The fast-paced urban lifestyle and convenient logistics services have driven the rapid growth of fresh food e-commerce in recent years. Especially during the pandemic, it has acted as an accelerator for fresh food e-commerce, showing strong momentum. Hema Fresh and Miss Fresh are among the most commonly used fresh food e-commerce platforms. This article will conduct a competitive analysis of the two, hoping to be helpful to you. -01- Analysis Purpose Under the influence of the 2020 pandemic, fresh food e-commerce has shown strong growth momentum. Hema Fresh, as a rising star in this field, has also performed well in recent years. This article selects Miss Fresh as its competitor. Through analysis of their business logic and functions, we hope to identify shortcomings in Hema Fresh, optimize product iteration ideas, and determine future product development direction. -02- Industry Analysis 1. Industry Background With the rapid development of the internet and the continuous improvement of residents' consumption levels, people increasingly pursue convenient, healthy, and environmentally friendly lifestyles. As a result, internet fresh food e-commerce has risen significantly, and the market scale has gradually expanded. Especially under the influence of the 2020 pandemic, fresh food e-commerce has shown strong growth momentum. With the increasing development of online retail, the fresh food e-commerce industry has gradually broken through traditional models, with new models such as front warehouses, integrated store-warehouse, community group buying, store-to-home, and cold chain self-pickup emerging. Therefore, at this stage, multiple business models coexist in the fresh food e-commerce industry, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. 2. Development History In the early days, fresh food e-commerce was mainly dominated by vertical platforms, with fruits being the main categories. However, due to the influence of internet technology and residents' consumption habits, development was relatively slow. From 2014 to 2015, fresh food e-commerce gradually attracted attention, and local vertical fresh food e-commerce products appeared one after another, entering an exploration period. Around 2016, some small and medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt or completed mergers and acquisitions. Giants such as Alibaba and JD.com entered the fresh food e-commerce market, laying out new retail models, continuously strengthening cold chain and fresh food supply chain investments, and pioneering innovative models such as front-store-back-warehouse and front warehouses, leading to rapid industry development. However, in 2019, the industry entered a downturn, which can be attributed to long-term losses and financing difficulties faced by fresh food e-commerce platforms. Under the influence of the 2020 pandemic, a large number of fresh food platforms re-entered the market, bringing new development opportunities for fresh food e-commerce. 3. Market Size According to iResearch's 2020 "China Fresh Food E-commerce Industry Research Report," the market transaction scale of China's fresh food e-commerce industry reached 279.62 billion yuan in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 36.7%. In 2020, affected by the pandemic, consumers' demand for fresh food delivery to home increased rapidly, and the market transaction scale of fresh food e-commerce will significantly improve. It is estimated that by 2023, the market transaction scale of fresh food e-commerce will exceed 800 billion yuan. This shows that the fresh food e-commerce market is growing rapidly and has huge development potential in the future. 4. Business Models At this stage, multiple business models coexist in the fresh food e-commerce industry, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Currently, the typical business models of fresh food e-commerce mainly include the following: 1) Front Warehouse Model The front warehouse model places goods in small and medium-sized warehousing and distribution centers within 1-3 kilometers of users. The central large warehouse only needs to supply the front warehouses. After consumers place orders, goods are shipped from nearby front warehouses rather than from a warehouse in the suburbs. This allows goods to reach users faster, improving logistics distribution efficiency and experience, and simplifying the distribution process. However, the cost of transporting goods from the large warehouse to the front warehouse and the last-mile delivery is relatively high. Therefore, in the long run, the front warehouse model requires high cost investment and a longer return cycle. 2) Platform-to-Home Model In the platform-to-home model, after consumers place orders, delivery personnel pick up goods from nearby merchants and then deliver them. The platform extracts a certain percentage of commission for profit. In this process, the platform mainly plays the role of online traffic generation and offline delivery, so it is an asset-light operation model. The cost investment is low, the gross margin is relatively low, and the entry threshold for merchants is low, enabling rapid merchant onboarding and covering more merchants and users in a short time, achieving economies of scale. However, as more merchants join, the platform needs to strictly control product quality and merchant fulfillment efficiency; otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve long-term development. 3) Community Group Buying Model The community group buying model uses WeChat as a carrier, integrates multiple community resources, and forms an e-commerce platform with centralized management and operation of merchants, adopting a pre-sale + group buying model. First, the group leader promotes group buying products in WeChat groups, using the trust chain of acquaintances to reduce customer acquisition costs. The pre-sale model achieves zero inventory pressure and reduces product loss. Delivery is made collectively by community, and the last mile is picked up by users themselves, greatly saving logistics costs. The community group buying platform model has a low threshold, leading to fierce competition. In the long run, platforms should continuously provide cost-effective supply chains and refined operations to seize more market share and achieve sustainable profitability. 