Retailers Are Reluctant To Sell Masks.

Who can predict that the most popular annual product this year is actually a mask.

In Wuhan, there were only a dozen confirmed cases. In the WeChat group, "I advised my parents to wear masks, and my parents advised me to wear my pants, who is battle but who?" Nowadays, wearing masks has become a consensus. It's not that we change the concept of our parents, but that it is dangerous to live without a mask.

From "a man in Ningbo went out to buy vegetables without wearing masks for 15 seconds to be infected", "5 people in a department store in Tianjin do not contact each other," and then to "virus aerosol aerosol transmission", the last and only solution is to wear a mask.

With the rapid spread of the epidemic and the promotion of various policies, the wearing rate of public masks is getting higher and higher. For a time, the whole nation poured into the drugstore and the electronic business platform, so the mask was out of stock. Electricity providers and offline pharmacies are being snapped up.

N95 level mask, almost no one will throw it away once. Carefully remove the mask, avoid touching the cover, and hang the respirator in the ventilating place. It becomes the sacred action of many people when they go home.

After all, it's too difficult to buy, too expensive, and hard to find.

　　 Supply difficulties

China is the largest producer and exporter of masks in the world, and about 7 billion 500 million of the world's population relies on masks consumed.

Hao Fuqing, deputy director of the social development department of the national development and Reform Commission, said that as of February 3rd, the production of respirators has reached 14 million 800 thousand in 22 key provinces of the country (the largest production capacity of Chinese masks is about 20000000 per day), and the most short N95 masks daily output is 116 thousand, accounting for only 0.8%.

The statistics bulletin of China's health and family planning development in 2016 showed that the total number of health workers in the country was 11 million 173 thousand, plus managers and technicians. It is estimated that 12 million medical workers will be on duty every day. If the general medical staff used 2 masks a day, our current production capacity is no longer able to meet the general health care needs. At the same time, some analysts believe that the demand for visiting patients, relatives, ordinary family workers and office workers in China needs 150 million daily masks.

The gap is huge. A EXCEL document on the way of contacting the national mask manufacturers was circulated among WeChat groups of major retailers. Wang Yu, director of the department store purchasing of a fresh supermarket in Beijing, told the billion euro that when the news came out just three days before New Year's Eve, they began to look for goods in the whole country according to this document.

"We contacted more than 200 domestic mask manufacturers, and we called them all. Beijing is not a mask manufacturer, we contacted the field. The producers in the field needed masks to support Wuhan, and then they had to give priority to their respective cities and provinces. As domestic masks are in short supply, masks are urgent and requisitioned, so we think of cross border procurement.

Cross border procurement must first solve the problem of goods supply, check whether the goods are fidelity, whether there is a manufacturer's qualification, and consider whether a large quantity of goods can guarantee the supply standard.

Because this fresh supermarket has abundant sources of imports, there are local contacts in Japan, Korea and Europe. South Korea has close trade with China, so they first locked their eyes on Korea.

After contacting 6-7 manufacturers, some manufacturers are of poor quality, and some producers are sitting on the floor, preferring to tear up contracts or supply. Finally, a shipment was delivered according to the contract. Wang Yu's supermarket ordered millions of masks.

Wang Yu told billion euro that the global demand for masks is increasing, and foreign purchases must be paid at once. The purchase cost of tens of millions of purchases will need tens of millions of yuan, which is a great adventure for retail enterprises.

Wang Yu's company is lucky. After all, he bought a mask. According to media reports, in the cross border trade masks trading, China and South Korea's factory trade, there have been a variety of routines.

For example, a supplier from South Korea sent the formal documents of the company's production qualification, product testing reports and product certificates to a domestic retail brand, and the factory price of the mask was set at 15 yuan per person. After the retailer promised at least 2W quantity, the other side agreed to reduce to 13.5 yuan. But Korean suppliers have not yet given the contract. After several rounds of hastening, Korean suppliers said that other houses had bid up to 18.5 yuan.

Some factories block retailers from outside the factory, do not let them know about inventory; some directly tear up contracts and sell goods signed at the factory gate; others also refuse to accept tax or invoice.

According to a person familiar with the global direct sourcing, the price of the adult mask of the KF94 (N95 standard) in Korea is around 15.5 yuan in February 10th, while the retail price of some local pharmacies has risen to 37 yuan in South Korea.

　　 International customs clearance problem

Ceng Bibo, the founder of the cross border electricity supplier pier, received a call from vice mayor of Wuhan and director of Commerce Bureau in the evening of thirty.

