---
title: "What Kind of Business Is the Explosively Popular Snack Collection Store?"
description: "In recent years, China's snack food industry has developed rapidly. According to the \"2022 China Snack Food Industry Research Report,\" the market has maintained a compound annual growth rate of over 11% in the past seven years. Against this backdrop, snack collection stores have also risen, sparking a trend in the industry. The snack collection store brand \"Zhao Yiming Snacks\" completed a 150 million yuan Series A financing this year, and as of February 28, 2023, the success rate for new store openings reached 95%, with a 65% rate for franchisees opening second stores. Snacks Busy, in just five years, expanded its store count to 2,000 and completed a 240 million yuan Series A financing. Why have snack collection stores, which have become so popular just by selling snacks, become so hot? This article will analyze the reasons behind the rise of snack collection stores from three aspects: consumers, influencer effects, and cost-effectiveness."
author: "赵胜男"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2023-05-05"
language: "en"
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# What Kind of Business Is the Explosively Popular Snack Collection Store?

> In recent years, China's snack food industry has developed rapidly. According to the "2022 China Snack Food Industry Research Report," the market has maintained a compound annual growth rate of over 11% in the past seven years. Against this backdrop, snack collection stores have also risen, sparking a trend in the industry. The snack collection store brand "Zhao Yiming Snacks" completed a 150 million yuan Series A financing this year, and as of February 28, 2023, the success rate for new store openings reached 95%, with a 65% rate for franchisees opening second stores. Snacks Busy, in just five years, expanded its store count to 2,000 and completed a 240 million yuan Series A financing. Why have snack collection stores, which have become so popular just by selling snacks, become so hot? This article will analyze the reasons behind the rise of snack collection stores from three aspects: consumers, influencer effects, and cost-effectiveness.

In recent years, China's snack food industry has developed rapidly. According to the "2022 China Snack Food Industry Research Report," the market has maintained a compound annual growth rate of over 11% in the past seven years. Against this backdrop, snack collection stores have also risen, sparking a trend in the industry. The snack collection store brand "Zhao Yiming Snacks" completed a 150 million yuan Series A financing this year, and as of February 28, 2023, the success rate for new store openings reached 95%, with a 65% rate for franchisees opening second stores. Snacks Busy, in just five years, expanded its store count to 2,000 and completed a 240 million yuan Series A financing. Why have snack collection stores, which have become so popular just by selling snacks, become so hot? The following will analyze the reasons from three aspects: consumers, influencer effects, and cost-effectiveness.

1. Snack Consumption Demand
Reports show that among millennials, the proportion of people who like to eat snacks has risen to 70%. Undoubtedly, the post-95s and post-00s who love snacks are the main consumer group for snack collection stores. This group grew up in an environment of relative material abundance, with increasing disposable income or pocket money. Besides three meals a day, snacks are almost a fourth meal for many, indispensable daily. Snack collection stores, filled with snacks, naturally quickly gained consumer favor. Although ordinary supermarkets also sell snacks, snack categories are just a small part of their many products, with relatively fewer varieties. When consumers who only want to buy snacks enter a supermarket, they often have to navigate past shelves they don't care about, searching for their target snacks. In contrast, snack collection stores specialize in snacks, so consumers see snacks everywhere upon entering. They offer a wide variety, including healthy snacks, small-packaged products, and imported snacks from various countries and regions, meeting consumers' "one-stop shopping" needs. This is very friendly to "lazy patients + snack lovers."

2. Influencer Effect
Besides the demand for snacks and one-stop shopping, the influencer effect is also a major reason for the popularity of snack collection stores. With the proliferation of social media, more and more young consumers like to share their lives, food, and attractive storefronts online. Snack collection stores, through packaging and marketing of their storefronts and products, present consumers with a different experience from traditional supermarkets—not disorderly, but with beautiful decor and clearly arranged, attractive product displays. Many consumers are attracted upon entering, take photos, and share them on their social media, which then spreads from person to person, increasing store exposure and influence. Currently, there are over 100,000 notes about snack stores on Xiaohongshu alone. Through further marketing tactics, they attract more young consumers' attention and purchases, gradually becoming influencer hotspots.

3. Cost-Effectiveness
Consumer demand and influencer effects only attract some people; what truly makes snack collection stores appeal to all snack lovers is cost-effectiveness. Here, you can often buy cola for 1.9 yuan, mineral water for 1.2 yuan, and half-price potato chips. Most popular snack collection stores that are expanding rapidly advertise "lowest prices!" Unlike high-end snack stores like Three Squirrels and Bestore, these stores cover consumers across low, middle, and high spending segments. In addition to discounted single items, snack collection stores also offer bundle sales, where customers can choose different snack combinations based on their preferences and receive discounts. This sales method satisfies customers' diverse taste needs while reducing the total price of their purchases. Of course, snack collection stores are not the only snack business model focusing on low prices; the near-expiry food stores from a couple of years ago also used low prices to ignite young consumers' spending. Now, the popularity of near-expiry food stores is fading. In comparison, snack collection stores offer not only discounts but also products with normal expiration dates, making them clearly more worth buying.

