How does digitalization empower new retail?

The concept of new retail, in the simplest terms, is actually to connect "goods" and "people" with something called "field". This "field" is not fixed, it can be a scene, a physical location, or even a user's residence. All "fields" that can connect people and goods can be called retail. The essence of retail is to let users and products find each other, and to make goods have a relationship with people. The essence of new retail is driven by big data, which reconstructs "people, goods and fields" and transforms the retail form through the development of new technologies and the upgrading of user experience. On the human side, data helps commodity producers and service providers to better identify and understand consumers, gain insight into consumer needs and achieve precise marketing; In terms of goods, data guides the production of goods and service optimization, and then provides consumers with the most suitable goods in all suitable scenarios (including online and offline) to realize intelligent control of goods; At the scene, the data helps the mall managers to complete the passenger flow analysis, optimize the dynamic line design, and solve the problem of investment and location matching in the past. The background of new retail development is the reduction of industry costs and the improvement of efficiency, and its core driving force is still economic interests, which is the search and pursuit of market profits by enterprises; The realization of new retail is based on the progress of science and technology. Enterprises rely on the Internet and use big data, artificial intelligence and other technical means to upgrade the production, circulation and sales processes of commodities, and deeply integrate online services, offline experiences and modern logistics. The development direction of new retail is still to follow the changes of consumer demand, and the value created by new retail matches the needs of consumers. The characteristics of new retail The "newness" of new retail is actually a relative concept. The word "new retail" does not belong to a certain model, and every era has its own new retail. With the development of human civilization, retailing has existed since people knew how to exchange things. In the study of retail history, the three revolutions summarized by western economists are the emergence of department stores, chain stores and super shopping centers. In recent years, the concept of the fourth retail revolution has gradually emerged. The new retail we are talking about now is a data-driven pan-retail form centered on consumer experience, and its biggest feature is the interactive integration of digital, omni-channel and more flexible supply chains. Among them, digitalization is the core feature and the foundation of omni-channel and more flexible supply chain. New Retail Strategy New Retail uses emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing to intelligently upgrade the industrial chain of the industry, including consumer demand identification, design, procurement, manufacturing, promotion, trading and distribution. By combining social networks and scene construction, it forms an online (cloud platform)+offline (stores or manufacturers+intelligent logistics (efficient supply chain system) operation mode, and finally realizes the integration of people and goods. Since the concept of new retail was put forward, many enterprises including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.COM, Xiaomi and Netease have started to explore new retail. With the outbreak of new retail species, with the help of digital technology, diversified modes such as logistics industry, large-scale entertainment industry and catering industry have all extended retail forms, and more retail species are about to hatch. Different types of retail enterprises, such as brands, e-commerce and offline chains, control different retail links, so different enterprises will adopt different strategies in different links according to their own characteristics. (1) Improve the quality and efficiency of manufacturing. Brands with their own manufacturing capabilities can ensure product quality from the source by strengthening quality control and improving design at the production end. Taking Uniqlo as an example, Uniqlo implements the SPA (Private Brand Professional Retailer) mode of raw material procurement, R&D, production and sales, with direct chain stores as the mainstay, and the entire supply chain is compressed and controlled, which has the first-class rapid response ability in the industry. SPA is a "vertically integrated" business model, in which enterprises participate in the whole process. In this mode, enterprises need to strictly control all aspects of products from planning to sales, reduce outsourcing costs, and manage the whole process of goods from planning to production to delivery to customers. This model not only shortens the process of supply chain, but also collects all aspects of consumer information, further narrowing the distance between enterprises and customers. While adjusting the company's strategy and improving product quality, we will provide consumers with more comprehensive services. Traditional clothing industry, from clothing planning, design, production and processing, logistics and transportation to final store sales, takes 9- 12 months, and product development takes a long time. However, the clothing industry is a frequently updated industry, and it will be eliminated if it fails to keep up with the market trend. SPA supply chain model has created new development space in clothing industry. By shortening the link from design to sales, products can be delivered to customers faster, thus gaining an advantage in the clothing market. Compared with traditional clothing enterprises, SPA supply chain model has obvious advantages in collecting consumer information, rapid production and shortening logistics, which can save some costs and make the capital flow of enterprises smoother. Finally, the business objectives such as cost control, quality control and high quick response ability will be achieved. (2) Give play to the role of logistics and improve the efficiency of supply chain. The diversification of consumer demand and the differentiation of distribution scenarios under the new retail model put forward higher requirements for logistics service level. To this end, some enterprises choose to establish their own logistics network to improve the efficiency of the supply chain. For example, in JD.COM, the logistics system is a very important part of JD.COM. The infrastructure of COM. At present, JD.COM has 6 operating lines110000, 230,000 logistics service vehicles, 300,000 terminal service outlets and an infrastructure area of120,000 square meters. 