---
title: "The Small-Town Supermarket That Has Been Open for Nearly 20 Years"
description: "During the Spring Festival, Zhou Xiangdong's family, who run a supermarket in Shatian Township, Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, remained busy as usual. The supermarket, covering about 700 square meters over two floors, has been operating for nearly 20 years, surviving the impact of e-commerce and adapting to changes. Similarly, Tang Shuchun's small supermarket in Gushi County, Henan, has been open for 15 years and has thrived by adjusting its business strategy, leveraging local advantages and personalized services."
author: "听筒Tech"
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published: "2024-03-19"
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# The Small-Town Supermarket That Has Been Open for Nearly 20 Years

> During the Spring Festival, Zhou Xiangdong's family, who run a supermarket in Shatian Township, Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, remained busy as usual. The supermarket, covering about 700 square meters over two floors, has been operating for nearly 20 years, surviving the impact of e-commerce and adapting to changes. Similarly, Tang Shuchun's small supermarket in Gushi County, Henan, has been open for 15 years and has thrived by adjusting its business strategy, leveraging local advantages and personalized services.

This Spring Festival, Zhou Xiangdong's family, who run a supermarket in Shatian Township, Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, remained busy as usual. Every year around the Spring Festival is their busiest time.
Zhou Xiangdong's supermarket is not large, covering about 700 square meters over two floors. In terms of store size, product variety, and quantity, it cannot compare with large urban supermarkets, but in the local township, it is considered a regular supermarket with complete goods, reasonable prices, and stable operations. What many people find surprising is that **this supermarket has been open for nearly 20 years.** More than a decade ago, in this township with a population of less than 40,000, the supermarket format was just emerging. For many years, there were only two supermarkets in the town, so business was always good. Over the past 20 years, both urban and rural areas across the country have undergone tremendous changes, and this small town has also changed dramatically, especially with the rise of e-commerce in the last decade, which has affected many aspects of the town. However, the earliest supermarket not only survived but has remained very popular. Nevertheless, Zhou Xiangdong laments the impact of e-commerce: **during the rapid development of e-commerce, his supermarket's performance declined sharply for four consecutive years.** Fortunately, in recent years, business has stabilized and rebounded. Although the growth rate is not as high as in the early years, Zhou Xiangdong believes that "as long as we adjust according to consumers' purchasing behavior in a timely manner, it is not a big problem to sustain."
Tang Shuchun, from Huzu Town, Gushi County, Xinyang City, Henan Province, is also extremely busy during the New Year season. **Tang Shuchun's small supermarket has also been open for 15 years. In previous years, her supermarket was also impacted by e-commerce, but she quickly adjusted her business approach, and now business is even better.** "Compared with online consumption, we have our own advantages. We are a department store supermarket rooted in the local community, with a stronger presence and more human touch than online stores. Moreover, it is very convenient for local people to shop in-store; they don't have to wait for delivery and can buy anytime to meet their daily needs. We have put a lot of thought into winning the hearts of our neighbors," said Tang Shuchun.
In fact, **in the vast rural areas and townships, there are many such small and medium-sized supermarkets. They are close to people's lives, with a full range of categories. The owners are very familiar with local consumers and can respond to changes promptly. As a result, they have survived the e-commerce wave and the changing times.** From what I have learned, the impact of e-commerce on townships and rural areas may be smaller than imagined. At these consumption endpoints, physical stores can directly reach consumers' shopping habits. After being tested by the times, they have gradually formed a business route deeply rooted in surrounding residents, becoming an indispensable part of local consumption. They have also withstood economic and consumption cycles, fully demonstrating the unique resilience and vitality of the lower-tier consumer market.
**A Supermarket Open for Nearly 20 Years**
In rural areas, some offline supermarkets are doing better than expected.
Zhou Xiangdong's supermarket opened in 2007. Before that, the family was also in business. Later, they built a house with a storefront in the town and decided to open a supermarket. Like many towns in central China, Zhou Xiangdong's county is a typical labor-exporting area, with many young people going to work in the eastern or southern coastal regions each year. During holidays, these young people return home to buy New Year goods. At that time, the "supermarket" format had just emerged in the town. Before Zhou Xiangdong opened his supermarket, there was only one supermarket in the town. Perhaps out of curiosity about the new format, locals were accustomed to shopping there, and business was booming. After Zhou Xiangdong's supermarket opened, it quickly gained a foothold in the town thanks to its prime location and good service. **"In the first few years, we grew at about 50% annually,"** Zhou Xiangdong said. At its peak, they employed nearly 20 staff. "At that time, daily necessities sold well," Zhou Xiangdong revealed. In their supermarket, daily necessities have always sold well, especially at certain times, when some items sold extremely well. "For example, around the start of school, backpacks, notebooks, and pens were sometimes in short supply." Around the Spring Festival, snacks and gift boxes also sold well. "We adjust the quantity and categories of items based on experience," Zhou Xiangdong said, adding that he had benefited from the first wave of traditional supermarket development in rural areas.