5. Competitive Landscape According to iResearch surveys, in 2019, the top 5 companies in the fresh food e-commerce industry accounted for 57.2% of the market share, indicating a highly concentrated market with obvious head effects. Compared to 2018 when the top 5 accounted for 63.1%, there is a slight downward trend. This is due to the rapid growth of some new business model players, with some "star fresh food e-commerce enterprises" emerging in the market, thus seizing some market share. -03- Competitor Background Analysis Under the new retail background, the fresh food e-commerce market is booming. Among them, Hema Fresh and Miss Fresh have shown rapid development momentum and have formed differentiated advantages compared to other platforms. The two are direct competitors. This article analyzes them based on this background. Hema Fresh: An Alibaba product, with strong capital flow and brand power, it has achieved rapid expansion in first- and second-tier cities across the country. According to the Hema Fresh official website, its offline stores have now reached 230+. Miss Fresh: The pioneer of the front warehouse model, with mature operation models and supply chain management, it has become an industry leader. After 5 years of development, it has 1700+ front warehouses nationwide (data source: Yi Guan Qianfan). 1. Product Positioning 2. User Profiles Typical users of Hema Fresh are elite groups in first- and second-tier cities. Male users account for 53.2%, and 76.9% of users are married. Their main characteristics are high income, high education, owning houses and cars. Most of them have high pursuit of quality of life, high purchasing power, and pay more attention to the quality of fresh products rather than price. Data source: Mob Research Institute Typical users of Miss Fresh are young white-collar workers in cities. Female users account for a relatively high proportion, reaching 61.7%, with most aged between 25-34. More than half are corporate white-collar workers with bachelor's degrees or above. They generally have higher education, considerable income, but high work pressure and less free time, so they tend to buy affordable, convenient, and safe fresh products. Data source: Mob Research Institute -04- Competitor Data Analysis 1. Downloads As of August 2020, Hema Fresh had cumulative downloads of 340 million (Android market). From the download trend, there was a significant increase around April 2020. Data source: Kuchuan As of August 2020, Miss Fresh had cumulative downloads of 270 million (Android market). The download volume increased most significantly in October 2019. Data source: Kuchuan 2. Active Users According to iiMedia Research data, as of March 2020, Hema Fresh had 8.927 million monthly active users, and Miss Fresh had 7.357 million monthly active users. During the pandemic, the public's demand for online fresh food procurement effectively increased, and all platforms maintained high user growth during the pandemic. Online-to-home business is the core of Hema, and its overall scale and active user numbers are in a leading position in the industry. Data source: iiMedia Research 3. Search Index Overall, the search volumes of the two are roughly the same, with Hema Fresh having a slight advantage in search index. Data source: Baidu Index -05- Product Analysis 1. Login and Registration Hema Fresh can be quickly logged in directly through Taobao or Alipay, which is relatively fast, but does not support direct login with a mobile phone number. Miss Fresh can be logged in with a one-click mobile phone number login, which is very convenient, and can also be logged in via WeChat or mobile phone number. Summary: Hema Fresh could add a mobile phone number login method, linking it with accounts like Alipay, to facilitate building its own database later. 2. Product Search Hema Fresh: The search interface includes "Search History," "Search Discovery," and "New Products · Seasonal." Under "Search Discovery," commonly used electronic recharge cards are recommended, increasing the entry point for users to purchase electronic cards, effectively improving the conversion rate of electronic card purchases. In addition, some keywords in "Search Discovery" are recommended based on user search history, meeting the need for personalized recommendations, providing a good user experience, and effectively increasing order volume. Under "New Products · Seasonal," some seasonal products are recommended, providing a relatively convenient experience for users who are not clear about their purchase goals. After entering keywords, related keywords are automatically suggested, and each type of suggested word is matched with 2-3 subdivided keywords. Users who pay more attention to brands can find the desired products faster and more accurately. However, keyword search basically cannot achieve fuzzy search, which may need further optimization. The search results page supports list mode and grid mode, with list mode as the default, effectively improving interface display efficiency. Clicking the "Recipe" button converts to search results for recipes related to the keyword. The content is basically from Douguo Food. The detail page recommends related ingredients, which can be directly added to the shopping cart or searched for similar ingredients. The "Recipe" function provides a one-stop shopping method. For urban white-collar workers with less free time, they don't need cumbersome operation processes here to meet the need for making food on weekends. At the same time, this function enhances the community attribute of the platform and has a certain effect on improving user stickiness. Miss Fresh:

  1. Includes "History Search" and "Hot Search," which can recommend hot search keywords based on big data, satisfying users' herd mentality.
  2. Supports automatic pop-up of associated keywords and can perform fuzzy search, closer to the public's operating habits, making the search process smoother.
