New retail concept “New Retail” and 4 Featured Cases

Introduction

Retail DX is also rapidly advancing in China, where the word “new retail” was coined.

In Japan as well, the importance of a customer experience that combines offline and online is often taken up and is drawing attention.

In this article, we will give an overview of the ever-evolving new retail in China, and then introduce examples of service trends.

New retail accelerating in China

The retail industry in China is rapidly undergoing DX (digital transformation), and the world is also paying attention to its business trends. In China, the word “new retail” is born as a new concept.

In this chapter, we will explain the concept of new retail, the background of its birth, and the Alibaba Group that gave birth to new retail.

What is New Retail?

The literal translation of new retail is “new retail”, but what exactly does new retail mean?

New Retail is a term coined by Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, a world-renowned IT company. And, on Alibaba Japan’s HP, the following is written about new retail.

What is New Retail? By using mobile internet and data tenology, we will realize digital transformation of the retail industry and provide a new consumer experience that combines online and offline.

Reference: From Alibaba.com Japan CO., Ltd. HP

In Japan, OMO is attracting attention as a concept similar to new retail. OMO is an abbreviation for Online Merges with Offline, which means the fusion of online and offline. Similar to New Retail, it refers to providing a seamless and efficient customer experience, both online and offline, by using the right channels at the right time to improve the user experience.

It’s safe to assume that New Retail and OMO are the same things. What the New Retail and OMO concepts have in common is that they combine online and offline by maximizing all the data related to IT technology and consumer purchasing to provide customers with a great and new experience. That is. And the creation of that new customer experience is also the most important point.

Background of the birth of “new retail”

For new retail, there is the term traditional retail: existing retail.

The major difference between new retail and existing retail is that it is important to have a “customer-centric service”. It is believed that retailers are growing around e-commerce these days, but the abundance of sales channels offered by retailers does not represent new or existing retail.

In traditional retail, consumers have to go to stores such as supermarkets and general stores to get what they need and want. At New Retail, systems and services tailored to each consumer’s lifestyle and needs can provide customers with a more seamless shopping experience.

In other words, in traditional retailers, retailers unilaterally provide customers with shopping methods and services, while in New Retail, services are developed based on customer needs. As a result, the sales channels have become richer and customers can choose a shopping experience that matches their self-confidence needs.

This shift in thinking was the catalyst for the birth of the current new retail.

Alibaba Group made a big leap forward with “New Retail”

The Alibaba Group, which is based in China and coined the term new retail, has been successful with new retail. Its business domain is diverse, and some may say that it is not clear what Alibaba is doing in the first place. Therefore, I would like to briefly introduce Alibaba.

Alibaba is like the Chinese version of Amazon, with its e-commerce business at its core. We provide a platform for selling products to e-commerce businesses, manufacturers, and general consumers. Its total distribution value has reached $ 1 trillion as of 2020.

Typical services include Taobao Marketplace (Taobao.com), a service for CtoC, and Tmall.com, a marketplace for BtoC.

In this way, while focusing on the EC business, we also operate physical stores and provide home delivery services to provide customers with new consumer experiences. In addition, there is a service called Ali Mama that helps retailers and store owners use data to the market efficiently. We also provide a wide range of services from logistics to payment.

4 selections of company cases that attract attention in new retail

In this chapter, we will introduce Chinese companies that are attracting attention in new retail, in addition to Alibaba.

Fresh food supermarket ” Hema Xiansheng: Houma”

Homer is a supermarket under Alibaba, which was established in 2016. Since it is a supermarket with a physical store, you can purchase products offline as well as order online. A feature of Homer is that business design is centered on new customer experiences that utilize smartphones.

For example, by reading the barcode affixed to the product, the origin and ingredients of the product can be known, or fresh foods such as shrimp and crab can be selected directly from a large water tank and transported to a restaurant in the store by a conveyor belt. , Cooked, customers can enjoy their meal on the spot. Most payments are made using Alipay provided by Alibaba Group, and face recognition or QR code payments are possible.

In addition, if you purchase online, we will deliver within 30 minutes if the radius is within 1.9 miles, and due to its convenience, the land price in the surrounding area where Houma will open will rise.

Customer purchase data is accumulated through the app, increasing customer satisfaction by making the customer’s purchasing experience more personalized. In addition, we enable detailed demand forecasts from customer data and purchase history, purchase a wide variety of products from all over the world without waste, and continue to provide fresh products. With this advanced data analysis and distribution network, it is also characterized by having no inventory in the backyard.

Alibaba’s biggest rival ” 7fresh “

7fresh is a fresh supermarket operated by Keito Group (JD.com), which develops EC business. JD.com is said to be Alibaba Group’s largest rival and is engaged in a wide range of businesses such as retail, logistics, infrastructure, and real estate while utilizing advanced IT technology.

At 7fresh, we are promoting our business with a “borderless retail” that does not make customers feel the difference between online and offline. Established in 2018, 7fresh is focusing on strengthening logistics and infrastructure and robot technology in addition to store design utilizing the latest IT technology in China.

The smart shopping cart has attracted attention as a robot technology. When you read the QR code of the cart, not only the cart will follow the customer while shopping, but also the service that will guide you to personalized recommended products from the purchase history can be said to be a symbol of 7fresh. In addition, you do not have to line up at the checkout for checkout, and if you bring the cart to the designated place, the checkout will be completed automatically. You can also pick up the item at the service counter in 30 minutes or choose to deliver it to your home.

7fresh, which also focuses on robot technology, has installed a smart delivery station and realized the last mile by delivery robots. If the radius is within 5km, the shortest route can be calculated automatically and delivered to the destination. In addition, face recognition is used to receive products to prevent erroneous delivery.

” Xinhua Bookstore ” that realizes new retail of books

Xinhua Bookstore is a bookstore with about 12,000 stores in China. In 2017, we partnered with Alibaba Cloud to promote new retail. With the promotion of new retail, DX reforms at stores are progressing.

Specifically, you can go to the online purchase page by setting up an unmanned cash register, a face recognition system that introduces recommended books from the purchase history, and scanning the barcode or QR code of the book in the bookstore. increase.

Another new retail service unique to Xinhua Bookstore is the service of “renting out books that are out of stock in the library at the bookstore.”

In the future, we will improve the convenience of bookstores and libraries and realize a new customer experience by linking data of publishers and libraries and analyzing big data such as purchase history including online content. increase.

New retail beauty shop “Miya Miyoshi Shin Zero”

Miya Miho Shinreiten is a company that is promoting new retail in the cosmetics field. The stores are devised using various IT technologies.

For example, it is possible to make payments using a touch panel with a QR code, purchase online from a store, and deliver from a store to your home, but there is also a service unique to Miyami Mibu Shin Zero Retail Store.

A skin diagnostic machine is installed in the store of Miyami Miyoshi Shinrei, where you can check the moisture, sebum, and pore condition of your skin. Also, based on the diagnosis result, it will recommend cosmetics that suit your skin condition. There is also a smart mirror that allows you to check the color of lipstick, foundation, eye shadow, etc. with virtual makeup.

For lipsticks, you can choose the ingredients, ingredients, scents, and colors to make your customized lipstick on the spot. There is a lipstick-making machine in the store, and you can make customized lipstick in just 6 minutes.

summary

In China, new retail is being promoted by multiple companies, mainly Alibaba. It’s not just about blending online and offline, it’s also discovering the new value in the consumer experience.

While actively utilizing IT technology, ingenuity is provided everywhere to create new experiences in purchasing activities, and it is also accepted by consumers. Keep an eye on China’s new retail business!

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