Recently, many consumers can see a "small blue light" marked with "24-hour convenience" at the entrance of convenience stores in cities such as Shanghai and Qingdao. It is reported that this is the new instant retail IP of Ele.me, jointly created by Ele.me and retail high-frequency category brands at night, and tens of thousands of top convenience stores across the country - the "24-hour · casual" logo. The first batch of 24-hour convenience lights have been lit up in 100 convenience stores in four cities.
In order to facilitate consumers to quickly find them at all times, all convenience stores that operate 24 hours a day have also marked "24-hour business" on the Ele.me app. With the refinement of consumer demand, we hope to create a 24/7 scene strategy through joint retail and convenience store brands. On the one hand, it can effectively meet and stimulate consumer hotspots, and on the other hand, it can also bring more business growth to merchants, "said Chen Yanfeng, the head of Ele.me's local retail convenience industry
The number of stores leads the growth by 52%, and instant retail activates the development of a 24/7 business model for convenience stores
The "2024 China Convenience Store Development Report" jointly released by KPMG China and the China Chain Store Association shows that the store scale of China's convenience store industry will exceed 321000 in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 7%. One third of the sample enterprises have carried out instant retail business.
The all-weather business model has now become a new direction for the development of various convenience stores, and the full-time delivery services provided by instant retail platforms such as Ele.me have accelerated the expansion of this model. According to Ele.me, as of July this year, one out of every three convenience stores on the platform provides 24-hour service. Compared to last year, the number of convenience stores operating 24 hours a day increased by 52%, which is higher than the overall growth in the number of convenience stores. Brands such as Lawson, 7-ELEVEN, FamilyMart, Meiyijia, and Quanta have the highest number of 24-hour stores.
The number of 24-hour convenience stores in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hangzhou, Changsha, Qingdao, Dongguan, and Chengdu ranks among the top ten in the country. As the city with the highest perceived level of convenience in daily life, Shanghai ranks first in the country in terms of the total number of convenience stores, the number of 24-hour stores, and the proportion of 24-hour stores. According to data from Ele.me, out of every three convenience stores in Shanghai, two provide 24-hour service, which is significantly higher than the national average.
The all-weather business model is also expanding to second and third tier cities. Compared to last year, the number of convenience stores operating 24 hours online in cities such as Kunming, Foshan, Nantong, and Wuxi has all increased by over 100%. The number of stores operating 24/7 in provincial capital cities such as Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, and Chengdu has also increased by over 65% year-on-year.
Nighttime orders account for 35%, and the "all scenario, differentiated" strategy is the key to growth
Convenience stores that operate 24/7 are creating and activating consumers' immediate needs at different times through full scenario strategies such as "five meals a day", hoping to create multiple consumption touchpoints to drive consumers' repeat purchases. As an infrastructure, instant retail platforms can better link the supply and demand matching between consumers and offline stores.
Compared to traditional offline channels, nighttime has always been the advantageous core scenario for online convenience store business. According to Ele.me data, convenience store orders account for as much as 35% during nighttime (20:00-4:00), followed by lunch scenes. From the sales ranking, categories such as puffed foods, alcoholic beverages, fast food, fresh/pure milk, and frozen products have the highest nighttime popularity.
The demand potential for nighttime scenes is still growing. In terms of orders at Ele.me convenience stores in 2023, the year-on-year growth rate of nighttime orders is significantly ahead of other scenarios. The delivery volume of multiple categories such as beauty tools, men's and women's underwear, towels and towels, fruits, etc. has all increased by more than 200% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the growth rate of orders for specialty categories such as freshly squeezed fruit juice, Kanto style cooking, and fresh cooked food in convenience stores has also been around 150%.
New scenarios stimulate new demands, so Ele.me has chosen to collaborate with high-frequency retail category brands and convenience store channels to create a new IP "24 Hours · Random Point". Through strategies such as full scenario services and differentiated supply, more innovative marketing and service touchpoints are designed to enhance consumer user experience and drive new business growth for the brand.
It is reported that from August 16th to August 25th, consumers can search for "late night convenience" on Ele.me to enter the "Night Cat Convenience Store" interactive venue created by Ele.me and Garfield IP. At the venue, Ele.me teamed up with Mondelez Oreo, Kangshifu Instant Noodles, Tsingtao Beer, as well as top convenience stores such as FamilyMart, Lawson, 7-ELEVEN, Meiyijia, Convenience Bee, Dudu, Meihao, Youtong Convenience, Youke, Xinjiayi, Today, etc. to launch various distinctive and differentiated nighttime supplies and benefits to meet the personalized and immediate needs of young consumers at all times.