Under the continued influence of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia, the survival and development of enterprises and industries are facing various tests. In the epidemic prevention and control environment, how to seize new demands, new technologies, and new opportunities, and change the strain and turn the crisis into an opportunity, is a topic of great concern in the current society.
During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic, various regions started to respond to the epidemic prevention and control. "Cloud Grocery" became the first choice for most residents.
Although fresh food e-commerce has already started in China, the epidemic prevention and control has brought about a surge in traffic and pressure on services. Data released by data intelligence service providers show that during the Spring Festival this year, the average daily activity of fresh APP increased by 107.17% year-on-year. In the early days of
novel coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention and control of pneumonia, tight distribution resources also became a major challenge for fresh food e-commerce. Netizens in Beijing even summarized a food shopping strategy, telling everyone the appropriate ordering time for each platform, as well as the advantages of goods and distribution.
How fresh food e-commerce changes people's lives
Data show that during the Spring Festival of 2020 (January 24-January 30), the average daily living number of fresh-to-home
retail platforms will reach 87.91 million, an increase of 8.8% over the average daily living number 7 days before the holiday; -Commerce companies launched emergency plans and investment in socialized labor, and then increased significantly after February 2. The data shows that seven days after the holiday, it increased by 14.5% over the Spring Festival period. For many families, fresh food e-commerce has affected their lives to varying degrees during
the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic.
The first is to facilitate the home life of consumers and reduce the risk of infection. During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, how to solve the problem of eating at home has become a top priority for people's livelihood. Unlike the previous offline grocery shopping, online grocery shopping has the characteristics of convenience and non-contact. Fresh food e-commerce has natural advantages in improving people's life efficiency and reducing the probability of cross infection. The "Contactless Delivery Report" released by Meituan Takeaway shows that from January 26 to February 8, orders using "contactless delivery" accounted for more than 80% of the total unit quantity, and each order for takeaway uses "contactless delivery" Distribution "services account for 66% of users. Yao Yan, secretary general of the CCPIT Business Industry Committee, said that contactless delivery service allows users to always enjoy instant delivery services and obtain supplies needed for life; on the other hand, it avoids face-to-face contact, reduces risks, and protects consumers and consumers. Health and safety of delivery staff.
The second is to influence and shape consumer spending habits, promote the transformation of fresh food transactions from offline to online, and accelerate the deep integration of e-commerce into the lives of ordinary people. Although fresh food e-commerce has experienced a period of rapid development, it has once encountered difficulties in the promotion of the market. Data previously released by some e-commerce research institutions show that from 2013 to 2018, the penetration rate of fresh food e-commerce was 0.36%, 0.59%, 1.29%, 2.02%, 2.97%, and 3.8%, respectively. This shows that the vast majority of users do not have the habit of buying fresh food online, and people are not yet used to the existence of fresh food e-commerce in their lives. However, affected by
the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic, as people's homes have been extended, the long holiday of the 2020 Chinese New Year has made a considerable number of people actively or passively learn to buy online using mobile apps Fresh food e-commerce is constantly shaping and influencing people ’s consumption habits while benefiting the people. After more than a month of home life, consumers 'fresh shopping habits may be expected to accelerate the shift from farmers' markets and supermarket chains to fresh food e-commerce.
The third is to promote changes in consumers' eating habits and move towards the pursuit of high-quality diet. During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic, restaurants were closed and the safety of take-out was not guaranteed. Cooking by themselves became the choice of more and more young generations. Fresh food e-commerce provides a change in the dietary habits of specific groups Helped. Its products sold on the platform include not only food raw materials, but also semi-finished dishes launched by the platform itself or well-known catering companies, such as Hema Workshop. These have largely met the needs of customers in the home cooking scene during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic. While ensuring a clean and hygienic diet, they also allow them to eat famous restaurant dishes at home.
