---
title: "In the Vortex of Involution: The Struggling and Unyielding Path of Mom-and-Pop Stores"
description: "In the current market environment, mom-and-pop stores are facing intense competition and involution. By innovating product structures, adopting digital tools, and expanding service radii, some store owners like Li Ming and Liu Liu have managed to break through and achieve growth, while those who resist change risk being eliminated."
author: "赵胜男"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2023-05-27"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/in-the-vortex-of-involution-the-struggling-and-unyielding-path-of-mom-an-7b1419c8/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/in-the-vortex-of-involution-the-struggling-and-unyielding-path-of-mom-an-7b1419c8.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/y2yDLHSjlGaPMlPWPxTkoQ"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%86%85%E5%8D%B7%E6%BC%A9%E6%B6%A1%E4%B8%AD-%E5%A4%AB%E5%A6%BB%E5%BA%97%E7%9A%84%E6%AE%8B%E5%96%98%E4%B8%8D%E5%B1%88%E4%B9%8B%E8%B7%AF-7b1419c8.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/in-the-vortex-of-involution-the-struggling-and-unyielding-path-of-mom-an-7b1419c8/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# In the Vortex of Involution: The Struggling and Unyielding Path of Mom-and-Pop Stores

> In the current market environment, mom-and-pop stores are facing intense competition and involution. By innovating product structures, adopting digital tools, and expanding service radii, some store owners like Li Ming and Liu Liu have managed to break through and achieve growth, while those who resist change risk being eliminated.

**Lead: Without progress, one falls behind, and ultimately risks being eliminated by the market!**
**Author** | Zhao Shengnan

**The Vortex of Involution**
Involution is one of the hot topics in today's society, primarily manifesting as vicious competition among people pursuing the same goal. In the current market environment, mom-and-pop stores are also troubled by involution. According to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics in 2021, by the end of 2020, there were 49.725 million retail enterprises nationwide, of which small and micro retail enterprises exceeded 46 million, accounting for about 92.6% of all retail enterprises. These small and micro retail enterprises include small shops, mom-and-pop stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, and other types of retail outlets. Just looking at the number of retail enterprises may not intuitively convey the intensity of competition, so let's look at another figure. According to the Seventh National Population Census in 2020, as of midnight on November 1, 2020, the total population of mainland China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) was 1.493 billion people. Dividing 1.493 billion by 49.725 million gives approximately 300.3 people per enterprise. That is, each retail enterprise serves about 300 people on average. Although this is a rough figure, it reflects the massive scale of the retail industry and the intensity of competition. At the same time, the rise of new retail formats and the miniaturization of large supermarkets have intensified market competition. Especially during the pandemic over the past three years, consumers' demand for online shopping and community group buying has increased, making competition among physical stores even fiercer. Under such intense competition, traditional formats like mom-and-pop stores are gradually appearing outdated and disadvantaged, and the more than 6 million mom-and-pop stores nationwide are becoming increasingly involuted. At this point, how mom-and-pop stores can carve out a distinctive business path and break through involution has become an important issue they must address. To this end, New Distribution recently interviewed some mom-and-pop store owners to discuss how they are seeking breakthroughs.

**Innovation: From Product Structure to Digital Tools**
Li Ming's store is located on a street outside a community, with two floors: the upper floor for living and the lower floor for selling goods. The first floor is divided into two areas: one sells fresh fruit, and the other sells daily groceries. Unlike ordinary store owners struggling with growth difficulties, Li Ming's store has maintained steady business growth over the past five years and opened its first branch two years ago. Five years ago, his store only sold ordinary daily groceries. However, competition within the community was fierce, with four other similar stores, leading to severe product homogenization and poor business. At that time, Li Ming felt anxious and worried but couldn't find a better solution.

**1. Restructuring Product Mix**
It wasn't until the new community across the street was completed and young people began moving in that things changed. One day, a young person came to buy a product that Li Ming had never even heard of. As the young person left, they said, "You don't have anything here; I won't come again." This remark was an eye-opener for Li Ming. He had always wanted to change but didn't know where to start. Now he realized that his store's products were outdated, and if he didn't make immediate changes, he wouldn't attract young people.

**To broaden his customer base, Li Ming began adjusting his store's product mix.** First, he cut some SKUs of daily groceries that had relatively low sales, replaced them with new products favored by young people, and then freed up some space to set up a fruit section. This move quickly increased his small store's market share in the local area. By changing the product mix, he successfully attracted more customers and encouraged them to purchase a wider variety of products. However, this breakthrough was temporary because **competitors soon imitated him, leading to involution.** So Li Ming kept thinking about how to take his business to the next level but struggled to find effective methods and strategies.

**2. Opening a New Chapter with B2B Procurement**
It wasn't until a salesperson promoting a B2B platform appeared that his predicament changed. Initially, Li Ming didn't understand what digitalization was, thought these concepts were irrelevant to his business, and even suspected the salesperson was deceiving him. But later, the salesperson's persistence and sincerity won him over. The salesperson not only came to the store to help with work but also introduced the platform's various advantages and usage methods in detail. After some consideration and trial, Li Ming gradually let down his guard and decided to use the B2B platform for procurement. Through the platform, he found that procurement became more convenient and efficient, no longer requiring time and effort to negotiate with wholesale market vendors, and prices were more transparent.

