Firstly, there is the "Mountain Moving Price", followed by the "Offline Exclusive Price". Now, we have launched the "Double 11" and "Provincial Aesthetics" premium products. "Hema's prices this year are very sincere," and many consumers have found that this year's "Double 11" has quietly begun. Starting from October 20th, many product pages of Hema App have already displayed the "Double 11" logo, with many high-quality and low-priced premium products. According to Hema, starting from November 4th, Hema's discount activities during the "Double 11" period will officially debut: nearly 1000 products will be launched in the form of 99 yuan 3-6 items and 199 yuan 4 items, with a discount rate close to 50% off; Starting from November 7th, about 2000 products will be added to the "Double 11" with a discount of around 50%.
Since the beginning of this year, the ups and downs of the economic cycle and changes in the consumer environment have led many retail enterprises to strive for "low prices". During this year's "Double 11" period, Hema also strives for high quality and low price, simplicity, and convenience for consumers to purchase. Before the "Double 11", Hema launched a discount reform on October 13th, striving to lower product prices through comprehensive optimization of the supply chain - not by selling cheap goods or pursuing absolute low prices, but by selling good goods cheap and high-quality at low prices through vertical supply chains. In Hema's view, consumers do not need to hoard or grab goods, they only need to choose fresh and high-quality products according to their daily needs, and feel that they are always at a low price.
Taking the products presented during this year's "Double 11" as an example, there are many cost-effective and high-quality "aesthetic saving" products, including Hema Super Big Cheese Beef Rolls with a 35% increase in quantity but no increase in price compared to similar products in the market, 6 pieces of 240g fresh milk toast priced at 6.9 yuan, 30 degree Marissa sweet potatoes with a roasted sweetness exceeding 30 degrees, and 6 pieces of 1.08kg Ehime Jelly Orange, which basically meet the lower market prices of the same quality and specifications. Products with a discount of around 50% involve various categories such as leisure food, meat, poultry and eggs, rice, flour, grain and oil, daily necessities, maternal and infant products, 3C digital products, pet products, and daily services. This year's "Double 11", in addition to Hema's self operated products, Hema Yunchao has also launched cross-border products and third-party merchants' products for the first time. It not only serves "Hema District Room" users, but also provides home delivery services to a large number of non "Hema District Room" users through the app.
Since the beginning of this year, Hema has been striving to enhance the price competitiveness of its products. At the end of July, Hema launched the "Moving Mountain Price", which knocked down the prices of several classic products widely recognized by the market, achieving stable and sustainable high quality and low prices. On October 13th, Hema announced the launch of a discounted transformation and comprehensive optimization of the supply chain. More than 350 Hema Fresh stores across the country simultaneously launched "offline exclusive pricing".
The formation of stable and sustainable low prices relies on a vertical supply chain dominated by factories and direct procurement bases. Taking Hema Baking as an example: In April 2023, Hema invested in the establishment of Tangdou Technology in Kunshan, Jiangsu. This factory is located in the Kunshan Park of Yihai Jiali (a well-known grain and oil processing, warehousing and logistics, and trade enterprise with brands such as Golden Dragon Fish and Xiangmanyuan). After preliminary processing, flour can be directly delivered to the Tangdou workshop, saving costs such as long-distance transportation and packaging disassembly, Hema can also obtain the best price from leading enterprises through strategic cooperation. Just in the flour process, Hema has saved about 6% of the cost, which is why high-quality and low-priced Hokkaido toast, white toast, sweet potato, and croissants are produced.
Before the "Double 11", retailers frequently resorted to excessive actions. In October, Hema launched a discount transformation. In the same month, Yonghui Supermarket opened "genuine discount stores" in multiple stores across the country, and just regained vitality. Bu Bu Gao also announced a 15% decrease in product prices... During the "Double 11" period this year, the cost-effective products presented by retailers also made many consumers feel the vitality of offline retail. In August, CEO Hou Yi of Hema stated, "After the pandemic, global economic growth has slowed down and consumption has been sluggish. Users' willingness to consume has significantly tightened, and retail enterprises need to adapt to the challenging era of great change. Hema needs to constantly learn and innovate in competition
If the "Double 11" is used as a window to examine the development of the retail industry, it is not difficult to find the huge impact of changes in consumer trends on retail enterprises. Professor Chen Liping from Capital University of Economics and Trade believes that from the development history of retail over the past 100 years, the economic crisis and the Great Depression are the biggest driving forces behind the innovation of retail formats. Wal Mart in the 1980s, Uniqlo in the 1990s, Aoyama western-style clothes, and Mercadona since the financial crisis in 2008 are all retail enterprises rising in the ups and downs of the economic cycle. In this economic cycle, whoever can accumulate enough strength to accelerate the entry into the market core when the environment is suitable can catch the middle class of consumption degradation, thus crossing the cycle and becoming a new leader in the industry.