Tang Shuchun's store is located in a township in Gushi County, Xinyang City, Henan Province. This town is similar to Zhou Xiangdong's, being a labor-exporting area where the population returns in large numbers during holidays. **In 2009, Tang Shuchun took over this store located on the side of a national highway from a friend. At that time, it mainly engaged in wholesale and retail of cigarettes, alcohol, and a series of daily necessities. Now, 15 years later, the store is still thriving.** Every Spring Festival, Tang Shuchun's store experiences a concentrated burst of business, from mid-December of the lunar calendar until after the Lantern Festival before they can rest.
Image: Tang Shuchun's store's Spring Festival beverage display Source: Provided by Tang Shuchun
This year is no exception. "Every year, we only close after everyone has had their New Year's Eve dinner. On the evening of New Year's Eve, people are still coming to buy New Year goods, and we wish we could be three people. But making half a year's money in one New Year season is worth it," Tang Shuchun said.
Tang Shuchun has been deeply involved in the offline retail market for over a decade. She knows exactly which brands are popular among township residents and has cooperated with many consumer brands. "Take the Spring Festival as an example. Everyone likes red and festive packaging. In townships, people usually go out to visit relatives, so festive gift boxes of alcohol, beverages, and nutritional products are more attractive and sell best," Tang Shuchun explained.
**Suffering the Impact of E-commerce**
In the last decade, with the rapid development of e-commerce, both Zhou Xiangdong's and Tang Shuchun's businesses have been affected to varying degrees. "The rise of e-commerce platforms has had a huge impact on supermarkets," Zhou Xiangdong still sighs, "Society is developing too fast."
When e-commerce first emerged in the town, Zhou Xiangdong keenly felt the crisis, but he did not expect the e-commerce wave to come so fiercely. "The first few years were okay, because rural people need time to accept new things." But with the development of logistics, his business was inevitably affected. "The first to be affected were daily necessities; customers decreased, and sales dropped significantly."
Image: Interior view of Zhou Xiangdong's supermarket
**Starting from 2018, Zhou Xiangdong's supermarket experienced a sharp decline for several consecutive years, with the biggest drop reaching 50%.** "With the rapid rise of platforms like Xingsheng Youxuan, Meituan Maicai, and Duoduo Maicai, even food categories were severely affected." "Especially in recent years, even the elderly have started shopping online, which undoubtedly has a significant impact on business," Zhou Xiangdong said with a smile, noting that even his own family members buy many things online. This made Zhou Xiangdong deeply uneasy; he even wondered if his store could continue, but he did not give up. "A small or medium-sized supermarket requires an investment of at least 6 to 7 million yuan, so it's impossible to just close down. What we can do is persist."
Like Zhou Xiangdong, Tang Shuchun's store also experienced the impact of e-commerce. When Tang Shuchun first started her business, e-commerce had not yet emerged in the town. At that time, to earn more money, she not only ran the store but also bought a truck and hired workers to deliver goods to various retail stores in the township, doing food wholesale. With retail and wholesale, Tang Shuchun quickly revitalized the store, becoming a rare "general store" in the town. However, as the business grew, many peers began to imitate her model, which greatly affected her business. Especially after 2013, with the rise of e-commerce retail, people across the country were swept into the wave of online shopping. They bought daily necessities online and also habitually purchased many life-related items on e-commerce platforms. In the following years, many express delivery stations emerged in Tang Shuchun's township, including exploration stores by e-commerce giants like JD.com in lower-tier markets. Tang Shuchun was once very anxious, as the whole family depended on the supermarket for a living. In her anxiety, she was also thinking of ways to bring back customer traffic.
The experiences of Zhou Xiangdong and Tang Shuchun reflect, to some extent, the development of e-commerce in recent years and its impact on traditional supermarkets. Data from the China Internet Network Information Center shows that as of June 2022, the number of online shopping users in China reached 841 million, accounting for 80% of netizens; in 2013, it was only 302 million, accounting for 48.9%. Wind statistics show that e-commerce transaction volume increased from 4.57 trillion yuan in 2013 to 14.92 trillion yuan in 2020. In just a few years, the user base increased by 1.68 times, and transaction volume grew by 2.26 times. According to data from the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), in 2022, only 44.3% of Chinese supermarket companies saw year-on-year sales growth, with an average growth rate of 15.2%; 1.4% remained flat; and 44.3% saw a decline, with an average decrease of 22.8%. The rapid growth of the e-commerce industry has brought significant changes to consumer purchasing experience, logistics supply chains, and business strategies, and has also had a huge impact on physical stores. Many physical stores failed to withstand this shock and closed down.
**Also Seeking Change**
Fortunately, Zhou Xiangdong has noticed that in recent years, the impact of online e-commerce on physical stores has gradually weakened, and the supermarket's business has begun to stabilize and rebound. Of course, this is also due to the changes in physical supermarkets' operations.
