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- Chief Business Intelligence
- Chief Business Intelligence
Introduction: In just one year, the hot pot was defeated in the Wuhan market.
The waiter dances awkwardly when he doesn't agree with him, the high-value factory clerk who dresses up trendy, only sells one kind of pot bottom, and is cautious about entering the ...... The cowardly hot pot, which debuted in 2020, broke through in the red sea track of hot pot.
Although the name of the hot pot has "cowardice", it is actually not cowardly at all, and the main thing here is "happy".
With the brand culture of "I hope everyone is happy" and the "tide culture" of its own, the hot pot has quickly become the new king of the hot pot queue, and it is regarded as a new "spoiler" in the field of hot pot.
However, this hot pot top-notch has not had a good time recently.
Its stores in Wuhan have collapsed across the board, and the stores that were once checked in by countless young people are now empty.
The first store of the hot pot, which had set a record of a single store's monthly turnover exceeding 2 million, was officially closed on August 11.
At the same time, Jiumaojiu Group, the parent company of the hot pot, also revealed in the latest financial report that the store opening plan of the hot pot will continue to shrink in 2024, and the annual store opening target will be lowered from 35-40 to 25.
The operation of instigating the repeated withdrawal of hot pot stores is not adapted to the soil or the strategic adjustment of the enterprise?
The "queuing king" miscalculated, and the Wuhan stores were closed in only one year
On August 2, 2023, the hot pot entered the Wuhan market for the first time and opened three stores in a row.
However, I didn't expect to set foot on the land of Wuhan, and only a year later, all three stores have closed.
It is worth mentioning that one of the stores has not even really opened, but it has always been fenced, and it "died" before it was unveiled.
According to the statistics of "Lianshang.com", as of September 5, 2024, there are 77 stores in 27 cities in 11 provinces, and the stores are mainly concentrated in Guangdong, with only 1 store in Hainan, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Shaanxi and other provinces.
However, in an earnings call on Aug. 26, Su Danman, executive director and chief financial officer of Jiumaojiu Group, said that the only stores in Nanchang and Kunming cities are also planned to close in the second half of this year.
The operation of shrinking the store opening front and withdrawing stores repeatedly, it can be seen that the pressure of instigating hot pot is not small!
As for the reason for the closure of all stores in Wuhan, Jiumaojiu Group publicly stated that it was based on a comprehensive consideration of the market environment, operating costs and customer needs.
To put it in layman's terms, that is, not to make money.
After all, Jiumaojiu Group has always been ruthless towards brands that do not make money.
Because, as early as in its diversified layout, three brands were announced.
In 2021, Jiumaojiu Group closed all its Sichuan cold pot skewer stores.
In June 2022, Jiumaojiu Group sold 80.85% of the shares of the pancake brand "2 Egg Pancakes" at a low price of 509,400.
In April 2024, even the exquisite Cantonese restaurant "Uncle Nawei is a chef" with an annual income of 10 million yuan will be abandoned by Jiumaojiu.
Source: Jiumaojiu Group's "Latest Operating Performance in the First Quarter of 2024"
The latest performance report can also give a glimpse of the plight of the hot pot, which is starting to slow down its money-making speed.
Recently, Jiumaojiu Group released its financial report for the first half of 2024, during which the revenue of hot pot was 431 million yuan, an increase of 22.5% year-on-year.
Jiumaojiu Group said that it was mainly due to the increase in the number of stores, which led to an increase in revenue, from 43 in the same period last year to 73.
Moreover, compared with the revenue growth rate of 331.2% in the same period last year, the growth rate of hot pot has slowed down significantly.
Jiumaojiu Group's 2023 interim results report
In addition, the turnover rate of instigating hot pot is also declining.
According to the financial report, the turnover rate of hot pot in the first half of 2024 is 2.9, compared with 3.9 in the same period last year.
Looking at the data of its peer Haidilao in the same period, the turnover rate has risen from 3.3 to 4.2, and Haidilao's guests have returned.
It seems that the "enthusiastic and embarrassing dance of the clerk" of the hot pot is more of a temporary freshness for young people who like the new and hate the old.
In terms of operating margin, the hot pot also fell to 8.6% from 13.7% in the same period last year.
In the first half of 2024, the same-store sales of hot pot will be about 193 million yuan, down nearly 100 million yuan from 296 million yuan in the same period last year.
In the second quarter of 2024, the average daily sales of hot pot restaurants fell by 36.6% year-on-year, and the decline even exceeded the sum of Taier sauerkraut fish and Jiumaojiu Northwest cuisine.
In the first half of 2024, the per capita consumption of hot pot will be 110 yuan, compared with 121 yuan in the same period last year.
It can be said that in addition to the increase in revenue, the various data indicators of hot pot, whether it is the turnover rate, average daily sales, per capita consumption of customers, or same-store sales, have all declined year-on-year.
