In recent years, the first store economy characterized by the provision of new supplies has continued to heat up throughout the country. Shanghai, which is making great efforts to build an international consumption center city, is an early city that proposed to cultivate the first store economy. Jing'an District, located in the central urban area of Shanghai, continues to deepen the first store economy.
Data shows that in 2023, Jing'an District will introduce 236 first stores of all kinds. Recently, the reporter walked into Jing'an District to closely observe the new vitality of the first store economy for the consumer market.
The coffee factory moved into the coffee shop, the down jacket shop experienced skiing and ice house, and the Shikumen building opened the world's first new product...... Shanghai's commercial landmark Nanjing West Road, showing the vitality of the first store economy. Last year, during the Mid Autumn Festival National Day holiday, the consumption amount of Nanjing West Road Business District ranked first again in Shanghai Business District.
In recent years, the first store economy, which activates the new momentum of the consumer market, has been regarded as a barometer of the city's commercial vitality. The first store is a leading and representative well-known brand in the industry, which is the first store opened in a region, such as the first store in the world, the first store in Asia Pacific or the first store in the country; Or the first landing of the original brand in a region through cross-border and innovation.
The first store economy has been promoted all over the country. Shanghai is an early city that proposed to cultivate the first store economy. Jing'an District, located in the central urban area of Shanghai, continues to cultivate the first store economy, and strives to cultivate the "100 billion business circle" of Nanjing West Road. The first stores are coming one after another. Statistics from China Merchants show that in 2023, Jing'an District will introduce 236 first stores of all kinds, including 2 global first stores, 4 Asia Pacific first stores and 31 national first stores.
Why is the first store in Jing'an District so popular? What role does the first store economy play in the construction of an international consumption center city? How to keep the first store hot? Recently, the reporter visited brand enterprises and relevant experts.
Why is the first store economy so popular
Provide fresh experience, stimulate the vitality of business district, and promote consumption innovation
When you enter the Starbucks Bakery Shop located on Nanjing West Road, the coffee aroma is dense, and a huge two storey coffee tank stands in front of you. Coffee beans coming from various production areas all over the world, through the "jolt" and "burst" of the bean dryer, enter the coffee storage tank through the transmission pipes on the ceiling. Diners sitting at the bar watch the whole process of "one green bean to one cup of coffee" at a close distance while selecting the coffee bean production area and brewing method.
The consumer experience of factory store integration and panoramic immersion has kept this second Starbucks workshop in the world and the first Starbucks workshop in Asia Pacific hot for more than 6 years since its opening, and consumers have been coming in a stream.
"Whether it can be counted as the first store economy depends on whether the first store attracts customers in the region to consume. Starbucks Bakery Shop has attracted coffee lovers and foreigners who come to China to punch in, which not only ignites the business body, but also improves the passenger flow and consumption of the entire Nanjing West Road business circle." Zhou Changqing, co-founder of China Business Data, said.
Seeing the attraction of the first store, many brands followed suit. Bosiden, the world's first experience store, is 100 meters away from Starbucks Bakery Shop. Customers can wear down jackets and go into the ice house at minus 30 degrees Celsius. They can also make down stuffed puppets and experience sports on ski machines.
"We have more than 4000 stores at home and abroad, but the whole scene immersive experience store is the only one." Wang Chenhua, vice president of Bosiden Co., Ltd., said that consumers can feel brand innovation in the first store, increase the sense of experience, and form a better impression of the brand.
"If Shanghai wants to expand external consumption, it needs to think about how to attract global famous brands to launch the latest and trendy products in the Shanghai market. It needs to create an atmosphere of global new product debut, new play premiere, and new exhibition premiere, create traffic topics, and attract tourists to spend in Shanghai." Professor, School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University Zhang Yina, director of the Consumer Market Big Data Lab (Shanghai), believes that.
Zhou Changqing, who has been tracking and studying the first store economy for a long time, found that the trend of fast introduction of global brands into China has changed since 2017. The number of global brands entering China has been extremely rich. If the new brands are simply copied and imported, it is difficult to have a foothold. On the mobile Internet, the rise of the circle of friends and short videos has endowed consumers with social attributes and tags, and consumers are more in pursuit of trends and personality. Homogeneous commercial complexes also hope to achieve upgrading by attracting characteristic brands. The superposition of these factors gave birth to the first store economy characterized by consumption innovation.
"The emergence of the first store economy has accelerated the adjustment rate of business types, and the survival of the fittest is more obvious," Zhou Changqing said.
