---
title: "Internet Giants Rush into 'Poor Man's Supermarkets'"
description: "Internet giants are accelerating their expansion into hard discount supermarkets, such as Meituan's first store 'Happy Monkey' and JD.com's new stores in Suqian, as they seek new growth amid plateauing online traffic and consumer demand for value. These stores focus on fresh food, use streamlined SKUs, and compete on price, but face challenges in balancing low prices with profitability."
author: "马自达"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2025-09-16"
categories: "Retail Formats"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9yll7j9InNd2r4YZDeB1NQ"
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citation: "马自达. “Internet Giants Rush into 'Poor Man's Supermarkets'.” New Distribution, 2025-09-16. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/internet-giants-rush-into-poor-man-s-supermarkets-e2545723/"
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---

# Internet Giants Rush into 'Poor Man's Supermarkets'

> Internet giants are accelerating their expansion into hard discount supermarkets, such as Meituan's first store 'Happy Monkey' and JD.com's new stores in Suqian, as they seek new growth amid plateauing online traffic and consumer demand for value. These stores focus on fresh food, use streamlined SKUs, and compete on price, but face challenges in balancing low prices with profitability.

### **Source** | Baobian **ID** | baobiannews Author | Mazda

The offline supermarkets in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai have been particularly lively these days. Meituan's first hard discount supermarket, "Happy Monkey," opened on August 29. Almost simultaneously, giants have accelerated their layout in the hard discount track. Hema's Hema NB was renamed "Super Hesuan NB," expanding to 10 cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai with 17 new stores. JD.com, after opening its first store in Hebei, has opened 4 more stores in Suqian, the hometown of founder Liu Qiangdong.

As online traffic peaks and consumers pursue extreme cost-effectiveness, internet giants are trying to find new growth stories through discount supermarkets focused on daily meals. The discount supermarket models are similar, all focusing on fresh food, located in densely populated residential areas, with controlled scale and SKU, and price ranges between 19.9-29.9 yuan.

For giants, hard discount supermarkets can reuse supply chains to deepen private brands, differentiate competition, and offline stores can also serve as front warehouses, supplementing the instant retail war.

But running a profitable hard discount supermarket requires time and refined operations. Taking Meituan's first "Happy Monkey" store as an example, industry insiders estimate that the store currently loses at least 10,000 yuan per day. This is due to excessive staffing, limited private brand penetration, and the need for subsidies to maintain low prices in the early stage.

Competition has become increasingly fierce. New players JD.com and Meituan are tentatively laying out in more down-market prefecture-level cities, testing in Beijing and Hangzhou, while veteran players are already expanding aggressively. Aldi has moved out of Shanghai, and Super Hesuan NB is seizing blank markets in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. A person from Super Hesuan NB told the author that "Happy Monkey's" low-price strategy also cuts into their cake products, and the store will soon follow with price adjustments.

Supermarkets are a ground war, but ultimately, everyone will clash in the more intense instant retail battlefield.

**Fresh food-led, price penetration**

On Friday evening (August 29), as night fell, "Happy Monkey," located on Daguan Road in Gongshu District, Hangzhou, attracted office workers from the surrounding Daguan and Dahu business districts on its opening day. Young faces queued up at the door like checking in at a trendy store. A young woman crossing the road couldn't help complaining, "Do you have to queue to go shopping?"

Yes, this is a supermarket completely different from traditional ones. In terms of positioning, hard discount supermarkets are usually opened in areas where residents can walk or travel short distances, with dense surrounding residential populations.

Taking "Happy Monkey" as an example, in terms of location, this store covers more than 15 mature residential communities within a 500-meter radius and more than 40 communities within one kilometer, which is its core customer base. At the same time, within one kilometer, there is also a Super Hesuan NB, a RT-Mart, and a Century Lianhua supermarket, as well as many convenience stores and department stores.

In terms of size, traditional supermarkets and hard discount supermarkets are somewhat like the difference between Plus and mini versions. Traditional hypermarkets, such as RT-Mart, have an average operating area of over 20,000 square meters, covering 30,000 SKUs, and do not experience capacity alarms or store restrictions.

Taking "Happy Monkey" as an example, the store area is estimated to be no more than 600 square meters. SKUs are no more than 1,500, only 5% of a traditional store. Super Hesuan NB and Aldi, the originator of hard discount, both follow this model. JD.com's discount supermarket stores are closer to medium-sized shopping malls, with an area of up to 5,000 square meters and 5,000 SKUs.

The biggest feature of hard discount is cheapness.

Hard discount supermarkets are relative to soft discount, not selling near-expiry specials or clearance goods, but through stronger supply chain strength, creating bestsellers to drive larger sales, achieving low prices, and increasing gross margins through building private brands.

