3 Directions Of General Merchandise Industry Pformation

Recently, Thomson Reuters has heard information about the performance reversal and rebound of us department stores, whether it is Messi department store, or Penny's department store, Nord stall department store has gained 4%, 5.8%, 3.2% growth, even if Sears department store, which has been struggling for a long time, is expected to grow by 1%. This is very rare in the mature market of the United States, and it can be said that it is a beautiful pcript.

The Bon Marche, the world's first department store, opened in Paris in 1852, and the first department store in China opened in Shanghai in 1917.

With the rise of chain stores, the channel effect of department stores has made all the manufacturers return, so that the department store industry has been defined as a place that can not be sold except for houses and cars.

It can be seen that the core of the market competitiveness of department stores lies in the channel brand effect of the department store itself, which can bring customers and sales volume to the manufacturer brand in the shopping mall, whether it is the self purchase of traditional department stores, the supplier system of today's department stores, or the buying system of Western department stores.

The strength of the brand of the department store's carrying channel, besides collecting the rent and sharing the factory's running water, often delays the accounts, and even acts as a financing means for expanding business.

With the gradual growth and strong strength of manufacturers' brands, brand stores are gradually emerging in order to resist the crush of department stores. The development of shopping centers has created conditions for the booming of manufacturers' brand stores, and gradually formed a shopping center mode of "shop store" with brand names and independent collection of silver, which has solved the problem of long time free occupation of cash flow from manufacturers, resulting in the loss of a large number of excellent brands in department stores.

Secondly, the development of professional stores and electric business has become the "leading ghost" of the decline of department stores.

Retail competition has gradually increased the specialization of the retail industry. The department stores, which are classified by category, have gained the ability of independent survival and development.

Specialization has effectively reduced operating costs, improved the ability of gathering customers, and improved the market competitiveness of professional shopping malls. This has created conditions for these specialized shopping malls to separate themselves from department stores and become independent channel brands, and has led to the rise of various specialized shops such as electrical appliances, home appliances, washing, cosmetics, supermarkets, big markets, convenience stores, and so on.

The development of these specialized shops from the development of the department stores has taken away the resources that are attached to the outlets of the department stores, and the rise of the franchised stores brought by the strong brand of the manufacturers has made some excellent manufacturers get rid of the "squeezing" of the department stores.

As far as access is concerned, the emergence of the Internet has triggered a path revolution in retail business, which is the rise of e-commerce.

E-commerce has been developing rapidly with the all-weather, low cost and full coverage advantages along with the solution to the problem of offline distribution and online payment. It has formed a strong challenge to the traditional channels of retail industry, especially the department store industry.

The layout of e-commerce continues to expand rapidly, and the retail industry has already been in touch with the Internet. The department store industry has become an unavoidable topic for the electricity supplier or the general merchandise industry.

Third, the rise of shopping centers has become the burial of traditional department stores.

The suburban development of American urban form has created the development of shopping centers that include all kinds of retail, catering, cultural entertainment and other "one-stop" consumer destinations, while the relatively low rent and "shop in store" mode of the American suburban shopping centers have attracted a large number of manufacturers' brands, and the booming brand store has also boosted the growth of shopping centers.

The independent cashier mode of shopping center manufacturers substitutes for the department store mode of department stores occupancy accounts, giving cash flow as the lifeline of manufacturers preferred to enter shopping centers, and the effect of mutual promotion between manufacturers' brand aggregation and shopping centers in aggregating passenger flow, promoting the rapid development of shopping centers, and forcing Department stores partly to accept the "store in store" mode.

In densely populated Asia, the heart shopping mall still has a multi format comprehensive development mode, complying with the changing trend of one-stop consumption behavior brought by the continuous improvement of consumers' time value, and evolving a comprehensive urban complex with offices, houses, hotels, shopping malls, and other shops.

In addition, the department stores are often absorbed by the shopping centers as one of the main stores. The department stores share their customers with other professional shops in the shopping center and compete fiercely. The commodity category and brand are decreasing and the business area is decreasing.

Observing the department stores in the US and Europe, it is found that independent department stores are very rare. The traditional department stores have evolved into shopping centers, which contain many formats, or have been incorporated into one of the shops and a main store by the shopping center, and the products are also greatly reduced to clothing.

