Click to read the original article for details. Source: Billion Consumers (ID: gjgc168) In this scorching summer, some cities have entered the season of "boiling water falling from the sky," and the Cowherd and Weaver Girl will usher in the hottest Qixi Festival. Where is the best haven for urbanites? A widely circulated online article says that many middle-aged office workers, after driving back to their apartment buildings every day, will silently sit in their cars for 5-10 minutes, saying that only that brief moment truly belongs to them. However, to have these 5-10 minutes to yourself, you first need to buy a car, and in Beijing and Shanghai, you might not even win the license plate lottery. For many newcomers to the workforce, this is too luxurious. What they need is just a place to sit down with air conditioning, play with their phones for a few minutes, and then wait for their boyfriends who are on their way home from work, before heading home together. This place is the convenience store. On Beijing nights, I often see couples meeting at convenience stores, eating, buying bread and milk for the next day's breakfast, and then walking home hand in hand. Some say that the checkout counter of a convenience store is the young people's kitchen, and the freezer aisle is their refrigerator. With convenience stores, in summer, young renters have an extra place to escape the heat. Although some items, like summer drinks, are indeed a bit more expensive than at street-side grocery stores, for many girls, saving one yuan by walking extra and sweating profusely is not worth it. This mindset is something many straight men don't understand, just as many don't understand how the convenience store business survives. A couple of days ago, Mr. Liang Changlin from Dingdong Maicai, while commenting on HUXIU's article "A Good Business Model Is Not Calculated by Numbers," mentioned in a WeChat post why businesses shouldn't focus solely on average transaction value: "Supermarkets have high average transaction values but aren't doing well; convenience stores have low average transaction values but seem to be doing fine." How low is the average transaction value at convenience stores? At a recent new product launch event for FamilyMart in Beijing, Wu Haibin, general manager of Beijing FamilyMart, told the author it's about 15-17 yuan. After multiple verifications, this figure is considered a consensus in the industry. No wonder a retail industry bigwig publicly said that convenience stores are "small in area, few in products, and expensive, with no investment value." However, this hasn't stopped the convenience store industry from achieving an average overall growth rate of 20% over the past three years, nor has it stopped regional leaders from being visited by investors. An industry insider told me an unverified figure: among the top 10 convenience store chains in this year's China Chain Store & Franchise Association ranking, most have already achieved profitability (at the headquarters level). Liu Zhongjian, founder and CEO of Linji Convenience Store, believes that convenience stores require long-term investment, dedicated management, attention to detail, and long-term persistence. Once scale is achieved, their value cannot be underestimated. Currently, the industry generally underestimates the huge value of convenience stores. Chart source: DT Finance You might not believe it. After all, in the media context, descriptions of convenience stores still linger on the 2018 implosions and the impression of high costs and profitability difficulties in first-tier cities. But seeing more and more young people daring to be affectionate in convenience stores, I'm starting to believe it. A Pause in the City Japanese author Keigo Higashino has written many books, but what truly established his master status was winning the Naoki Prize for "The Devotion of Suspect X." At the beginning of this book, the mathematical genius Ishigami takes a detour every day to buy breakfast at the "Tentei" convenience store, but in reality, he goes to catch a glimpse of his goddess. Those few minutes of heart flutter become the foundation of the entire story. I once suspected this detail wasn't fabricated but a small episode that happens to many ordinary people. From this, it's clear that convenience stores have permeated the capillaries of Japanese social culture, and it seems nothing strange happens in them. As Wu Haibin, general manager of Beijing FamilyMart, mentioned, at stores near Beijing railway stations, staff often see well-dressed customers dragging suitcases sitting in the store until midnight. Gradually, everyone gets used to it and doesn't disturb them. Leaving Beijing, I arrive at Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. On the night after the college entrance exam ended, I walked out of a local food street. A group of students in school uniforms were blocking the entrance of a Linji convenience store, holding drinks and talking loudly. I carefully bypassed them and entered. It was a two-story convenience store. In the rest area on the second floor, a boy was asleep on a table, his phone still charging against the wall. Hefei's Linji convenience stores were founded in 2017 and later received investments from institutions like Capital Today. Founder Liu Zhongjian previously operated Zhejiang Shizu convenience stores and has 20 years of industry experience. When he started his venture in Hefei, Liu firmly believed that the value of convenience stores lies not only in products and fresh food but also in the spatial experience. So Hefei Linji stores are equipped with 8-12 chairs as standard, some at rectangular tables where people sit on all sides, others on long benches near floor-to-ceiling windows. Linji convenience store's leisure area This has gradually become an industry consensus in Japan, where convenience stores are highly developed. When Liu Zhongjian visited Japanese convenience stores for research, he saw