The formation of traditional store model has gone through thousands of years, while the emergence of e-commerce shopping is only a short decade. In the face of the sudden emergence of e-commerce, a commercial superbug, the general traditional stores lack resistance, leading to a sharp rise in the rate of physical store closure. Like the Spanish flu outbreak, many people with weak constitution fell ill in batches, and 40 million people died in Europe.
According to my judgment, e-commerce has only developed for more than ten years, and the development trend of e-commerce in the future is unstoppable. At present, it is only a side dish before a big meal. The transformation of physical stores is far from in place, and the thinking of entrepreneurs is far from keeping up with the times, which means that the tide of physical stores' closure is far from over.
However, once you survive this round of flu in a physical store, you must have stronger resistance and stronger viability. When both physical stores and e-commerce companies can find their own position and reach a certain balance, this round of "flu" is over.
How do physical stores survive in an environment where e-commerce is rampant?
Let's first look at the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce and physical stores.
The main advantages of e-commerce:
1, reducing intermediate circulation channels. Merchants directly contact consumers, reducing costs and having a strong price advantage.
2, the display is more abundant, such as video, pictures, data, live broadcast, giving customers a strong visual impact.
3. The transaction efficiency is high. Ordering goods and stores on the e-commerce platform through computers and mobile phones can quickly place orders without customers visiting the website.
4. It is convenient to open a shop and the start-up capital is small. No facade, not even employees.
5, in line with the future development direction of digitalization and networking.
Main disadvantages of e-commerce:
1, the head of electric goods is very concentrated, and there are only three or five stores in the head with one page or one keyword. The head is an online "wangpu", which will concentrate a lot of traffic, with excellent business and great benefits. Merchants will hand over the profitable part to the platform for sorting, buyout, passing, or brushing, so as to continue to maintain it in the head. And those small enterprises that enter the market for the first time lack brand advantages and funds. Although their products were good, their business was bleak due to lack of traffic until they closed down. E-commerce is a typical example of fattening a few e-commerce companies and losing most e-commerce.
2. E-commerce lacks customers' immediate and full-time experience, and it is difficult to feel richer value-added projects. For example, you can't try on clothes before buying them. You can only rely on your own feelings and imagination. For example, e-commerce cannot buy personalized personal services.
3, the goods lack immediacy, and it will take several days to get them by express delivery.
4. E-commerce and customers lack emotional interaction.
The main advantages of physical stores:
1. The physical store is regional and easy to interact with. In Fiona Fang, a store covers a range of three to five kilometers and has face-to-face physical contact with customers. In the process of contact, we can strengthen communication and interaction, enhance emotions, and easily establish very close ties.
2, the physical store has the characteristics of immediacy, paying in one hand and delivering in the other. Especially in catering, e-commerce logistics is difficult to meet the requirements of immediacy.
3. Customers can get a full range of physical experience in physical stores, which can improve the experience of touch, taste and hearing, which is difficult for e-commerce.
Main disadvantages of physical stores:
1, the transaction efficiency is low, and customers have to go to the store to buy, place orders and communicate in person. The process is too long to save energy.
2, there are many intermediate links, and the traditional channel takes the goods middleman to earn the difference.
3. The cost is high. Rent cost, personnel salary cost, water and electricity cost, etc.
From the above simple analysis, in order to survive and develop in a society where e-commerce is rampant, physical stores must develop their strengths and avoid their weaknesses in order to improve their immunity. You can refer to the following points:
1, take the high-end and high-profit route. The physical store in the future must be high-end. Why? Because of the high end, the profit is high. Only when the profit is high can there be enough funds to deal with rent, personnel, water and electricity, and management fees. You go to the low end, how can you compete less? Pinduoduo is so low-end, all the stalls have been eliminated. Can we lose the intermediate links of e-commerce? E-commerce can be delivered directly by the manufacturer. Low-end means thin profits, and thin profits mean that entrepreneurs are coolies and work for landlords. It means that the impact resistance is poor, which means that employees are not motivated enough and it is difficult to mobilize their enthusiasm.
If your store can stand at the high end and make high profits, are you still afraid that you can't afford the rent? Are you still afraid that you can't find talent? What store do you think is difficult now? It must be a high-end and high-profit store. For example, beauty shops, beauty and skin care products have amazing profits. My beauty shop downstairs has been open for 15 years, and the shops around it have been changed several times, but it has not moved. Optical shops, a few dollars a pair of glasses, but can sell hundreds of dollars. This is just an example. You can spread it around and think about it.
E-commerce is characterized by low prices, which is particularly attractive when there are still many poor people in the country. People in China are getting richer and richer, and will even surpass the United States in the future. There are more and more rich people. These people are not satisfied with buying those staple foods like ordinary people. They need better products and services, and money is not a problem at all. This may create conditions for the survival of high-end and high-profit shops.
Entrepreneurs can consider massage chair experience stores, VR, AR experience stores, health stores, beauty shops, high-end hotels, high-end restaurants, homestays and other high-end and high-profit shops.
2, physical stores should take the initiative to integrate with e-commerce. There are many viruses and bacteria in the human body. The reason why people don't die of illness is because after years of integration, people are in a * * * relationship with bacteria and viruses to a certain extent, reaching a certain balance with each other.
As an e-commerce, it is indeed as difficult to adapt as a sudden mutation of viruses and bacteria, but the reality forces you to adapt, otherwise it will be a life-and-death situation.
Physical stores can also be e-commerce. For example, you sell bathroom, open the door in the furniture city, and open an online shop on the e-commerce platform. In this way, both online advantages and offline advantages can be taken into account. It not only avoids the shortcomings on the line, but also avoids the shortcomings off the line.
3. Products with high added value have their exchange value, use value and some added value. Such as brand value, service value, emotional value, humanistic value and so on.
Haidilao's hot pot is not better than other brands, so why are so many people willing to queue up to eat? In fact, we don't eat hot pot, but brands and services.
When you arrive in Nanjing, you must think about eating authentic Nanjing duck blood vermicelli soup and Nanjing salted duck. When you arrive in Beijing, you must eat authentic Quanjude roast duck, and when you arrive in Xi 'an, you must eat authentic mutton bread in soup. This is the value brought by regional characteristics, which cannot be impacted by e-commerce.
You have a contest. This shop can watch all kinds of games and a few friends can interact. For example, four friends agreed to play chicken-eating games together. After that, they would have dinner and kebabs. For example, several table tennis and football friends made an appointment to watch the ball together and provide beer and supper. This kind of store is actually an offline social place, from which people can feel the fun of watching and participating in competitions in groups. How will e-commerce develop and how will it affect this real-time interaction between people?
When opening a store, you must consider what your store can offer that online stores can't. For example, meticulous and thoughtful service. For example, all-round quality experience. For example, the unique cultural and artistic atmosphere. Such as unique local flavor and so on.
The exchange value and use value of products are very limited, and the added value is infinite. As long as you have the heart, you can add a lot of value to it and enhance the overall value. Value determines price. When the value goes up, the price and profit go up. In fact, e-commerce only reduces the transaction links and costs, and it is difficult to provide added value. Physical stores can provide a lot of added value that e-commerce cannot provide, which is the advantage of physical stores.