% compared with the same period last year, the fastest growing in all formats. In addition to the fast development of convenience stores and small and medium-sized supermarkets in the community, some large chain enterprises have started to set up small supermarkets or community stores, such as WAL-MART's "Hui" community store, Tesco's fast entertainment shop, Yong Wang's food supermarket, Mei Si Bai Le, etc. the paramount supermarket also located the key areas of its shops in densely populated residential areas and shopping centers, and chose to open small and medium-sized supermarkets with more than 1000 square meters. Huarun also accelerated the pace of opening community supermarkets.

In parallel with the miniaturization of stores, many shops in the community begin to develop in a multi-functional way and become carriers of various services. That is to say, the store has added a lot of life service items on the basis of the original commodity selling point, and has played many roles such as shopping network, consumer experience place, offline delivery department, communication center, service center, life plan settlement center and so on. The general change is to reduce the area of goods sold, increase the function of carrying services, and enhance the consumer experience. For example, the second generation convenience store of Tianjin Jin Gong supermarket has worked hard in five aspects: Community supermarkets, community kitchens, community services, community logistics and community endowment. Its initial results have been recognized by consumers. Hundreds of Chinese businesses in Wuhan have opened up a new path of formats, highlighting the service functions of the stores, and building an efficient community supermarket.

Experts point out that the popularity of small shops is also a global trend in recent years. According to the information provided by Nomura Institute, in Europe, supermarkets and convenience stores gradually flourished in small business circles. Carrefour and TESCO developed small retail formats. In 2012, France's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by only 0.2%, but the convenience store business grew rapidly at a 6.8% sales growth rate. MarketWatch2013 March, Bill Simon, chief executive of WAL-MART America, said at an industry conference: "you will see that we are entering small shops gradually, and they are doing well in many channels." In the 2013 fiscal year, WAL-MART will open 115 small stores in the United States, and community stores and Express stores will account for 40% of WAL-MART stores.

For why Shopping Mall and Small shop In the opposite direction of development, experts have given some explanations.

First of all, more and more consumers are more inclined to pursue convenience. Especially in the 1980s, post-90s and white-collar people, this trend is more obvious. Most of the small shops go deep into the community and provide a variety of home services, and convenience is their greatest feature. Large supermarkets have many inconveniences compared with small community stores in terms of store distance, traffic, parking, finding products, queuing up checkout and so on. A large proportion of the shopping crowds in large supermarkets are elderly people who come by free shuttle buses. In 2012, the proportion of aging customers in the main supermarkets of large supermarkets in Shanghai has reached 61.1%. The old people are relatively sensitive to prices because of their relatively conservative consumption concept, which leads to a decline in the unit price of passengers, which will affect the sales growth rate of large supermarkets.

Secondly, the cost pressure of large supermarkets is increasing. Large supermarkets need larger passenger flow support, so they are generally located in areas with better location and stronger radiation, and the rents of these areas are the highest ones, resulting in a faster rise in operating costs and a direct slowdown in the speed of large shops opening.

Again, Internet Retailing Competition intensified. For large supermarkets, the most powerful core competitiveness in the past was low commodity prices and "one-stop shopping", and online retail just challenged these two advantages. First, the low price image of large supermarkets is reversed. In recent years, the low price advantage of large supermarkets has been completely broken by online shopping, and the two is the ability of supermarket to purchase one-stop shopping. Nowadays, online products are all inclusive, and online selection of goods is much more convenient than price. Compared with supermarkets, delivery is also very fast.

Finally, the rapid development of specialized shops and stores has also diverted the source of large supermarkets to a certain extent.

Expert analysis shows that large supermarkets still have some vitality in the future, but they will gradually turn to store operations in shopping centers, so that they can complement each other by gathering other shops. A survey of 220 large supermarkets in Shanghai showed that the largest supermarkets in large shopping centers had the largest traffic volume and the best sales performance. In addition, miniaturization and facilitation of commercial shops will continue to maintain vigorous development, with the following main trends:

First, in the market positioning, we will focus on community business "layout". Community commerce is the most basic part of the urban commercial system, and it is also the main distribution area of small shops. With the gradual deepening of the aging of the population in China, the small businesses of community commerce and facilitation will play an increasingly important role. What is particularly noteworthy is that in 2012, the State Council's opinions on deepening the reform of the circulation system and accelerating the development of the circulation industry require that the proportion of the new community business and comprehensive service facilities in the total area of the community should not be less than 10%. The local government should invest in the purchase of some commercial premises to support the construction of the necessary commercial outlets for the residents in the community, such as vegetable shops, vegetable markets, agricultural and sideline products, parity stores, convenience stores, breakfast shops, home service points, etc. These policies will further accelerate the development of community commerce and provide more opportunities for the opening and development of small and medium-sized shops.

Two, in the commodity structure, we will focus on increasing fresh food. China's community supermarkets have more than 1/3 turnover from fresh food, especially in the past one or two years. Chain retailers have reduced the supply of fresh agricultural products by reducing their consumption and cost through direct mining and agricultural supermarket docking, so that fresh food can not only be used to gather customers, but also directly bring profits. In addition to community supermarkets, fresh and fast food are also becoming the main products of convenience stores in many cities.

Three, on the management structure, community supermarkets and convenience stores will serve as carriers of more services. Including collection and payment of various fees, ticketing services, express business, financial services and so on will continue to develop, and convenience stores and other small shops as consumers of online shopping "self mention" will become the most interested in all the services of online shopping crowd.