that many stores not only set up seats but also place small partitions between seats at long tables, creating private space isolation. You can sit there crying or laughing, and the person next to you won't see. This might be the biggest conceptual innovation in the convenience store industry over the past decade: shifting from product + service orientation to product + service + (spatial) experience. From a business perspective, so-called services don't necessarily have to be profitable. Wu Haibin introduced that many people might not know that FamilyMart has a convenience service box containing reading glasses, needle and thread, small band-aids, Yunnan Baiyao, etc. "If you need them urgently, you can go to any FamilyMart store; they all have this box. Other convenience stores charge for power banks, but we don't charge; we just leave them there for free." Convenience stores are a low-margin industry with already low average transaction values. Do they have to provide free band-aids and free space? How do you calculate sales per square meter? Logically, convenience stores are in the convenience business, and customers are time-scarce. Shouldn't they buy and leave quickly? This might be the relativity of time in convenience stores. Indeed, convenience stores are a product of time scarcity and fast-paced urban life. But interestingly, when you put out tables and chairs, you find that demand emerges. Liu Zhongjian said that stores near restaurants or bars often have people coming in after drinking to sober up. Some also come to sit, take out their phones as if listening to music, and then stare into space for a long time. What convenience stores can offer them is air conditioning, seats, and a free power outlet. Unlike many places, Linji convenience stores place power outlets on the table rather than underneath. In some cafes, you have to bend over and crawl on the floor to find an outlet, and not every seat has one. This detail reveals: Don't underestimate urbanites' need for a small private space. Because cities are too crowded, people often have nowhere to escape. What convenience stores give them is the simplest sense of security. Unlike the cafe experience, in a convenience store, no one finds it strange if a person sits silently for a long time. Convenience stores are inherently a scene for individual consumption, which is completely different from the family consumption habits in hypermarkets. Hypermarkets sell popularity, while convenience stores sell comfort. So a quiet convenience store can do good business, but quietness is a disaster for a hypermarket. The Straight Man's Trap People in the convenience store business are masters at understanding human nature. Toshifumi Suzuki established his master status with "The Philosophy of Retailing," but he also wrote "My Retail Life," where he specifically mentions that the two subjects he did best in university were statistics and psychology. From a social psychology perspective, if you compare various retail formats, you can use this analogy: supermarkets are the city's straight men, while convenience stores are the city's warm men. Generally speaking, supermarkets excel at "more, fast, good, and cheap," covering "more" and "cheap." Convenience stores, on the other hand, excel at "new." Recently, Beijing FamilyMart launched a series of new products, including steamed buns in five colors (as shown below): If a straight man saw this product, he'd be baffled. What are the characteristics of straight men? Utilitarian and pragmatic, chauvinistic, and emotionally insensitive. Steamed buns are a timeless breakfast bestseller in any convenience store, especially in northern cities. Wu Haibin told media including HUXIU: "In June, a store sold an average of 250 buns a day, while in July, a store can sell 400 buns a day. The five sweet bun varieties sell about 150. The store with the highest bun sales in Beijing can sell 900 a day, rivaling a dedicated bun shop." But typically, breakfast buns are white. This time, they launched colorful steamed buns with a slightly salty taste. Wang Yiwen, spokesperson for China FamilyMart, said that while deliciousness is basic, appearance is also very important, hence the colorful steamed bun series. "Sales since launch have exceeded our expectations." Wu Haibin said: "The colors of all buns use no artificial coloring; they're made with spinach juice, pumpkin juice, and sweet potato juice." In terms of taste, "considering Beijing consumers prefer salty flavors, buying a bun without meat inside would be a bit strange, so we developed eggplant-pork buns and tomato-scrambled egg buns." Tomato-scrambled egg is the most ordinary home-cooked dish, but it's used in various mixes in the food circle. Tomato-egg dumplings are already common, and now it's the turn of buns, and colorful ones at that. It's a game of old wine in new bottles. You could say, "Isn't it still a bun?" But some people are willing to pay for that novelty. Convenience stores have a blast with these mix-and-match gimmicks. Wu Haibin is from the south and always appears in suits and refined, but that doesn't stop him from finding inspiration in the everyday life of Beijing's streets. Previously, FamilyMart also launched braised chicken rice and a FamilyMart version of spring pancakes with vegetables. Wu Haibin said they want customers to find that "ritual feeling" of eating spring pancakes like old Beijingers. Beijing FamilyMart in the evening In any store with fresh food as a core selling point, constant innovation is the norm. At Beijing FamilyMart, the annual product turnover rate is as high as 70%. "The annual turnover rate for all products at Beijing FamilyMart is nearly 70%. In other words, if I have 3,000 products a year, it means 70% of them won't be seen next year," Wu Haibin said. Besides novelty and appearance, fun is also important. For example, the drinks below. No one takes the words on the bottles seriously, but many can't help but smile when they