The homogeneity of goods is serious, and the quality is also criticized by consumers
The ten dollar store standing at the crossroads
"I love going to the ten-dollar store because I know I can afford everything in it," Xiaolin told reporters. But recently, she found that in the ten-dollar store she frequented, there were fewer and fewer real 10-yuan items, and earphones that used to cost only 15 yuan had risen to nearly 50 yuan.
In the past two years, grocery stores represented by "Mingchuang Premium Products" have blossomed everywhere. Some small goods such as headgear and tableware have been delicately packaged and placed in bright stores. Most of them sell for less than 10 yuan, which is very popular with consumers. However, recently, reporters visited a number of small commodity stores and found that the proportion of goods within 10 yuan has dropped significantly, and 100 yuan goods have gradually entered the room. Some products are not only seriously homogenized, but also criticized by consumers. Some stores also rely on "fake discounts" to attract consumers.
Experts say that today’s consumer demand is changing very fast, and the ten yuan store is also standing at a crossroads, and the goods are being upgraded and graded rapidly. In such a market, it is difficult for the ten yuan store to maintain the goods at a certain price for a long time. The operators of the ten yuan store also use 10 yuan goods to attract customers, and use higher-priced goods to profit.
Mingchuang Premium: less than one-third of the 10 yuan product
Last Tuesday evening, the reporter visited the Mingchuang Premium Store on the first floor of Yuedu Hui Shopping Mall in Xicheng District. The store has a wide range of kitchen and bathroom utensils, small household items, electronic products, and other products, and the sales prices are also uneven. Most small daily necessities are 10 yuan, the price of toys ranges from 25 yuan to 50 yuan, and the price of electronic products is basically more than 30 yuan.
Mr. Zhu picked out a power bank priced at 89.9 yuan and was ready to go to the checkout page to check out. When queuing up, he opened the mobile phone shopping software and found that it was also a 10,000 mAh power bank, and the price of the Xiaomi brand power bank was only 79 yuan. Mr. Zhu, who quit the checkout line, put the power bank back on the shelf. "Xiaomi specializes in mobile phones and accessories. The quality should be more reliable than Mingchuang Youpin, but the price is cheaper than here."
Among electronic products, there is a small aromatherapy humidifier of 99 yuan that is very attractive. The machine is in the shape of a vase, and the bottle mouth emits light smoke. The bottle is equipped with a light, and the light will change to different colors. Then the reporter searched on Taobao and found that the price of an air humidifier of the same specification is between 50 yuan and 100 yuan. Customer Xiaomei told reporters that this aromatherapy humidifier looks similar to a certain humidifier of Muji, but it is cheaper, so it has attracted many people’s attention. But after buying it back, he found that the amount of fog is very small. In less than a few months, not only the light is not on, but also the spray is not sprayed.
Since its establishment in 2013, Miniso has entered large and small shopping malls, many of which are in prime locations. Open the map and the reporter can find nine branches of Miniso within a five-kilometer radius. Recently, according to several media reports, Miniso is planning an initial public offering, raising about 1 billion US dollars. As the business expands rapidly, many consumers say that Miniso, which originally attracted people with "10 yuan high-quality life", is now more and more expensive. The product with the most concentrated complaints is the mobile phone data cable. Several customers said, "The Apple mobile phone data cable that used to be only 15 yuan has now risen to 49.9 yuan, or even more expensive." The reporter found in the store that, as consumers said, the data cable was priced at 49.9 yuan and 59.9 yuan. Subsequently, the reporter randomly selected 50 products in the Mingchuang Premium Store, only 17 of which were priced at 10 yuan or less. These low-priced products were concentrated in the categories of daily chemical products and small household accessories.
Nomi Home Furnishing: I see the discount label but not the price discount.
Zhang Xiaoyang (a pseudonym), who often visits Nomi Home Furnishings, has been a little confused recently: the store is clearly full of yellow labels with "50% off for two pieces and 40% off for three pieces", and the store’s radio is also broadcasting "End-of-season clearance, some products are discounted". Zhang Xiaoyang specially asked the clerk which discounts were on, and the clerk waved his hand and said that the ones with the yellow labels were all discounted. So Zhang Xiaoyang happily picked up the discounted labels on the shelf, and in order to collect the 40% off quantity, she specially picked three pieces. "Because I am very familiar with this store, I always feel that the price is wrong when I walk out of the store, because the cashier didn’t give me a receipt at the time, so I went back to ask for it. After seeing it, I realized that I didn’t give me a penny discount." The checkout page explained that the labels on the shelves were for the promotion of the store, and it did not mean that the items below the labels would be discounted. "I feel like I’m being cheated. If the store didn’t put discounted labels on it, I would definitely not buy so many pieces."