  3. The search results page only supports grid mode display, with the 6th position showing the current product's related bestseller list. Users can quickly find related hot-selling products through this list, again capturing the herd mentality and effectively increasing order volume. Summary: Hema Fresh mainly achieves precise operations through personalized recommendations, mainly because its high-value users have greater demand for personalized products, pay attention to brands, and value quality. Miss Fresh mainly recommends through bestsellers and hot searches, better meeting the public's purchasing needs. 3. Product Categories Hema Fresh After clicking a large category label, users need to select the product subcategory again, resulting in a long path. In the subcategory, more detailed classification labels can be selected, but there is no entry to display all products under the category. In terms of product display, there is a lack of sorting function, making it difficult to quickly select products to add to the shopping cart when faced with a wide variety of products. On the display page, you can click the blue icon on the right side of the product to add to the shopping cart, but some products will pop up a page to select specifications and quantities before adding to the cart, which is complicated and can easily cause confusion. Miss Fresh Provides sorting and filtering functions by sales volume and price, making it convenient to select products. The "9.9 cap" category offers affordable products, convenient for users who are price-sensitive or need to meet the minimum order amount. Summary: It is recommended to add a sorting function to the Hema Fresh category interface. The product separation and add-to-cart functions need to continue optimizing the experience. It is suggested to add promotional or brand labels to reflect corresponding advantages and guide users to place orders. 4. Product Details Hema Fresh The detail page is divided into five parts: Product, Reviews, Recipes, Details, and Recommendations. The product part not only displays basic product information but also includes estimated delivery time and whether store self-pickup service is supported, which is user-friendly. On product detail pages with the "Welcome Price" label, an entry to special offers appears, making it convenient for users to participate in activities directly. The reviews section is sorted by publication time, and users cannot directly filter positive/negative reviews, which is not conducive to targeted understanding of product reviews. The recommendation section is at the end, and users need to read all the details before browsing recommended products. However, users generally do not have the patience to read all details, so the display efficiency of this recommendation is not high. Miss Fresh The detail page includes three parts: Product, Recommendations, and Details.
  4. The product part displays the current product's full reduction promotional activities. Clicking it actually jumps to the invite friends page, and after successful invitation, users can receive corresponding red packet rewards.
  5. The recommendation part is relatively forward, and users can see it directly after entering the product page, with good display effect.
  6. The details part displays buyer information and their personal recommendation copy, with low reading pressure, bringing users closer and giving the feeling of listening to a salesperson's explanation in a supermarket. Summary: Since Hema Fresh includes more content on the product page, it is necessary to consider the quality and order of each part to achieve maximum value display. 5. Shopping Cart Hema Fresh The "Frequently Bought" list in the shopping cart displays the user's purchase history and corresponding products. This design can cultivate users' purchasing habits. The display of exchange offers in the shopping cart is relatively complex, with "Full Exchange" and "One Item Exchange" promotions. There are many promotional plays, but the page display is messy and not clear enough. After clicking "Go to Make Up Order," the list of exchangeable products is first displayed, but at this time the amount has not reached the exchange requirement. Users need to click "Go to Make Up Order" again to enter the product selection interface for making up orders, increasing user touchpoints. Miss Fresh The entire interface design is relatively simple and clear at a glance. At the top, a link to purchase red packets is provided, allowing users to participate in red packet promotional activities before checkout. Free basic delivery service is enjoyed for orders over 39 yuan. After selecting products, the total price and how much more is needed to reach the free shipping amount are automatically calculated. After clicking "Go to Make Up Order," many low-priced products can be seen, which can be searched by keyword or filtered by category, helping users quickly make up orders. Summary: The shopping cart function of Hema Fresh is not clear and concise, increasing users' reading pressure. It needs corresponding optimization, such as separating exchangeable products from non-exchangeable ones, or judging whether exchange is possible based on the amount. In addition, the exchange products need to be selected with more selling points, otherwise they cannot effectively attract users to participate in exchanges. 6. Membership System Hema Fresh There is only one option for an annual membership of 258 yuan. Membership benefits mainly focus on price discounts, and the discounts are relatively significant. Miss Fresh There are options for 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month memberships. The annual membership is only 48 yuan, which is more affordable. In addition to price discounts, membership benefits also include points acceleration, member tasks, member days, shared membership, and other gameplay. It can be said that Miss Fresh's membership system is relatively complete. Summary: Hema Fresh's membership system was launched relatively late, and its functions and gameplay are not yet complete. In the future, it can launch more membership options with different durations, open up various gameplay, and build a more comprehensive membership system. 