When talking about 7-11, we have to talk about two interesting things about the name "7-11":

The first point is the meaning of the name 7-11. Yes, it advocates a life of going to bed early and getting up early, getting up at seven and going to bed at eleven.

Another point is that except for the n at the end of "7-ELEVEn", which is lowercase, the rest of the English words are all uppercase. Why is it designed like this? There is a saying in the Chinese area: According to Feng Shui, the last stroke of a capital N is outward, which will scatter money, while the last stroke of a lowercase n is inward, which will attract money in.

Of course, the authenticity of this statement needs to be verified, but 7-11’s wealth-generating ability has indeed become the benchmark for contemporary convenience stores, and its legend goes beyond that.

Retail Giant

As the world’s largest convenience store company, 7-11’s green, red, and orange trademarks and signboards shining in the city have long become a beautiful city. landscape.

In 2016, the total retail sales of 7-Eleven Japan alone reached RMB 247.3 billion, with total revenue of RMB 45.7 billion and profit of RMB 9.38 billion. Both sales and profits ranked first in the industry in the world. The net profit margin is as high as 20.5, far exceeding the global average and 11 times that of domestic convenience stores. At the same time, the per capita profit is about 1.16 million yuan, 87 times that of domestic convenience stores!

Retail Philosophy

From a retail company on the verge of bankruptcy to the world’s retail king, 7-11’s retail philosophy does not rely on the Internet, O2O, e-commerce, or Relying on new retail only relies on doting on users and devotion to services.

1. From single store to single product

7-11 has very precise requirements for the single store empowerment of each branch. The headquarters will not only assist each branch in pre-opening marketing Investigate work, and provide support to branch stores in terms of business skills training, talent recruitment and selection, equipment procurement, and distribution; it also provides branch stores with merchandise display cabinets, shelves, display tables and other equipment, and assigns dedicated personnel to be responsible for the branch's operations Daily operation guidance, financial accounting affairs processing, etc.

In addition, OFC (operation on-site guidance) specialists have also been specially set up. Each of them is responsible for 7 to 8 stores and is engaged in consulting work for front-line store operation guidance to help these stores grow together. They are there every week We visited the store twice, each time staying for 3-4 hours for guidance.

There are SOPs (standard operating procedures) for everything from standardized greetings, hospitality behavior at checkout, etc. to purchase and display management, inventory analysis, etc., and continuous training and step-by-step instructions are provided. Counseling. What is particularly worth mentioning is its display guidance. Based on in-depth research on consumer psychology, many display methods have become industry benchmarks and triggered a flood of study. For example, the middle-price display method uses price differences to create "middle-price" products by displaying three similar products and making them hot-sellers.

When it comes to single products, 7-11’s single product management model puts the focus of product management directly on each specific product it operates, and clarifies the differences in customer needs through segmentation. During the operation process, we should keep track of the sales trends, inventory and trends of each single product, and constantly adjust the product structure. Even when doing product analysis, we conduct analysis and management according to each type of single product, rather than simply generalizing by beverage category.

The basis for 7-Eleven to achieve such precise management of single products is the mastery of data. Through the analysis of the information system, we can grasp the gross profit, purchase volume, inventory, turnover rate and other important data of a single product, gradually eliminate products with poor performance, and strive to meet customer needs to the maximum extent. Nowadays, if a clerk at a 7-11 convenience store sees that a certain product is out of stock, the first thing that comes to his mind is not "order a box" but "order a few boxes."

The most amazing thing is that 7-11 will even analyze weather information for detailed item management, and adjust the sales volume of items based on real-time weather data.

For example, they found that donut sales actually depend on the weather: rainy days, sunny days, high temperatures or cold weather, etc. Weather factors may even affect whether chocolate-flavored, cream-flavored or ordinary donuts sell more.

At the same time, 7-11 also insists on continuing to develop its own products and constantly introduces new ones based on personalized needs. Five of the 10 self-developed sandwiches have won the highest award from the American Food Institute. It not only saves circulation costs, but also reduces advertising and marketing expenses.

Today, the share of 7-11’s private-label products in total sales has reached 20%, which is almost three to five times that of its peers. This also allows it to achieve differentiated competition and extremely high profit margins.

It is through this kind of exquisite single store and single product management that 7-11 convenience stores control inventory to the minimum without running out of stock, and increase profits to the maximum.