Currently, these three discount supermarkets are all acting as price cutters. The author compared and found that a box of 30 fresh eggs is priced at 11.5 yuan at Happy Monkey, 11.7 yuan at Super Hesuan NB, and 9.9 yuan at JD Supermarket, while traditional supermarkets like RT-Mart, Century Lianhua, and Yonghui are priced between 15-30 yuan.

The lower pricing is achieved through supply chain strategies. On the one hand, direct sourcing from bases for vegetables and fruits, and self-operated brands for daily consumer goods can significantly reduce prices. In the early stage when scale hasn't been achieved, internet giants may also directly subsidize to achieve low prices.

For example, 1.99 yuan per kg of potatoes, 3.99 yuan per kg of corn, 7.9 yuan for 550ml*12 self-operated mineral water, and 19.9 yuan for 20 packs of self-operated tissue paper, averaging 0.65 yuan per bottle and 1 yuan per pack. The best-selling items are often these ultra-low-priced products.

On the other hand, streamlined SKUs are the core of hard discount. Only by controlling categories and being targeted can it be easy to create bestsellers. Visually, "Happy Monkey" and the nearby Super Hesuan NB only sell 8-10 types of fresh milk, while RT-Mart has 50 SKUs of fresh milk.

An industry insider said that after creating a bestseller, private brands can be developed, keeping prices unchanged to increase gross margins.

Compared to traditional stores like RT-Mart, "Happy Monkey" and Super Hesuan NB both focus on fresh food, covering fruits and vegetables, bakery, room-temperature beverages, low-temperature dairy, frozen goods, and snacks and quick meals, with counter space accounting for over 60%. Neither supermarket has an aquatic section, instead using frozen pre-packaged alternatives. The style is minimalist decoration, original box display, and minimalist shelves.

In terms of sourcing, "Happy Monkey," Super Hesuan NB, and JD Supermarket only sell two types: self-operated brand products like "Happy Monkey," "Super Hesuan," and "Qixi," and KA brand products on traditional shelves. "Happy Monkey" stores also display the same products as Ele.me's Xiaoxiang Supermarket, such as 12.9 yuan for 1L craft original beer, but Xiaoxiang Supermarket can deliver to home.

Currently, "Happy Monkey's" private brands focus on high-frequency consumer goods such as rice, flour, oil, toilet paper, mineral water, and laundry detergent, while Super Hesuan is more extensive, with multiple self-operated products in snacks, beverages, and personal care.

Interestingly, at RT-Mart, a box of 250ml*24 Yili normal temperature pure milk is priced at 54.9 yuan, while at Happy Monkey and Super Hesuan NB, they purchase 200ml*24 specifications, both priced at 39.8 yuan.

These low-price strategies often bring a steady stream of customers to discount supermarkets, because no consumer dislikes bargains.

**Why is the "Poor Man's Supermarket" attractive?**

Why has such a discount supermarket attracted collective bets from internet giants?

Hema was the earliest internet giant to enter hard discount. In 2022, Hema opened its first Hema NB store in Yangpu, Shanghai. Since then, over three years, Hema NB has gradually defeated Hema membership stores, becoming Hema's fastest-growing business and the main force for cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

At Hema's 10th anniversary open day in August this year, Hema CEO Yan Xiaolei revealed that with the layout of Hema Fresh + Super Hesuan NB, Hema achieved its first full-year net adjusted EBITA profitability in fiscal year 2025. Currently, there are nearly 300 Super Hesuan NB stores.

Research data also shows that the hard discount market size exceeded 200 billion yuan in 2024, but penetration is only 8%—compared to mature markets like Germany (42%) and Japan (31%), the growth space is particularly significant.

Meituan's "Happy Monkey" seems more like reusing and inheriting Meituan Select business. In terms of timing, Meituan's Happy Monkey overlaps with the major adjustment of Meituan Select. Tianyancha shows that since February 2025, Beijing Xiangxian Technology Co., Ltd. has been registering "Happy Monkey" trademarks for all categories of text and graphic logos. An industry insider following community group buying told the author that Meituan Select reportedly contracted in April.

It is worth noting that after the opening of Happy Monkey offline stores, Meituan Select in Zhejiang and Guangdong also launched Happy Monkey self-operated products, involving small beans, sesame paste, wet wipes, bamboo chopsticks, etc., with some overlapping products' next-day pickup prices almost equal to store prices.

In addition, the Happy Monkey project also has many personnel from Meituan Select. According to "Business Observer," the helm of "Happy Monkey" is Gao Yulong, former head of Meituan Select. Gao Yulong has a deep Kuaitu background. In 2019, he was transferred to Kuaitu as financial BP, and within 2 years was promoted to head of Kuaitu business, until half a year ago when he became head of Meituan Select. Currently, the team of over 100 people responsible for "Happy Monkey" is composed of Meituan Select employees transferred or concurrently holding positions.