To cope with the impact of e-commerce, Zhou Xiangdong quickly made adjustments. He first reduced the quantity of daily necessities, "because these items are almost unaffected by shelf life, and e-commerce platforms offer more categories and better prices, so these items are hit hardest." At the same time, Zhou Xiangdong used his years of supermarket operation experience to adjust the quantity of goods in a timely manner to reduce inventory. More importantly, **with most manufacturers adjusting their agency systems, Zhou Xiangdong's procurement costs have dropped significantly, which has reduced his costs to some extent.** "Previously, many products went from provincial agents to city agents, then to county agents, and even township agents, layer by layer, increasing costs. Now, basically, provincial agents ship directly." On the other hand, Zhou Xiangdong is also trying to join e-commerce platforms. In 2023, he joined the Duoduo Maicai platform. However, Zhou Xiangdong admitted that the revenue brought by the platform is minimal, and he mainly relies on offline retail. In the past three years, his business has stabilized and rebounded. In Zhou Xiangdong's view, on the one hand, it is because he responded promptly and adjusted categories; on the other hand, offline supermarkets have advantages that e-commerce cannot replace. "The after-sales advantage of offline supermarkets cannot be replaced by e-commerce. Now more and more rural consumers are paying attention to quality. Some platforms' products have no quality guarantee, which is causing consumers to gradually return to offline supermarkets." **Now, Zhou Xiangdong's customer traffic is returning, with the growth rate gradually recovering to about 3% in the past two years,** which gives him hope.
Tang Shuchun's supermarket business is even better than before. On the one hand, her store is located at the intersection of a national highway, with a large parking area in front, giving it a prime location. People from all directions can easily stop by to buy cigarettes, alcohol, and daily necessities. On the other hand, Tang Shuchun has been seeking change, leveraging nearly 20 years of experience in lower-tier market retail to explore offline operations with a series of cooperative brands, building a barrier against online e-commerce.
Image: Tang Shuchun's store's daily liquor display
At the same time, Tang Shuchun has carried out a series of refined operations for the offline store. First, she adjusted the store's products, eliminating low-unit-price items and maintaining or increasing the proportion of higher-unit-price items. According to Tang Shuchun's observation, friends around her usually buy daily necessities or low-priced food online, but rarely buy higher-priced items such as mid-to-high-end liquor online. In view of this, Tang Shuchun eliminated the various spicy strips and biscuits she used to sell, increased the investment in mid-to-high-end cigarettes, alcohol, and beverages, and transformed the store into a "boutique store." Second, she cooperated with brands for customization. For example, Tang Shuchun has set up custom counters with brands like Yanghe Blue Classic and Gujing Gong, sponsoring wedding banquets, school banquets, and other occasions. Third, as a long-term major customer and distributor, Tang Shuchun can obtain more product lines at the best prices while ensuring product quality, and can also stock up for customers in advance. This continuously wins over people around her, making the store an indispensable "life companion" for offline users. "Especially in townships, every family with a new daughter-in-law or a new son-in-law must visit relatives every year, and the gifts prepared by each family are the same. We basically attend their wedding banquets, so we greet them in advance and help them prepare gifts for visiting relatives during the New Year. This is something online e-commerce cannot do, or can never do, and it is a 'consumption scenario' that cannot be taken away," Tang Shuchun said. Third, she places more emphasis on service, making it more detailed and humanized. For example, she has established customer groups, regularly publishes product information and promotions, and accepts orders from the group. If customers need it, she also provides delivery service.
Nowadays, in rural areas, there are more and more offline stores like those run by Zhou Xiangdong and Tang Shuchun. For example, in Zhou Xiangdong's town, seven supermarkets and many small stores have appeared in recent years. These stores have survived the e-commerce wave and continue to operate tenaciously.
Data from the China Chain Store & Franchise Association released on January 24, "Overview of Regional Chain Supermarket Development in 2023," also shows that in 2023, among the 43 regional chain supermarkets surveyed, 40% saw year-on-year growth in total sales, with half of them achieving growth from comparable store sales, i.e., improved store operations. Most of the growing enterprises are located in third- and fourth-tier cities.
The nearly 20-year business journey of Zhou Xiangdong and Tang Shuchun is a microcosm of the development and changes of these offline stores. **Although these offline supermarkets are not large and inevitably suffer from e-commerce impact, they still have irreplaceable advantages.** This tenacious vitality and resilience rooted in the local area has enabled them to stand firm in the torrent of e-commerce.
In fact, in the vast rural areas and townships, most residents are middle-aged or elderly. They are accustomed to buying things from nearby physical stores, are not good at online shopping, and have not formed the habit. This is also an important reason why many physical stores can survive in these small places.
In the view of industry experts, **physical stores and offline supermarkets may become a new incremental market for county economies in the future. With the rise of county economies, supermarkets in fourth- and fifth-tier cities still have vitality.**
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