On the 26 New Year's Eve, vice mayor of Shanghai organized the Shanghai electricity supplier meeting. The foreign terminal was represented by Shanghai's electricity supplier. On the same day, the Ocean Terminal Company held an urgent meeting to import tens of millions of mask programs. That night, the foreign terminal buyer took 6 million yuan in cash and headed for Korea.

The factory price of masks in South Korea varies from day to day. From the initial 3-4 yuan a piece, second days suddenly chanted to 6 yuan, then to 12-13 yuan a piece, until the recent 15.5 yuan a piece. Volatility is extremely uncontrollable.

"Those who sell masks in South Korea say that a good contract is not worth counting, but they are directly converted to auction." here, Zeng Bi Bo is still somewhat angry.

South Korea's production capacity is limited, coupled with too much roasted goods, the ocean terminal has to find other sources of goods, synchronized with the European line, to Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Turkey, Argentina, India to find goods.

Cross border e-commerce procurement masks, which need to take up 16% of value-added and tariffs, also need to add international air freight and domestic freight. This is not another operation cost and C terminal freight cost.

Ceng Bibo introduced the link of logistics to euro billion. First, through customs declaration, customs clearance procedures, manufacturers store materials in overseas warehouses, and need all the materials, including materials list, export front and customs documents, to enter the logistics link.

After confirming the flight, contact the transport company from the warehouse to the airport immediately. Provide logistics list, verify quantity, specification and size. Once we arrive at the airport, we check again the specifications, the number of goods and the customs formalities. Finally, with the label of "epidemic prevention materials", we finally set foot on the journey to China.

(Ocean wharf purchasing materials abroad)

The epidemic was included in the global public health emergency. The flight to China continued to be reduced and the capacity was insufficient, and the cost of international air logistics increased. Air China's air freight from New York to China increased from $1.3 per kilogram to $6 per kilogram, while an airline from Europe to China rose from 1.8 euros per kilogram to 3.4 euros per kilogram.

"Our buyer went to India. Local people in India are also scrambling for goods. If they can't get goods, they can only run in white. There are other buyers who go to Germany and Holland, just in case of hurricanes, no one to travel, traffic is difficult.

As of February 11th, 4 million 500 thousand of the overseas masks were imported into China.

　 Restrictions on domestic transportation

On Taobao and Jingdong, a large number of masks have been requisitioned by the state for supervision. All masks have been given priority to supply Wuhan and postponed delivery.

In the face of shortage, Shanghai, Hefei, Xiamen and Hangzhou have launched the mask purchase, appointment, Yaohao measures, and the difficulty of seeing a doctor and buying a school district room is at an order of magnitude.

Shaoxing is the earlier batch of masks to express the distribution to the city. The citizens make an appointment with the real name of the public card, one person per day; Yantai limited supply by ID card, each person can buy two online distribution; Shanghai buys an appointment purchase, every household can buy five masks; Shenzhen Yaohao buys masks, and the central sign can buy six, the restriction is comparable to buying a house.

Buying masks and protecting themselves become a kind of luck for consumers. And whether the respirator can arrive smoothly has become a worry for retailers.

The mask of Chongqing was requisitioned by Dali, and Qingdao Shenyang buckled masks. Local competition for respirators and other protective materials revealed a more tense atmosphere.

Another retailer, who asked not to be named, told the European Commission, "I am very worried if the masked masks will be requisitioned after arriving at the port and will be able to transport them to our national warehouse."

Under the call of "donate N95 to frontline doctors", Yangxin, Hubei, requires non front-line public officers to hand over their N95 masks and do not pay for their violation of discipline. Beijing does not allow civil servants to wear N95 masks to work. In contrast, Shandong Weifang is relatively open and fair, encouraging the use of a N95 for 5 masks.

In addition, many domestic express companies have not started completely, and have also increased the instability of commodity transportation.

There are too many uncertain factors and retailers who sell tens of millions of masks will eventually earn only a fraction of their hard money and even earn hard money.

Sales link: customers and businesses lose twice

A few days after the outbreak of the fermentation, Taobao's masks began to sell out. On the evening of January 21st, Taobao official micro issued a statement that the mask was not allowed to rise in price, but still could not control the price. 25 thousand, users have been saying, "the price has increased", "the business is still sitting at the starting price", "it has gone up too far".

However, these worries are already redundant, and the masks have been completely broken.

The Jingdong has donated 1 million pieces of masks, 60 thousand pieces of medical supplies and medicines to Wuhan. The mask has been out of stock for several weeks.

The NetEase with an attitude of strict selection has sold the mask to the masses in Wuhan, and the servers have been down.

