What Is the Internet New Retail Era? A Guide to Understanding It

By DaDa

Everyone is surely familiar with the concept of retail, but what exactly is "new retail"? How does "new retail" differ from traditional retail? What is new about "new retail"? Today, once again, DaDa will lead everyone to unlock the secrets of "new retail."

What Is "New Retail"?

"New retail" is a new retail model in which enterprises, relying on the internet, use advanced technological means such as artificial intelligence and big data to upgrade and transform the production, circulation and sales processes of goods, thereby reshaping the structure of the industry and its ecosystem, and deeply integrating online services, offline experiences and modern logistics. Did none of that make sense? OK, don't worry about it. DaDa will give you a simple example. "New retail" is simply a more efficient way of retailing, and its key points are more, faster, better and cheaper. In simple terms, it means coordinating all the customer-centered services around you, so as to achieve the goal of making consumption more convenient for everyone and thereby earn profits. It must be said that, given that both online and offline stores are currently showing signs of weak development, "new retail" undoubtedly brings merchants a new sales model to turn the tide.

What Is New About "New Retail"?

First, there is a greater variety of goods. Take offline retail stores, for example, such as convenience stores in a community. As offline stores, they have a geographical advantage over online stores like Taobao, but they are also limited by geographical space. Convenience stores basically stock daily necessities used in people's lives, and of course the variety is limited. So can we use the advantages of new technology to break through the limits of space? We can build an App or any group chat to establish a connection among all the stores within a certain surrounding area, such as fruit supermarkets, milk tea shops and even fast food restaurants. After consumers have shopped at the convenience store and then want to buy something else, they can place an order through the App, and the goods will arrive within 20 minutes. This expands the service content of the convenience store, and this is the new retail of convenience stores.

Second, it is faster. In today's fast-paced era, people's work and lives are all centered on speed, and the more time saved the better. Buying something within 2 km takes two hours for a round trip; a trip to a convenience store within 1 km takes half an hour; and for online shopping, from placing an order to receiving the package takes 2 to 3 days, or even longer in remote areas. Is there any way to shorten the time even more? For example, the unmanned stores seen everywhere on street corners, or the vending machines placed in a corner of the office, put the goods right at your fingertips so you can buy them whenever you want. Of course, unmanned sales still have certain problems; for example, everyone's level of honesty may increase transaction costs. In addition to unmanned sales, there is also gradually developing drone delivery and big data operations. Perhaps one day the goods you order on Taobao will be delivered within a day of placing the order; perhaps you will open the window and a drone will be hovering at the windowsill bringing you what you want. Does everyone feel tempted after hearing this? This is the faster "new retail."

Third, better products. Science and technology are undergoing revolution, and technology is advancing. As everyone can see, artificial intelligence is gradually entering millions of households. The daily necessities we use are no longer what they originally were. For example, the broom used for sweeping has been upgraded to a vacuum cleaner, and then upgraded to an intelligent machine; the trash can in Xiaomi's miscellaneous goods store even has the ability to analyze health; the watch we usually wear can also monitor the wearer's health condition; and the original communication tool, the mobile phone, is now not just for communication -- it can be said that one phone can take you anywhere. I wonder if everyone has heard of the home of the world's wealthy man Bill Gates: it is intelligently controlled from inside out, and the temperature is adjusted at any time to the most comfortable and most suitable temperature for the human body. These are product upgrades; better and smarter products make people's lives more convenient. This is the better "new retail."

Fourth, online and offline interconnection. Since the development of a host of e-commerce companies such as Taobao, JD.com and Suning, a split has formed between the two sales models of offline and online. Although offline stores are close by and offer quality guarantees, their variety is incomplete, while online stores, although complete in variety and cheap in price, take a long time to ship and offer no quality guarantee. But if offline stores and online stores are integrated together, these problems can be avoided to a great extent. Here is another example for everyone: Taobao's hit snack brand, Bestore. It has opened offline stores and reserve warehouses in bustling areas of major cities across the country (except remote areas). The online store is responsible for providing orders, and the offline store is responsible for nearby delivery. This saves time and also satisfies people's diverse needs. Therefore, it has always attracted people's attention. Bestore is a very good example of online and offline interconnection, and this sales model is what we call "new retail."

Where Is the Future of "New Retail" Headed?

With the development of e-commerce to this day, it has already occupied a dominant position in China's retail market. But with the gradual implementation of the "new retail" model, online and offline will gradually transform from their original mutual independence and mutual conflict into mutual promotion and mutual integration. The business model and business path of e-commerce will undergo fundamental changes. When all physical retail has obvious characteristics of the e-commerce gene, e-commerce in the traditional sense will cease to exist, and of course the conflict that the e-commerce that exists now brings to the real economy will also dissipate along with it and become history.