The author learned that at the strategic level, JD's discount store benchmarks against a low-configuration Sam's Club, aiming for mid-to-high-end cost-effectiveness, because JD's user perception is high quality. But how to bring down prices? During the stage of running bestsellers and building private brands, will the user base be snatched away or lost? This tests store operation efficiency.

So JD did not make community small stores, but chose large area + high SKU. At the same time, JD's discount store has a higher average transaction value than Happy Monkey and Super Hesuan NB.

In addition, JD will also use platform stores to accommodate warehousing and front warehouses, carrying offline experience + online instant retail. The store is both a supermarket and a fulfillment center for JD Daojia/instant retail.

When online traffic ceiling is reached, giants can obtain a large amount of consumer traffic through high-frequency fresh food scenarios, while feeding back into the instant retail war that giants are fighting most fiercely this year.

JD's hard discount supermarket has been bound to online JD APP ordering, with delivery within 30 minutes at the fastest, achieving a closed loop of "store + logistics." Super Hesuan NB can also order through Taobao Flash Purchase entrance. "Happy Monkey" has not yet been launched on the Meituan APP, but has reserved a window through the Select business.

**Surviving the alley war, balancing low prices and profitability**

Currently, China's hard discount players (Happy Monkey, Super Hesuan NB, and JD Supermarket) mostly concentrate their price range in the 19.9-29.9 yuan range.

In contrast, Aldi launched its value series in China in 2023, with over 500 items accounting for nearly a quarter of the total store products, such as 9.9 yuan shampoo and 3.9 yuan sanitary pads. Aldi has therefore been jokingly called the "Poor Man's Supermarket."

But the low-price strategy is indeed very effective. In 2024, Aldi China's sales increased by 100% year-on-year to 2 billion yuan, with only 5 new stores, and most of the performance came from same-store growth. Based on the revenue performance of 55 stores, it can be calculated that Aldi's average annual revenue per store is 36 million yuan, with an average daily sales of about 100,000 yuan per store. According to China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) data, in 2022, Aldi's 32 stores had a total revenue of 750 million yuan, with an average daily sales of only 64,000 yuan per store, an increase of over 50%.

Profit growth is positively correlated with Aldi's private label (PL). It is understood that when Aldi first entered China in early 2019, PL was estimated at around 30%, and now it has reached 90%. Super Hesuan NB's publicly disclosed data is that stores achieve daily sales of 150,000 yuan, with a gross margin of 15%, which means there is profit space, and this relies on Super Hesuan NB's PL reaching 60%.

The author compared and found that the newly opened "Happy Monkey" is obviously still a newcomer. In the fresh milk category, Super Hesuan NB's PL is 40%, while Happy Monkey's PL is 25%; in personal care, Hema's PL is 54%, Happy Monkey's is 29%; in edible oil, Super Hesuan NB is 59%, Happy Monkey is 20%. In snacks and beverages, the gap between the two will be even more obvious.

Another strategy is efficiency. Whether it is precise product selection adjustments, rough placement of original boxes, or store management methods that cut procurement, cashiering, and streamline staff, all are aimed at improving store operation efficiency. At Super Hesuan NB, including store manager, restocking, and cashier, there are only about ten staff members, and the store is almost unnoticeable. Currently, Happy Monkey's store has six or seven people just in the cashier area.

Store operation efficiency may improve, as the store model is still iterating. But the current excessive staffing and low-price competition strategy may cause "Happy Monkey" stores to lose about 10,000 yuan per day, an industry insider estimated on site.

Single-store losses do not put pressure on Meituan, but surrounding retail supermarkets are already under pressure. At the entrance of Happy Monkey supermarket, ground promotion personnel from nearby community supermarkets are distributing flyers and pulling people. A person from Super Hesuan NB who came to observe "Happy Monkey" revealed that Happy Monkey's category prices are pressed against theirs, and they will immediately follow up with a round of price adjustments for products of the same quality and specifications.

Competitive pressure will further compress the profit space of single stores. At present, the hard discount market is full of smoke. Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan are laying out one after another, and traditional supermarkets are also actively transforming. For example, Lianhua Huashang has been experimenting with small-format supermarket "Lianhua Fude" since the end of last year. In July this year, Wumart also entered hard discount, launching Wumart Super Value brand and opening 6 stores in Beijing simultaneously. This year, Aldi, the originator of hard discount, also moved out of Shanghai, entering Suzhou, Wuxi, and other places to start expansion.

This offline battle will ultimately test players' internal strengths in supply chain, operation efficiency, and private brands. In this ruthless track, only stores that can truly balance "low price" and "profitability" can survive this "alley war."


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 马自达
- Published: 2025-09-16
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/internet-giants-rush-into-poor-man-s-supermarkets-e2545723/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9yll7j9InNd2r4YZDeB1NQ

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