7. Operation and Promotion Strategies Hema Fresh adopts a "dining + supermarket" business model with integrated store and warehouse. In terms of payment, only Alipay is supported, and self-service payment is unmanned. Currently, Hema Mini has also been launched, which is a new stage of transformation to a community life service brand, sinking from first-tier city customer groups to second- and third-tier city customer groups, gradually radiating to a larger market. Through big data, Hema Fresh enables its supply chain to support a huge SKU, meeting users' diverse procurement needs under consumption upgrades, and the user quality obtained is relatively high. Miss Fresh relies on the "city sorting center + front warehouse" model to establish an ultra-fast cold chain logistics system. With strong user operation capabilities, it acquired a large number of users in the early stage. With Tencent's capital investment, it bypassed traditional stores, incubated convenience purchases, set up unmanned shelves in cities, and entered the office retail track. Miss Fresh's front warehouse model is an asset-light operation model, avoiding high costs such as store location selection, making it easier to expand scale rapidly. In the user acquisition stage, both have APP registration newcomer gift packages and friend invitation rewards to promote user growth. Hema Fresh guides store customers to register the mobile APP, guiding offline users online. The good offline store experience can bring better user stickiness to the platform and acquire high-quality users, but offline traffic is limited by geography and cannot be expanded on a large scale in a short time. Miss Fresh conducts large-scale promotion through various offline marketing and ground promotion. This method can cover a wider range and quickly open up awareness, but the disadvantage is that user quality cannot be guaranteed, and after the activity ends, some users may be lost. 8. Profit Models Hema Fresh:
  7. Hema Fresh uses "fresh food e-commerce" as an entry point, with online traffic growth and offline order growth and quality service. Through the APP and offline stores, it covers the integration of fresh food and catering services. By deeply mining consumer data and leveraging Alibaba's big data analysis technology, it builds user profiles and accurately positions consumer needs.
  8. Hema Fresh positions around "eating" to make eating a pleasure. Its stores set up a large number of interactive experience activities such as sharing and DIY, meeting consumers' needs for a higher quality, more personalized, and happier lifestyle.
  9. Delivery within 3 kilometers in 30 minutes, using stores as front warehouses, ensuring the same quality of fresh products online and offline, improving the user experience for online consumers. Miss Fresh:
  10. Miss Fresh's customers are mainly young people, providing products through an O2O model. It ensures product quality and cost through direct sourcing from production areas, and achieves final service with convenient logistics and delivery.
  11. Over the past few years, Miss Fresh has gradually established its core capabilities, including the ability to operate non-standard fresh products, instant cold chain logistics delivery capabilities, and the ability to understand user needs. Based on core capabilities, its diversified layout in the front end has enabled it to occupy a strong market share in the fresh food e-commerce field and become a head player. -06- SWOT Analysis of Fresh Food E-commerce 1. Strengths Integrated online and offline user experience, high delivery efficiency. Rich categories, intelligent procurement. Under the heavy model, once competitive barriers are established, peers will find it difficult to replicate. 2. Weaknesses Coverage is concentrated in the main urban areas of first- and second-tier cities, making it difficult to sink to third- and fourth-tier cities, with high rent and labor costs. Positioned for mid-to-high-end consumer groups, the user base is limited. 3. Opportunities Affected by the pandemic, downstream suppliers have turned online, which will accelerate the development of fresh food e-commerce to a certain extent. Community group buying has become a new entry point. In the future, capital will continue to pour into community group buying projects, laying out regional fresh food e-commerce. With national policy support and inclination towards the cold chain logistics industry, China's cold chain transportation system will also develop rapidly. Building cold chain networks, improving operational capabilities, and refined warehouse management will become trends in the cold chain logistics industry. 4. Threats Limited warehouse area and delivery personnel, and limited order processing capacity in stores. The fresh food e-commerce chain is complex, with higher requirements for transportation and storage, and a mature profit model has not yet emerged. Summary: In terms of service, fresh food e-commerce platforms should focus on quality control, build a good reputation among users, cultivate user consumption habits, and while serving high-value customers well, also expand the customer base so that users at all consumption levels can experience a good shopping experience, promoting user consumption level conversion. In terms of transportation, platforms can establish strategic cooperation with cold chain transportation companies to solve cold chain logistics problems. In terms of warehousing, reduce losses through good warehouse management, systematize and digitize warehouse management, and innovate warehouse models to control losses and achieve profitability. With the rapid development of online retail, multiple business models coexist in the fresh food e-commerce industry at this stage, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. While Hema Fresh expands rapidly, how to achieve more efficient service reach and create a more benign profit environment will become key factors for subsequent development. Fresh food e-commerce still needs to try to continuously expand new development formats, adopt different business models for different scenarios, expand population coverage, improve service efficiency, and seize more market share in fierce competition. Fresh food e-commerce faces high logistics and operating costs, and overall scale profitability is a difficult problem to achieve in the long run. Fresh food enterprises still need to return to the product itself. Only by deeply cultivating the supply chain and improving delivery capabilities can they ensure product quality and form a strong competitive barrier. Source: Agricultural Products Supply Chain Branch (ID: gh_cc208d53ce2c) Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.