In summary, consumer demand, influencer effects, and price discounts are all reasons for the popularity of snack collection stores. However, behind their explosive growth, they also face many challenges.

Challenges Facing Snack Collection Stores
First, there is the issue of quality control. Rock-bottom prices inevitably lead to negligence in quality control. During last year's "3·15" period, many food safety issues were exposed. For example, netizen "Na Yi Mo Xin Lv" posted on Weibo that she found a fried foreign object in the rice cakes she bought from "Mrs. Lao Da." Even now, multiple complaints about food hygiene and safety in snack collection stores can be seen on Heimao Complaint, affecting chain stores like "Snacks Busy," "Zuo Shang Ke Snack Store," and "Hao Xing Fu Global Snack Collection Store." Most products with quality issues come from lesser-known brands, which offer much higher profit margins than major brands. Ordinary supermarkets have limited snack shelf space and prioritize major brands when stocking because they are quality-assured and sell well. Snack collection stores, however, need to continuously provide low-priced products, and relying solely on major brands yields thin profits, so they take risks by choosing lesser-known brands. Choosing lesser-known brands is risky; as mentioned earlier, the influencer effect can have both positive and negative impacts. Once a product quality issue arises, consumers may stop buying from that brand or store and spread negative information through social media and friend circles, damaging reputation and trust.

Second, the core consumer group has low loyalty. The main consumers of snack collection stores are young people born after 1995 and 2000. Contemporary young people are highly receptive to new things but also tend to quickly tire of them, as can be seen from repurchase rates. According to public data from Baidu Index, one of China's well-known research institutions, as of the end of 2021, the repurchase rate for national snack chain stores was around 25%-30%. In contrast, according to the "2020 National Top 100 Retail Enterprises Ranking" released by the China General Chamber of Commerce and the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, the average repurchase rate of the top ten large supermarket chains was above 40%, with Suning, Yonghui Superstores, and Carrefour all exceeding 45%. Clearly, snack chain stores have much lower repurchase rates than ordinary supermarket chains. Moreover, middle-aged and elderly people generally do not choose to shop at snack collection stores, so capturing the hearts of the core consumer group is crucial. This means snack collection stores are in a precarious position; if they cannot continuously innovate and solidify their foundation, they will gradually be replaced by new channels.

Facing these challenges, how can they stay popular longer?
These challenges have led to much skepticism about snack collection stores: Are supply channels reliable? Can warehousing and distribution meet daily operations? As chains expand, can management be perfected? Can they attract core consumers long-term? Many industry insiders even believe that snack collection stores are just collecting franchise fees under the guise of doing business, not a long-term solution. Many franchisees invest money but struggle to grow their business, ultimately losing everything. In fact, all skepticism boils down to one question: How long can snack collection stores remain popular? In response, many snack collection store brands have begun to actively address these concerns.

1. Supply Chain
Since snack collection stores sell low-priced consumer goods with a wide variety of products from many manufacturers, supply instability is common. This is a major point of external skepticism. To address this, brands are using various strategies. For example, Pocket Shopping has established long-term strategic partnerships with some well-known manufacturers to ensure product quality and timely fulfillment of customer purchase needs. Additionally, Matchbox Snack Store has adopted a "self-developed + OEM cooperation" model, launching its own exclusive brands and products, enhancing its core competitiveness and brand influence while reducing supply chain dependence and risks.

2. Strengthening Management Systems
As market competition intensifies and customer demands rise, snack collection stores need to continuously open new stores to meet market demand, but increasing store numbers also complicates management. Therefore, managing the growing number of stores is crucial. For instance, Snacks Busy has begun using digital information platforms to strengthen its management system. First, through the digital platform, it monitors the entire chain, with round-the-clock monitoring across national stores. Second, the platform improves overall operational efficiency, allowing staff to efficiently handle sourcing, distribution, and warehouse management in the backend, with warehouse goods staying no longer than one week. Compared to traditional retail, this model has a turnover speed more than double.

3. Enhancing Customer Experience
In fierce market competition, improving customer experience is an effective competitive strategy. If competitors' services cannot match yours, customers are likely to choose your store, giving you a competitive edge. For example, Snacks Busy continuously improves the customer experience in its stores to attract consumers. The store image and decor have undergone five updates, with the current fifth-generation store featuring a bright yellow sign that is highly eye-catching, bright lighting, neatly arranged products, and a clean, tidy environment, providing a great shopping experience.

Another example is "Zhao Yiming Snacks," which has established four major warehouses nationwide to improve distribution efficiency, with store networks reaching township-level markets. By integrating supply chain and store networks through digitalization, it has greatly enhanced circulation efficiency.

Actively addressing challenges is a positive move, but whether they can retain consumers and sustain their popularity remains to be seen.

**Final Thoughts:** Snack collection stores are a product of the times, carrying the "explosively popular" label and attracting much attention. This business is indeed promising, but entrants need to make cautious decisions. Under the explosive popularity, competition is inevitably fierce, but most snack collection stores suffer from severe homogenization and lack highlights, so blind entry poses many risks. Moreover, channels that rely on low prices and influencer effects, if they do not quickly establish a more solid core competitiveness, are easily replaced and unlikely to last long.


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