Click image for details Introduction: New Distribution team recently selected 20 cities from China's top 40 economic cities as research targets, and in collaboration with multiple brand owners and distributors, conducted a market survey on the overall situation of China's FMCG B2B platforms at this stage. Based on actual market research data, during the Chongqing Autumn Sugar & Wine Fair this year, at the 'Third China FMCG + Internet' conference hosted by New Distribution, they released: "2017 China FMCG B2B Industry Competitiveness Report".
The report conducts in-depth research on various FMCG B2B platforms across multiple dimensions including coverage rate, penetration rate, supply chain organization, platform operations, delivery capability, and service visits in each city, comprehensively evaluating the competitiveness of each platform in the surveyed cities.
The following content is the research results obtained by New Distribution in collaboration with 7 distributors in Jinan, visiting nearly a thousand retail stores, based on actual questionnaire feedback from the stores:
- Jinan Market Background Analysis: Jinan's retail market is dominated by local brands. In the hypermarket segment, there are well-known domestic and international retailers such as Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco, RT-Mart, and China Resources Vanguard. Except for RT-Mart, which maintains a strong performance, the others are in a lukewarm state. Two local retail enterprises, Inzone and Hualian,凭借高超的经营能力和出身的天然优势, have captured two-thirds of Jinan's retail market.
Currently, Jinan has a permanent population of 7.06 million, with approximately 35,000 mom-and-pop stores. As a provincial capital, Jinan's convenience store development should be relatively advanced, but the actual industry format is generally not ideal. Apart from Uni-President Inzone, there are no other chain convenience store brands with more than a hundred direct-operated or tightly franchised stores. Existing chains are mostly loose franchise brands from local and external sources, lacking proper operation and management.
The underdevelopment of convenience stores in Jinan is largely due to the influence of Uni-President Inzone. Uni-President Inzone is a community supermarket jointly invested by Inzone and Taiwan's Uni-President Supermarket. It延续了台湾统一超商旗下7-11的风格 in operation and management, combined with local conditions, forming a unique Jinan-style community supermarket.
Uni-President Inzone stores range from 100 to 500 square meters. In terms of product structure, they highlight the fresh food features of convenience stores while also having the community supermarket attributes, integrating convenience and daily life. With strong support from Inzone, it has been very successful. To date, there are over 200 stores in Jinan's urban area. This community supermarket with typical 7-11 genes has basically met the convenience needs of Jinan citizens, creating a dominant position and suppressing the development scale of Jinan's convenience store industry.
Additionally, in recent years, Hualian has also begun to venture into convenience-oriented community supermarkets.
2: Analysis of Mom-and-Pop Store Operations
- Most mom-and-pop stores have daily transaction amounts between 1,000-3,000 yuan, accounting for about 49.1%, with 23.4% of small stores having daily transactions between 3,000-5,000 yuan.
- In terms of age structure, the main group of store owners is aged 30-50, accounting for as high as 74.8%.
- Small store owners mainly consider price and service when purchasing goods; whether the goods are complete is the least concerned.
- In terms of purchasing channels, small store owners still mainly rely on distributor delivery, but 45.1% of small store owners have started to "often" order on B2B platforms.
3: Overall Penetration and Operation Analysis
77.1% of small store owners in Jinan urban area said they have ordered on B2B platforms.
Installation rate (coverage rate) of various B2B platforms: Currently, there are about 15 B2B platforms entering the Jinan market, with an average of 3.7 apps installed on each small store owner's phone. Among them, Zhongshang Huimin has the highest coverage rate, with an installation share of 78.5%, Yijiupi 74.9%, Lingshoutong 68.2%, and Best Store Plus 60%.
Statistics of platforms that small stores have purchased from in the last six months:
In the last six months, from which platform did you order the highest amount and most frequently? In terms of order volume, Yijiupi surpasses Zhongshang Huimin, with the highest coverage in Jinan. The data for Lingshoutong is surprising.
What percentage of your total orders do you place through B2B platforms?
How often do you order from B2B platforms? The weekly order frequency is the same as the business visit frequency cycle; small stores that order daily are the truly active user data.
In the past six months, how much did you order from B2B each month?
What types of goods do you order from B2B platforms? Bottled water and beverages, alcoholic drinks, and leisure foods are the main products ordered by small stores. Low-temperature fresh products are constrained by supply chain, and mainstream B2B platforms have not yet focused on them.
Platform Operational Capabilities:
Whose salesperson do you think visits most frequently? Undoubtedly, at this stage, salesperson visits are still an important means for B2B to obtain orders.
Whose delivery speed do you think is the fastest? In terms of delivery speed, Lingshoutong has obvious shortcomings, while self-operated platforms stand out. JD Logistics has advantages over Lingshoutong.
How long does it usually take for delivery after ordering from B2B platforms?
Which platform do you think has the most complete goods?
Whose prices do you think are the lowest? In terms of price, although JD obtains goods from brand owners, its price advantage is the least obvious, while Zhongshang Huimin still has advantages.
Comparison of Service Capabilities with Distributors:
Which is more convenient for ordering: B2B or distributor business?
Which delivers faster: B2B or distributor business? In terms of ordering experience and delivery speed, B2B does not have obvious advantages, but it far exceeds the ordering experience of secondary wholesalers.
Comprehensive Competitiveness Comparison Among Platforms: Comprehensive analysis: Based on votes from 305 small stores, New Distribution evaluated from 7 dimensions: installation quantity, order quantity, order frequency, product richness, delivery speed, product price, and service visits. The results show: In Jinan market, Zhongshang Huimin, Yijiupi, and Alibaba Lingshoutong rank top three in comprehensive competitiveness.