see them. Linji convenience store displays a row of funny nickname bottles, creating a comedic effect. Liu Zhongjian told HUXIU that in recent years, besides taste changes, beverage manufacturers have also put great effort into packaging. For example, the old yogurt bottles, which they call "medicine jar" bottles, were narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Now bottles are more slender, with less capacity, but easier for women to hold. Of course, to straight men, this isn't practical at all. Another trick to attract women is low sugar and low fat. Many milk bottles prominently feature the word "skimmed," and even chocolates that women love emphasize being "low calorie." So don't think convenience stores are just for quenching thirst or filling hunger; that's the function of food delivery. Going straight to solve "needs" is straight-man thinking. A good convenience store should be fashionable, interesting, and fresh. This freshness means curiosity for consumers and providing more short-shelf-life products for merchants. Understanding this, you'll realize that food delivery can't take away convenience stores' business. Just like in front of a goddess, straight men can never compete with warm men. Constantly creating freshness is the only way to attract more women into convenience stores. Remember, women are indeed more changeable than men, so a store must be even more changeable than women to survive on the street. The City's Warm Man Why is women's feeling important? Japanese writer and sociologist Miura Atsushi once said that we should study young people, especially young girls' dressing styles and speech patterns. In an interview with Yitiao, he said: "I believe changes in young girls will change the entire society." Peng Xin, founder of Nayuki Tea, famously said that consumption upgrades are always driven by women. According to Linji convenience store statistics, 60% of their customers are young women. As for men, it depends on whether you're a straight man or a warm man. Although women are changeable themselves, they always need a sense of security more than men, anytime, anywhere. At Linji convenience stores, many girls were initially afraid of night shifts because the stores are open 24 hours, and sometimes the empty streets outside wouldn't see a car for a long time. But gradually they stopped being afraid. One girl told her mother on WeChat not to worry about her because there's a leisure area and customers still come at night. In Hefei, many residential security guards also work night shifts. Sometimes young guards come to the convenience store to sit for a while and charge their phones, which makes the girls in the store feel more at ease. Liu Zhongjian has always believed that the vitality of convenience stores lies in being a format that highly respects human nature. At Linji, this respect applies not only to customers but also to employees. There's a little secret in Linji stores that outsiders usually don't notice: many Linji stores have employee restrooms not open to customers. "If a girl had to run out of the store and walk several streets to find a restroom in the middle of the night, many would be afraid." Linji convenience stores have a feature: from the beginning, they've used automatic sliding doors. When someone walks by, the door automatically senses and opens. In summer, when it's scorching outside and a blast of cold air hits you, many people who aren't buying anything will automatically jump in to escape the heat. But that's not the only reason. Another reason: "Because many girls can't push open glass doors, they won't come in," Liu Zhongjian said. I initially wanted to refute this immediately. In this era of tough women everywhere, Chinese women are already more than men, not so delicate. But then I thought, when girls ask boys to open bottle caps, is it really because they can't? I immediately realized I was being a straight man too. Even if I can do it, when you're around, I like you to do it for me. That's women's nature. And the automatic door at convenience stores is just playing the role of a "warm man." Women's sense of security often comes from being moved by small details. Of course, those who cry in a BMW are another story. Some might think this is too fussy; why consider so much when opening a store? But if you don't understand these little thoughts of girls, you won't understand what consumption upgrade means. An excellent convenience store must be a work of art, meticulously crafted like a master sculptor, whether it's lighting, temperature, traffic flow, or product display. Of course, attention to detail is the essence of retail. Convenience stores are a typical product of consumption upgrade. When we talk about consumption upgrade, from a macro perspective, we tend to look at changes in total volume, changes in class consumption habits, and changes in the grade of purchased goods. But there's also a micro-level upgrade: the pursuit of better experiences and more refined living spaces. This is also part of consumption upgrade. Liu Zhongjian said that as young consumers' demand for convenience and high-quality products continues to increase, the customer base of convenience stores will keep growing. More and more post-90s and post-95s will become the "original inhabitants" of convenience stores. As they age and even grow old, they will still be accustomed to consuming at convenience stores. A good convenience store must understand young people's psychology. It's like a girl who might call her boyfriend a bad guy every day but still eats with him every day. She has small complaints but can't leave him. The saddest thing is when your goddess says to you on Qixi, "You're a good guy." Qixi Festival is coming soon. I asked Linji convenience store how they prepare for Qixi, and Liu Zhongjian replied: "Atmosphere is the most important." This sentence applies to the convenience store industry, but it's also worth listening to for all straight men.