Home delivery e-commerce, after this pandemic, has become an unstoppable trend. Recently, a survey by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association showed that due to the pandemic, offline retailers' home delivery business generally grew between 80% and 200%. Some companies saw their online business from the first day of the lunar new year to the Lantern Festival increase by more than three times compared to the same period last year. The latest data: Walmart told media that its O2O channel overall sales increased 4.4 times year-on-year during the Spring Festival, with orders on its Walmart-to-home mini-program growing 15.2 times. If in February some questioned whether home delivery e-commerce was just a temporary shift to online shopping, now no one should doubt that it is not just a short-term trend. In the post-pandemic period, with rising imported cases, it is foreseeable that for a long time, the previous bustling activities and consumption patterns will be hard to return. Consumers have moved from forced online shopping to gradual adaptation, forming habits, and now to proactive online shopping. Home delivery e-commerce is gradually becoming mainstream. This is not only affecting the post-80s and post-90s generations but also attracting the post-70s and post-60s. Not only is the frequency of consumption higher, and the categories of consumer goods increasing, but the breadth and number of consumer groups are also expanding. The 'increase in consumer categories' here mainly refers to the past focus on fresh produce and vegetables. With the habit of 'staying at home', it has become possible to do one-stop family shopping, including fresh produce, beverages, milk, grain, oil, condiments, daily chemicals, and convenience snacks. Behind the broadening of consumer categories, for many FMCG manufacturers, especially those in the above categories, this is a dividend. Early movers can enjoy the benefits; while the channel is still developing and resource investment is low, they should hurry to get on board.
-01- Different Home Delivery Platforms, Different Cooperation Methods Pure platform-based home delivery platforms are typical matchmaking platforms that meet consumers' immediate needs by covering various types of retail stores. Before the pandemic, they were the mainstream channel for home delivery e-commerce. The retail stores covered include chain hypermarkets, community supermarkets, and nearby convenience stores. Cooperation with such platforms is relatively complex for FMCG manufacturers. There are not only platform parties but also retail parties, with the retail side usually leading. For chain hypermarkets, FMCG manufacturers should pay appropriate attention and communicate; for ordinary community supermarkets and nearby convenience stores, regional markets can use business relationships to improve brand display positions in category columns without additional fees. Store-warehouse integrated home delivery platforms, mainly mainstream chain supermarkets and hypermarkets, can use past sales models to communicate. If previously handled by regional teams, the headquarters should formulate overall strategy support, and regional teams negotiate. If previously direct-operated by headquarters, communicate directly for cooperation. It is foreseeable that the development potential of store-warehouse integrated home delivery platforms, after the baptism of the pandemic, will become one of the important channels and cannot be ignored. Front-warehouse home delivery platforms are a new species that emerged in the past two years. Due to uneven development across regions and differences in market cooperation methods, it is recommended that local regions cooperate appropriately, with the company providing policy support and strategic guidance. Community group buying is also a new species that has emerged in the past two years, rising and falling. It is recommended to include it in regional management. Especially with the pandemic, many small and scattered community group buying companies have appeared in various places. This requires not only regional communication but even down to the prefecture-level city, where prefecture-level applications are submitted and regional evaluations are conducted for cooperation.
-02- Different Home Delivery Platforms, Different Consumption Logic Whether it is a pure platform-based home delivery platform, a store-warehouse integrated platform, or a front-warehouse platform, they can basically be classified as search-based e-commerce, while community group buying is recommendation-based e-commerce. What does that mean? Simply put, except for community group buying, consumers who go to the platform to shop have basically already determined the category they need to buy. They either search or directly select the desired product through the category navigation bar. They have clear shopping needs, and the core demands are restocking and stocking up. Community group buying, on the other hand, is recommendation-based e-commerce. The group leader guides consumers to shop through community groups or Moments, recommending products. Through price stimulation, product images and copy, combined with consumers' daily consumption scenarios or life pain points, it guides consumers to purchase needs that were not originally planned, leaning towards impulse buying. Based on different consumption logic, FMCG manufacturers should have different strategic planning. For home delivery platforms other than community group buying, compared to the past when consumers entered physical stores with experience and exploration, online shopping has clear needs and short stay times. How to capture consumers in that short shopping time poses a challenge for FMCG manufacturers. There are two core points here: First, when consumers have a clear category need, how to ensure they see my product on the 'first screen' and choose me. Product placement, price promotions, title names. All ways to attract consumer attention must be considered by FMCG companies. Second, when consumers do not have a clear category need, how to use various prompts to make them buy my product while restocking or stocking up. Main methods: homepage banners, splash screen ads, related products, promotional flash sales, etc. Of course, different categories should be considered here. For example, for daily necessities like grain, oil, condiments, and daily chemicals, the key focus for FMCG manufacturers is how to make consumers choose me when they have a need in that category, rather than other brands. For categories with relatively high consumption elasticity, such as milk, beverages, and food, the key focus is how to use various forms to prompt consumers to buy the product. For community group buying home delivery platforms, impulse buying, for FMCG manufacturers, cost-effectiveness is currently key. For community group buying, for leading brands, it is necessary to avoid conflicts with existing channels and maintain price stability. It is relatively suitable for new products from big brands, especially those in the mid-to-low price range. For second- and third-tier brands, the core is how to quickly build endorsement and trust through images and copy, while achieving sufficient cost-effectiveness in consumers' established price perception of similar products. It is relatively suitable for small-brand quality products. But regardless, current community group buying is still in the traffic acquisition stage, and true platform stickiness has not yet been established. It will take some time for the platform to build value perception among consumers. Therefore, cost-effectiveness will be the core strategy for community group buying for a long time.
-03- Home Delivery Platforms Are in a Development Period: Not Only Seize the Track but Also Explore Undoubtedly, the pandemic has accelerated the development of home delivery e-commerce platforms. Some chain supermarkets and hypermarkets that previously observed the development of home delivery e-commerce have now basically launched their own home delivery e-commerce businesses. Obviously, these traditional supermarkets lack online operation experience. The past offline experiential shopping has turned into search-based shopping, and various supermarket home delivery e-commerce platforms are still exploring. At this time, for FMCG manufacturers, seizing the track is the first priority. When other brands are still waiting, if you enter early, some natural traffic will also tilt towards you. In addition, during the platform's exploration period, product carriers need to cooperate. If you actively cooperate, related resources will inevitably tilt towards you. Once the platform matures, various fees such as display fees and promotion fees will inevitably be charged. In the early stage, building internal relationships and obtaining category consumption data and competitor data is not impossible. Through consumption browsing data, competitor price bands, specifications, flavors, resource allocation, and other strategies, you can make differentiated adjustments or precise strikes. In the past, home delivery e-commerce business mainly focused on first- and second-tier cities, but now it is spreading to third- and fourth-tier cities. For leading brands, by leveraging past retail store relationships, they can appropriately help community supermarkets or convenience stores connect to home delivery e-commerce platforms, which helps quickly establish a good cooperative relationship foundation. Currently, home delivery e-commerce is still in the exploration stage. Seizing the track and sales should be the top priority. Data operations and precision marketing can be carried out after a certain period of data accumulation and when the platform business stabilizes, then proceed with targeted differentiated marketing. If you wish to communicate with the author, you can scan the QR code below. When adding, please note your name + company + position. Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.