At noon on weekdays last week, the reporter visited Nomi Home Furnishing, which Zhang Xiaoyang described on Qianmen Street. The store is simple and large, and it sells mostly women’s and children’s products. When the reporter asked whether the labeled goods were all discounted, the clerk replied: "Not necessarily."
Most of the stationery, snacks, tableware and other items sold by Nomi Home Furnishing cost 10 yuan or less, while many other categories, such as aromatherapy machines, speakers, power banks, etc., cost around 100 yuan. Ms. Wu, who was shopping with a full shopping basket, told reporters that what attracted her to the store was that the prices of many small goods were relatively close to the people, and there would be discount activities. "But not all goods are discounted, and the prices of many goods are indeed not cheap. Sometimes when you have a good time shopping, you will buy some expensive goods." Ms. Wu dug out a 239 yuan dress in the shopping basket and told reporters.
In the ten yuan store, there are a lot of "hundred yuan goods"
With the improvement of citizens’ consumption level, more and more well-packaged small commodity stores have opened into the mall. From sewing boxes, screwdrivers, rubber bands to earphones, speakers, humidifiers, the price of goods can range from a few yuan to 100 yuan. When the reporter visited, he found that many goods in the "ten yuan store" that are really priced within 10 yuan are concentrated in stationery, tableware, snacks and other categories. And other types of goods in the store are not cheap.
Unlike the aforementioned small commodity stores, which attract people with low prices and discounts, in the Jiumu grocery store, which is also blooming in major shopping malls, many products are more than 100 yuan, and only a few products are around 10 yuan. However, the chic design of the products still makes customers here crowded. The reporter found that the same size canvas bag is priced at about 40 yuan in the aforementioned grocery stores. The highest price here can be sold for 99 yuan. The price of children’s toys is mostly around 150 yuan. The price of various small accessories is also around 30 yuan. The goods under 10 yuan in the store are concentrated in the category of stationery, which accounts for a very small proportion. A mother and daughter were attracted by a pile of metal brooches, but when they saw the price of 35 yuan, they immediately called it "too expensive". A group of young people picked up the dinosaur gloves on the shelf and played with each other for a while, then finally dropped the gloves and left.
Founded in 2015, Ximei Eslite’s store design is very similar to that of Mingchuang Youpin: a white door face and a store logo with white characters on a red background. Last Friday afternoon, the reporter visited Ximei Eslite, which is located on the first floor of Soxiu City, Chongwenmen Street. At this time, there were more than a dozen customers in the store, all of whom were young women. The reporter randomly selected 30 items in the store, 12 of which were 10 yuan or less.
The ** (The Green Party) located in Guorui Shopping Center is located between the famous brand counters in the mall. According to the rough statistics of the reporter, only about 30% of the 10 yuan goods in the store.
Expert Reviews
Consumer demand changes rapidly, and it is difficult for ten yuan stores to maintain average prices
Why are there not many "ten yuan goods" in the ten yuan store? Yang Qingsong, secretary general of the China General merchandise Business Association, told the Beijing Evening News that this is related to the consumer market. "In the period of very fast economic development, it is difficult for small commodity stores to maintain most goods at a certain price and remain unchanged for a year or two."
Yang Qingsong said that according to the law, average price stores can actually achieve relatively large development when the commodity economy is relatively stable. Because at such a stage, market consumption is very stable, the price, variety and quality of consumer goods are in a state of balance, and the profit of average price stores can be relatively flat. However, in the stage of rapid economic development and large changes, there is no market for average price stores. "The momentum of Mingchuang Youpin was very strong in the first two years, but now consumer demand changes very quickly, and commodities are constantly being upgraded. In such a market environment, it is difficult to have the soil of average price. In order to attract consumers, Mingchuang Premium and similar small commodity stores need to constantly adjust and upgrade, and make changes in categories, and prices will also show diversity. "
As for the number of "100-yuan goods" popping up in the 10-yuan store, Yang Qingsong said that the general retailer’s strategy will distinguish between goods with passenger flow and goods with gross profit. For some goods, consumers are very sensitive to its price, and retailers will make enough low prices to attract consumers. For other goods, consumers are relatively less sensitive to its price, and rarely pay attention to how much more expensive this one is than that one, so such goods can be profitable.
Photo by our reporter, Xie Yuhang