How to "go in both directions" between cities and brands
Strengthen institutional innovation, optimize business environment, and realize benign interaction
Whether the first store economy can "echo the call of one hundred people" is more important than consumption innovation. During the settlement of Starbucks Bakery Shop, several functional departments in Jing'an District made joint efforts to invite experts from the former State Food and Drug Administration and other departments to carry out feasibility studies on the compliance of the open production mode and other issues. In combination with the current legal norms and the actual development of Shanghai, they participated in the formulation of the Detailed Rules for the Review of Shanghai Roasted Coffee Open Production License.
The benign and efficient interaction among brand, market and government will give full play to the leverage of the first store economy. Inspired by this project, Jing'an District began to consciously promote the first store economy. In daily visits, whenever a brand wants to recommend the location of a store, Jing'an District government staff will actively collect some areas that meet the brand positioning and have portraits of potential brand consumers for recommendation.
"The development of the first store needs soil. If it wants to grow from seed to big tree, it needs sufficient nourishment, which requires multi support," Zhou Changqing said.
"Can the government promote policy coordination and improve the approval process for enterprises? Is there a good business environment to support the rapid development of enterprises? Compared with subsidies, enterprises pay more attention to the business environment, which is crucial for development." Zhang Yina said.
In recent years, Jing'an District has actively optimized the business environment, not only committed to building a top business district, but also continued to upgrade the hinterland of the back street and the historical street with cultural heritage. The carrier with rich layers can accommodate all kinds of brands to display freely and form a win-win situation. Since 2014, Jing'an District has also set up a "special fund for brand building" to help a number of local brands grow healthily.
Therefore, Jing'an District's first store economy has maintained a good growth momentum. In 2023, Jing'an District will achieve a total retail sales of consumer goods of 170.789 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%, ranking first in the central urban area of Shanghai; The total sales of goods reached 1096.356 billion yuan, up 5.4% year on year, ranking first in Shanghai.
How to promote the first store to become an "evergreen store"
Improve the level of the first store, strengthen planning guidance, and support local brands
The first stores led the consumption boom, but after the boom subsided, some first stores fell silent. Therefore, how to make full use of the "first" resources is the focus of attention of all parties.
Zhang Yina observed that the survival rate of the first stores in the retail and entertainment industries is higher than that of the first stores in the catering industry. Therefore, the development of the first store should not only depend on the number of stores, but also on the energy level, business structure and innovation model of the first store. It should also depend on whether it can cultivate new momentum of consumption growth through business model innovation, technological innovation and product innovation.
In fact, this is also the transformation thinking of the old brand - how to maintain the consumption stickiness after the freshness of the first store declines? Jieqiang Tobacco Sugar&Wine Group Co., Ltd., which has more than 200 retail stores in Shanghai, will open two first retail experience stores in succession in 2023. The traditional retail counter has been replaced by the surrounding bar counter. The revolving stairs, comfortable reclining chairs, and wood color decoration are in line with consumers' preferences; Taste wine mixing, brew coffee, talk about the truth, and the old store will "transform" into a new multi-dimensional retail space.
Zhou Changqing believes that after the first store is launched, the government needs to provide appropriate planning and guidance to help guide it and improve the efficiency and effect of brand operation. Therefore, whether it is the optimization of the external ecological environment, or the establishment of a platform to guide investment and operation, or the introduction of high-quality developers and their commercial projects, it is an important starting point for the first store economy.
"Last year, during the Mid Autumn Festival National Day holiday, the Jing'an International Light Festival was held on the Suzhou River, and the passenger flow of the nearby Jing'an Joy City and Suhewan MIXC was increasing significantly," said Zhou Changqing.
How to make the first store economy more prosperous? Yu Yong, secretary of Jing'an District Party Committee, said that Jing'an District started the construction of the "100 billion business district" of Nanjing West Road, striving to break through 100 billion yuan in total retail sales during the "14th Five Year Plan" period, creating a truly world-class landmark business district and letting all kinds of high-quality brands bloom.
Zhang Yina suggested that the goal of the first store economy is to promote structural reform on the supply side based on innovative growth points of consumer demand and help solve problems such as insufficient extension of the industrial chain or industrial isomorphism. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the industrial chain behind the "first store economy".
Zhan Yubo, a researcher at the Economic Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the exploration and cultivation of local brands cannot be ignored. "Compared with the icing on the cake for well-known brands, we should be good at providing timely help, support more local small brands and new brands to form influence, and help the construction of an international consumption center city."