2. Efficient logistics and distribution system

7-11’s logistics and distribution implements a three-times-a-day delivery system for general merchandise, with delivery from 3-7 am in the morning for production the night before. General food and special food produced the night before, such as milk, fresh vegetables, etc., will be delivered between 8-11 a.m., and food produced that morning will be delivered between 3-6 p.m. For products with special requirements, such as ice cream, the distribution center will be bypassed, and the delivery vehicle will deliver the goods directly from the supplier to each store three times in the morning, afternoon and evening. In addition, in order to ensure foolproof supply, a special distribution system has been set up. That is, when weather changes are expected to cause a sharp increase in demand the next day, the distribution center will use safety stock to carry out emergency distribution to the store. In order to improve distribution efficiency, all logistics processes are calculated in minutes. Taking the logistics activity time of a distribution group including 170-180 stores as an example, the entire logistics activity time is about 4 hours. The specific breakdown is as follows: A convenience store’s stocking time is 65 seconds. , the transportation time takes 5-6 minutes, and it takes 15 minutes from nodding sorting to the end, etc. Each process is accurate to minutes or even seconds, and it is truly just in time!

The characteristics of 7-11 logistics distribution are small quantity, multiple times and rapid delivery, ensuring the principle of freshness, timeliness, convenience and no shortage of goods. This kind of multi-variety, small batch and high-frequency logistics requires efficient unified distribution, that is, divided into different regions and commodity groups to form unified distribution centers, changing the previous distribution method in which suppliers deliver goods directly to stores. , the supplier first delivers the goods to the distribution center designated by the store, and then the designated distribution center delivers the goods to the store at the appropriate time.

From the perspective of convenience stores, implementing unified delivery can ensure the freshness of products, reduce inventory storage, increase product categories, reduce waste due to expired products, and reduce logistics costs. Implemented single product management. For suppliers, the use of a unified distribution system allows them to organize production in a timely manner according to convenience store ordering conditions, minimizing raw material inventory. At the same time, as the number of distribution stores continues to increase, the scale effect becomes more obvious. Its logistics costs are getting lower and lower.

In addition, 7-11 also provides an online ordering system and an automatic distribution system to assist the distribution center in achieving systematic and efficient operations. Information technology systems are a powerful backing for improving operational quality. The information technology system mainly includes ordering, sales information record analysis, shelf management, and order processing informatization. The advanced information technology system allows 7-Eleven to obtain timely and comprehensive feedback on market demand, and has established a strong cooperation network with suppliers and logistics service providers, which can greatly improve the efficiency of the supply chain and convenience store operations and speed up the flow of orders. .

With its efficient logistics and distribution system, 7-11 convenience stores have successfully achieved low-cost and high-efficiency logistics, and are in an advantageous position in the competition with other retail companies. They are a successful example in the convenience store industry. Logistics and distribution strategies have profound reference significance for the development of convenience stores in my country.

3. ***Enjoy the ecology: small but complete

The prices of goods in convenience stores are generally higher than those in supermarkets. If you cannot rely on price advantage to gain the upper hand, then create community services. Ecological chain, expand the added value of convenience store chain network, and 7-11 is a leader in this aspect.

In addition to providing fresh rice balls, various milk products, hot coffee, self-service cold drinks and other foods to residents in the community, 7-11 also takes advantage of its extensive chain network and 24-hour operation to provide agents. They collect dry cleaning clothes, order flowers, various ticketing services such as air tickets and train tickets, door-to-door delivery services, hotel reservation services, lottery sales, etc. ATM machines are also set up, and some can even provide small loan services. In some areas of Japan, we also provide humanized free services. We work with local governments and police to maintain community safety and harmony. The police use convenience stores to announce traffic conditions, missing elderly people and children who have not returned at night, etc. information, and even used convenience stores to catch fugitives.

7-11 is actually building a sharing economy platform. It is not only a platform for enjoying customers, but also a platform for enjoying information, logistics and purchasing. . Through this platform, every fragmented and idle passenger flow, order flow, logistics, capital flow, and commodity flow are brought together to form high-value traffic monetization.

By providing diversified convenience services, it not only facilitates the lives of community residents, but also adds huge added value to its sales network. It can be said that it serves multiple purposes with one stone. The shared ecosystem created by 7-11 has truly realized "ecological transformation" and has become a super entrance to its own traffic resources.

Put customer service first, handle business details to the extreme, and optimize product quality infinitely. This is why 7-11 has become the world's retail giant, and it is indeed worthy of consideration by domestic convenience stores.