The nearest electric circle is very confusing.

The nearest electric circle is very confusing. Any company or entrepreneurial project associated with the Internet, mobile Internet, and offline retailing would be disgraced if it did not mention the term O2O. There are many companies playing O2O banner. This article will talk about the recent very active Alibaba and Jingdong Mall is how to work with offline retail companies to complete their so-called O2O "closed loop."

The O2O Conspiracy of Ali Department

At this stage of the total retail sales of 10% less than, offline retail is an unusually plump lamb meat. From the end of last year to now the most high-profile, active when Jack Ma's Alibaba, every time there are new ideas need to try, will always pull on the department store in the benchmark enterprise-Yintai.

Ma Yun's intention is to kill online through E-commerce offline entity retail, but why suddenly and frequently pull up the silver-tae O2O, the intention? In turn, to think, is not now Taobao, the increase in the cat slowed, up to more than 90% of the business does not make money, and cultivate no discount, no price, no discount consumer habits and other circumstances forced Ma to transfer the target to the line? I think the day cat no longer supports the low price strategy is just the beginning.

The Alibaba department hopes to pass the huge online traffic, use a high discount or discount (currently do not find that they do not use the preferential treatment of the case of offline drainage) to help the offline retailer drainage, and then use Alipay to attract consumers back to the line, through with the merchant's CRM or ERP system to get through, To obtain consumer consumption and behavioral data, etc., to form its so-called large data.

Really like Ma Yun's idea can generally for offline retail to bring more customers, really so simple? Or Ma Yun wants to use offline retailers to expand their business circle, to do online, offline take all? Local retail development under the line O2O business is a trend, but also a means to improve their competitiveness, but with Alibaba need to consider the cooperation, to the following:

1. Do retailers have access to valuable consumers?

As mentioned above, a large number of Taobao, cat users are directed at the cheap and concessions to follow Alibaba. The retailer with which it works is likely to fall into a vicious circle where customers do not come to stores, return to Taobao, spend on cats, and follow their promotional activities. Is it true that the previous 38-quarter low price has really found, attracted, and retained valuable consumers for offline retailers?

2. The development of their own O2O electric business?

Internet people understand that the bigger the company the less open, although verbally shouted to open. Instead of sending its own "blood" to the line, Alibaba, as the retailer imagines, is using low-cost marketing to pull members of its original retailer. Only a few dollars of concessions to successfully allow consumers to download, install and use Taobao, Cat, Alipay and other clients, will be offline store customers transferred to Taobao, Cat, the retailer has completed decades of accumulated membership of the "shuffle."

Who drains for whom?

As Alibaba's old rivals, Jingdong Mall also want to pass its own flow for the offline convenience stores, supermarket drainage, to help the original SKU number of limited convenience store expansion category, relying on strong logistics to help convenience stores to complete the "last kilometer" task. Through the above and other ways and convenience stores, supermarkets to share benefits. Offline retailing is really what Liu thinks? As far as I know, a lot of cooperation with Jingdong Mall convenience stores and its cooperation, ranked in the first reason is to hope that through this concept to enhance visibility.

1. Can the two-level domain name be used for convenience store drainage?

As we all know, convenience stores and Jingdong mall's shopping entrance cooperation is through its open level two domain name. On the surface is indeed jingdong for convenience stores, supermarkets brought the flow. But, really like Jingdong Mall disclosed data, Tangju can obtain additional 1000 orders? With the exchange of many supermarkets, the general view of the water is very large, especially the visit of the Tang long retailers.

Convenience stores in order to obtain orders, need to do in the shop related to the display, also means that Jingdong Mall can be free to obtain the store of the million convenience stores show, regardless of the effect, Jingdong Mall will get convenience stores brought traffic. Who is draining for whom? Who is getting more users for?

2. Has the category really expanded?

Convenience stores have a limited number of SKUs, and the goods they sell are generally the most needed for their peripheral consumers, and the products that receive a higher degree of acceptance. Jingdong Mall hope that convenience stores can purchase their products or by two-level domain name to increase Jingdong Mall merchandise to expand the category. Small-volume convenience stores do have the means to get lower purchase prices for certain goods. But a certain size of convenience stores, supermarket chain groups need to buy goods to Jingdong Mall?

3. The most important link is really to be handed over to Jing Dong?

Offline retailing is aware of the importance of face-to-face communication with customers, but the BoE hope that more by themselves to help them complete the last kilometer, or even hundreds of meters of distribution, so as to achieve face-to-face contact with customers (face-to-face communication can be more practical use). Have you ever thought that the consumer is the Jingdong mall constantly cultivate the formation of habits, which day in your store next to an Jingdong mall convenience store, you how to resist? This is why many convenience stores, supermarkets do not want to get more orders through Jingdong Mall. All the links to the participation of Jingdong, in fact, is not a good thing.

Alone？ Or a brawl?

A little daring and enterprising retailer all want to be handsome, invest big price to do own official website, mobile application. Any toss the electric business, O2O retailer, internet companies do not have a money, quoted Le City supermarket general manager Wei "do the electric business are in serious loss of money, no money, this case large investment should be cautious?" ”

Is e-commerce really the culprit behind the impact offline retailing? The author believes that more is offline retail itself does not do well. Whether online or offline, the essence is retail, the essence is to better serve customers, better meet customer needs and expectations. Not a digital camera is good enough, is Kodak did not do! Not a smart machine is good enough, Nokia is not enough with the times! Not E-commerce is convenient enough, is offline retail did not do a good job! Because the offline retail has not done well enough, only to give the online electric business opportunities. Why Le City supermarket can grow rapidly, why Itochu Hall can let consumers linger, because they always do it attentively.

It is not ruled out that many retailers believe that it is the only way out. Electricity dealers are really just a convenient shopping solution for local customers. So how can offline retailing better use the electricity quotient?

In times of chaos, the hero of the world will be mixed. While the two companies and other not mentioned giants may have more financial and material advantages, offline retailing is more complex than online. Even Jingdong Mall's O2O head Hou Yi also privately said that the integration of convenience stores is really troublesome, very difficult. There are many bottlenecks for local retailers to carry out electric business, such as: Product technology development, product editing, the last kilometer of distribution, unequal distribution of benefits.

Where large companies are unable to reach, more third-party service companies may be born to provide local retailers with professional solutions for their business. For example: "U box supermarket" can solve a series of technical development issues such as products, will soon launch a general merchandise database "color gourd" can effectively solve the commodity editing, maintenance of the huge cost; similar to "point me", such as short-distance, City logistics or self distribution can solve the last kilometer. Through the store generation and distribution, logistics center auxiliary delivery, the benefit of the store and other methods can also solve the problem of uneven distribution of benefits. Supermarkets in the United States have entered the 3.0 era, representing the Yummy, which can handle more than 200,000 of orders per year. Offline retail want to do O2O electrical business is bound to first solve the internal core interests of how to allocate the problem, so that can be effectively implemented.

Offline retail development O2O electric business more should be integrated, in the introduction of more convenient services, better merchandise at the same time, can also be its own axis, the integration of more peripheral partners to join together, the use of Third-party services (can include large companies related products) to form a more suitable for local consumption of the ecological circle, the common cultivation of customers. Retail supermarkets all over the line to improve the sales of fresh, scattered throughout the supermarkets, convenience stores will be as a "small warehouse" can provide consumers with more competitive services. The above (and more) is something that no traditional electric power provider can contend with.