Cartography: Wang Zheping Source: Ministry of Commerce, etc.
Although it is summer, Wang Wenjun still has a lingering fear when he looks back on the Spring Festival just past.
The sudden arrival of the epidemic caught him off guard, who was already ready for the hot business during the Spring Festival. On January 25th, Chengdu issued a notice prohibiting the holding of group catering business activities, including self-catering in rural areas and dam banquets.
Wang Wenjun is the founder of a famous hotpot restaurant in Chengdu. In Sichuan, there are more than 30,000 hot pot restaurants. Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the peak season of the catering industry has faded without warning. A series of difficulties have weighed on Wang Wenjun, such as closing the market, overstocking, labor and rental costs.
When I wake up every day, more than 100 thousand yuan is gone
Sell vegetables and reduce wages, stop losses and reduce costs, and save yourself.
"We came all the way from a small hot pot restaurant with only 17 tables, and we have never encountered such a situation. The store is closed and the income is gone; Pay the salary and pay the rent … … When I wake up every day, more than 100,000 yuan will be gone. Coupled with the excess inventory of ingredients prepared in advance, the electricity bill of the freezer can’t stand it. " Under multiple pressures, Wang Wenjun "almost lost half his head".
Survival comes first. It is urgent for Wang Wenjun to help himself as soon as possible, together with other managers of the company.
On the one hand, the excess ingredients are sold to nearby residents at parity or even at a discount. On the other hand, employees in the city are informed to take turns to work, and employees from other places work at home. The management takes the lead in salary adjustment, and only the basic salary and social security are retained, further reducing labor costs.
"Rent is a big part of the cost of hot pot stores. Thanks to the competent authorities, they helped us coordinate the property, reduced the rent by 1.2 million yuan before and after, and won tax incentives." Wang Wenjun sighed.
De-stocking, cost reduction and rent reduction, although the hot pot restaurant suffered heavy losses during the closing period of more than one month, "fortunately, it saved itself in time and didn’t hurt its vitality." What he didn’t expect was that the original humble take-away service and the live webcast that he had never set foot in actually became his "savior" after regrouping.
Who is the protagonist, in-house food and take-out?
Comply with the demand, expand take-out, and support franchise stores.
"You have a new takeaway order! Please pay attention to check! " Just entering the lobby of Chengdu Huapaifang store, there came the sweet bell of online platform. The store manager said that the take-out received more than 1,500 orders a day at most, and the turnover exceeded 500,000 yuan.
In 2016, the company launched a takeaway service. "But hot pot is still delicious, and take-out has always been ‘ Supporting role ’ 。” Wang Wenjun said that after the resumption of work, the demand for take-away food increased greatly, from two stores to nine stores. "We make take-away posters every day, and mobilize employees to forward them along with the official Weibo and WeChat, so that relatives and friends and more residents can know that we can deliver take-away. In a week, the number of take-away orders has skyrocketed from more than 300 orders per day to more than 1,000 orders. "
In order to attract a partner, the company urgently formulated the assistance strategy, actively arranged the take-away operation equipment, and sorted out the operation manual and video, and successively launched the "full-sealed hot pot take-away service" in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi ‘an and other places. In addition to the take-away platform, the company’s WeChat WeChat official account also opens the online ordering portal.
The delivery staff has no contact with delivery, and carries a health certificate and a peace of mind card with them. When there were many orders, Wang Wenjun himself got on an electric car and became a "takeaway brother".
The take-out area is limited. What if it can’t be delivered?
Live broadcast with goods, cross-border cooperation, and new retail.
"I want to eat hot pot, but I live too far away to take delivery, and I can’t do it myself. What should I do?" A few days after the take-away service was resumed, this message from Weibo backstage caught Wang Wenjun’s attention and thought.
"Although it can’t be delivered, we can teach them to make hot pot through live webcast." His idea hit it off with a webcast platform, and the live broadcast room was quickly set up.
"Our main feature is ‘ Spicy ’ Therefore, the hot pot bottom material will use three kinds of peppers: sea pepper, millet spicy and devil spicy. Before cooking, it will be soaked in warm water and then broken. The combination of flavors will produce a unique fragrance. " In the live broadcast, the chef carefully reminded that when frying the bottom material of hot pot, onion, ginger and garlic should be fried in turn until golden, and then quickly removed, so as to avoid the smell of paste, spicy but not dry. The explanation of "digging out the bottom of the family" is gratifying.
"Although the preparations were hasty, and it was broadcast at the meal, there were still more than 87,000 netizens guarding the live broadcast room for the first live broadcast, indicating that our live broadcast was too ‘ Next meal ’ Yes. " Wang Wenjun said that while the chef broadcast the "teaching" live, he also launched his own variety of base packages, which were sold with "hot pot companions" such as alms chicken and self-heating clay pot rice, so that consumers could place orders online.
"I’m really crying, I’m going to buy materials." "The bottom material is not easy to fry, but it’s convenient and affordable to place an order online" … … The enthusiastic interaction of the audience has brought great confidence to Wang Wenjun. While the iron was hot, he immediately planned and launched activities such as "non-contact take-out and safe delivery" with local media in Chengdu, and completed more than ten live events of eating hot pot at home. "I didn’t expect the effect of cross-border cooperation to be so good, and the live broadcast could not stop. Barber shops, gyms, milk, beer and other brands and stores all come to us to cooperate and provide products and vouchers for our diners through take-away. "
"Boss! Another hairy belly! " As night falls, the familiar sound of ordering food rang out from the hot pot restaurant in Wang Wenjun. On March 26th, Chengdu resumed the normal business activities of catering and other service industries.
After many months, looking at the diners waiting in line outside the door, Wang Wenjun was no longer anxious and confused, but his nervous nerves were still not relaxed. "Take-out or live broadcast, it’s all ‘ Wartime blood transfusion ’ . It’s really hard to survive the epidemic, and it’s also a rare stress test, which forces us to re-examine and think about how to make efforts in the new retail and intelligent fields and improve ‘ Postwar hematopoiesis ’ Ability. "
Reporter’s notes
Improve the ability to be calm.
Influenced by the epidemic situation in COVID-19, China’s catering consumption was greatly impacted before and after the Spring Festival. Some catering enterprises adapt to market changes and face difficulties, but the current difficulties have passed, and the long-term development path still needs to be considered. Traditional dining habits, such as eating together and dining together, are changing, and consumers’ consideration of safety and health is increasing, which may have a far-reaching impact.
In this context, many catering enterprises have turned their attention to the new retail sector and seized the share through online sales and processing specialty dishes into standardized semi-finished products. Some enterprises have tasted the sweetness for the first time, but for most small and medium-sized catering enterprises, this is still a brand-new topic. It not only tests the financial strength and talent accumulation level, but also tests the ability of market resource integration.
On the one hand, keep up with the change of consumer psychology, advocate the system of separate meals, cultivate eating habits such as "public chopsticks and spoons", and promote the healthy development of catering culture; On the other hand, we should innovate the way of catering consumption, do meticulous management, find a development path that conforms to our own brand positioning, and transform and upgrade in a timely manner. Only by truly improving the "immunity" of enterprises themselves can we be calm and turn crises into opportunities.
