---
title: "Snack discount stores surge: What should brands like Bestore do?"
description: "The fierce battle between traditional snack specialty stores and snack discount stores is unfolding across the country. During market research in Chengdu in July, I witnessed a real scene: on a street, a Bestore and a Snack Youming, only 10 meters apart, had vastly different foot traffic at the same time. A rough count showed that during peak hours, Snack Youming maintained about 15-20 customers in-store, while Bestore had only a few. With high cost-performance snack discount stores pressing hard, where should high-end brands like Bestore and Three Squirrels go? Snack discount stores are booming..."
author: "赵胜男"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2023-10-06"
language: "en"
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# Snack discount stores surge: What should brands like Bestore do?

> The fierce battle between traditional snack specialty stores and snack discount stores is unfolding across the country. During market research in Chengdu in July, I witnessed a real scene: on a street, a Bestore and a Snack Youming, only 10 meters apart, had vastly different foot traffic at the same time. A rough count showed that during peak hours, Snack Youming maintained about 15-20 customers in-store, while Bestore had only a few. With high cost-performance snack discount stores pressing hard, where should high-end brands like Bestore and Three Squirrels go? Snack discount stores are booming...

The fierce battle between traditional snack specialty stores and snack discount stores is unfolding across the country. During market research in Chengdu in July, I witnessed a real scene: on a street, a Bestore and a Snack Youming, only 10 meters apart, had vastly different foot traffic at the same time. A rough count showed that during peak hours, Snack Youming maintained about 15-20 customers in-store, while Bestore had only a few. With high cost-performance snack discount stores pressing hard, where should high-end brands like Bestore and Three Squirrels go? Snack discount stores are booming, while high-end snack stores are slowing down.

The snack discount industry is rapidly emerging, with the heat spreading from the southern front to the north, and even nationwide, as various brands emerge. Whether in big cities or small counties, people's love and demand for high cost-performance snack discount stores are increasing. "When I opened my first store in 2021, there were no snack stores in Tangshan. Later, the snack store craze picked up, and several snack stores popped up on this street, such as Haoxianglai, Snack Store, Snack Youdianmang, etc.," said the founder of a snack store in Tangshan. Four snack discount stores coexisting on one street is just a microcosm of the fiery scene in the north; the southern market is even more intense.

Snack discount stores have entered a period of rapid development. According to public information on official websites, Snack Youming opens an average of 4 new stores per day, Snack Henmang opens an average of 6 new stores per day, and Zhao Yiming opens an average of 200+ new stores per month... Some industry insiders estimate that the pace of new store openings for some brands has far exceeded the official public figures. For example, Snack Henmang added over 1,000 new stores in nearly 100 days, a growth rate that is staggering. Many even joke, "The growth is so fast that the latest data you have today will be outdated next week." More than one industry insider predicts that this is a period of rapid expansion; if you can't reach a certain scale in a short time, you basically have no future. To seize a larger share, leading brands are no longer satisfied with organic growth; they are triggering a wave of mergers and acquisitions, with big brands swallowing small ones, and national brands merging regional brands.

On August 9, two mergers occurred in one day: Ai Snacks took controlling stakes in Dinosaur and Teddy, and Snack Henmang strategically invested in Qiahuo Puzi. On September 12, Wanchen, which entered the snack discount industry through mergers, announced that its four snack chain brands—Haoxianglai, Laiyoupin, Luxiaochuan, and Yadiyadi—were merged and renamed as Haoxianglai. In addition, financing events in the industry are also common. According to incomplete statistics, in 2022 alone, a total of 11 related companies in the leisure snack track received financing, with a total financing amount of about 1.3 billion yuan. Snack Youming has completed 6 rounds of financing. In stark contrast to the hot snack discount stores, traditional mid-to-high-end snack stores have clearly slowed down.

According to public financial report data, Bestore's operating revenue in the first quarter of 2023 fell by 18.94% year-on-year; Lai Yifen's operating revenue in the first half of 2023 fell by 8.75% year-on-year, and profit fell by 50.79% year-on-year; Three Squirrels in 2022 saw its direct-operated stores (Tou Shi Dian) and franchise stores (Lian Meng Dian) net close 117 and 387 stores respectively, a total of 504 closures. Why can retail discount stores outpace mid-to-high-end snack stores in growth when both are opening snack-type stores?

**Why can they compete**

When snack hard discount stores offer low prices with the same quality, consumers' psychology also quietly changes. In the past, they were willing to pay a premium for quality; now they care more about cost-performance. If you fail to recognize this change in underlying logic and insist on the original "high-end" route, future development will become increasingly difficult. How do you view the future direction of snack discount stores and traditional snack specialty stores?

**From October 9 to 11, 2023**, the **5th China FMCG Conference** will be held in Shenzhen. On the morning of October 10, we have organized a parallel forum themed **"Snacks and Discount Stores"**. At that time, snack/discount store brands, FMCG manufacturer executives, distributor experts, and industry deep observers will gather to have in-depth exchanges on topics related to **"hard discounts"**.

Colleagues interested in the future direction of the snack industry or snack discount stores are welcome to the conference site to discuss and exchange ideas!


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