Local small and medium retailers huddle to warm up | Set up ant alliance

The size of the Bao Tuan does not mean that the bigger the better, the too large scale will also bring problems to the Union's management and interest consistency.


At Wing Fai Supermarket, RT-Mart, Carrefour and other large-scale commercials have joined Ali, Tencent camp, the regional retailer seems to have met with a cold.

The retail industry is a very regionalized industry. Except for several large retailers, there are actually more scattered regional retailers in the country. They have a certain share in their local markets, but they are compared with large-scale retail enterprises in China. As a result, these small and medium-sized retailers have poor purchasing power and bargaining power, and lack a strong chain management system. The main thing is the lack of scale.


A self-employed regional supermarket operator once quipped with the author: 'I would like to be acquired, retail is very profitable and cumbersome. If I am acquired, I will be able to have a good price. I am very willing. Unfortunately, I am so small. Scale, big companies do not look at me!

Since the station is not on the team, these small and medium-sized retailers need to find their own way out, and it is a good choice to huddle and keep warm.

A few months ago, Henan Jin Hao Lai, Zhejiang Harbour Supermarket, Fujian Guanye, Anhui Lecheng, Zhejiang Wankelong, Hefei Lianjia, Fuyang Greentown and more than 20 regional small and medium-sized retailers jointly formed the Ant Alliance. Ants Business Management Co., Ltd. operates and manages and implements a board management system. As of the end of March 2018, the Ant Business Alliance has grown to 24 member companies, covering 15 provinces and cities across the country. It operates a total of more than 1,000 retail stores and sells 300 annual sales. Billion billions. The Alliance can sign up to 2~6 new partners each month.

In terms of operation and management, the first is joint procurement and bargaining power. The direct effect of Baotuan is to jointly purchase with thousands of stores, and small retailers can obtain lower purchase prices and also have more powerful bargaining power.

Second, small retailers lack perfect back-office systems and unified training. After forming a coalition, a common system platform can be established. Because the construction of the platform requires a large amount of capital investment, small-scale stores can not amortize the cost, and can only be used after forming a coalition. Affordable platform. And training is also the same, large companies must have a sound system to manage the company, while small shops are more dependent on 'people rule', not system, so many small retailers in the region are lack of training. After heating, these small businesses can also improve staff training and business management.

In addition, the development of high-margin private label products. In the Chinese market, the proportion of self-owned brand products in most supermarkets is less than 5%, while in the European and American retail markets, private brand products account for 20%~40. %. At present, many companies are trying to expand their own branded goods because of their advantages in terms of both cost and selling price. Small retailers lack the ability to research and develop their own products, and they can co-develop and co-produce them after the group has joined together. And sales. The Ants Association has tried R&D of rice cakes and obtained a gross profit rate of about 40%.

Of course, there are also many challenges for small retailers to keep warm. For example, at the same time of joint procurement, it is necessary to change the supply chain structure of the agents. After all, the supply of some products is firmly in the hands of powerful agents, and they must skip their channels. It is not easy, and the supplier must also measure the pros and cons, which requires the small-scale retailer alliance to play with it.

There is still regional differentiation in the research and development of goods and in the management of various companies. Sometimes it is not possible to use a single rule in the end. The development of private branded goods requires the identification of those weakly branded, high-margin goods, or the majority of consumers Still looking at the consumption habits of large-brand goods purchase, it is very difficult for self-developed private-label products to occupy the market in a short period of time.

In my opinion, the size of the Bao Tuan does not mean that the bigger the better, the too large scale will bring problems to the management of the alliance and the consistency of interests. And retailers should make clear the principle of complementarity in selecting allies, such as giving priority to covering blank areas. Firms and relatively complementary industries can have more advantages in regional distribution and business synergy. Sometimes, even some relevant upstream and downstream industry chains should be included to further strengthen overall competitiveness.


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