On December 19, Elephant Supermarket (Xiaoxiang Supermarket) officially opened its first offline store nationwide! The location is Beijing Hualian Wanliu Shopping Center. This is the first offline brand by an online giant to be located in Beijing's urban area, following attempts by Happy Monkey Supermarket, JD Discount Supermarket, and JD Huaguan to open stores on the outskirts. The official WeChat account of Elephant Supermarket posted the news in the morning, and within a morning, the views exceeded 10,000. In the comment section, many readers from different provinces asked when it would open in their cities. The author arrived at the scene on the morning of the opening day. Outside the shopping center, many ground promotion staff in green clothes were promoting community groups and inviting people to enter the supermarket. A long red carpet was laid at the entrance, creating a festive opening atmosphere. Entering the basement level of the shopping center, many consumers were queuing to enter, with staff shouting, "Don't push, don't push." Although the scene was lively, the number of people queuing was far less than the number at JD Discount Supermarket's opening two days ago. Many people may have followed online but couldn't come to the scene. For this reason, the author has compiled some price information and on-site layout photos for everyone to browse.
Fruits and Vegetables At the entrance, on the left are the flowers and vegetable areas, directly opposite is the fruit area, and on the right is the chilled beverage area. Flowers attracted many young women to stop and admire. In front of fruits like cherries, many customers seemed to have done their homework and directly loaded them into their shopping carts. The vegetable area was mostly frequented by middle-aged and elderly people, carefully comparing prices and quality. Pre-cut vegetables occupied about one-sixth of a shelf in the vegetable area, mainly including potatoes, celery segments, lotus root slices, hot pot vegetables, yams, sweet corn segments, mixed vegetable and mushroom platters, taro with meat, millet pepper rings, and minced garlic.
In the chilled beverage area, there were many promotional staff, at least five, constantly shouting promotional phrases like "Buy one get one free."
Hot Food Area The hot food area was the most attractive part of the entire store, a gathering point for crowds. Skewers, oden, candied hawthorn, grilled sausages, roast chicken, and mantis shrimp were all available, comparable to a food court. In addition to food, there was also freshly tapped craft beer. At the Yuanji Yun Dumpling window, besides hot food, you could also buy freshly wrapped raw wontons.
Meat/Seafood Area The seafood area offered high-end products such as king crab, grouper, and salmon. The staff in the seafood area were more numerous compared to other areas, with almost a one-to-one ratio of staff to customers. Everyone was enthusiastic, actively introducing seafood products and promotional policies. In the meat area, there were many staff resembling chefs. Various price tags conveyed that Elephant's own-brand products were not expensive and had good quality.
Regular Standard Products Area In the snacks and seasonings area, there were many Elephant own-brand products, such as beef slices, hot pot base, bird's nest porridge, and nuts. In the beverage area, Elephant's own-brand products mainly promoted healthy HPP juices, with samples available for tasting.
Why Open Elephant Supermarket When There's Already Happy Monkey? In August this year, Meituan announced the launch of its self-operated supermarket brand "Happy Monkey" in Hangzhou, and within a few months, the second and third stores opened successively... Since both are Meituan products, why launch Elephant Supermarket when Happy Monkey already exists? Previously, the author visited several Happy Monkey stores. Comparing them with the current Elephant Supermarket, we can analyze from two perspectives.
First, a multi-brand matrix to cover different markets and demographics. Happy Monkey Supermarket is more like an inclusive livelihood supermarket. Its locations are usually closer to communities, with a product mix focusing on daily household needs, high-frequency consumables, and cost-effectiveness, aiming to meet residents' three meals and basic living needs. The store format is smaller, attracting price-sensitive and convenience-seeking customers. Elephant Supermarket, whether in product selection or location, is more like an experiential quality lifestyle store, targeting urban middle class, young families, and white-collar workers who seek quality, specialty, and new experiences. It sells not just products but a lifestyle and the pleasure of instant gratification—here, you can stroll through the supermarket while tasting freshly grilled skewers, hot roast chicken, or a glass of freshly tapped craft beer, experiences that ordinary supermarkets can hardly provide.
Second, the dual identity of online genes and offline experimentation. Happy Monkey is a purely offline physical retail brand. Elephant's predecessor was "Meituan Maicai," with deep online instant retail genes. Opening an offline store is likely a key step in integrating online and offline. The offline store can serve as an experience center and also as a higher-spec forward warehouse, providing better products and service support for its online business, exploring a new model of warehouse-store integration. However, the "Elephant" brand does not have a clear distinction between online and offline, causing confusion in consumer search, perception, and even price comparison. For example, when the editor took a taxi in the morning and searched for "Elephant Supermarket," the results were almost all nearby forward warehouses, and it took several keyword modifications to find the correct one. This ambiguity extends into the store—a customer compared prices of Arctic Ocean beverages online and offline and directly questioned the staff: "Aren't they all Elephant? Why do you sell it for 7 yuan online but 10 yuan in the store?" The staff replied, "It's up to you to choose." This response clearly indicates insufficient service training.
In summary, Elephant Supermarket's opening in Beijing's urban area brings new influence to the retail market. From the actual experience, its product structure has obvious competitiveness: fresh aquatic products, on-site grilled items, and bakery desserts create differentiated appeal, with clear zoning and logical flow, and product selection is more distinctive than average supermarkets. However, the cramped space also brings practical shortcomings—narrow aisles and a somewhat crowded experience. Moreover, customers have a vague understanding of the online and offline stores. How Meituan's Elephant Supermarket will optimize physical experience, brand communication, and service closure in the future will be a very important topic.