The fourth is the proposal of the "shared employee" employment method, which breaks down the human resource barriers of front-line workers, realizes the redistribution of human resources, and eases the pressure on the employees of out-of-service enterprises. "Shared employees" refers to the cooperative employment mode in which some small and medium-sized enterprises that are temporarily unable to resume work temporarily share their employees with a shared model for short-term manpower output under the continuous impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The sharing model upgrades the activation of physical resources to the activation of human resources, which provides new ideas for solving the employment problem of some people during the epidemic. In early February, Hema Xiansheng recruited temporarily closed restaurant staff to come to work and explore the "shared staff" model to fill the immediate labor gap, which greatly eased the conflict between supply and demand during the epidemic.
Industry reshaping of fresh food e-commerce in epidemic
As the old saying goes, "people take food as the sky", the acquisition of living materials is a major event in people's lives. Fresh food e-commerce, as a new retail e-commerce that may become an important access channel for people's living materials in the future, its own development affects people's life. It is also reshaping the fresh food e-commerce industry itself.
The outbreak of the radon epidemic has caused residents of almost all major Chinese cities to have a green light on the new consumption habit of "grocery shopping online" overnight. In the short term, the sudden increase in demand from the people is a huge test for the supply chain and operating model of fresh food e-commerce. The blowout growth of demand under the epidemic has forced fresh food e-commerce companies to upgrade their supply chains and operational capabilities. Wang You, a partner and CFO of Daily Fresh, said: "Strengthening supply-side capabilities is novel coronavirus (COVID-19 ) The biggest enlightenment of the pneumonia epidemic to fresh food e-commerce. "The most important thing from fresh food to home business is the construction of core capabilities on the supply side to form a continuous, stable, and reliable experience on the user side; and higher efficiency on the cost side. The epidemic has accelerated the online penetration of fresh food to two years later, and competition between players has entered a new stage, focusing on core capabilities on the supply side. "
Fighting against coronavirus has revolutionized the fresh produce industry chain and hastened to fill the cold chain logistics shortcomings. During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic, the trend of online consumption of fresh food and offline logistics and distribution was due to asymmetric information, and the problem of "stocking without car, vehicle without car" frequently appeared, resulting in idle resources The phenomenon indicates that there are obvious problems in information docking and resource integration. In addition, compared with developed countries, there is still a large gap in the development of China's cold chain market. Zhou Yuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, once introduced that the circulation rate of foreign cold chains has basically reached 85% or more, and only 19% in China. The pre-chilled fruits and vegetables account for 10% in China, and 95% to 100% abroad. Subject to the lower level of cold chain transportation, China's annual loss of fruits and vegetables alone is worth hundreds of billions of yuan. It can be seen that filling up the cold chain logistics shortcomings is a top priority for fresh food e-commerce in China.
Some domestic enterprises are trying to solve this demand through a platform model. For example, some companies can already gather most cold chain logistics carriers to improve the rationality of vehicle scheduling and distribution and reduce operating costs. Some fresh food platforms have a big data compass system, which can integrate business to monitor all historical data in real time. Fresh food cooperation merchants can formulate a reasonable sales plan and inventory layout through data analysis and detection technology. During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic, the full use of the characteristics of the platform can bring together cold chain distribution resources in various places to respond in time to the needs of market consumers and brand customers.
The development of fresh food e-commerce in the era of epidemic situation, strides towards quality. The outbreak of demand is a special product under the influence of the epidemic. Retaining users and increasing user stickiness also require fresh food e-commerce to accelerate product quality improvement. In the fierce industry competition of survival of the fittest, if fresh food e-commerce wants to stand firm, in addition to perfecting the supply chain, it still needs to rely on high-quality products. With the development of the economy and the changes of the times, China's consumer groups are gradually changing. At this stage, the post-80s and 90s are the backbone of consumption. They have higher requirements for the quality of life and are more willing to increase personal consumption. Level.
After
the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia epidemic is over, users return to offline, and online is no longer the first choice for users, and online fresh food e-commerce is more favorable or better if it cannot go online by optimizing the supply chain. Even if they have obtained cheap "new customers", users with higher requirements on quality will eventually leave. How to improve user experience and loyalty and provide consumers with more diversified and convenient choices is a question that fresh food e-commerce needs to think for a long time to come.