To observe the brand composition in these department stores, it will be found that the two or three line brand is the main brand, and the brand positioning is between the manufacturer's brand store brand and the low end of the big store and the basic consumer brand.

Fast fashion brands, which are mainly based on volume, are often not among them, even though there are fast fashion brands in department stores, most of them are store stores. Basically, they have independent cash register systems and do not participate in promotional activities of department stores.

This is what is usually referred to as shopping centralization of department stores.

Under the pressure of shopping centers and franchised stores, it is also facing the competition between professional stores and electronic business.

But it is certain that the department store industry will not die in a long historical period.

The reason why the department store is not dying is that when the brand is not strong enough to open an independent store, and when the brand of the Department Store brings customers and sales to the Department, the department store industry will exist.

Obviously, it is always the majority of manufacturers that are unable to set up their own brand stores, and the demand for them is always there.

Though facing the challenge of the two categories of professional shops and electricity suppliers, the demand for the department store will only be adjusted and will not disappear. The department store industry will continue to exist in the adjustment, and will be reborn in the adjustment.

The department store industry in China is undergoing this adjustment process.

China's regional differences are relatively large, rapid economic development and regional imbalance, superimposed on the long-term background of the rapid urbanization of new industries, the development of department stores in China also shows a clear differentiation trend: the first tier cities have basically merged with the international trend, and counties and towns below the county level are still at a relatively traditional stage of development.

At present, the shopping center of department stores in a second tier city is inevitable. The closing tide of some department stores is the main trend. The depression of the industry is only a catalyst to accelerate the trend. The poor management has only a case meaning; the three or four line cities and counties and cities below the County have great survival and development space, but they must also face the wave of urbanization, the impact of the electricity supplier and the change of the retail industry itself.

From this, we can predict the future trend of China's department stores.

First, shopping centers.

China's first tier cities have merged with the development of international retailing, and the shopping centralization of department stores is in progress.

With the shopping mall, represented by Wanda, Huarun and Baolong, entering the two or three tier city, the shopping center of department stores in two or three tier cities will also come quickly.

The department store industry must conform to this trend, or upgrade itself to a multi development shopping center, or to "thin" into the department store in the shopping center, and become one of the main stores and format combinations of shopping centers.

There is another development direction, that is, before the shopping center community trend and community-based, to obtain the space and time of survival and development in a second tier city.

New type

It is the result of population aggregation and social development brought about by industrialization and urbanization.

The focus of new urbanization in China is the urbanization of cities below three lines and counties and counties below, which will inevitably bring about a rapid upgrading of population aggregation and consumption in these regions.

Different from the urbanization mode of suburbanization in the United States, urbanization in China must be characterized by a high population concentration. The pattern of retail industry is also different from that of the American suburban shopping center. In addition, small and medium-sized cities have slower pace of life and lower time value. Customers' consumption behavior will be different from that of a second tier city with high time value, which will show the pattern of common development between shopping centers and other formats.

Therefore, the department store industry has larger development space in these cities, and there are opportunities for rapid development under the background of new urbanization, but it also faces the pressure of gradual shopping centralization.

Second,

And professionalism.

The shopping centralization of department stores means the specialization and thematic specialization of department stores. Specialized and themed department stores can display competitiveness in shopping centers and get a place to live.

Even in the second tier urban communities and the three tier cities below the pressure of shopping centres, the specialization and thematic of the department stores can effectively expand the radius of the business district of the department stores, so as to enhance the capacity of the business circle with other symbiotic formats, and create a better business atmosphere and business environment for their own development.

Third,

。

The effective rule of the department store to adapt to the competition of electronic business is its own business.

On the one hand, it can move part of the business that can be fully electronic commerce to the Internet. On the other hand, it can strengthen the offline experience function, combine offline experience with online promotion and sales, form a new O2O department store mode, and realize the new business of the department store in the era of electronic commerce.

In this sense, China's traditional department stores will soon die, and thematic, specialized and electronic commerce department stores will be reborn in the context of new urbanization, and they will have a common prosperity with shopping centers.