**Through the B2B platform, Li Ming gained access to more product resources and lower procurement costs, and could stay updated on new products and young people's preferences at any time.**

**3. Digital Management Platform: Cross-Store Collaboration and Precision Operations**
As Li Ming's understanding and application of digitalization improved, his relationship with the salesperson evolved from cooperation to friendship. At the salesperson's recommendation, Li Ming also purchased a digital management platform and verified its excellent performance and effectiveness through actual use. With the help of the digital management platform, Li Ming could clearly know his store's annual turnover and product sales, and scientifically analyze his business operations. This not only allowed him to identify problems and take timely measures but also gave him more confidence to open another branch. Since the new store was twice the size of the existing one, Li Ming's wife would manage it alone, making management more challenging. The digital management platform provided them with real-time data support and operational guidance, enabling them to more accurately grasp market dynamics and customer needs, and effectively formulate marketing strategies and business plans. Moreover, the two stores could be interconnected through the digital system, allowing better comparison and analysis of various data, timely problem identification, and corresponding measures. For example, by comparing turnover data between the two stores, they could analyze the effectiveness of marketing strategies and adjust and optimize them promptly to improve operational efficiency. Additionally, sharing a digital system enabled centralized inventory management. When one store faced a stock shortage, Li Ming could promptly transfer goods from the other store, avoiding sales delays or supply shortages due to insufficient inventory. This collaborative management better safeguarded customer needs and steady sales growth while reducing operational costs and risks. In short, digital tools played a crucial role in Li Ming's business.

**He believes that to improve business, one must embrace new concepts and modern tools, and actively innovate to enhance operational efficiency and create business value. If one remains stuck in traditional models and is unwilling to explore new business areas or accept new things, they may be eliminated by the market.** Looking back at his business innovation history, vertically, he optimized his store's product mix by observing young people's preferences, making it more aligned with consumer needs and increasing the store's appeal; horizontally, he adopted digital tools to improve store management and operational capabilities, enhancing operational efficiency.

**From Community Group Buying to Expanding Service Radius**
Liu Liu's store is located in an old community and was inherited from his parents. Although the previous business was decent, there were problems such as many old customers but few new ones, average service quality, and occasional sales of expired food. To ensure business sustainability, after taking over the store in 2019, Liu Liu actively observed excellent stores in other areas, absorbed their strengths, summarized his own store's problems, and after thorough preparation, began to initiate changes.

**1. "Delivery to Doorstep" Service**
Liu Liu's first step was to become a group leader! As a group leader, he cooperated with community group buying platforms, but unlike traditional community group buying with online ordering and offline pickup, he started offering delivery to customers' doorsteps. Customers could enjoy both the discounts from the community group buying platform and the thoughtful service akin to food delivery. At the same time, he added every customer who placed an order to a group chat, through which he not only promoted products from the community group buying platform but also showcased his store's discounted items. This linked consumption approach not only increased the store's commercial value but also met customers' growing demand for convenience, speed, and personalization. Additionally, Liu Liu provided a home delivery service for桶装水 (barreled water), further meeting customers' daily needs. To drive foot traffic to the physical store, he also ran offline coupon promotions. Every day, he released 10 in-store spending reduction quotas in the group, with a threshold of 100 yuan and a reduction of 10 yuan, attracting more customers to visit the store and increasing sales and profits.

**2. Expanding Service Radius**
Although delivery to doorsteps was a great service, relying solely on manual delivery limited the service range and often led to untimely deliveries. Therefore, Liu Liu began seeking new logistics and distribution solutions. By asking nearby merchants and checking online reviews, he selected a logistics company with a good reputation, excellent service, and competitive pricing, and signed a logistics distribution agreement clarifying both parties' rights, obligations, and service content. With a stable logistics partner, Liu Liu's delivery efficiency greatly improved, and his store's coverage now extends to residents within 6 kilometers. Because he always prioritized meeting customer needs, he won many loyal repeat customers and a good reputation, gradually expanding his store's reach and steadily growing his business. However, Liu Liu did not rest on his laurels; he continued to actively seek better ways to serve consumers. Liu Liu firmly believes: **In a society like China, where personal connections matter, mom-and-pop stores that rely on word-of-mouth and recognition from old customers find it hard to achieve breakthroughs and grow significantly.** To acquire more customers, they must provide services that consumers truly appreciate. For example, offering personalized, high-quality products and services, promoting online-offline shopping linkage, and increasing customer interaction are all effective means to enhance customer experience and retain more customers. Only by putting customers first and focusing on meeting their needs can one truly build a business that earns customer trust and recognition.

**Final Thoughts:**
Competition among mom-and-pop stores is intensifying, and involution is an inevitable trend. Compared to large supermarkets, mom-and-pop stores have limitations such as small scale, information isolation, and difficulty in keeping up with market dynamics and new industry technologies, making their business models and service models relatively outdated. Store owners like Li Ming and Liu Liu represent those who swim against the tide in the wave of backwardness. By continuously optimizing product structures, utilizing digital tools, expanding service radii, and providing sincere services, they have gained a certain market share. However, some backward small store owners are unwilling to try new things, believing that running a small store is just for making a living, and they don't want to make too many changes for fear of wasting money. Such a mindset clearly **ignores the essence of social progress, and without progress, one falls behind, ultimately risking elimination by the market!** The decision-making style of mom-and-pop stores is often simple and direct, requiring only the owner's decision, unlike large supermarkets that must consider many levels and handle each decision carefully. Therefore, whether mom-and-pop stores can seize opportunities and meet challenges amid change depends on the helmsman—the owner's ability and decision-making.


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671