In early September 2017, Lv Guangyu, the former president of the comprehensive business department of Meituan Dianpingdian and the former COO of Volkswagen Dianpingdian, announced his entry into the new retail company "Hongyi" and obtained an angel round investment of over 100 million yuan. The convenience store is composed of two parts: an unmanned office shelf and a new convenience store in the community. Its new retail convenience store only took three months from preparation to official opening, with six stores opening simultaneously at the end of September.

Through on-site experience, we analyzed from multiple aspects such as consumption patterns, structural characteristics, and store highlights: How convenience meets the basic needs of "convenience" and derives more value through innovative applications.

Consumption mode

       Unlike mainstream technology applications such as RFID and face recognition in today's unmanned convenience stores, which enable consumers to make independent purchases, convenience stores cancel the checkout process through the "APP+electronic price tag", making it easy for customers to achieve self-service code scanning shopping. They do not require the participation of shop assistants from entering the store to selecting and checking out, including completing shopping and check-out checks. Significantly improve the in-store turnover rate and achieve functions such as online store drainage and collection of store user information. Draw consumer shopping portraits and formulate product structures based on consumption characteristics in different regions.

Easily complete self occupied shopping in four steps

1. Download and register the "Scarlet Convenience" app

      There are multiple QR codes and shopping process instructions in the store that prominently indicate downloading and registering the "Scarlet Convenience" app. The in-store shopping guide will also prompt and guide incoming customers to download the app for independent shopping.

2. Scan code shopping

     The products in the convenience store consist of fast moving consumer goods and instant fresh food. The APP also sets up a shopping interface for the two types of products, namely "ordering food in the store&scanning code shopping". For goods on the shelves, customers can scan the electronic price tag to display a QR code or barcode to add to their shopping cart.

For timely products such as Kanto cooking, coffee, milk tea, and ready-made ice cream that do not have a barcode, customers can order directly on their mobile phones, wait in the pickup area after completing the payment, and learn about the progress of their order in "production" or "queuing" on the screen above the ordering bar.

In addition, the convenience store is open 24 hours a day and supports self pickup at the store, bringing good news to overtime partners.

3. Payment code retrieval

After customers scan the store code for shopping and complete payment, the convenience app will automatically generate an exit code for verification.

4. Checkout code

An IPAD doll with an IP orangutan image is installed at the entrance and exit of the convenience store to verify the "exit code". Customers can complete the verification by showing the exit code and scanning it.

Structural characteristics

       Compared to the shopping process, the differentiation of product selection of Hongyi Convenience is another highlight. Among the first six stores to open, two experience stores have an area of more than 200 square meters, and their SKUs exceed 3000. They are mainly composed of imported goods, free brands, and fresh food. The proportion of fresh food products is up to 40%, more than twice that of ordinary Japanese convenience stores.

       Imported goods are a bright spot in convenience, and some goods that need to be purchased on behalf can be purchased directly in the store. From Japanese and Korean snacks to beauty products: White Lover Chocolate, Three Brothers of French fries, Coca Cola Plus, Sprite Extra, and other hot selling products have all appeared on the shelves of the convenience store, and imported goods are generally priced higher, effectively increasing the unit price per customer.

     The store's private brand products are also eye-catching. The Scarlet Convenience private brand is called Musa Nana, which consists of purified water, oolong tea, donuts, dried fruits, soft candy snacks, and more than 10 kinds of products. The selection is determined based on the best-selling products in the market, and most of them are priced at a lower price.

      Imported goods can serve as the highlight of the store and the finishing touch to improve the unit price of customers, while fresh food is the existence of a support point for convenience stores. According to data, 60% to 70% of consumers entering the store will purchase fresh food, and the proportion of fresh food in the convenience store is even closer to 40%, including dozens of fresh foods such as bento, sandwiches, salads, desserts, instant hot meals, fried baked snacks, steamed buns, coffee and milk tea, bread, and Kanto boiling. There are also instant ground coffee and instant milk tea in the store. It is understood that at present, Xian Convenience's bento boxes, sandwiches, salads, and other fresh foods are developed and supplied by San Quan Fresh Food entrusted by Xian Convenience.

Innovation highlights

Different from traditional convenience stores, it has faster replication efficiency and higher operational efficiency. Under the Internet plus model, there are many new highlights in the convenience stores.

1. IP image

       Scarlet Convenience may be the first convenience store in China to have its own mascot, and it has its own IP image: the image of an orangutan wearing a yellow vest. This orangutan appeared at the door, and the IP image of this orangutan appeared in many details such as illustrations, shelf decoration, free product packaging, employee clothing, electronic price tag promotional signs, and so on.

2. Sharing economy

       The convenience store is divided into two floors, the first floor for shopping and ordering, and the second floor for dining and rest areas. Interestingly, coffee and membership books have been added on the second floor to share Amazon's best-selling books for free.

In addition to creating a "shared book" for members across borders with Amazon, other value-added services such as sharing umbrellas and sharing power packs are also provided for members in the store, providing customers with more thoughtful and warm services.

3. Electronic price tag

      Different from traditional convenience stores, it is similar to new retail stores such as Hema Xiansheng, Super Species, Jingdong Home, Auchan Box, etc., and its opening stores are equipped with Hanshuo electronic price tags to synchronously display online and offline commodity information:

Electronic price tags simplify the price change process, reduce labor costs, and improve store operational efficiency. Store and APP product information are synchronized in real time to quickly complete price changes and synchronize online and offline promotions. 2. The electronic price tag serves as the entry point for store customers to scan codes, completing online drainage. The convenience store sets a QR code on the electronic price tag, allowing customers to open the app and directly scan the code for shopping, eliminating the need to search for product barcodes, improving the shopping experience and obtaining user consumption data. 3. There is a corresponding relationship between electronic price tags and goods. The headquarters can control the display information of each store's shelves in real time, and efficiently achieve store display replication.