The future development path of the smoke hotel

This article is for discussion only.

Before the sugar and wine party, a friend asked me, what should the future development path of the tobacco hotel be?

At the China Liquor Industry Forum held by the Sugar & Wine Fair, Mr. Fu Hu, CEO of China Wine Galaxy, emphasized the competitive barriers, such as supply chain advantages, information advantages, resource advantages of old customers and large customers, and industry professional advantages. These aspects basically summarize the basic connotation of the current smoke hotel to be constructed.

The future development path of the cigarette hotel also revolves around these.

Combined with the operation of my own stores and the future development direction, I think that the future smoke hotel is only a carrier, a form, but not the end. Based on this, I thought about it briefly, and I thought that maybe we should consider it from several aspects.

First, operators should free up time and energy

The owner of many stores seems to be the boss, but in fact, he has been trapped in the store, which seems to save staff costs, but also loses the ability to expand customers and the opportunity to communicate with the outside world, and finally becomes a senior clerk who waits for the rabbit, without the time and energy to go out, it is impossible to talk about development, thus falling into an infinite vicious circle.

If it is just limited to the status quo, the tobacco hotel can barely operate under the premise of a good location and tobacco profits can cover the rent, but the proportion of alcohol sales will be lower and lower. This form of store is more suitable for the elderly, not for development.

If we talk about development, the core lies in whether the operator has the thinking and ability to build a competitive barrier. First of all, it is necessary to liberate the boss's mind, liberate time and energy, and the boss is no longer a clerk, but a social expert. Secondly, we should focus our time and energy on expanding customers, visiting, learning, improving our abilities and expanding our horizons.

The times are making great strides, and the priority will be the old-fashioned and stubborn group of people.

Second, it's a social hub rather than a retail outlet

In the long run, the value of a store is not only retail, but also a social hub. At its core, baijiu is about its social nature, not self-drinking. With the growth of the post-90s and post-00s, the self-drinking attribute of liquor is being diluted, and the social attribute is constantly strengthened.

As a store operator, if you want to sell liquor well, you have to consider catering to the social attributes of liquor and meeting the social demands of consumers.

The higher value of the store should be a social center and information exchange center in the area in the future. After prices become more transparent and consumer choices become more diversified, if you only focus on retail, do not build your own social circle, and cannot increase customer stickiness, then the operation of stores will become increasingly difficult.

Third, stores are more than just displays

Based on the needs of the social center, the store is not only a display function, but also the retail of the store has become a necessary process to attract traffic and screen high-quality customers, and establish a more sticky customer relationship.

"Going out" is to actively develop customer resources through various channels, and "please come in" is to invite customers to the store or company for in-depth communication while achieving long-term cooperation. Whether it is "going out" or "inviting in", it is essentially to strengthen the interaction with consumers, enhance the trust of consumers, and at the same time realize the continuous expansion of customer groups through word-of-mouth communication to a certain extent.

In this way, a store and a table banquet have become a very important store content, a table banquet carries the necessary social functions, and the store can not only be a wine store, but also a carrier tool of the social center.

Fourth, enrich the product structure according to the time and place

Smoke hotels should not be trapped by tobacco, alcohol and tea, but should be a collection store of social products. A visit to Jinan Wenlan Liquor Store and Taishan Famous Drink will reveal that they have long been limited to tobacco and alcohol, but have incorporated more social products that customers need into their displays, which most stores in Beijing do not do.

The product structure not only includes horizontal cross-category management, but also includes the ability to predict the trend of consumption, adjust the vertical product structure in a timely manner, establish a product elimination system at the end of the product, and eliminate those products with less or even zero sales in a timely manner, so as to leave better display for worthy products.

Fifth, integrate resources vertically and horizontally

A single store is not capable of establishing supply chain resources, either its own fission, or horizontal alliance, if it cannot achieve scale, it will lose its upward qualifications, and it will not be able to realize the advantages of the supply chain.

Therefore, if there is a talent reserve, financial support, and the ability to expand customers, as well as good partners, then continue to open stores around a center. If the above elements are not available, it is recommended to unite with surrounding counterparts to jointly establish an alliance, but it cannot be loose, but based on a strong relationship to form a cohesive alliance.

In Beijing, some alliances based on the combination of hometown and blood ties are growing and have achieved some practical significance.

Sixth, be good at using modern marketing tools

From the perspective of sales channels, with the development of the Internet, online and offline integration will become an important starting point for smoke hotels. For example, instant retail can bring a new incremental market to cigarette hotels, expand the coverage radius of stores, break the restrictions on traditional store business hours, and provide consumers with more flexible and convenient shopping time. Smoke hotels can take advantage of the traffic and distribution advantages of the instant retail platform to improve sales efficiency and service quality.

In addition, the role of short video should not be underestimated, short video is an intuitive and vivid form of display, which can effectively convey the brand story, cultural concept and product characteristics of Smoke Hotel. Moreover, short videos have the characteristics of fast dissemination speed and wide coverage, which can quickly enhance the popularity and influence of tobacco hotels. At the same time, through the accurate delivery and data analysis of short videos, Smoke Hotel can more accurately grasp the needs and preferences of target customers, and improve marketing effectiveness and conversion rate.

Seventh, explore and build business barriers

What are the business barriers? Fu Hu, CEO of China Wine Galaxy, emphasized that this issue is a key consideration for all operators. Whether it's something no one else has, or an exclusive secret, if this barrier can not only be continuously invested, but also can be replicated, that is your core strength.

Capital is a barrier, supply chain is a barrier, network resources are a barrier, and talent is also a barrier. For example, the barrier of Shengzang Old Liquor Store is Lao Moutai, and behind Lao Moutai is the old liquor resources and financial advantages with identification as the core.

But I think the barriers are not innate, they are based on a certain foundation of continuous polishing and even continuous formation. Operators may wish to seriously do a SWOT for themselves, objectively analyze their own situation, find out their relative competitive advantages, and thus form a competitive advantage.

Eighth, the management team is elite

The core of all of the above is the elite management team, not simply relying on the boss.

The team's professional knowledge, service level, and teamwork ability are the basis of business development, and the management team should not become a tool for handing cigarettes and alcohol to settle bills, and at the same time, from the mental outlook, there should be an understanding of "a person is also a team", which is not only to be possessed by the boss, but also to run through the entire team.

People are the core of everything, there must be people first and then there are stores, and talents are screened and then cultivated, there are suitable people with the right speed of expansion, leaving people, everything is empty talk.

In the future, low profits in the market are the norm, and relying on product price differences to make a profit may still be able to support a family, but the opportunity is not big, especially if faced with the pressure of high cost and low gross profit, it will be more difficult to operate, so whether it is a mom-and-pop shop or not, we must consider the problem of transformation and upgrading.

Although the above is difficult to achieve, it is man-made, and it is easy to do things in the world, and it is easy for those who do not do it.

Yang Jingui of Beijing Taihe Jinzun Culture Co., Ltd