Cold winter in department stores is still grim

Huang Guoxiong, a professor at the Renmin University of China Business School, told reporters that “in recent years, the country’s anti-corruption efforts have increased, making high-end consumer goods plummet.” Therefore, many high-end department stores have closed shop to stop bleeding. Such as Wangfujing Zhanjiang shop, Beijing Dazhongsi shop announced the suspension of business. According to the data, from April 28 to June 30, 12 stores, including Parkson Department Store, Zhongdu Department Store, and 8 department stores, were closed.

“Wangfujing Department Store’s operating profit for the first half year decreased by 7.5% year-on-year, which was due to the continuing policy of integrity and the high base effect of gold and jewellery in North China. At the same time, the cost of new stores opened in different places was rigid. In the first half of the year, the store’s corresponding subsidiary’s net The profit loss is close to 100 million yuan," an analyst from Changjiang Securities told reporters.



“In the face of increasingly fierce challenges, the difficulty of department store merchandise purchase and operation management will be unprecedentedly increased.” Chu Xiuqi, president of the China Department Stores Commercial Association, stressed in an interview with the reporter.

Huang Wenjie also believes that at present, many department stores have started to make adjustments in the choice of regional strategies and make attempts in o2o, hoping to bring new opportunities to the department store industry through online and offline integration.

In the second half of 2013, retail enterprises such as Suning, Wangfujing Department Store, Rainbow Shopping Mall, and Yintai Mall have launched o2o strategies. Traditional internet companies such as Tencent and Ali have also infiltrated the physical industry, expanded sales channels, and achieved online and offline resources. Leverage and complementarity.

Industry experts generally believe that the o2o strategy of Wangfujing Department Store has a very exemplary effect. In particular, it has invested 100 million yuan to build an online mall. After more than a year of operation, it has become one of the main battlefields for its o2o operation.

In the overall downturn of the department store industry, Wangfujing's department store offline business maintained double-digit growth in the first two quarters of 2014 compared to the same period last year. However, industry insiders pointed out that the implementation of the o2o e-commerce model is a challenge to Wangfujing Department Store's offline capabilities. In particular, factors including the usual thinking of the company's management, the organizational structure of the company, and the company's habitual business model will affect its o2o strategy.

At the same time, Wangfujing Department Store also used WeChat payment as a new payment method. Liu Chunji believes that both the web version and the physical version of the WeChat payment experience are effective. In the future, after the virtual counter's pad is online, the shopping guide generates a two-dimensional code, the customer scans the counter, and can take away the goods after paying the money.