Introduce Tesco Mall?

Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK and the third largest in the world, quickly entered the Chinese market by acquiring a 50% stake in Tesco Commercial Distribution Group, a subsidiary of Taiwan's Ting Hsin Group, two years ago. After that, the international The giant fell silent amid China's retail frenzy of mergers and expansion.

Nowadays, TESCO has become active. According to reporters, Tesco is intensively preparing for the opening of its Changping store in Dongguan, South China at the end of this month. It has also signed multiple projects in Humen, Shenzhen Longgang, Dongguan Houjie, etc. . In the next two years, Tesco will open 20 stores in southern China.

Missed the "first opportunity"

In July 2004, Tesco spent 140 million pounds (approximately 2.1 billion yuan) to acquire the equity of Tesco Store 50, a subsidiary of Ting Hsin Group.

At that time, although major international giants, such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro, etc., had entered the Chinese market first, Tesco easily obtained Tesco's 25 stores in China through acquisitions. The giants are equally powerful.

After that, China’s retail industry was completely liberalized at the end of 2004, and the giants set off a climax of grabbing land. In the two years from the second half of 2004 to the first half of 2006, Wal-Mart, Carrefour, etc. With an annual opening of 15 to 20 stores, it is advancing in major cities across the country. However, Tesco has not relied on Tesco to achieve strong expansion in the Chinese market. So far, Tesco has 41 stores, which is equivalent to Tesco after entering Tesco. In the past two years, only 16 new stores have been opened per year, and many of them are stores that Tesco has already signed contracts with.

By the end of 2005, 14 of Tesco's 39 stores were in Shanghai, and the rest were concentrated in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Northeast China. However, the vast markets of North China, South China, Central China, and Western China had not yet entered. Strictly speaking, Tesco has not yet achieved nationwide chain expansion.

Tesco's total sales in 2005 were 7.92 billion yuan, which is far behind Carrefour's sales of more than 17 billion yuan and Wal-Mart's sales of nearly 10 billion yuan. So far, Tesco has about 41 stores in mainland China, which is only half of Carrefour and significantly inferior to Wal-Mart.

According to David Reid, a vice president of Tesco, once said: "In countries that are expanding externally, either they will be among the top three in the market, or they will choose to withdraw. In the overseas markets developed by Tesco , except for China, most of them are in the first or second position. "

In 2005, Tesco, which has been developing in Taiwan for 5 years, will transfer 6 supermarkets and 2 processing centers in Taiwan. At the same time, Carrefour exchanged its 11 supermarkets in the Czech Republic and 4 shopping malls in Slovakia for Tesco.

Tesco, which withdrew from Taiwan, has devoted more energy to mainland China. Tesco is its only platform to realize its ideals in the Chinese market. However, as urban commercial outlets become increasingly scarce, Tesco A choice must be made, either to advance or to retreat.

Later Development: Acquisition and Store Opening

According to people familiar with Tesco, since Tesco entered the Chinese market late, it has always hoped to establish a complete management system and excellent operations. After establishing the model, we quickly completed nationwide expansion through acquisitions and mergers.

Since the second half of 2004, Tesco has strongly intervened in the management of Tesco and rectified the original stores. "The two giants need a period of time to work together. Tesco will graft its British management system and operating model to Tesco. Before these tasks are completed, the British will not take the risk of burning money to expand." Tesco South China Operations Region Chief Operating Officer Chen Yongzhong said.

It is understood that so far, except for the position of chairman, all key department managers in Tesco are from the UK, including the president, chief purchasing officer, chief financial officer, human resources director and loss prevention director, who lead the entire Management and operation of Tesco. Tesco's management system and distribution system have also been transformed by introducing the Tesco UK headquarters subsystem. All stores are also being renovated to be in line with Tesco's overseas hypermarkets.

In the first half of this year, Tesco, which was ready to launch, attempted to acquire Trust-Mart, once again achieving a preemptive move in the Chinese market.

"Tesco only targets Trust-Mart's excellent stores in central cities in North and South China, and uses Trust-Mart to occupy the domestic central business district. After more than two years of crazy business competition, it is currently difficult to find suitable commercial properties in the central business district. . However, Trust-Mart has always insisted on selling all outlets in a package, and Tesco had to give up considering that many of its stores are too small and the cost of renovation is too high. "According to a person familiar with Tesco.

After that, Tesco had to start to reposition the market and take the road of self-expansion. The "Tesco Recent Store Opening Plan" obtained by the reporter shows that in 2006, Tesco also identified 20 development projects in East China, North China, Northeast China and South China. In addition, the plan also specifically listed the rectification plans of ten stores in 2006. stores, including Dandong store, Changzhou Wujin store, etc. At the same time, Tesco PS (Real Estate Services Department) is also conducting small-scale renovations on another 16 stores.

"Tesco is changing its previous cautious development attitude. Tesco has embarked on a rapid development track. By 2008, there will be 100 Tesco hypermarkets or shopping centers across the country, with an average of At least 20 new stores have been opened in various places across the country," Chen Yongzhong said.

Secondary business districts need to be tested

"Our goal is to use Shanghai as an expansion base to radiate across the country. Currently, Tesco has opened 41 stores across the country. By the end of this year, The number of our stores will exceed 50. "Super large warehouses and shopping malls will increasingly become the mainstream way for consumers to shop," Chen Yongzhong said. Hypermarkets for shopping, dining and leisure venues will have a commercial area of ??20,000-50,000 square meters and will be provided with shopping vehicles. In the Chinese market, this type of business basically constitutes direct competition with stores such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour.

It can be seen from Tesco's recent store opening schedule that after Tesco decides to open its own stores, the locations it targets are basically second- and third-tier cities or second- and third-tier business districts in central cities. Such as Jinhua, Tangshan, Dongguan, Shanghai Xingang, Beijing Donghua Market, etc. Chen Yongzhong believes that a shopping center can be supported in a place with a surrounding population of more than 300,000.

In early 2006, Tesco opened its first store in South China in Shunde, Guangdong, the richest place in the country. The Shunde store is "It was the most beautiful store among all Tesco stores at the time," but according to industry insiders, it has been "deserted" until now.

"In fact, the products in Tesco stores are definitely low-priced, but it is still difficult to gain popularity. The main reason is location selection. At present, China's second- and third-tier markets (including second- and third-tier cities or second- and third-tier cities in central cities) Level business districts) are still lagging behind in terms of purchasing power and consumption habits. There are many traditional residents in these cities, who are used to buying products through low-end and decentralized retail channels. It will take quite some time to adapt to such a one-stop shopping center for shopping, dining, and leisure. Therefore, it is difficult for many mid-to-high-end commercial brands in the second and third tier markets to succeed in the short term," Huang Huajun, vice president of the Guangdong Chain Store and Franchise Association, believes.

In June this year, Tesco hired Luo Dingzhong, the former director of Carrefour China Development Zone, and appointed him as Tesco's "real estate director" to directly manage development, engineering, investment promotion and market research. Luo Dingzhong served as the head of the development department of Carrefour China in the past year, allowing Carrefour to open 16 new stores, setting the fastest store opening speed in the 10 years since it entered China.