1 16 years 10 months, JD.COM decided to socialize the logistics system, 17 April, JD.COM established Jingdong Logistics Company. Some companies choose to improve logistics through third-party logistics platforms, such as Ali. Ali's new retail logistics system thinking is "platform thinking": adopting the light asset model to build rookie logistics and become an information service platform for third-party logistics. At the same time, through equity and express delivery companies to form a deeper bond, continue to deepen the penetration of the express delivery industry. Backed by Ali, rookie's layout in logistics enterprises mainly includes investment express, real-time logistics, logistics service providers and supply chain service providers, and gradually brings warehousing, trunk transportation, terminal distribution, logistics real estate and cross-border logistics into its own territory. Cainiao.com is an open, shared and socialized logistics infrastructure platform, which integrates the data of logistics, merchants and consumers, realizes the digitalization of logistics and provides information services for logistics enterprises and e-commerce enterprises. Retail enterprises without self-built logistics can also improve their logistics level by accessing logistics platforms. As a social logistics integrator under Ali Ecology, rookie injects orders from Ali retail platform into its cooperative logistics express enterprise platform from the beginning of transportation, linking business flow and logistics, and integrating the data of airline transportation companies. After big data analysis, the rookie platform will provide a variety of services such as routing bills and logistics clouds. Backed by Ali, the layout of rookie in logistics enterprises mainly includes four parts: investment express, real-time logistics, logistics service providers and supply chain service providers, and gradually brings warehousing, trunk transportation, terminal distribution, logistics real estate and cross-border logistics into its own territory. (3) Channel Change In the new retail era, brands are facing stricter and higher requirements in terms of strategy, logistics, warehousing and supply chain. Brands need to break through the barriers between channels, re-plan the omni-channel new retail transformation under the digital background, and make full use of big data to create a people-centered scene consumption experience. Omni-channel retailing has become an inevitable trend. Omni-channel retail refers to the behavior of enterprises to adopt as many retail channel types as possible to combine and integrate (cross-channel) sales to meet customers' comprehensive experience needs such as shopping, entertainment and social interaction. These channel types include tangible stores (physical stores and service outlets) and intangible stores (door-to-door direct sales, direct e-mail and catalogues, telephone shopping, TV shopping centers, online stores and mobile phone stores), as well as information media (websites, call centers, social media, etc.). Enterprises can make up all the online and offline channels according to their own conditions, make use of their own technologies and Internet genes, transform offline retailing accordingly, realize seamless connection between online and offline, expand channels with wider international business coverage through unmanned retail formats, find new growth drivers, and create a new omni-channel, fully connected retail ecosystem. For example, Leyou's omni-channel model: Leyou develops the omni-channel marketing model of "APP+ Online Mall+Chain Store", and turns the shopping scene into a borderless commodity exhibition hall with the help of the advantages of the Internet and physical stores. With the dual advantages of convenience and customer experience, Leyou will complete the online and offline interaction faster, fully meet the shopping needs of more young consumers born in 1980s and 1990s, and adopt thousands of precise marketing schemes for different members with the help of member collection and analysis system in actual operation. The core of Leyou omni-channel integrated marketing is to analyze and seamlessly link customer resources and product information of all sales channels by using advanced Internet technologies such as big data and cloud computing, so as to improve customers' shopping experience in any channel. Through membership management system, Leyou can quickly capture the new consumption trends of customer groups and enhance brand loyalty, which is a necessary joint to realize precise marketing. The precise service provided by Leyou to users starts from two angles. One is to implement joint sales according to the stage characteristics of consumers. By analyzing the consumer's age through the past purchase behavior, we can push the co-branded products suitable for him according to the characteristics of this age. Another angle is to determine the attributes of consumers from the brand, and then carry out continuous brand push services. (4) Creating new experiences through new species and new formats, facing consumers' demands for convenience of shopping, value of service experience and diversity of goods, providing personalized customized services and fast door-to-door delivery has become a way for enterprises to facilitate consumers and obtain stable customers. Enterprises that produce suits, furniture, tea and other commodities begin to provide customized value-added services to consumers on the basis of high gross profit margin space, and transform the supply chain with data based on consumer data, thus realizing C2B or C2M mode. Take the red collar suit as an example. In 20 13, the customized flexible production line RCMTM (i.e. RedCollarMadeToMeasure) developed by Red Collar basically took shape. RCMTM is a customized production line established by Red Collar on the basis of big data, which is used to realize efficient and rapid production of customized clothing with computer assistance. The customization of red collar can be realized through two business models: B2M(BusinesstoManufacturer) and C2M (consumer to manufacturer). 90% of the red collar customization business comes from overseas, and 10% comes from China. In overseas markets, any customized merchant who cooperates with Red Collar can hand over their orders to the RCMTM system to complete, which is the B2M mode, that is, the mode from merchants to manufacturers; In the domestic market, Red Lord pushes C2M mode, that is, the mode from consumers to manufacturers. C2M is the concept of factory direct sales, without any intermediate links. The personalized needs of consumers are transmitted to the factory in real time through information technology, and the factory can meet the needs of consumers quickly and accurately without any delay. The C2M model takes the consumers at the C end as the core, and C drives the operation of the whole supply chain, industrial chain and value chain of the enterprise to meet the needs of consumers at the fastest speed. Compared with traditional industrial production, the advantages of C2M mass customization are obvious, as shown in the following figure. After mass customization, Hongling Group broke away from the fierce competition in the Red Sea market of clothing manufacturing, and the competitive environment became relatively relaxed, which greatly improved the efficiency and profit of the enterprise. In 20 14 years, the sales profit index of red collar increased by more than 100% year-on-year. It has become a successful example of the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industry with the help of information technology. In the end, from retail to new retail, there is not only a "new" word, but also a new sales scene, a new relationship between merchants and consumers, and a new supply chain process. While the industry brings changes, consumers will also benefit from new retail and enjoy more efficient services and better products. In this context, only enterprises that pay attention to efficiency and consumer experience and choose the most suitable change strategy according to their own conditions can truly take off in the east wind of new retail.