Sam's member stores actively mobilize the global purchasing power. The price of 145 yuan and 10 3M masks is reasonable, but the number is limited.

Suning's mask opened and robbed, creating a record of 10 seconds of empty stock.

Looking at it now, the vast majority of electricity suppliers, masks are in the state of no goods or only a small quantity of goods. On the Internet, there are occasional sources of goods, such as micro dealers, purchasing agents, and leisure fish.

The retail sales of masks and vegetables in a super retailer in Beijing have become a sensitive topic of masks. Ben wanted to solve life's rigid needs for customers, but drew the comments of people's daily. A retailer who earns only a few dollars to sell a mask is willing to be upset again.

At present, the supermarkets in Beijing can provide stable masks, and there are only a few T11 outlets. After billions of Euro related visitors, they asked about the approximate factory price of Korea and other places. Actually, a mask can only earn a few dollars in profit space, and it will also bear the risk of not understanding the price of customer complaints.

Wang Yu, the head of department store purchasing, told the billion euro, "before the new year, a batch of 3M masks in the shop, 3 sold for 20 yuan. Later, suppliers increased by 3-5 yuan, and we also increased by 3-5 yuan. Our attitude is that we can not make money, but we do not want to lose money to sell. As a result, users complain about rising prices, and our hearts are cold.

In the sales link, imported goods must also be labeled with Chinese characters. Such a processing, the cost of each mask will also rise about 1 yuan, will also affect the shelf time. This requires retailers to communicate with local business departments before they can be exempted.

In addition, new year and year after year, recruitment difficulties and front-line staff epidemic prevention work has been a headache for major retailers.

During the new year, business was kept up and the cost of labor doubled. With the opening of takeaway and distribution business in many supermarkets, the cost of distribution increased. The mask is no doubt a just demand product, attracting more people to place orders online, which actually increases the burden on employees and the distribution cost of stores.

When the masks inventory becomes the mystery of Schrodinger, no one can predict the time when domestic masks can be mass-produced to meet the needs of most people. If the mask is not sold, the mask bought at a high price becomes a liability, and the risk of cash flow is enormous.

National difficulties and strict supervision. Even if it is smooth and smooth, it will be criticized for issuing national financial difficulties, rather than purchasing. For electric providers, selling masks is not a cost-effective business. Masks have also become a sensitive commodity. Retailers dare not touch or touch, but they are too thankless.

Why do we have to buy mask? One of the supermarket's founders told the billion euro, "we have only a few dollars for a mask and why we want to sell it. Actually, we didn't think much about it, just because the customer needed it. Abandoning the interests and protecting the people's livelihood, we can do business in the past.

But in the afternoon of his interview with billion euro, a news came out.

According to the Propaganda Department of the Honghu municipal Party committee of Hubei, in February 5th, the hukang large pharmacy in Honghu was sold for 1 yuan due to the sale of disposable masks. The difference between the purchase price and the sales price was higher than that of the 15% standard of the document "[2020]3". The price was fined for driving up the price. Confiscation of 14210 yuan of illegal gains and a fine of 42630 yuan.

Many micro-blog users have left a message saying, "they only earn 4 cents, which is clearly a conscientious businessman. How can they drive up prices?" "During the new year, the price of disposable masks is more than one yuan."

I wonder if these pharmacist owners and supermarket founders will regret their decision to sell masks.

The purpose of masks control is to solve the shortage of materials in Hubei, but now there are more problems.

Price is determined by supply and demand. Expropriation and price fixing can not solve the increasing demand and can not achieve the expansion of existing capacity. The moral character of "driving up prices" and "making money difficult for the country" obstruct the market signal of price transmission of scarcity, instead, it becomes a situation that consumers and businesses lose double.

Fortunately, the scale of production terminals has been increasing, and large manufacturing enterprises have intervened. Foxconn, general Wuling, BYD, Sinopec, Guangzhou Automobile Group, many energy and manufacturing enterprises announced emergency mask, and even home brand mercury home textiles, diaper manufacturers, daddy baby, clothing brand YOUNGOR, red bean shares, three gun underwear has also been added to the production of mask production. The state issued the notice to support the increase in production and supply for the shortage of materials in the epidemic situation, which provides enterprises with a full exposure.

At present, only by using a reasonable price leverage mechanism to mobilize the production and supply of masks in the global supply chain can we catch the huge demand of Chinese masks.

The news of the fines of the masks in Honghu, Hubei, has prompted more retailers to worry. Behind the worry, "dare not sell masks" will make the mask of the whole society unable to meet the supply.

Fortunately, 1 yuan mask had been reopened before the press release.