Source: Retail Circle (ID: retailsphere)

Retail Circle has learned that retail giant Jiajiayue Group has entered the warehouse club sector, and the first Jiajiayue warehouse club in China will officially open on December 24 at Hongyang Plaza in Jinan.

This marks another traditional supermarket giant entering the warehouse club format, adding another player to this track.

Currently, the warehouse club track already includes foreign retailers such as Costco, Metro, Sam's Club (Walmart), and Carrefour, while domestic brands like Hema, Beijing Hualian, Beiguo Supermarket, Yonghui, Renrenle, and Fudi have also entered, joining this retail format competition in differentiated ways.

It is understood that Jiajiayue warehouse club will set up a visiting day on December 21-22, allowing customers to freely tour the store and sample popular products like Swiss rolls and small lime drinks for free.

At the same time, a card-free experience day will be held on December 23-24 before the opening, meaning all customers can shop without a membership card. This fully reflects Jiajiayue's confidence in its products and services, and it is also a practice different from foreign warehouse clubs, with a distinctly "Chinese style."

The Jiajiayue warehouse club opening this time is the first in China and also the first in Jinan, located at Hongyang Plaza, 2660 Fusi Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan.

Currently, Jiajiayue warehouse club membership cards are divided into individual and corporate memberships. Individual membership costs 198 yuan/year, including one free family card; corporate membership costs 588 yuan/year, including five free corporate supplementary cards. Before December 21, there is a limited-time discount: individual membership is only 99 yuan/year, and corporate membership is only 294 yuan/year, with a welcome gift for card activation.

On July 28, the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) released the "2020 China Supermarket Top 100." Among them, RT-Mart and Auchan under Gaoxin Retail, Yonghui, and China Resources Vanguard and China Resources Suguo under China Resources ranked in the top three, while Walmart fell out of the top three to fourth place. Jiajiayue ranked seventh in the top ten. Jiajiayue rose from 11th in 2018 to 9th in 2019, and then to 7th in 2020, moving up two positions each year, showing strong performance.

In December 2016, Jiajiayue was listed on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, officially entering the capital market, and subsequently accelerated its national expansion.

In 2017, Jiajiayue joined forces with Qingdao Weike Group, acquiring 51% of Weike Commercial for 344.37 million yuan.

In 2018, Jiajiayue acquired 67% of Fuyuexiang.

In 2019, Jiajiayue took over seven hypermarkets of China Resources Vanguard in Shandong; in the same year, it invested 210 million yuan in Anhui Lexin Commerce, acquiring 75% equity.

In 2020, it took control of Inner Mongolia's "Victoria" supermarket for 375 million yuan.

Jiajiayue has not only accelerated its expansion but also strengthened its format innovation. In the past October, Jiajiayue SPAR Greens premium supermarket opened at Qilu Wuyue Plaza in Linyi, Linshan, and Jiajiayue supermarket discount store opened at Wanda Plaza in Shouguang, Weifang.

In the first half of 2021, Jiajiayue closed 23 stores and added 68 new directly-operated stores, including 42 new openings (18 hypermarkets, 18 comprehensive supermarkets, and 6 other formats); at the beginning of the year, Inner Mongolia Weilehui Supermarket Co., Ltd. was consolidated with 26 stores; the average operating area of new hypermarkets and comprehensive supermarkets was 2,953 square meters and 779 square meters, respectively.

Currently, in the warehouse club track, traditional supermarkets are entering one after another, each showing their unique strengths. Each has its own approach, and only time will tell who will stand out and lead the pack.

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