Therefore, it is not difficult to see that Jiumaojiu Group chose to withdraw the hot pot from the Wuhan market, which should be because it did not reach the profit target in Wuhan, so it chose to close the store and stop the loss.
Plummeted by 69%! The "first brother of sauerkraut fish" with peak traffic
Although the current situation of hot pot is not very optimistic, Jiumaojiu Group has high hopes for it.
According to Guan Yihong, chairman of Jiumaojiu, he said that hot pot is the third growth curve of Jiumaojiu Group.
Who is the second growth curve? That's right, it's the very second "Taier sauerkraut fish".
So, if you look closely, you'll see a lot of similarities.
For example, one kernel is "two", one kernel is "cowardice", and "two" and "cowardice", it is obvious that "the teacher is out of the same door".
And in terms of products, hot pot is also the same as Taier, focusing on explosive products and single products. Like its brothers, who only sell sauerkraut fish, the hot pot only sells a kind of mandarin duck pot base, focusing on fresh-cut yellow beef.
Both have the same "maverick" temperament, one is "more than four people will not be entertained for meals", and the other is that all the waiters have dyed their hair colorful.
Obviously, the hot pot is trying to replicate Taier's successful path through differentiation and gimmicks.
It's just that it doesn't look so easy to replicate.
Because its master "Taier Sauerkraut Fish" has already begun to show fatigue.
The data shows that in 2018, Taier's turnover rate was around 4.9, and the highest time reached 5.5. In the second quarter of 2024, the turnover rate of Taier (self-operated stores) was 3.6, while in the first half of 2023, the figure was 4.3.
And in the first half of 2024, Jiumaojiu Group handed over a dismal performance report.
The company achieved revenue of 3.064 billion yuan, an increase of 6.42% year-on-year; The adjusted net profit was 77 million yuan, down 68.88% from 248 million yuan in the same period last year.
As Taier sauerkraut fish, which accounts for more than 70% of the revenue of Jiumaojiu Group, its development directly affects the performance trend of Jiumaojiu.
In other words, the performance in the first half of this year is actually the deterioration of Taier's hematopoietic ability, which is the main force.
The "master" is tired, the traffic has peaked, and the impact of the cost-effective situation in the general environment is superimposed, and the experience of copying Taier in the hot pot light does not seem to be enough.
Moreover, the large-scale single product strategy of Taier sauerkraut fish is not so applicable to hot pot.
The development of Taier sauerkraut fish is actually in line with the trend of segmentation of China's catering industry in the past few years.
As a subdivision of Sichuan cuisine, the sour and spicy taste of sauerkraut fish has addictive characteristics that can attract diners, and its high degree of standardization and fast delivery speed can ensure the speed and quality of store expansion.
However, as a classification of hot pot tracks, hot pot is not necessarily applicable.
Hot pot, as a category with social attributes, is the most important thing is that it is rich in categories, so that consumers have more choices.
What's more, the homogenization competition in the hot pot industry is very fierce, and many brands of dishes are very similar, which requires brands to be able to differentiate themselves in dishes and maintain a degree of updating.
Therefore, the single product strategy of instigating hot pot will inevitably make young people who like the new and hate the old feel aesthetic fatigue.
Although, the proportion of hot pot in Jiumaojiu Group's revenue has increased to 14.1%, officially surpassing Jiumaojiu Northwest Cuisine Restaurant and becoming the second largest source of income for the group.
However, there are many challenges to face in the future.
Su Danman, executive director and chief financial officer of Jiumaojiu Group, said, "The loss of these stores is an expensive tuition fee paid by the hot pot for past strategic rhythm mistakes. Previously, when the model had not been fully adjusted, it was too eager to open up the national market. ”
And he also said that in the second half of the year, he will continue to iterate the bottom of the pot and launch a new bottom.
How can an Internet celebrity who relies on marketing gimmicks become popular?
I have to admit that Jiumaojiu is indeed very close to young people in terms of marketing, quite trendy and young.
At that time, Jiumaojiu was an inconspicuous little transparent in the catering market, and it was not until 2015 that it began to flourish after the launch of the sub-brand Taier Sauerkraut Fish, and even knocked on the door of the capital market.
After eating the sweetness, Jiumaojiu wants to develop one more sub-brand, seek greater development, and occupy more market share.
From this point of view, the hot pot can be regarded as a momentum, but compared with the course of Tai Er back then, it is still a little less "legendary".
Jiumaojiu also made it clear that there are risks in cultivating new brands, which shows that it is difficult to replicate another Taier "myth".
However, now Taier is also falling out of favor and being slowly abandoned by consumers, indicating that its product content is no longer attractive to young people.
In 2020, Guan Yihong once said, "There are very few brands in the catering market that have been insisting for five years. ”
This year is the fourth year of the establishment of the hot pot and the ninth year of the establishment of Taier, in the current diversification of catering, perhaps Jiumaojiu Group should think more about the essence of catering, that is, product and service experience, focusing on the development of the core brand, perhaps more important than looking for the second curve.
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